Fantasy Football Tips – a DGW Special
A double game week is a beautiful thing, like an oasis in the desert when you’ve been chugging along the past few GWs having a tough time. Planning ahead is, of course, vital, although with just QPR and Spurs involved in this DGW, the usual level of pre-analysis and scribbling down various transfer permutations to maximise the DGW coverage may not be as necessary. QPR of course are struggling just above the relegation zone and with their second highest scoring player injured and their captain suspended, there are very few realistic options to choose from. Well, just one major one really. And you know who he is!!
Spurs meanwhile are a completely different kettle of fish with many different options available and it won’t surprise you to learn that the vast majority of this article will concentrate on the North London club. However, there is a small caveat here with Spurs and that is the threat of rotation. DGW28 sees Spurs reach the end of a run of fixtures that come the full time whistle at QPR will have seen them play six matches in just 17 days, including the two-legged Europa League tie with Fiorentina which they lost, a hard-fought London derby vs West Ham and of course Sunday’s Capital One Cup Final vs Chelsea at Wembley, which they also lost! It’s therefore not been a great few days for Spurs. Don’t forget how manager Pochettino loves to rotate, especially when his team has played in Europe, so it may well be that some of his first choice team do not play the full 180mins of the DGW.
DGW Fixture Reminder
QPR vs Arsenal (Weds 4 March 19.45)
Spurs vs Swansea (Weds 4 March 19.45)
QPR vs Spurs (Sat 7 March 15.00)
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For those concerned about rotation for Spurs, this is how they started in the Capital One Cup Final:
Lloris
Rose, Vertonghen, Dier, Walker
Bentaleb, Mason
Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend
Kane
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[/three_fourth]Hugo Lloris vs Robert Green
No contest here, Lloris wins hands down. Despite having two home fixtures, Rangers face two London derbies vs Arsenal and the Spurs and quite frankly you’d fancy both North London teams to score. Bear in mind that Rangers have only kept clean sheets this season vs Sunderland, Aston Villa, Burnley and Crystal Palace, so the chances of them keeping the likes of Alexis, Giroud, Cazorla, Eriksen and Kane quiet are hugely unlikely!
So Lloris is your man out of the two, he has played every minute for Spurs in the league this season and a home game vs Swansea followed by a trip to QPR should give a good chance of at least one clean sheet you would hope. Although it must be made clear that clean sheets have almost been as sparse for Spurs as they have been for Rangers this season and so our advice is: If you already own Lloris then play him, but if you don’t then there may be better value in some of their defenders. And if you own Green then check who your second keeper is playing!
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[/three_fourth]Which takes us along nicely to our chosen trio of Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose. All three defenders like to get forward – Walker down the right, Rose down the left and Vertonghen at set-pieces. The value player here is clearly Rose, who is priced at just 4.8mln and has scored 3 more FPL points than 5.9mln priced Vertonghen. Rose has become Pochettino’s first choice left back in eight of their last nine league matches, with Ben Davies often filling in for him on Europa nights as he did on Thursday. Rose scored Spurs’ first goal in their comeback vs West Ham with the cleanest strike of a ball you will ever see, which was his second goal in seven matches, whilst he has also contributed three assists. Walker, despite his attacking instincts, is less attractive at 5.8mln, though don’t rule out an assist or even a goal from the defender who has completed a successful comeback from injury.
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[/three_fourth]Midfield is where all the fun lies and can provide an excellent differential if you choose the right one! The obvious and premium choice is Christian Eriksen – nine goals and two assists tells its own story and the fact that he was benched for the 1st half vs the Hammers suggests that Pochettino was trying to give his star midfielder a deserved rest – unfortunately his team mates didn’t play ball and he was called upon for the 2nd half! The Dane is the joint third highest scoring midfielder in FPL, ahead of the more expensive Cesc Fabregas, Santi Cazorla, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Angel di Maria, suggesting that Eriksen should maybe also be a consideration for you for the remainder of the season, especially when you consider that other than Man Utd aside in GW29, Spurs don’t face a top five side until they face Southampton and Man City in GWs 35 & 36.
