Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 32

Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 32 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16

“The weekend has landed. All that exists now is clubs, drugs, pubs and parties. I’ve got 48 hours off from the world, man. I’m gonna blow steam out my head like a screaming kettle, I’m gonna talk cod shit to strangers all night, I’m gonna lose the plot on the dancefloor. The free radicals inside me are freakin’, man! Tonight I’m Jip Travolta, I’m Peter Popper, I’m going to never-never land with my chosen family, man. We’re gonna get more spaced out than Neil Armstrong ever did, anything could happen tonight, you know? This could be the best night of my life. I’ve got 73 quid in my back burner – I’m gonna wax the lot, man! The Milky Bars are on me! Yeah!” Welcome to the last seven game-weeks of FPL, things just got interesting. Everything from here on in is going to centre around double game-weeks, wildcards & chips and this article is unlikely to be any different. Well we’ve tried to be a little different this week in that we’re focusing on a few differentials who might just help set you apart from the crowd over the final game-weeks.

Goalkeepers
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[/three_fourth]In the past when we’ve done a differentials article I’ve often said that you don’t pick a goalkeeper simply because he’s a differential and while I still stand by that a double game-week slightly alters things. And with the double game-weeks set to dominate the FPL landscape for the remainder of the season we turn our attentions to a number of keepers who we may not ordinarily have considered and first up is Joel Robles. The Spaniard has started the last six league games and while this hasn’t particularly seen an improvement at the back for the Toffees he must be considered simply due to the fact they have three doubles over the coming weeks. Ok so their form at the back hasn’t been great of late but their upcoming fixtures aren’t the worst, especially DGW34. With a Cup semi-final on the horizon there will undoubtedly be some rotation. Whether that applies to Robles that remains to be seen but at £4.3mln you can cope if he’s benched for one game and he’s the cheapest guaranteed starter in the Everton rear-guard by some distance. Oh and he features in just 0.3% of teams.

Should you choose to go with Robles you will need to ensure that your 2nd keeper features in GW35 and one man who fits the bill is Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet. I can’t believe I, no we, nay anyone, have just tipped the Everton & Liverpool goalkeepers! The Belgian has conceded 13 goals in his last eight games and kept just two clean sheets in that period. However as we’ve pointed out a number of times in recent articles Liverpool are the only team to have doubles in both GW34 & GW37 and also feature in GW35, and it’s for this very reason that Mignolet & his defensive colleagues need to be considered. It’s worth noting that following this weekend’s visit of Spurs that Liverpool have a relatively straightforward run in and a number of clean sheets are not out of the question. He’s a little more popular than Robles featuring in 5.4% of teams but one thing is certain, he will not be rotated. Why? Adam Bogdan!

Every time we write a differential article it appears that West Ham’s Adrian features and once more this is the case. Defensively the Hammers are in slightly better form that both Everton & Liverpool, conceding nine times in their last eight games with Adrian claiming three clean sheets in this period. With an FA Cup 6th round replay & a potential semi-final to be played over the coming weeks they will have a busy schedule but rotation seems a little unlikely given the fact that they are pushing for a top 4 spot. Of their remaining fixtures Arsenal & Leciester standout as the difficult games but I wouldn’t put it beyond the Hammers to pick up a clean sheet in either of these games and with an ownership of just 3.7% he could yet prove an interesting differential.

Our final keeper this week is Newcastle’s Karl Darlow. We were going to tip Rob Elliot, but unfortunate fate saw Elliot stretchered off while playing for Ireland and he faces at least six months on the sidelines. The Toon are already without Tim Krul and with two other fit keepers (Darlow and Freddie Woodman) already in their squad, rules dictate they are unable to sign an emergency keeper on loan. So it looks very much like Darlow will fill the gap and with many wildcarders looking to bring in Elliot, Darlow could now be your man. He costs just 3.9mln and has made one appearance for Newcastle this season. While the Toon face City as part of their double in GW34 it is at SJP and we’re all well aware of City’s difficulties on their travels. The Geordies also feature in GW35 and Rafa will be keen to put one over on his beloved Liverpool. Speaking of Rafa, he may have his critics but he is well able to organise a football team and we fully expect to see a more resolute Newcastle team after the international break.

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Defenders
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[/three_fourth]Unsurprisingly we kick off our defensive roundup on Merseyside. Ramiro Funes Mori arrived in England as something of an unknown quantity and after a couple of dodgy early displays many Everton fans were wishing he’d stayed in Argentina. However he’s settled into life at the heart of the Everton defence and he is now keeping one of the great hopes of English football out of the team. As we’ve alluded to above, Everton have struggled to keep clean sheets but with Mori you have a defender who has an eye for goal and this has seen him score three times this season. Phil Jagielka is actually a cheaper option however I suspect there’s a greater chance of Jagielka being rotated. Given the fact that Liverpool have a double in GW34 & GW37 and play in GW35 we suspect that despite their poor defensive form many will gamble that they will pick up a couple of clean sheets. Should you decide that Mignolet is not for you who do you pick? Aside from Nathaniel Clyne they all represent a differential but I’m going to go for Mamadou Sakho. The French international has started every game bar one since GW17 and he has emerged as the leader of the defence under Jurgen Klopp. At £4.7mln he has the potential to provide great value for money and he currently features in just 0.7%.

