The Offside Fantasy League: Naughty Boys

By: Daryl | March 21st, 2008

Alan Smith bad discipline Another weekend of Premiership action means another round of The Offside Fantasy League. And since Man Utd host Liverpool and Chelsea host Arsenal on Sunday, it’s pointless making any predictions. With the big four going at each other pretty much anything could happen.

But I can tell you this: Fantasy football is all about scoring points. So the last thing you want to be doing is losing in points. And that’s exactly what happens when your players pick up yellow and red cards. It’s -2 for a yellow and -6 for a red. Plus they get a suspension, which means using your weekly free transfer to replace them. So below is a quick guide to the Premier League’s most booked players, so you know who to avoid.

Here’s are the top 21 players ranked by how many fantasy points they’ve lost through bad behavior this season. Cards are colour coded, but you probably knew that already.

Alan Smith 8 1 -22pts
Nigel Reo-Coker 8 1 -22pts
Nicky Butt 10 -20pts
Lee Bowyer 7 1 -20 pts
Sulley Ali Muntari 4 2 -20pts
El Hadji Diouf 10 -20pts
Christopher Samba 9 -18pts
David Dunn 6 1 -18 pts
Michael Brown 9 -18pts
Papa Bouba Diop 8 -16pts
Sean Davis 8 -16pts
Kevin Nolan 8 -16pts
Liam Ridgewell 8 -16pts
John Obi Mikel 5 1 -16pts
George Boateng 8 -16pts
Dietmar Hamann 8 -16pts
Francesc Fabregas 8 -16pts
Ryan Nelsen 2 2 -16pts
Gary O’Neil 8 -16pts
Carlton Cole 8 -16pts
Michael Essien 5 1 -16pts

Some players you can forgive. For example I’d argue that Sulley Muntari is still worth considering. Despite being the fifth worst offender, he’s also scored 403 fantasy points, and only costs £7m. But if you were even contemplating considering thinking about maybe adding Alan Smith to your team, then hopefully the above will persuade you otherwise. Not only is Smudger the joint worst offender in terms of points lost, the Newcastle man only has 69 pts total to his name all season, despite playing 26 games and costing £9.4m. Avoid.