If Eriksen is the obvious, but more expensive choice, then we need to find some cheaper differentials and the first name to appear on that list is Nacer Chadli. Priced at 6.4mln Chadli has experienced a season of mixed fortunes. By GW11 the Belgian had scored six goals and was comfortably outscoring his more expensive midfield partner. However an injury saw him miss a couple of game-weeks and he has only completed 90mins twice since GW11, scoring just one, though in fairness he has created five assists in that time. The sad and untimely death of his father has clearly had an effect and Chadli has played just 66mins in the last four gameweeks. It would be a small gamble to play him, but it’s one that may just pay off. Chadli did at least start the final vs Chelsea, highlighting how much Pochettino values him.
Erik Lamela is an enigma – one goal and five assists this season is scant return for a player of his talent and one would immediately point to Chadli as a better mid-price option. However, Lamela has started the last four matches, assisting once in the defeat at Anfield – in those four matches Spurs has scored nine goals and so Lamela’s return probably sums up his Spurs career to date – flatters to deceive.
Two other Spurs names that may come under consideration for those chasing the DGW are Mousa Dembele and Nabil Bentaleb. Dembele is priced at 5.3mln and has scored one and assisted two in his last four matches – it’s worth bearing in mind that these are his only goal and assists this season, although his game time has been much more reliable of late and in many of these games he has played just off Harry Kane. Bentaleb is cheap as chips at 4.3mln and has started the last three matches, assisting once. He’s not going to make your DGW or turn it into a blockbuster, but if you have a couple of spare transfers or already own two DGW players and money is tight then he may be a cheeky option for DGW28.
The gamblers among you may just be tempted by Rangers winger Matty Phillips. We know QPR can’t defend, but one thing they will do is have a go, illustrated clearly by their 2-0 win up at Sunderland and then their 2-1 defeat at Hull while playing with 10 men after Joey Barton was sent off. So three goals in two games for Rangers – our man Phillips assisted them all – not bad for a 4.6mln DGW midfielder?
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[/three_fourth]And so onto the strikers and it is no surprise to you that the two DGW picks are Spurs’ Harry Kane and Rangers’ Charlie Austin. The pair sit second and third in the FPL striker charts, only eclipsed by Sergio Aguero – who happens to cost more than both Kane and Austin combined! Both strikers need little introduction to you and it is quite possible that you have owned both already this season. Once Kane established himself as Spurs main striker (it took Pochettino ten weeks to realise that Adebayor and Soldado were as useful as a Greek Finance Minister), then his season has just gone from strength to strength – 14 goals, six assists – he has only failed to score in two of his last eleven matches and to be honest I feel I’m wasting my time here as you probably already own him. In fact, if you don’t – just stop reading this and go buy him! The HurriKane is likely to top the captain poll this week and you wouldn’t bet against him terrorising both the Swansea and Rangers defenders, the only small worry is that Pochettino alarmingly has a small brain malfunction and starts either Adebayor or Soldado in one of the matches or more likely young Harry is hauled off in the second half if one of the games is already won.
Austin is only two assists away from Kane’s haul and the only real differences between the two are Kane’s more consistent scoring and the fact that Austin plays for a team with less quality, suggesting that Kane’s scoring is arguably more sustainable throughout the rest of the season and of course the higher quality of opposition Austin faces in DGW28. But don’t discount Charlie – two home matches in four days means the Loft can do their job and get behind the R’s with two local derbies and the fact that nine of Austin’s fourteen goals have come at home adds more weight to the argument to include him this week.
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To conclude we feel it’s important to restate that we don’t recommend selecting six DGW’ers. Other sides have great fixtures this week – City home to Leicester, Liverpool home to Burnley, Southampton home to Palace and don’t forget Arsenal at QPR, therefore it’s likely that players such as Aguero, Sturridge, Giroud, Silva, Cazorla, Clyne, Bertand and Sterling could easily outscore many of the DGW’ers. However, we think it’s worth trying to fit in two or maybe three of the above options to give your team every chance of taking advantage of the DGW and climbing up the rankings!
Best of luck for the Double!
