EPL Supercoach | Biggest risers & fallers so far this season

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan of this extended three-week international break.

The only positive for me as a Chelsea fan is that it gives more time for Caicedo and Pedro to get back healthy, and for Xabi Alonso to figure out why our defence is the worst in the league.

Anyway, we are here to talk about EPL Supercoach and the biggest risers and fallers so far this season.

As the title suggests, today we are focused on the players/teams that are performing differently from how we expected.

Starting with who has greatly exceeded expectations…

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The Risers

The mighty Brighton Seagulls

Third in the league and coming off a 3-0 masterclass over the reigning Champions Arsenal, Brighton could not have asked for a better start.

The Seagulls were expected to be competitive, as they always are, but not many were expecting them to be completely dominant.

They currently lead the league with 16 goals through just the 5 games. Their attacking prowess is not a fluke; the underlying stats back it up.

They lead the league in expected goals (11.5), shots on target per match (5.8), and big chances created (22).

But can they keep this up? Maybe not at this extreme level, but there is no reason they can’t continue to play like a top-four side.

They have been churning out these elite performances while missing some of their most established players in Hinshelwood, Minteh, Mitoma, and more. So if anything, maybe there is another gear they can go to.

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Full credit to Fabian Hürzeler, the master at the helm. If his team can keep this form up, it won’t be long until Manchester United come calling…

From a Supercoach perspective, Pascal Groß has been the superstar, leading all players with 82 points through 5 games, for an average of 16.4.

He is currently at the centre of everything Brighton do, but at $13 million, most of us probably can’t afford him.

The player I am keeping an eye on is Jack Hinshelwood, who I actually started the season with for his 29-point haul, before he picked up an injury and has not played since.

He may get eased back into minutes due to Brighton’s depth, but once he gets back fit and firing, he could be in for some big scores in that number 10 role.

For other attacking options, it may also be a wait-and-see, with Minteh and Mitoma both set to feature for the first time this season after this international break.

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Josh, the King of Fulham

I will get straight to the point: I am a MASSIVE Josh King believer.

To think that you could have started with him in your midfield for just $3.9m is crazy, and congratulations to anyone who did.

I would say this is going to be a breakout season for King, but it feels like it already has been! Coming off a season where he scored just once in 32 appearances, King already has 2 goals in 5.

He is the orchestrator of Fulham’s attack, playing in that number 10 role and having a hand in almost all of Fulham’s chances.

You could not ask for a better upcoming fixture run, with Fulham’s next 4 matches against Ipswich, Hull, Coventry, and Aston Villa.

If there was a time for the 19-year-old to properly announce himself on the big stage, it is now, and I am all in on him.

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Chelsea’s Front Three

There was a lot of hype around Chelsea’s front three heading into the season, and boy have they delivered.

Morgan Rogers, João Pedro, and Cole Palmer are one of the most talented front threes in world football, but this does not automatically equal elite production.

In this case, it has, though, with all three Chelsea attackers tallying 55+ Supercoach points this season already.

Chelsea’s game plan has been to sit back and get these three the ball in space on the counter. And it has been working, from an attacking sense at least.

It will be interesting to see if the tactics change with their defensive struggles, but either way, I expect this front three to continue scoring goals.

They have scored 10 goals this season, only behind Brighton and City. 9 of these goals have involved at least one of this electric front three.

If Chelsea can continue scoring goals, expect this front three to continue producing Supercoach hauls.

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Overall League Competitiveness

I don’t know if this fits exactly under this ‘risers’ category, but nonetheless I wanted to discuss it.

What happened to the days of an easy three points? Leeds Away is just as frightening as Liverpool Away these days, and honestly, it’s great from a general viewer’s perspective because who doesn’t love more close contests and more upsets.

From a Supercoach perspective, it also makes the game a whole new level of interesting.

The game isn’t as straightforward as just loading up on Arsenal, City, and Liverpool players.

It’s now about picking the in-form team and riding the wave. Right now it is Brighton, Brentford, and Leeds; maybe later in the season it will be the likes of Newcastle, Bournemouth, or Forest.

