Fantasy Football Week 22 – All You Need to Know
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.
There were plenty of goals in Gameweek 21, with as many as three 4-0, two 3-0 and two 3-1 scorelines to entertain us. Last weekend’s Premier League action earnt plenty of points for players recommended in our previous article and this weekend’s fixtures look set for more of the same, so read more below to see our recent winners and our tips for who to buy and who to bench for the upcoming matches!
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Last Week’s Winner!
Last week’s winner was Freeman Mensah’s “Freeman stars”, who bagged himself £20 in bet365 free bets and, most importantly, an FST Mug!
Who to Buy
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Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) – Price: £11.1m
Harry Kane is back to his best after a slow start to the season. Last weekend’s hattrick in Tottenham’s 4-0 win at home to West Bromwich Albion earnt him a massive 17 points and a spot in the “Dream Team” for the 2nd time in three gameweeks. Over the last four matches, Kane has earnt a huge 39 points (an average of just under 10 points per match) through six goals, one assist and 6 bonus points. Tottenham do have a tricky fixture away to Manchester City on the weekend, but City are a side who are becoming more and more notorious for defensive mistakes and Claudio Bravo’s shaky goalkeeping. Not to mention that following this match Spurs have a very winnable set of fixtures against Sunderland (away) and Middlesborough (home).
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Romelu Lukaku (Everton) – Price: £9.6m
Romelu Lukaku has declined in popularity since his peak price of £9.9m in gameweek 12, but with three goals, an assist and four bonus points in his last four matches, his return to form has started to peak some interest. Everton have, potentially, the most favourable set of fixtures of any Premier League side in the coming weeks, with all of their next five matches being rated 2 or lower on the FDR (Fixture Difficulty Rating), so midfielders Kevin Mirallas (£6.0m) and Ross Barkley (£7.0m) should warrant attention too. Against a Crystal Palace side that are 7 matches without a clean sheet this Saturday, Lukaku should fancy himself to add to his growing tally.
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Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) – Price: £8.3m
Featuring off the bench at Manchester United last Sunday after a spell sidelined, Philippe Coutinho could be unleashed this weekend. Before his injury, Coutinho was averaging one of the highest fantasy scores of 6.4 points per match and returned doubled digits in three of his last four home appearances. When assessed against his 2015/16 performances, Coutinho’s average shots inside the penalty area (from 1.6 to 1.5) and efforts on target (1.2 to 1.1) are almost identical, but the Brazilian has been more clinical this term (7.2% to 10.0%). Against a Swansea side who have allowed opponents the most “big chances” (30) in away outings, he offers some decent potential.
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Chelsea Defenders – Price: varied
Chelsea were on a thirteen match winning run – keeping a clean sheet in ten of these – before their 2-0 defeat away to Tottenham the weekend before last. Chelsea bounced back, however, with a convincing 3-0 win against Leicester last time out, despite the absence of Diego Costa. We saw Chelsea’s back three once again produce unrivaled defensive stability, with wing back Marcos Alonso (£6.6m) earning himself a spot in the limelight. Alonso’s relentless forward raids offer attacking potential – his two goals, one clean sheet and 3 bonus points earnt him a huge 21 points last time out – and he has only finished a match with less than six points in three of his 15 starts for Chelsea. Azpilicueta (£6.6m) is the most popular of the Chelsea back line (20.8% owned) and has earnt the highest number of bonus points (15) of any fantasy defender. Gary Cahill stands behind both of the former, but is slightly cheaper (£6.4m) and has a solid balance between goals scored (2) and bonus points earnt (9).
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Dusan Tadic (Southampton) – Price: £7.0m
Having scored only one goal this season, there isn’t much surprise that Southampton midfielder Dusan Tadic sits in only 1% of FPL squads. However, Tadic has upped his goal threat considerably since returning to Claude Puel’s starting 11 in gameweek 19. The playmaker’s ten attempts on goal over the last three matches ranks joint-third behind Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez (£11.9m) and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba (£8.5m), while his attempts from within the penalty-area have more than doubled (0.9 to 2.0), indicating a much more forward role. Southampton face a Leicester side who have kept just one clean sheet in away matches, conceding 21 times in 10 on the road, so he should be looking to get on the scoresheet.
Who to Bench
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Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Fan favourite Sergio Aguero (21.8% ownership) undoubtedly has moments of class. However, he just hasn’t been able to justify his name as the most expensive player in Premier League Fantasy (£12.8m) so far this season. Simply put, Manchester City’s form has not helped his cause and there are enough cheaper, more in-form and currently more consistent strikers available, such as, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.6m), Harry Kane (£11.1m), Romelu Lukaku (£9.6m), Olivier Giroud (£8.7m) and Jermaine Defoe (£7.9m), to make him a viable consideration.
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Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Though one goal and two assists from his last four matches is by no means awful, it’s not quite enough from one of the most expensive players (£10.4m) in Premier League Fantasy, especially considering he’s only earnt 2 of those crucial bonus points over the same period. Chelsea do have an extremely favourable fixture at home to Hull City on Sunday, but a range of other alternative in-form attacking Chelsea midfielders like Willian (£7.2m) and Pedro (£7.0m) lower his value and potential.
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Joe Allen (Stoke)
Joe Allen has already exceeded expectation this season with five goals, three assists and 9 bonus points. However, since being put back into a deeper role upon the return of Crouch, Arnautovic, Shaqiri and Walters, Allen hasn’t seen too much of the ball going forward. He’s by no means a liability, costing just £5.3m. However, a cheap winger like Bournmouths Junior Stanislas (£5.2m), who has scored one and assisted two in his last three matches is a much better alternative.
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Dimitri Payet (West Ham)
Dimitri Payet has failed to reach the same heights he did with the Hammers last season and following rumours that he “no longer wants to play for the club”, he was absent from the lineup last weekend. It seems now that West Ham have accepted the situation and that Payet could be on the way out, with a potential transfer back to Marseille on the cards. Expect him to remain absent from this weekend’s match away to Middlesborough.
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Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jan Vertonghen (Spurs), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
All of the above are some of the latest doubtfuls or AFCON absentees ahead of Gameweek 22, 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.
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