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THE winner of the October Manager of the Month award in our popular fantasy football league will be decided this weekend and it’s still all to play for.

Sinéad Tangney currently leads the way on 138 following her impressive 73-point haul in Gameweek 9. Usual suspects Harry Kane and Nicolás Otamendi chipped in with 16 and 15 points respectively, while a sneaky nine-pointer from Bournemouth’s Andrew Surman was a nice bonus. Things could have been even better for Sinéad: she had Newcastle pair Rob Elliot and Jamaal Lascelles, who combined for 13 points, on the bench.

Second-placed Jason O’Grady had an even better week as his brave decision to captain Harry Kane helped him to a whopping total of 83. City stars Otamendi and Leroy Sané also provided big scores as Jason shot up the table. He now finds himself just three points off the leader in our monthly table.

In third, Daniel Foley, Finn Kennelly and Mark O’Keeffe are all on 133 and still very much in the hunt, as is everyone in the top 20 really.

As October is a shortened month in terms of Premier League football, and with things so close at the top, this represents a great opportunity for more casual players to challenge for the big monthly prize: a €50 voucher for Brian James.

It’ll be interesting to see if any special tactics will be employed by the people in contention, such as utilising the once-per-season bonuses of ‘Bench Boost’ (which counts the scores of your substitutes as well as your starters), ‘Free Hit’ (which allows you to make unlimited free transfers for a single Gameweek) and ‘Triple Captain’ (which triples your captain’s points).

There are also big decisions to be made in terms of transfers and team selection. Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, two of the most signed players in Gameweek 9, were both dropped for last weekend’s win over Burnley so they might be on the chopping block for fantasy managers, as might Tottenham’s Ben Davies who features in 21% of fantasy teams but in real life is facing stiff opposition from the likes of Serge Aurier and the returning Danny Rose.

Choosing the right captain is always a huge factor but two of the most popular options, Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane, go head-to-head this weekend as United play Spurs on Saturday morning.