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            <p>Sky Sports Fantasy Football managers will be given 50 transfers this year and a chance to completely change their sides during the overhaul - but what if we told you it may be possible to win the game without using any transfers at all?</p>
<p>Well, it was easily possible last season. And we can prove it.</p>
<p>In this article, Hub statistician Carl Weeks takes a look at last season's optimal Sky sides, which could have won the whole game without the need to make any transfers!</p>
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<h2>Last year's winning score</h2>
<p>Over the season there were 123 matchdays, eight the first overhaul, 59 more before the second overhaul and 56 after the second overhaul.</p>
<p>The overall winning score - by Mark Wisdish - was an incredible 3,670 but could we have done better.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/how-sky-sports-fantasy-football-winner-2021-22-mark-wisdish-won-the-game"><strong>Mark Wisdish: How I won Sky Fantasy Football 2021/22</strong></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/reigning-sky-champion-mark-wisdish-reveals-his-draft-team-for-2022-23-season"><strong>Reigning Sky champion reveals his first Sky draft</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>To aid my analysis, I have produced an optimisation model. This has been inspired by <a href="https://twitter.com/sertalpbilal">@sertalpbilal</a> - who produces some great analytical tools and YouTube videos on the subject.</p>
<div id="attachment_46937" style="width: 1131px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-46937" class="wp-image-46937 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Sky-FF-leaderboard.jpg" alt="" width="1121" height="643" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-46937" class="wp-caption-text">Mark Wisdish won Sky 2021/22 with a score of 3,670 points...but need he have bothered making any transfers?</p>
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<h2>Optimal scenarios</h2>
<p>I looked at four different scenarios, as outlined below:</p>
<p>- <strong>Optimal team</strong> - making transfers throughout the season based on modelling</p>
<p>- <strong>Optimal team restricted to five at the back</strong> - as above but restricted to a 5-3-2 formation</p>
<p>- <strong>No transfers</strong> - making changes to the team at overhaul only</p>
<p>- <strong>Team of the Season</strong> - no changes to the team at all, including at overhaul.</p>
<p>For the optimal teams, I used what is called a backward-looking optimisation model.</p>
<p>Knowing how many points each player scored during each matchday, I could work out the optimal transfers which would have scored the most points.</p>
<p>There are millions of different combinations, so I used a mathematical technique called linear programming to solve work it all out.</p>
<p>Linear programming requires an objective (maximising total points), decision variables (starting 11, transfers and captains) and a number of linear constraints (spend within a budget, have 11 players, captain choice, valid formation, etc.).</p>
<p>This would be impossible to do in real life, given it involves making the best choices throughout the season. But it is useful to analyse the types of decisions we make with our own sides.</p>
<h2>Winning Sky without making a single transfer</h2>
<p>The team of the season I came up with would have scored 3,746 points - 76 points ahead of eventual winner Mark.</p>
<p>The players themselves scored 2,586 points, plus an additional 1,160 points for captaincy.</p>
<p>The 11 were as follows:</p>
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<p><em><strong>Sign up to view Carl's team of the season which would have won Sky without the need for using any transfers </strong></em></p>
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How Sky Fantasy Football could be won without using any transfers | Carl Weeks

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