Here's a look at some of my prefered #UCLFantasy options ahead of MD7.

⚽️ Goalkeepers

🇧🇷 Ederson €6.0m - Part of a great defence and free of rotation which always is a worry with City players. And who knows, he might even take a penalty soon 😅

#FPLCommunity #UCL

When we started @CourtsideVC in 2016, the biggest question we faced was "Can you really generate venture returns investing in sports?". 5 years later, we have enough data to share. This is the story of how we turned our passion for sports into a business.
👇👇👇👇 👇 👇

First, some context. When I started my sports analytics software company in 2009, I was unable to raise a single dollar in venture capital. I ended up having to cobble together $10K, $25K and $100K checks from individuals to get things going.

At the time, there were no venture funds focused on this space and generalist VCs simply did not believe in the market size of sports companies. As a result, almost all of them ran to the hills when they heard the word "sports".

Even when we got to ~$10M in recurring revenue, there was nobody knocking on our door to try and give us growth capital to see if we could build something big. Ultimately, this forced us to sell short to private equity guys who destroyed the business.

Fast forward to 2016 and we felt the sports, fitness and gaming markets were on the verge of exploding - these were three places where the next generation was spending its money & yet there were no early stage funds setup to fund these entrepreneurs and strategically open doors.

A Thread about the best test batsmen 1/25
#India #Aus #NZ #Stats #Cricket

A #statistical breakdown

Kane Williamson: 7115 runs @ 54.31, 24x100s
Virat Kohli: 7318 runs @ 53.41, 27x100s
Steve Smith: 7368 runs @ 61.91, 27x100s

Smith here has the best average by a fair way.

But the joy of cricket is in its intricacies so let’s dive a little deeper. At home the 3 batsmen are absolute run machines.

Kane Williamson: 3788 runs @ 65.31 13x100s
Virat Kohli: 3558 runs @ 68.42 13x100s
Steve Smith: 3485 runs @ 68.33 14x100s

Here their statistics are very similar.

However it is worth noting how hard it is to bat in each of these countries. These figures reflect the average runs of each players team mates in the last 10 years.

Australia: 44.27 runs/wicket
New Zealand: 42.28
India: 44.17

These numbers would suggest that it is slightly harder for New Zealanders to bat in New Zealand. However, the quality of batsmen from New Zealand is definitely lower than the other two countries in the last decade, despite recent improvements.

The class of a batsman is often determined by their record away from home. So how do the stats add up in this regard?
Kane Williamson: 2680 runs @ 42.53 with 9x100s
Virat Kohli: 3760 runs @ 44.23 with 14x100s
Steve Smith: 3609 runs @ 60.15 with 13x100s

If you are a 90s kid, you’ve seen everything in Indian cricket. Start & End of SRT, Match-fixing, some embarrassing displays in England & Australia, some individual heroics & some deserving team wins. You’ve seen Dravid grind it out, you’ve also seen 81 all out (1/n)

If you are a 90s kid, you are mentally tough. You expect your team to put up a fight, more often than not, you ended up in disappointment. You’ve digested everything. You’ve laughed & cried. Sometimes both at same time (remember Perth ‘08). Too much depends on Tendulkar you’d say

Now you are in your late 20s early 30s. You see your team travelling to Australia. Kohli is leaving early after embarrassing Adelaide loss. Injuries are in bucketful. Covid restrictions mean they have to struggle for an XI. You write off your team mentally before Boxing Day Test

Rahane is captain now. He’s known for his silent aggression & counterattacking play. Pujara, Ashwin, Bumrah stand up with him, they create magic. India win Boxing Day test convincingly to shun off 4-0 critics (you loved this as a 90s kid, dont you). Yes, Gill is born!

1-1 & its Sydney. Media tries to play games. You’ve seen this before. But this is new India! They are determined. Bowlers get us back in the game & well, India tries to win, later save the match. Enough has been documented on Vihari & Ashwin. Stuff of legends! Momentum: India

— THREAD —

Reasons I would like United to keep playing the system they played against Aston Villa

United decided to field four midfielders against Aston Villa, but like I mentioned before the game, they didn’t use a diamond and went for their usual 3-1-6/3-2-5 with Pogba higher up the pitch.

This system United played against Villa isn’t new since they used it multiple times this season with Martial instead of Pogba and Cavani instead of Martial. They also used it after the restart but the profiles were completely different as those from this season.

This season, it is much more balanced in my opinion, and the new depth in the team can allow injuries without changing the system. Now, I will look at the various profiles United have upfront to explain why this new system can fit United well.

Rashford drives at players better but also his shooting technique and the way he attacks the channels suit the right better. His goals from the 2018/19 season and the 2020/21 season in the PL are seen below.

The Review: GW 18 - A thread

Hi everyone, welcome to the latest edition of “The Review” where I look at Bench Boost, Triple Captaincy and the upcoming double GW 19 in detail:

#FPL #FPLCommunity @OfficialFPL

(Data taken from @FFScout and @FFH_HQ with consent)

Before I start, I'd like to introduce you to this game called Fantasy5. It’s free to enter, with a £10k weekly prize. All you have to do is to pick 5 players that you think will beat their Fantasy points target. Link

At this point, I’d also like to mention that I post about FPL on my Instagram too, so if you have an Instagram account, follow up here!

Q: Who is the best captaincy option this week and why?

I jump straight away to what is the toughest question of the week. I first try and work out which one of the Liverpool midfielders to own:

(read below)

Salah (20/21) vs Mane (20/21)

Mins per shot inside the box: 33.73 vs 34.15
Mins per big chance: 96.4 vs 111
Mins per big chance created: 224.8 vs 333
Mins per chance created: 49.9 vs 57.9

Even though Mane’s numbers in comparison to his numbers in the yesteryears have...