With homes games against Villa & Palace in GW34 we’re pretty sure there will be some serious investment in the United defence over the coming weeks and our tip is Marcos Rojo. The Argentine has been in & out of the starting XI this season and has only featured in ten games this season but has still managed to pick up six clean sheets. It’s difficult to know whether or not Rojo is a nailed on starter but the United defence is a stronger unit when he plays, so I suspect he’ll start the vast majority of the remaining games. At just £5.0mln and with an ownership of just 0.5% of teams he certainly deserves some consideration.

Given his recent form Hector Bellerin is likely to prove quite popular as we approach GW34 but he’s become quite expensive and certainly does not represent a differential. One player who does however represent a differential is Gabriel. The Brazilian has started six of the last seven games for the Gunners and would appear to have displaced Mertesacker as first choice centre back. We have however seen the German start a number of games of late which would suggest that there is a chance of rotation but with only a top 4 spot left to play for Wenger will want to start his best team in every game and at just £4.3m we reckon that Gabriel is a risk worth taking.

A few other differentials who warrant some consideration over the coming weeks are West Brom’s Craig Dawson (3.7%), Newcastle’s Daryl Janmaat (2.2%) and Damien Delaney (1.8%) of Crystal Palace. At £5.1mln there are cheaper West Brom defenders available but what Dawson gives you is a goal threat and we’ve already seen him chip in with three this season. By all accounts Janmaat is desperate to leave Newcastle and you can hardly blame the bloke. Therefore he’ll be keen to impress would be suitors over the coming weeks and as a result we reckon he’ll be decent value for money at £4.8mln. So Palace have been absolute muck this year but they’ve got back to back double game-weeks and while GW34 is horrendous GW33 isn’t too bad. Given his goal threat Scott Dann is likely to prove popular but he’s not a differential and you’d have to question his value for money. Why Delaney? Why not?

Midfielders
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[/three_fourth]The conundrum of who to include in your midfield seems to be confusing many, with the ideal set of players unaffordable for many, while others are looking for that different option to steer away from the ‘template’. Clearly the likes of Coutinho, Firmino and Barkley will be the popular options from Merseyside, but there other choices, cheaper ones too, who may have flown under your radar. The Liverpool pair of James Milner and Adam Lallana should not be discounted, Lallana especially. The ex-Saint has started five of the last six matches and in that time has scored two and assisted two and if you are concerned with Firmino’s position with Sturridge back or indeed Coutinho’s inconsistency then Lallana at 7.3mln could be your ideal fit. Milner is a slightly different case, in that he is cheaper than all the others at just 6.5mln but the England captain vs Holland has scored 3 goals and assisted 3 others in his last six appearances for Liverpool and may just be the difference in you upgrading to your chosen midfielder or striker elsewhere.

Aaron Lennon has certainly suffered a stop-start career but seems to have settled into life at Everton perfectly and with the Toffees’ end of season packed with fixtures galore (three double gameweeks) we certainly believe Lennon should at the very least be on your watchlist over the coming period. It took time for the ex-Spurs man to establish himself in the starting line-up but he has rewarded Roberto Martinez’s belief in him by scoring five goals in his last eight appearances and costs just 5.6mln. There is of course the threat of rotation with Everton still involved in the FA Cup but we believe the winger will start the majority of matches and like Milner, could act as a brilliant make-weight in your squad. He is also owned by just 0.8% of teams – now there’s an inform differential for you.

Alexis Sanchez has not had his best season by his own admission and has very much been overshadowed by the consistent form of Mesut Ozil. Ozil is currently outscoring Alexis 174-104 in FPL points, so why would we ever even consider the more expensive Chilean. Well, firstly he is now fully fit, secondly he is showing great signs that he is approaching his best form – one goal and two assists in his last three matches bears evidence of that. And of course, we know from last season how explosive Alexis can be and one look at Arsenal’s fixtures over the remaining weeks suggests that the points volcano may be about to erupt – Watford, West Ham, Palace, WBA, Sunderland, Norwich, Man City and Aston Villa all await the Gunners, who only have a top four place to play for and look to have rediscovered their form a bit. Ozil of course shouldn’t be ignored, but no returns in his last three suggests he may have peaked this season so if you have a spare million in your coffers we suggest that you at least consider Alexis. Or maybe you fancy doubling up?

