Fantasy Football: Gallagher’s Chay Thornborough

Gameweek six (GW6) was a corker if you had Chelsea’s Cole Palmer in your team for the game against Brighton – and even better if you captained him.

For those who didn’t have the mercurial young forward, however, the week seemed a lot more fallow. 

So, before GW7 kicks off with Liverpool visiting Crystal Palace at 12.30 tomorrow, we spoke to Chay Thornborough, Gallagher’s account director for London corporate and UK retail, about his performance in the this year’s Insurance Times Fantasy Football League so far.

Thornborough currently sits in second, behind recent Fantasy Football Q&A star Phil Jarvis, development underwriter at Burns and Wilcox.

1. Congratulations on being in the top 10 for GW6, how do you rate your chances of staying there for the season?

Slim – it’s a long season and my team’s defence is really not as strong as it could be.

Lots could go wrong and getting the captaincy correct is often key. The upside is that there are a few proven big names in my team, such as Salah and Haaland, who will hopefully continue to show their class all season.

2. What are the key decisions to make ahead of GW7?

The major decision is whether to bring in Solanke this week before he gets too pricey – Spurs also have a good run ahead – and whether to captain Haaland or Palmer.

I am leaning towards Palmer at the moment after his last big haul, but there is an argument to leave Haaland as captain every week because he is just so reliable.

I would like to find a way to get Saka in the team, but it is not easily possible at the moment!

3. Who would you call out as an under-rated player for everyone’s Fantasy squad?

Jadon Sancho – Chelsea. He’s on fire at the moment and is linking up really well with Palmer.

Chelsea has such a deep squad that I hope he can continue to get the playing minutes.

Brennan Johnson from Spurs is another midfield player in good form that is reasonably priced. I suspect both of these players have very low ownership currently, which could make them good differentiators.

4. Who or what would you like to call out in the insurance industry?

Shout out to all my colleagues at Gallaghers, fellow FPL players worldwide, Insurance Times and the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, which do some great work.

• Have you spotted yourself in the top 10 of the Insurance Times Fantasy Football League? We’d love to hear from you. Please do get in contact with deputy editor Yiannis Kotoulas at Yiannis.Kotoulas@InsuranceTimes.co.uk