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WooFBet
We would like to remind you that our official partners, WooFBet, are again running a whole host of prize competitions, which will please many of you who are slowly building a lovely retirement nest egg, while others continue to persevere in the hope that this week will be their week! If you haven’t done so yet we recommend you get yourselves over to WooFBet.com as this week they have over €500 in free entry prizes and a whopping €500 in guaranteed pots. You also have the option to create your own tournaments and head-to-head challenges. Choose your rules and buy-in fee, and invite friends or leave it open for the public to challenge you.
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Don’t forget to vote in this week’s Captain Poll
[polldaddy poll=8519150]
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Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Tips – a DGW Special. This article was written by Cookie
Morning all, hope you’re well and pleased with your gameweeks? I got 47, so dumped out the cup after a brave run, but at least my first green arrows in weeks: climbing back towards the top 5k I hope.
I have 2 FTs and have already done Pelle > Austin (at last!). Uncertain where to go next…any advice welcome! I have 1.6m in the bank, so…
1) Sanchez/Caz > Yaya/Silva (though City are frustrating right now so I’m less set on this than I was)
2) One of them > Eriksen or Punch/JWP > Chadli
3) Jones > Rose?
Oops, here’s my team. And I’d consider a 4pt hit this week now I’m no longer playing H2Hs. Could do both my options 1 and 3?
Pippin, much depends on how you feel towards having both Cazorla and Alexis. Personally Alexis to Silva makes sense to me and it opens up a whole load of possibilities for you. Puncheon to Eriksen prob also makes sense – or at least, worth the punt for a hit as Spurs fixtures are very good going forward.
Thanks Cookie. I am certainly pondering losing one of them. I like the idea of Silva, and all that $$$. Would leave me with a much stronger lineup overall I think. Silva & Eriksen seems highly likely to outscore Sanchez & Punch, though Sanchez definitely has the capability of ruining that plan as soon as I ditch him.
Thanks too for the article- an excellent read!
I’m struggling here and could benefit from some other advice:
Clyne AND Bertrand or go with PvA plus one Saint?
Ospina or Foster?
Will Sanchez continue to struggle, particularly on that small little pitch?
Thanks, chaps.
I’d play Foster. Sanchez will take balls to drop- have him myself and am rather conflicted on what to do. For Saints…general wisdom I think is not to double up for CS potential as it can sting you. They both have good potential for attacking returns but with Pelle not scoring off their crosses that can be muted. I might be tempted by PVA this week
Bertrand in for PVA. Better clean sheet and attacking potential. And PVA isn’t guaranteed to start (although you could confirm that on the night).
No brainer really.
Jay5tar – I would play Foster and both of the Southampton defenders. There’s no point in having both if you’re not going to play them every week.
Cheers, Guys. Good advice. Much appreciated.
Great stuff Cookmeister!
Soooo… I have a problem with DGW’s. They’re generally celebrated within the FPL ‘community’. I’d be interested to know if there are people out there who share my disdain for them? (DGW’s that is, not the community)
I’m the last to whinge about formulaic teams, and I really don’t think this season is any worse than any other; HOWEVER, DGW’s are evil. They turn everyone’s focus to the same tiny pool of players and converge everyone’s teams into clones, diluting the fun. Though the scores are often high, they’re usually similar. I don’t understand why so many get excited when a team has two games in FPL. “Ooh, Spurs are playing twice.” Yeah, great. So we all get Kane, Eriksen and Rose. Now what?
DGW’s. I hate them.
…and I hate Piers Morgan.
It rewards those who plan well.
I’d be surprised if Rose starts both games btw.
I would be too, actually. Reckon Davies will get one game. Fair point about the planning. Although, as Cookie rightly pointed out in his article, there wasn’t too much needed for this week’s.
Allo you grumpy git! To a large extent I do agree with you, especially when you see some of the other non-DGW fixtures this week – Liverpool home to Burnley, City home to Leicester etc.
But, if you look at Spurs fixtures, it does add weight to the argument of getting a couple in…. 2 games this week, away to United, then Leicester, Burnley, Villa, Newcastle…..
