As we come into the final weeks of the season, there is still all to play for at both ends of the table. Crystal Palace can effectively rule themselves out of the relegation battle after their 1-0 win over Norwich at the weekend lifted them 10 points above 18th-placed Sunderland. However, they will be keen to reach the hallowed 40-point mark for the welcome of Everton on Wednesday night as both teams play catch up following their FA Cup exertions.
The pair will look to secure maximum points and gain a head of steam ahead of their respective semi-finals in England’s grand cup competition, yet it’s not just the teams who have plenty to play for. Football fans across the country can put their knowledge of the game to good use by signing up to BuaBook now. Their match markets will make even the most tiresome games interesting, as players values can change with every touch of the ball. You can trade on your phone, tablet or laptop while you watch.
BuaBook is the first player trading market. Traders can buy and sell shares in football players to make real money.
There are two markets; a season long market, trading the amount of value a player will generate over the course of the season, and a single Match market where you are just trading what the player will earn in that game. All players’ values are generated from stats, and we’re here to break that down for you. If they play well, a player’s value will rise, if they play badly, it will fall, with the prices updated in real time.
With all prices determined by stats, any from accurate passes, fouls won and interceptions can drive a price up, while the likes of inaccurate passes, fouls conceded and yellow cards can see a player’s price decrease, so it is worth studying the market to find the best bargains. If you make the right picks, you – the user – can reap the benefits on BuaBook.
The key to success is to consider the statistics that carry the most value, while bearing in mind a player’s position on the pitch. For example, any player that scores a goal (worth £1.00) will get a significant price boost, though strikers are of course your most likely route to profit in this instance. A forward will also see their value rise if they register an assist (£0.60) but also must avoid committing too many fouls or turning over possession as this will have a detrimental effect.
As for defenders, a clean sheet carries the same value as a goal (£1.00), so that is key to consider when trading shares. Statistics such as clearances, duels won and interceptions will also help to build value, while midfielders have a mix of attacking and defensive statistics to gain or indeed lose value, with a high involvement and good pass accuracy often important to a positive value.
Ahead of the Premier League meeting between Crystal Palace and Everton, we at WhoScored.com will give you an insight into how the match market works and help develop a better understanding of this unique concept.
Click here for the full match preview
Victory over Norwich ended a run of 14 games without a win for Palace and will have come as a huge boost to Alan Pardew and his team. However, in the upcoming match market I’d resist the temptation of buying any of Palace’s strikers. Only a handful of teams have scored fewer goals than Palace (35) in the Premier League this season, while their three top scorers have netted no more than five goals.
While offloading shares in strikers is often a risk, as a goal could see a significant loss, there’s value to be made in the sell market if you’re sure that said player won’t have a decisive impact. On BuaBook you only trade with 20% so you can lose more then you bet, so if you are not comfortable try trading small sizes like 3-4 shares and keep an eye on the total amount you have traded. If you’re new to the game and deposit £20, start trading with £5 until you get to grips with the basics.
If you can successfully back a goalscorer though, a player’s value will rise significantly and it’s for this reason it may be worth considering a move for Scott Dann ahead of Palace’s welcome of Everton. The centre-back is one of three players to score five goals for the Eagles in the Premier League this season and netted in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
The Toffees have made a habit of conceding sloppy goals from set pieces this season, while Dann has emerged as one of Palace’s primary threats from free-kick situations. In this instance, however, it’s best to trade with caution as an Everton goal would severely hinder any chances of making a profit if Dann fails to find the net at the other end. Conceding a goal will see a defenders value drop by £0.20 and a midfielders by £0.10.
However, when factoring in Jason Puncheon’s return to fitness, the Eagles have an effective route to goal, while Dann’s proactiveness will also help boost his defensive price. Only centre-back teammate Damien Delaney (6.5) is making more clearances per game than Dann (5.2) of all Palace regulars in the Premier League this season. With a clearance valued at £0.02, it can be a tidy little earner, particularly if a defender is under ample pressure, but capable of clearing the ball.
A prime example would be Younes Kaboul’s 25 clearances against Leicester at the weekend, which alone will have earned the Sunderland centre-back an extra 0.50 on his in-play share price. Of course this relies on Dann’s reading of the game, but given his defensive qualities and knack for popping up with a goal at the right end of the pitch, he may be worth taking a low value punt on despite the fact that Palace look unlikely to keep a clean sheet.
Of course, with Palace’s disappointing home form, it’s a risk to invest in Dann ahead of Wednesday’s welcome of Everton, but for a low cost, it could pay off. With the ability to sell shares in-play, depending on how the match develops, Dann could prove to be a shrewd buy. Indeed, if the centre-backs value were to drop following an Everton goal, he may be worth buying at a low cost around the £0.10 mark, given that if he did grab a goal thereafter from a set piece - as he did in the reverse fixture - you’d be in for a significant profit.
However, if you’re looking for a more guaranteed pick up, you could do much worse than Romelu Lukaku. Only Harry Kane (22) and Jamie Vardy (21) have netted more Premier League goals than Lukaku (18) this season and while he has failed to net in his previous three top-flight outings, the Belgian is still capable of hitting the target when it’s required.
With Lukaku sure to be the top traded player tonight, it’s worth keeping an eye on the market in-play. For example, if he were to fail to score early on Lukaku’s price will drop. A tip in this instance then, is that Lukaku has scored 5 of his 18 goals this season in the 15 minutes before half-time - more than any other player in the league. I’d buy just before the half hour mark as a result, if shares are available south of £0.50. Given Buabook’s 20% trading margin, this would only take £0.10 from your balance initially, though if Lukaku’s game earnings were to end at £0, the full amount will be deducted. Moreover, if you buy and don’t think he will score, you can also try to sell him back to avoid further losses.
Like Dann, Lukaku netted in the previous meeting between these two sides, though as previously mentioned, goals aren’t the only determining factor for a striker’s rise in price. Shots on target are also valued at £0.06 per effort and if Lukaku can muster the attempts on goal, this too could quickly build up his in-play price.
The graph below shows that before Lukaku’s 79th minute opener his value was actually negative (-£0.25 in value), trading at £0.12 per share at the time. His goal saw him finish the game at £0.70, so buyers made £0.58 per share. With 20% margin that works out at 29 times return, so £5 on Lukaku could have bought 208 shares, which would have won over £120. If he hadn’t scored from that point, however, and finished at -£0.25 you would have lost £25 as the most you can lose on a Buy trade is 5 times your money.
With big money to be won in Buabook's match markets, depending on who you fancy as favourites to secure victory, either Dann or Lukaku could be handy pick ups ahead of the meeting at Selhurst Park.
