Hope everyone had a profitable week on Football Index (FI). It’s been a rollercoaster week with Morata & Lukaku swapping teams every minute but hopefully your drinking fund remains intact. Following last week’s article explaining the Performance Buzz, I’ll discuss how existing traders and potential joiners can profit from the Performance Buzz.

Firstly, finding value is key, the OPTA stats are the basis of the PB pay-outs so these need to be understood. The two best websites to use are Squawka.com or Whoscored.com. Both give player breakdowns & top players over the 5 main European leagues.

It’s not guaranteed that players who performed well last season will replicate the same this season but it’s a guide of where to invest.

Below are the top ten players to help analysis, the usual suspects appear but some surprises too. Since the PB announcement the top-rated players have all increased by 30% on average. However, I believe value still exists, Thiago of Bayern Munich is a great example. He’s currently £1.30, if he wins 6 of the overall PB buzzes it would be a ROI of 32%. PB potentially protects players who don’t play in the Premisership so encouraging calculated risks on European bargains as they’re under-priced. Comparing Dzeko for £1 to Sturridge £1.21 shows this value.

Secondly PB has fundamentally changed defenders and goalkeeper’s valuations (increased by 40% on average). Before defensive players were completely overlooked (besides transfer rumours), PB gives them the same dividend payout as attacking players.

They’re 40 Goalkeepers and Defenders overall with full backs being undervalued. Only 28 defenders qualify for PB due to the leagues they play in, so there’s a 1/28 chance of winning PB for defenders as opposed to 1/90 for midfielders. Highly rated defenders could easily win 5+ Opta buzzes over a season, around 30-35% ROI.

Goalkeepers could be even more lucrative, as they get 20 points for blocked shots. So busy goalkeepers like Schmeichel could score highly, once traders realise all this, money will start flowing in. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see £3 Defender/GK before the end of the season versus an average of 90p currently.

Looking at the stats I believe Alaba, Valencia, Mendy & Sandro are good investments. I’ve made a ROI of 43% on Alaba and more potential remains.

Thirdly you need to work the odds in your favour. The payout structure is below but the best pay-outs occur when fewer games clash in the top leagues meaning less PB competition. This gives Ligue 1 an advantage, as it clashes the least with other leagues.

The major teams play on Friday nights, so Cavani and Falcao are good investments. Even Balotelli increased last week and he’s bound to break into a convent or set fire to myself so media points too.

The number of FI players in the Europa league looks to be around 35 playing on Thursday nights so pay-outs will be high. Arsenal players could be lucrative if they reach the final with media buzzes also. I believe near the start of the season people will start to invest heavily in Europa League players like these so it’s worth locking-in value early.

It’s a great time for FI currently with a lot of opportunities to make money. I am making such good money on FI that I will soon be able to tell my wife honestly how much I am investing. Next week I will delve into how you can develop your own FI strategy, long-term or short-term. The advantages and disadvantages of each and how to minimise risk and maximise returns.

Football INDEX is a stockmarket game where players, known as Traders, take a position on the “future success” of footballers with real money – CLICK HERE to play and start winning