Singapore resident beats 3.5 million Fantasy Premier League players

Simon March, an Englishman who has been living in Singapore for the last three years, has beaten 3.5 million other Fantasy Premier League players from around the globe to be crowned world champion for his uncanny predictions.

The prize for March, an expat from London, is an all-expenses paid trip to the UK to see a Barclays Premier League match of his choice.

March, who works as a senior digital marketing executive, is likely to choose a Chelsea match as he has been a fan of the club for 28 years.

He will also be attending the two Saturday night matches of the Barclays Asia Trophy 2015 in Singapore, watching EPL teams in action in the flesh.

March said: "Watching live football is one of the things I miss the most about the UK so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some Premier League football in Singapore.

March's 2,470 points in the contest was enough for his team "Atletico Marchid**" to finish 21 points clear of a field of more than 3.5 million managers, the most in any Fantasy Premier League season.

March gives some insight as to how to win Fantasy Premier League below:

Who is your first name on the team-sheet?
This might surprise a few but, currently, Wayne Rooney is the first name on my team sheet for next season. Close contenders would be Eden Hazard, Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez but there are some doubts as to whether the latter two will start the season after their Copa America efforts. Meanwhile Rooney offers certainty of starts and has an excellent scoring record against each of his first three opponents; Tottenham, Aston Villa and Newcastle.

Which players offer the best value?
Despite the inevitable price-hike, Harry Kane will still offer great value at 9.5m if he can replicate last season's form at Spurs and, at 8.5m and 8m respectively, Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke both have real bargain potential for the Forward positions.

Jordan Henderson is increasingly central to Liverpool's attacking play and looks great value at 7m as does his goalkeeping teammate Simon Mignolet at 5m. Elsewhere, it will be interesting to see how the Arsenal and Man City midfields shape up with lots of strong mid-priced options available, the picks perhaps being Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Yaya Toure, all priced at 8.5m.

In the budget category, in the absence of Ben Foster, Boaz Myhill offers a cheap route into Tony Pulis's West Brom defence at 4.5m. Newcastle, Stoke and Sunderland offer sources of potential budget value throughout their squads if they can find form this season. From the newly-promoted sides, Bournemouth may offer the most interesting budget attacking options with Callum Wilson (5.5m), Christian Atsu (5.5m) and Matt Ritchie (6m) all offering potential.

Which players could be the differential to winning Fantasy Premier League?
Manchester United's Juan Mata. While he's far from an unknown, he tends to be overlooked as a Fantasy asset due to doubts over his starting position. He now seems to have established himself in the Man United starting eleven and he's proven before that, when he plays, he scores points. Diafra Sakho showed a lot of promise in his first season at West Ham so I'll also be keeping an eye on how he performs under new manager Slaven Bilic. Finally, Jan Vertonghen's point-scoring potential at both ends of the pitch makes him an interesting outside bet at 5.5m if Spurs can bring greater solidity to their defence this season.

March on the best Fantasy Premier League talent on show at the Barclays Asia Trophy 2015:

Stoke City: Stoke's playing style is increasingly expansive and they offer a host of useful attacking assets such as Bojan Krkic, Marko Arnautovic and Jonathan Walters who is something of a 'cult favourite' among FPL managers. Charlie Adam showed great form in the latter part of last season and, if he can carry that into next season, he could be the one to watch. Stoke Star Fantasy Man: Charlie Adam.

BBeing a defender with an attacking output to rival most midfielders, Leighton Baines is a long-established favourite of Fantasy managers. Romelu Lukaku has huge potential and has already demonstrated his value as an FPL asset. If he can steer clear of injuries and maintain consistency, he looks kindly priced at 8m. Everton Star Fantasy Man: Romelu Lukaku.

They have an incredible depth of attacking talent in the likes of Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil and they'll no-doubt cause some selection headaches among Fantasy managers. The arrival of Petr Cech in goal should further strengthen Arsenal from a defensive point-of-view. Arsenal Star Fantasy Man: Aaron Ramsey.

March's Barclays Asia Trophy First XI:

March was asked to choose three players each from Arsenal, Everton and Stoke City, as well as two from the Singapore Select XI. This is his team in a 3-4-3 formation:

GK: Izwan Mahbud (Singapore XI)

DEF: Seamus Coleman (Everton)

DEF: Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)

DEF: Ryan Shawcross (Stoke)

MID: Charlie Adam (Stoke)

MID: Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

MID: Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal)

MID: Gerard Deulofeu (Everton)

FWD: Khairul Amri (Singapore XI)

FWD: Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke)

FWD: Romelu Lukaku (Everton)

chenj@sph.com.sg