Fantasy Football Tips 18/19: GW22 Options
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 a short hiatus, we welcome back league football with open arms this weekend! And with the January transfer window also wide open, you may see a few new (and familiar) faces in the Premier League…
Samir Nasri could feature in the opening match of gameweek 22 against Arsenal on Saturday, while Nathaniel Clyne is in contention to represent Bournemouth away to Everton on Sunday. Are either of these worth considering for Fantasy Premier League, though?
As always, we’ve also got extensive analysis on every Premier League game which we’ve used to find some of the best long-term and differential options available for Gameweek 22.
Be sure to bookmark and follow our weekly Fantasy Premier League blogs for fantasy football tips throughout the 18/19 season!
FST Gameweek 22 Line-up
GW21 Points: 45
Overall Points: 1,206
Overall Rank: 298,737
Total Players: 6,097,547
GW22 Fantasy Football Tips
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, £13.3m)
At the half-way mark in the season, Mo Salah is just under pace to reach his Fantasy Premier League record score of 303 points earned in 17/18. Five goals, three assists and seven bonus points in his last six league outings see him on a 151 point total – the highest number of any FPL player – and even with Firmino in form, he remains Liverpool’s most dangerous asset.
The Reds look to bounce back from their first Premier League defeat of the season – a 2-1 loss away to Man City – and a match on the road to Brighton should see them get back on track. Liverpool scored nine goals across the two meetings between them last season, including a 5-1 win at the Amex, and Brighton’s recent defensive form leaves a lot to be desired.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, £11.4m)
Aubameyang may have made just 13 touches of the ball in Arsenal’s 5-1 defeat away to Liverpool a few weeks back but his performance against Fulham last time out showed what he does best – he makes the most of favourable fixtures. His 14 goal total is also joint top in the Premier League – alongside Harry Kane and one ahead of Mo Salah.
‘Auba’ is averaging a massive 6.3 points per outing – more than any other FPL forward – and a visit to Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham on Saturday looks a good opportunity to keep that number up. Not only have West Ham kept a clean sheet in just 9% of their Premier League home matches, but they’ve also conceded multiple goals in five of their last six at the London Stadium.
Christian Eriksen (Spurs, £9.3m)
Tottenham’s playmaker was one of the Premier League’s form players over the Christmas period. He’s scored four in his last five – worth a massive 36 points – and yet sits in just 6.1% of squads, likely due to the equally impressive form of South Korean international Son Heung-min.
However, Son is soon set to feature in the Asian Cup – after GW22’s match away to Man United – so Eriksen looks the next best thing for the upcoming weeks. Pochettino’s side face teams rated 3 or lower in the FDR (Fixture Difficulty Ranking) in five of their next six, four of which are home outings.
Marcos Alonso (Chelsea, £6.8m)
Despite not having made an attacking return since GW11, raiding left-back Marcos Alonso still sits at the top of the FPL charts among defenders. Remarkably, no player has hit the woodwork more than the Spaniard either (5) – equal with Chelsea’s Willian (5) – which goes to show that he could be even further ahead were it not for some bad luck!
Alonso is also a creative threat, having made the 7th most key passes (19) from open play among defenders and his 10 clean sheets can only be bettered by Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson and Virgil van Dijk. He has the potential for both types of returns against Newcastle, the second lowest scoring side in the Premier League, on Saturday.
Lucas Digne (Everton, £5.2m)
Everton’s Lucas Digne has also been an impressive creator in the Premier League this season. His 38 key passes – helped by his set-piece duty – rank him 11th overall in the league in that regard and, notably, rank him top among defenders – Watford’s Jose Holebas is next closest (28). He’s been unlucky to have earned just two assists so far then.
Digne’s desirability as a Fantasy Premier League asset should be boosted in the coming weeks thanks to Everton’s fixtures. Digne has shown to offer attacking returns even when The Toffees haven’t kept a clean sheet and they face none of the ‘big six’ in any of their next five. Marco Silva’s men start that run by hosting an out-of-sorts Bournemouth on Sunday.
More GW22 Fantasy Football Tips
Marko Arnautovic (West Ham, £6.9m) vs Arsenal (H)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool, £9.5m) vs Brighton (A)
Ashley Barnes (Burnley, £5.6m) vs Fulham (H)
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton, £7.3m) vs Bournemouth (H)
Raheem Sterling (Man City, £11.3m) vs Wolves (H)
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