Fantasy Football Week 29 – 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.
Fantasy Premier League returns to normal this weekend with a full set of fixtures! Gameweek 28’s lack thereof proved tricky to navigate, but there were plenty of points to be gained from players recommended in our previous article. Read on to see our recent winners and our tips for who to buy and who to sell for the upcoming matches!
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!
Last Week’s Winner!
Last week’s winner was Barry Keogh’s “Sheworeayellowribbon”, who bagged himself £20 in bet365 free bets and, most importantly, an FST Mug!
Who to Buy
-
Romelu Lukaku (Everton) – Price: £10.3m
Romelu Lukaku’s 62 goals in an Everton shirt makes him the club’s highest scoring player of all time, but the Belgian has one more record in his sights this weekend – one goal would be enough to record his best ever Premier League season. Everton and Lukaku have been at their best at home (W9 D4 L1), with Lukaku scoring at least one goal in each of his last five outings at Goodison Park for a whopping 8 goals total, and a favourable fixture at home to Hull City this weekend gives the Belgian a prime opportunity to break his 19 goal record – Hull have lost 79% of their matches on the road (W1 D2 L11), conceding an average of 2.2 goals per away match on the road. Other Everton players, such as, Ross Barkley or Seamus Coleman, also warrant consideration.
-
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea) – Price: £7.7m
Swansea are much improved under manager Paul Clement, scoring at least one goal in all of their last seven Premier League outings. Swansea scoring and Gylfi Sigurdsson being involved come hand in hand these days – Siggy has scored or assisted 53% of Swansea’s goals this term. Sigurdsson also assisted Swansea’s only goal last weekend (earning himself 2 bonus points in the process), meaning the Icelandic international has now returned either a goal or an assist (one time both) in eight of Swansea’s last nine matches. With five of Swansea’s next six fixtures also being rated two or lower on the FDR (Fixture Difficulty Ranking), including this weekend’s trip to Bournemouth, who have failed to keep a clean sheet in any Premier League match in 2017, expect him to be a sound long-term investment for just £7.7m of your budget.
-
Jermain Defoe (Sunderland) – Price: £7.7m
Having scored just one goal in his last six starts, Defoe’s decline in popularity is understandable. But the English striker has a huge opportunity to re-emerge as an FPL asset this weekend. Burnley hold the worst away record in the Premier League (D2 L12) and are yet to record a clean sheet on their travels. In fact, Burnley have conceded a huge average of 2.1 goals per match in Premier League away days this season. Even with Defoe’s recent dry spell, his fourteen goals and three assists represent involvement in a massive 71% of The Black Cats’ goals this season – a huge contribution to Sunderland. Encouragingly, Sunderland also have a favourable run in of matches ahead, with four of their next five matches being rated two or less on the FDR.
-
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United) – Price: £8.8m
Mkhitaryan has had a slow start to his first season at Manchester United, but he has some decent potential this weekend against Middlesborough, who fired manager Aitor Karanka during the week. United are unbeaten in 17 consecutive Premier League matches and though the Armenian has only registered nine starts over this run, in part due to injury, he has contributed three goals and an assist. His performances in Europe have shown what he is capable of when at his best and he’s arguably the most talented attacking midfielder available to Mourinho this weekend. He should prove a decent differential for managers that want to buck the trend in midfield, especially as he’ll be one of the main attacking threats in the absence of Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
-
Manuel Lanzini (West Ham) – Price: £6.4m
Lanzini has adapted well in the West Ham midfield since the departure of Dimitri Payet during the January transfer window. Lanzini has scored three, assisted three and taken a massive 10 bonus points over his last eight matches (an average of 7.8 points per match) and he’s on track to record his best ever season in the Premier League. West Ham are also another side who have a “favourable” set of fixtures ahead – four of their next five matches are rated 2 or lower on the FDR.
Who to Sell
-
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United)
Following Manchester United’s last Premier League match at home to Bournemouth, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.4m) received a three-match ban for intentionally elbowing Bournemouth’s Tyrone Mings in an aerial clash. Ibrahimovic missed Monday’s FA Cup clash against Chelsea, and remains suspended for two important Premier League fixtures against Middlesbrough and West Brom. Given Zlatan will be illegible to play until Gameweek 31 (April 4th), we recommend using the £11.4m of your budget elsewhere.
-
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspurs)
Harry Kane limped off with an ankle ligament injury in Tottenham’s FA Cup quarter-final match at home to Millwall last Sunday. Manager Mauricio Pochettino has said that the injury is similar to that which Kane sustained in September last year. As of yet, only estimations have been given for when he’ll return, so get him transferred out.
-
Salomon Rondon (West Brom)
6% of Fantasy Premier League managers still have faith in West Brom’s Salomon Rondon. The Venezuelan forward is now twelve Premier League matches without a goal and even started on the bench last weekend against Everton. Given that he’s also only assisted once over the same number, Rondon has earned no more than 2 points in eleven of these. Saturday’s unfavourable fixture at home to Arsenal means we shouldn’t expect much more from him.
-
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’s generally poor start to 2017 sees Lallana now eight matches without a goal or assist. Hence, there is some cause for concern. Especially when there’s the option of more inform alternatives in the same price range, for example, in Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson.
-
Leighton Baines (Everton), Robert Snodgrass (West Ham), Matt Phillips (West Brom), Fernando Llorente (Swansea), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
All of the above are some of the latest potential absentees ahead of Gameweek 29, though there are 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. That way, if your doubtful player doesn’t feature, the players you want will automatically be subbed in after all this weekend’s matches are over.