This increased competitiveness makes the EPL Supercoach player pool to pick from a whole lot larger, opening up differential picks everywhere.

From a fixture difficulty perspective as well, is it time we stop weighting them so heavily?

You look at these smaller clubs coming up against a Manchester United or Chelsea, and you automatically think they are in for a tough outing. But is this more reputation bias than actual reality?

It feels like unpredictability and result volatility are at an all-time high in the Premier League, and it is certainly making for a more exciting version of EPL Supercoach.

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The Fallers

Manchester United and Michael Carrick

Just 1 win in 5 for what has been a disastrous start for Carrick and his men.

Coming off a stellar back half of last season where they surged all the way into the top 3, the expectations were high.

Some people were tipping a slight drop-off with them returning to European football and having more games to play, but that has barely started, and United are already struggling.

They have already burnt multiple Supercoach managers who invested in their defence early with their ideal fixtures, as they are one of only a few teams not to keep a clean sheet yet.

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Bruno Fernandes was the best player in Supercoach last season. This season, he has scores of 7, 47, 3, 6, and 5.

Outside of his ridiculous hat-trick against Ipswich Town, he has done nothing.

The underlying statistics are still very solid, though. Per 90, he is averaging 0.51 xG, 3.8 shots, and 0.26 xA.

I think Bruno will become a must-have again at some stage this season, but for now, it may be a case of using those funds elsewhere while you wait for United to figure it out as a team.

Outside of Bruno, I would not look to invest in any of the players right now. Mbeumo is the only other player who offers an exciting attacking threat, but in the FWD position there are better options.

And don’t even get me started on their defenders and goalkeeper…the same as I would say for all Chelsea defensive assets. Abort, abort, abort.

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Manchester City Roulette

I really tried hard to think of a pun to do with the charges Manchester City are currently facing, but I couldn’t quite pull one off.

Anyway, it is the talk of the sporting world right now, and it is not hard to see why. I am not going to speculate and get stuck into conspiracy theories today.

The reality is, we have no idea what Manchester City’s punishment will be and when it will be handed down. Let alone how it will affect us and our EPL Supercoach teams.

So for now, I am discussing a different issue altogether. City are certainly not on the fallers list due to their performances.

Maresca and his men have got off to a perfect start, 5 wins from 5 games to sit pretty at the top of the table.

The issue is, Maresca has brought back what used to be referred to as “Pep Roulette”. A term used to describe how Pep used to rotate his lineup every match because he had so much depth.

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Well, with City going ham in the transfer window, they are now loaded with talent and primed for rotation.

Erling Haaland and Elliot Anderson seem to be the only two outside of the defence that are locked in to start every game.

The rest it’s a toss-up. Some seriously talented options that can produce some big scores but with no certainty on minutes.

We have already seen this with Rayan Cherki, who has been in hot form to start the season despite seeing varying minutes of 27, 82, 66, 45 and 85 so far.

With European football only ramping up the number of fixtures, expect rotation to continue.

Maybe it is a case of Erling Haaland + defence in terms of elite EPL Supercoach assets this season.

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Villa and Spurs

I don’t want to harp on too much about these teams, but I think it is fair to say that they have both fallen short of expectations early on this season.

Just the 1 win between the two teams so far, and it came from Villa beating Spurs.

Some very ugly displays from both teams, which have led to some very disappointing Supercoach output for anyone invested in them.

I will say, Villa and Spurs have both had plenty of player personnel changes, so they should only be getting better as they settle into a proper starting XI.

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For now, I would not look to invest much in either side, outside of exciting cheapie Johan Manzambi.

Manzambi earned himself a transfer to Villa on the back of a breakout World Cup campaign that was cut short by injury.

He only just returned and picked up a goal and an assist for a massive 26-point haul vs Spurs in his first start.

Playing in that number 10 role, he is going to have a hand in everything if Villa are to get their season back on track.

On the Spurs side, I will be avoiding everyone for now.

But if they can figure it out and show signs of life, there will be plenty of exciting Supercoach options from them that have bottomed out in price and are ripe for picking.

I just have to see it first to believe it.