Fantasy Football Week 24 – 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.
Premier League matches are coming thick and fast following the mid-week action of gameweek 23. Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s matches earned plenty of points for players recommended in our previous article, 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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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!
Last Week’s Winner!
Last week’s winner was Nick Bramwell’s “2 Stars BaaGrade”, who bagged himself £20 in bet365 free bets and, most importantly, an FST Mug!
January’s Winner!
January’s overall winner was Mark Aldridge’s “Brazilliant F.C”, who also scored himself an FST Mug alongside £50 in bet365 free bets!
Who to Buy
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Romelu Lukaku (Everton)/Everton Midfielders – Price: £9.6m/varied
Romelu Lukaku has declined in popularity somewhat since his peak price of £9.9m in gameweek 12. Though he’s failed to either score or assist in both of Everton’s last two matches, he’s still in reasonable form with three goals, one assist and four bonus points in his last six matches. Everton have, potentially, the most favourable set of fixtures of any Premier League side in the coming weeks; five of their upcoming six matches are rated 2 or lower on the FDR (Fixture Difficulty Ranking), four of which are at home, where the Toffees excel (W5 D4 L1) and are averaging almost 2 goals scored per game. Everton face Bournemouth at Goodison Park this Saturday, who have conceded 2 or more goals in six of their last seven Premier League matches, so expect a return to form for the Belgian striker here. Hence, midfielders Kevin Mirallas, Ross Barkley and young prodigy Tom Davies should all also warrant consideration.
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Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea) – Price: £7.2m
Swansea are much improved with three wins in their last four Premier League matches and Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson has been at the centre of it all – Sigurdsson has scored two, assissted two and earnt 5 bonus points over these fixtures. Even more impressive is that Sigurdsson has scored or assisted 51% of Swansea’s goals this term. With five of the Swans’ next seven fixtures being rated two or lower on the FDR, expect him to be a sound investment for just £7.2m of your budget.
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Tom Heaton (Burnley) – Price: £5.0m
Tom Heaton leapfrogged Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to the the highest scoring goalkeeper top spot with an impressive clean sheet and 2 bonus points (9 points total) in Burnley’s 1-0 win at home to Leicester City on Tuesday. Burnley may not have kept as many clean sheets as Chelsea, but with Heaton putting in some serious shifts between the sticks, his 2 bonus points earned during the week, taking him to 18 bonus points total, were enough to surpass the record held by Vito Mannone for Sunderland in the 2013/14 season (16 bonus points total). With just under half the season remaining, Heaton’s consistency (and Burnley’s consistency at Turf Moor) should see him continue to better this record.
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Peter Crouch (Stoke City) – Price: £4.9m
Peter Crouch became the oldest player to score 100 Premier League goals during Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw at home to Everton. Two-meter Peter has been on fire since being reintroduced into Stoke’s starting 11 in gameweek 18. His four goals, two assists and 6 bonus points make him one of the most inform strikers in the Premier League and for just £4.9m he’s an absolute steal (even if used as a benched reserve). Stoke also have a decent run of matches ahead, with three of their next four being rated 2 or lower on the FDR.
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Scott Dann (Crystal Palace) – Price: £5.2m
Crystal Palace kept their first clean sheet under manager Big Sam is last weekend’s 2-0 win away to Bournemouth (and just their second this season). Scott Dann got his third goal of the season (his first goal since gameweek 5) and earnt maximum bonus points to earnt himself a spot in the “Dream Team”, but what makes Dann particularly notable as a defender is his 18 goal attempts produced inside the opposition’s box – the highest of any other FPL defender. Palace have signed Liverpool’s Sakho and Sunderland’s Patrick van Aanholt over the January window, so they’re clearly looking to improve defensive stability, and with five of Palace’s next six matches being rated 2 or lower on the FDR, now would be the perfect time to invest in him.
Who to Bench
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Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Fan favourite Sergio Aguero (19.6% ownership) undoubtedly has moments of class. However, he just hasn’t been able to justify his position as the most expensive player in Premier League Fantasy (£12.8m) so far this season. Not only are there too many cheaper, more in-form and consistent strikers available, such as, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.6m), Harry Kane (£11.1m) or Romelu Lukaku (£9.6m), but last Wednesday’s 4-0 win away to West Ham saw Aguero benched in place for youngster Gabriel Jesus. With the added risk of not starting matches due to Pep Guardiola’s squad rotation, we’d steer clear of the Argentinian.
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Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
One goal and three assists from Chelsea’s last six matches is by no means awful, but it’s not quite enough from one of the most expensive players (£10.2m) in Premier League Fantasy, especially considering he’s only earnt 2 of those crucial bonus points over the same period. Chelsea’s range of other alternative attacking players on the wing, such as, Willian (£7.1m), Victor Moses (£5.6m) and Marcos Alonso (£6.6m) also lower his potential. Not to mention that Chelsea have a tricky fixture at home to Arsenal this weekend.
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Adam Lallana (Liverpool)
Adam Lallana has undoubtedly had a blinding season so far. Seven goals, six assists and 13 bonus points make him one of the highest earning midfielders from the mid-range budget. However, Liverpool didn’t win a Premier League match in January and Lallana is now four matches without a goal or assist, so there is some cause for concern. Especially when there’s the option of a more inform alternatives in the same price range, for example, Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson or Stoke’s Marko Arnautovic.
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Hector Bellerin (Arsenal)
Hector Bellerin (14.8% ownership) saw himself benched for last Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Watford. Not only does this bring up obvious doubts to whether or not the young Spaniard will return this weekend, but Arsenal have potentially the trickiest fixture ahead of them this Saturday with a match away to league leaders Chelsea. Simply put, Arsenal’s defensive instability (just 30% clean sheets) cannot justify his £6.5m price tag.
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Phil Jones (Manchester United), Virgil van Dijk (Southampton), Jan Vertonghen (Spurs), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland), Charlie Daniels (Bournemouth)
All of the above are some of the latest potential absentees ahead of Gameweek 24, 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.