Mondogoal guide: Try for free this weekend

While it was sad to see our beloved Yahoo Fantasy football game end/take a break for a year depending on what you believe, we have tried to give you as many fantasy fix options to consider as we move forward.  After Fantrax, Togga and the Official Premier League game it's time to look at the replacement chosen by Yahoo themselves, Mondogoal best said in a halloween voice MONN-DOOOOOO-GOOOAAAALLL whohahahahaa).

Mondogoal.com

Firstly while they lack the big budget of Draft Kings, the game is open to play whether you are in the US or UK, so we can all try the game out.

Free to play or pay to play

The adjustment from playing a free play game to paying to play is a quite the step.  To help Mondogoal have a number of free to play games, some of which come with cash prizes as a bonus.

The pay as you play options start at £2 up to an eye watering £530 or $805.70 per game for the gamblers out there.  Can you imagine betting that big on fantasy football?  Could you make a tax free career of it?

The choice of game available

Depending on your preference they cover the Premier League, Major League Soccer, La Liga, Champions League and many more.

For game options Mondogoal gives the player numerous options.   You can play a 2 player head to head game and they have 50/50 competitions where half the field win.  You can play smaller field 5 player, 10 player or 55 player competitions and then you can go for the games with the number of players going into thousands.

On my small sample of played games the secret seems to be to stick to the smaller fields.  In theory this should give the likes of us NMA regulars an advantage over the recreational player over the long haul.  Taking just these games into account I have not made a loss over a weekend.  When I have - every week so far - got tempted chasing the £10,000 prize pools with my £2 entry fee's I have yet to profit.  Certainly if it came in you would be overjoyed with a few thousand pounds sat in your bank balance but the odds my friends are against you.

Unlike DK Mondogoal gives you £100m to spend on an 11 player side.  They offer the variety of formations including the ever popular 343 but you can also go 352, 442, 451 and 433.

The points system

all
Fouls Won	0.5
Minutes	0.02
Fouls Committed	-0.5
Yellow Cards	-2
Red Cards	-5
goalkeeper
Penalty Kicks Saved	7
Clean Sheets	6
Single Goal Matches	3
Tackles Won	1
Saves	1
Goals Conceded	-2
defence
Goals	7
Assists	4
Clean Sheets	4
Single Goal Matches	2
Tackles Won	0.5
Passes Intercepted	0.25
Passes Completed	0.03
Penalty Kicks Missed	-5
midfield
Goals	7
Assists	4
Shots on Target	2
Clean Sheets	2
Single Goal Matches	1
Passes Completed	0.05
Penalty Kicks Missed	-5
forward
Goals	7
Assists	4
Shots on Target	2
Passes Completed	0.03
Penalty Kicks Missed	-5

Often the points system in a fantasy game is geared towards picking the most powerful forward line you can.  In Mondogoals points system more thought has been given to balancing the field somewhat.  Whilst a brace or hattick for a forward makes them a pick you will want to catch, forwards who score the single goals returns can find themselves matched or bettered from those playing deeper.

It's mainly in midfield where our main point's scorers find themselves.  The addition of clean sheet points (2), pass completed (0.5 pts per pass) and single goal matches (1) allow you to rack up points.  The single goal rules states as you receive 1 point if the team your player plays for is beaten by no worse than one goal so avoid Sunderland players from your thought process if this is important.

These point scoring avenues do favour players from the powerhouse sides on paper, those who tend to control possession and efforts on their own goal.  Last season Eden Hazard would have been a must have most weeks.

Those points don't at first seems much a big deal but when I tell you on the occasions I've have failed to cash it's been by 3pts or less, you can see how important they can be.

Lets look at an example with Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez.  We will say that the game ended 1-0 Arsenal and that Santi added an assist while Alexis scored a goal.

Santi's average pass per game is 85.3 so

Clean sheet 2pts

Single game match 1pt

Assist 4pts

Completed passes 4.27pts

Total 11.27pts

Sanchez meanwhile averages 48.9 passes so

Goal 7pts

Completed passes 1.48pts

Total 8.48pts

That example was very basic so let's look at a real example from this weekends real world.  Manchester United beat Sunderland 3-0.

Wayne Rooney

Goal 7pts

Pass 1.56pts

SOT 2pts

Total 10.56pts

Juan Mata

Goal 7pts

Assist 4pts

SOT 4pts

Clean sheet 2pts

Single goal 1pt

Pass 4.63pts

Total 22.63

Comparing Rooney and Mata in you can see the difference.  Even if you took out Mata's extra SOT and assist he still beats Rooney.  Clearly as always though you are chasing those goal and clean sheets but Mondogoal does give you something to think about.

The top players on average points per game over the initial 7 weeks

Daniel Sturridge 14.58

Rihad Mahrez with 13.76

Ross Barkley 12.14

Juan Mata 11.67

David Silva with 11.66

Yaya Toure with 11.38

Dimitri Payet with 10.92

Jamie Vardy with 10.83

Cheikhou Kouyate with 10.02

Once again you can see 7 of the 9 are from midfield but as Sturridge's sample is based on playing just a couple of matches only Jamie Vardy stands against the midfield stronghold.

Looking ahead to this week's games, rather than list a full players picks I've given a few players who have either out performed their price or I feel could this weekend add to the obvious selections.

Vincent Kompany £6.7m

PPG (points per game) 8.94

Here we have a player who average more points than his cost.  If fit a certain pick up.

Yohan Cabaye £5.8m

PPG 6.94m

Again great price, great fixture and while he isn't the player he is in the Fantrax game, he is a fantastic option in a game Palace should have the ball more often that not.

Anthony Martial £5.2m

PPG 9.75

With Arsenals troubles at the back he does tempt at the price.  He doesn't rack up the phantoms so you will need a goal from him.

Bafetimbi Gomis £9.6m

PPG 9.21

The panther has gone off the boil but his point to price ratio is good and he seems likely to get the chances.

Romelu Lukaku £8.2m

PPG 7.55

I know, I know the Troll.  When you also consider I have pointed out the influence of phantom points he is less attractive.  However he score when we don't think the opponent is that weal right?

Jamie Vardy £8.5m

PPG 10.83

Bang in form and his points exceed his value.  Norwich look far from water tight and you have to like his chances to have a couple of good chances to score.

James Morrison £8.7m

PPG 9.96

His last 3 starts saw score of 10.7pts v WBA, 8.85pts v Aston Villa and 12.1pts v Stoke City.  Playing against a leaky C Palace he can do well again.

Simon Francis £8.2m

PPG 7.58

Francis has done well so far this season and pretty much matches his points return to his value.  Playing a Watford side looking a little lacking in goals he offers a nice matchup.

Pedro £5.7m

PPG 6.11

I don't love the form or the fixture but I love the value of the price.  Like some other games we know frustratingly classified as a forward he would have been a certain pick in midfield.  Still you would fancy something from him this weekend points wise and their are few great midfield options at the price.

Also worth noting he scored just over 7pts in both home games this season.

Saido Berahino £6.8m

Form pick as his last two games saw scores of 13.49pts and 10.79pts.  An away day to a palace side who rarely keep clean sheets he screams dark horse.

So there you go, a quick view on Mondogoal.   Why don't you give it a bash on the FREE game and see if you can win some money for nothing.

Stall