How reliable is popularity? Herd intelligence is a funny animal. In theory, it's genius - follow the most popular picks, and you'll have the perfect team. In essence, it suffers some basic flaws. It's often slow to react to change; the fact that 14% of teams still have the injured Robert Snodgrass speaks volumes. It can also predict wrongly from time to time; 4.1% of teams picked Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone, but it's Kieran Westwood who's in goal for them at the moment, 0.6% of teams have him. Also, it's pretty much impossible for any team to pick the 11 most popular players. The combined price of these 11 players is £89m, leaving just £11m for 4 other players. £16m is needed for 4 players, so this combination is statistically impossible at this time. This little guide suggests which of the 11 buys you should have in your team, and which players are unlikely to deliver. Value-per-pound, playing schedules, injury tendency's and point-scoring potentials are all noted, along with how likely they are to play and score. In short, we take you through the essential statistics, and break them down into manageable figures at the end, so you can compare them.
Diarmuid is a freelance student and studious sports journalist operating out of the wilds of Dublin, Ireland. His specialist subjects include the English Premier League, the GAA, and track and field athletics.