The other problem of course is that Spurs don’t have many good players. Everyone has Kane. Eriksen is next best and when we’re talking about Danny Rose as the next best, it tells you all you need to know !
I am feeling quite grumpy today, actually! I don’t know why. I think it’s cos I just lost on FIFA to Aston Villa.
Given some more thought to my rant, and I reckon DGW’s with lots of teams ARE actually exciting. (It’s probably a reason I enjoyed the first MLS season so much) but when, as you say, you have a team with not many diamonds to pick from and, let’s be honest, Charlie Austin, our squads almost pick themselves.
You need to calm it, order a pizza, open the wine and after reflection you will surely see the fun in getting 3 QPR players…..
It’s such a shame Barton’s suspended!
Get Rio
Have you seen his caps? No chance! £25 for this! You could get 12 on Scarborough beach the same quality, tha knows!
Morning guys! What transfer(s) should I do for the DGW? Thinking either Dofeo >> Austin, ADM >> Eriksen, or both for a -4?
Alternatively, I could do DDG >> Mignolet?
Right now thinking DDG>>Mignolet and ADM>>Eriksen this week, and Defoe>>Costa and Sanchez>>Coutinho/Cazorla next week, both for a -4.
and now I’m talking to myself, like Raz does…
Morning Veer both good moves Defoe > Austin & ADM > Eriksen
Veer – Di Maria -> Eriksen seems the obvious move to me. If a hit is to be taken, best off going for Austin instead of a GK switch.
Veer, I’d just do ADM to Eriksen. Indeed, that’s what I have done.
With Austin, it’s a fine judgement. I’d make the move and take the hit if this was already GW38, but I reckon Defoe may turn out to be a better prospect than Austin over the rest of the season. There’s a reason why you signed him, right?
Guys
My team is
Krul/Given
Terry/Clyne/Jones/Wollschied/Baird
WardProwse/Cazorla/Sanchez/KiSung/Hazard
Aguero/Kane/Giroud
I have 2 transfer;
Jones for Rose
Either Carzola/Sanchez for Eriksen (HELP?????)
if Sanchez, that leaves me 3.8 million to bring in Costa for Giroud
what do you guys think?
I see you’ve got Kane, so you should definitely bring in Eriksen and Rose.
:hippo:
Thanks, so shall I replace Carzola or Sanchez for Eriksen????
To swap Sanchez will free up more money for me for Costa
However, here is where I am in a bit of a pickle, I’m top of my league, 30 points between 1st and 5th, all 4 below me have Sanchez, do I gamble or not?
Morning all do we think Clichy will start or should I change him to Mangala but his is position safe ???
Silverback, he’s been a waste of time since I got him 4 or 5 weeks ago. I’m holding onto him for one last week, as the close proximity of games MAY offer him a recall; and with it being at home to Leicester I don’t want to risk getting rid. He’ll be in my starting XI, but I’m prepared to be disappointed.
Cheers Bryan yes Im thinking he will start this wk but he needs to go Thinking it would be wise to have a City Def nk 4 games could all be all clean shts
True Silver. But they have looked really shaky recently, especially against Liverpool. Kompany’s well off the pace at the mo’. The Leicester game will be very telling. If they concede in that game, I’m not sure I’ll even bother having Man City defensive coverage for a while.
Hey Silvers I would think Clichy will play. Especially since he is banned for their CL game so Pellegrini would be wise to play him in PL.
Thanks KungFuKingCantona I think your right
Silverback – Impossible to predict. Like Bryan, i too would probably play him this week and hope for the best. I’m sure there are more profitable moves to make this week than swapping around a dodgy City defence.
Morning NIN I just thk City will keep 4 clean shts nk 4 GW I’m not going to heavy on DGW I’ve got Kane & Austin which I thk is enough was considering Eriksen but don’t thk he will play both games , what have you done
I did Cazorla&Giroud -> Eriksen&Austin. If you reckon that City will keep it that tight then i suppose it would be okay to make sure you’ve got a nailed defender of theirs. I wouldn’t have much faith in them as a defensive unit this season, though. Been pretty shaky all season.