Fantasy Football Week 21 – All You Need to Know
![Fantasy Football Week 21 – All You Need to Know](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/fantasy_football-768x403.png)
A lifelong Birmingham City fan, Tom relocated to Germany for five years after graduating from university, where his interest in the Bundesliga developed. He began writing about and betting on German football for FST in 2016. He's also an avid fantasy football player and closely follows the Premier League and European competitions.
After the fast turnover of Premier League football over Gameweeks 18, 19 and 20, last weekend’s FA Cup matches provided some much needed rest for some 1st team players. With the African Cup of Nations beginning this weekend, there will, however, be some notable absentees for the upcoming weeks. Find out more below for our tips on who to buy and who to bench for this weekend, alongside our recent winners!
Join Our League!
If you haven’t joined the FST Fantasy Football League already then follow the link below to be in with a chance of winning weekly, monthly or even our yearly prize! Read more to see our recommendations for the upcoming matches!
Recent Winners!
With so many Premier League matches over the Christmas period and into the new year, there were plenty of winners from the FST Fantasy Football League. Gameweek 18’s, 19’s and 20’s winners are shown below. Each of these fantasy managers bagged themselves £20 in bet365 free bets and, most importantly, an FST Mug!
December’s Winner!
December’s overall winner was Asingura Billy’s “alphabest2nd edition”, who also scored himself an FST Mug alongside £50 in bet365 free bets!
Who to Buy
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Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) – Price: £8.6m
While Alexis Sanchez’s popularity has soared due to his status as the player with the highest total score in Premier League Fantasy (37% of fantasy managers own him), his recent switch back into a role on the wing actually makes Olivier Giroud the more appealing Arsenal player to own. Giroud has been in better form for a fantasy player, scoring three, one of which is no doubt a goal of the season contender, and assisting two from his last three starts. He’s also taken the lion’s share (7) of the bonus points over the same number of fixtures (two lots of 2 bonus points and one 3 pointer). With four of Arsenal’s next five fixtures being rated 2 or lower on the FDR (Fixture Difficulty Ranking), starting with a match away to relegation fighting Swansea this Saturday, we wouldn’t be against having both of them in your side either.
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Dele Alli (Tottenham) – Price: £8.5m
Dele Alli was on fire over the Christmas period, scoring a massive seven goals and taking 9 bonus points over his last four outings for Tottenham. His performances in recent weeks have drawn comparison to the likes of Gerrard, Scholes and Lampard, but Alli has reached 20 Premier League goals far quicker (52 matches) than these legends (Scholes took 74 matches, Lampard 140 matches and Gerrard 169). After a 2-0 win at home to rivals and league leaders Chelsea last weekend – in which Alli scored both – Spurs are prepared for any challenge and this man finds himself at the center of it all.
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Danny Rose (Tottenham) – Price: £6.0m
Tottenham are in top form and despite only keeping two clean sheets from their last five, Danny Rose has found himself raking in the points outside of the limelight. Most fantasy managers opt for Kyle Walker when taking a Spurs full back (32% selected), however, Rose (8.5% selected) actually has a better points per match ratio having missed a few fixtures earlier in the season. Rose has earnt fewer than 4 points in only one of his last seven starts for Tottenham thanks to his four clean sheets, two assists, one goal and 3 bonus points over the same period.
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Romelu Lukaku (Everton) – Price: £9.5m
Romelu Lukaku has declined in popularity after a patchy spell of just 2 goals (both in a brace against Watford) over seven matches between gameweek 11 to 17. However, his two goals, an assist and 4 bonus points (two 2 point hauls) from his last three matches see a return to form for the Belgian. Everton do have a tricky fixture at home to Manchester City on the weekend, but City are a side who are becoming notorious for defensive mistakes. Not to mention that Lukaku already has a goal under his belt against them earlier this season.
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Junior Stanislas (Bournemouth) – Price: £5.2m
For those needing a budget transfer in for this weekend, look no further than Bournemouth’s Junior Stanislas. Bournemouth have a very favorable fixture against bottom of the table Hull City on Saturday following their impressive 3-3 draw at home to Arsenal last time out. Stanislas has seemed to solidify his starting 11 placement with an assist in each of Bournemouth’s last two matches, marking his best Premier League season ever with three goals and six assists from his 12 appearances so far.
Who to Bench
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Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Liverpool will be without the in-form Sadio Mane for this Sunday’s crucial match away to Manchester United – Mane has been called up for international duty for Senegal at the African Cup of Nations. Though Liverpool have had 12 different Premier League goal scorers this season, none of them have netted as many as Mane (9 goals), with only Tottenham’s Dele Alli having scored more from midfield (10 goals).
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Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Wilfried Zaha is another who’s off to the African Cup of Nations, a huge blow for the struggling and injury riddled Crystal Palace. Zaha has represented England non-competitively in 2013 but will be representing Ivory Coast at the competitive level in the coming weeks. Fantasy managers should capitalise on his increased £5.7m price tag by transferring him out while he’s on international duty.
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Nathan Ake (Chelsea)
Nathan Ake showed a lot of development at Bournemouth after working his way into the starting 11 in gameweek 12. For a budget defender (£4.4m), he was a must have for as many as 370,000 fantasy managers, scoring three goals, keeping three clean sheets and earning 8 bonus points over his last eight appearances. However, the young Dutch defender will surely lack for game time after after his immediate loan call back from Chelsea this week.
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Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Kevin De Bruyne does hold the top spot for most assists so far this season, but he has simply not been a big enough point earner to warrant his £10.6m price tag. He’s undoubtedly one of the best creative players in the Premier League, however, without a goal in any of his last 14 appearances he has taken no more than 8 points in any one match.
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Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United), Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace)
All of the above are some of the latest doubtfuls ahead of Gameweek 21, though there are plenty of others to be aware of. Leaving doubtful players in your lineup in the hope that they are fit in time is a gamble, but it can sometimes have its reward. If you choose to take the risk then make sure to order your benched players, so if your doubtful player doesn’t feature, the players you want will automatically be subbed in after all this weekend’s matches are over.