West Ham can’t claim to be the surprise package of the season, Leicester of course claim that award, but the Hammers’ relentless pursuit of Champions League football shows no signs of slowing down, meaning that some exposure to their side is almost a must with their two double gameweeks approaching. Dimitri Payet is of course the headline grabber and with good reason – the French international has scored eight goals and assisted nine in his first season in the Premier League, which has left many of the “bigger” clubs wondering why they failed to spot and sign up the player. Payet costs 8.3mln and is owned by almost 28% of teams, so how about we focus on an explosive midfielder from the Hammers who costs almost 3mln less and has scored six goals and assisted five, despite playing 600 less minutes than Payet and in some of that time has had to play in defence? We bring you Michail Antonio ladies and gentlemen – four double digit scores, all of which have come at Upton Park and one look at the fixture list shows you that three of the four double game-week matches for West Ham will take place at home. He has scored three in his last four and is unlikely to be needed at right back now with the Hammers expecting both Sam Byram and James Tomkins to be fully fit for the weeks ahead.

Another player who settled very quickly into Premier League life is Kevin de Bruyne and we believe it no surprise that City’s decline in form coincided with the Belgian’s absence with a knee injury. City have won just two league matches out of seven since KDB has been missing – and those wins came versus Sunderland and Villa. The creative midfielder has resumed full training and has said he hopes to make the squad for this weekend – while we would urge caution and wait for him to actually get back on the pitch, we firmly believe that City will rediscover their attacking prowess when KDB returns with Aguero likely to be the main beneficiary. His ownership and price obviously have fallen in recent weeks – he will cost you just 10.2mln now and is owned by 4.4% of teams and with City looking to hold off neighbours United and West Ham for a Champions League spot we foresee KDB quickly returning to the levels of returns we saw in the first half of the season.

Man Utd continue to prove to be enigmatic under LVG – recent wins over Arsenal and Man City have been interspersed with defeats to Sunderland and West Brom. But one look at their DGW34 very quickly gets those FPL point hungry  juices flowing – home to Palace and Villa doesn’t get much better, plus they also have a DGW37. But which United will turn up? Will Juan Mata be the one to deliver the points? Neither of those questions we can answer but Mata is always a solid option – a goal and an assist in his last three may not be explosive, but the Spaniard is always buzzing around the box and United are likely to have plenty of possession and numerous chances vs Villa and Palace.

Other differential midfielders that are at least worth a mention are Yannick Bolasie, Wilfried Zaha and Yohan Cabaye at Palace and we include the trio purely on the fact that they have a double gameweek in 33. While any one of the three would be a gamble, we know there are a lot of FPL managers who like to maximise DGW exposure and two home matches vs Norwich and Everton may turn out to be the springboard the Eagles need to stop their run of winless games and lift themselves away from the relegation zone. Every season there is a team down the bottom that ends the season well and Palace could well be that team. Of course Palace also have a double in 34, but away matches at Man Utd and Arsenal suggest they will need to perform in 33 to have a chance of escaping a late relegation scrap.

Forwards
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[/three_fourth]And so onto the strikers and let’s try to identify some differentials that may just perform as well if not better than template names such as Vardy and Kane, who don’t have double gameweeks or Aguero and Lukaku who do. The standout pick in terms of fixtures, form and price would appear to be Danny Welbeck. Injuries have meant a slow, well actually non-existent start to his life as a Gooner, but having recovered from injury, Welbeck has started three of the last four matches for Arsenal, scoring twice and assisting once. He also came on late vs Leicester and scored the winner and with Giroud failing to score in the league since GW21, Welbeck appears to have become Wenger’s first choice. We have covered Arsenal’s enticing fixture list above, but one other advantage of Welbeck over Giroud is that the Englishman can also be utilised off the main striker or indeed on the wing, meaning he is less prone to rotation than Giroud, costs just 7.3mln and is owned by just 1% of teams. Bit of a no-brainer surely?

Dare you plump for Daniel Sturridge? Surely he’ll be injured again soon? Well, yes we understand the reluctance of spending almost 10mln on a walking wheelchair, but just imagine if he was able to remain injury free. Ok close your eyes, try harder! We all know how good Sturridge is, when fit. He has only started five matches for Liverpool this term and has scored four goals. Two double gameweeks are coming up, plus Liverpool have the advantage for FPL managers of playing in GW35 – and that is at home to Newcastle! A fit Sturridge would very likely rival Kane, Aguero and Vardy if he could only play a full season – the talent is there, the creativity is there around him, the fixtures are there for him and he has a manager who is a fantastic “man manager”. We can’t of course convince you of his fitness, only the manager, the player and evidence of sustained game time can prove that to you, but if you were guaranteed he can stay fit for the remainder of the season, then surely he must be at least a consideration.

DGW 34 for Man Utd is as good as it gets, as we have highlighted above. Surely United will score some goals in those games. BOOM Marcus Rashford, 3 goals already in his brief United career and costs just 4.5mln – get him in and you can surely afford whoever else you want – and probably have spare change in your pocket? In an ideal world, we’d leave things there and recommend Rashford without a second thought. But, there’s always a but….we have Shrek lurking in the shadows. Yep, Wayne Rooney is almost back and expecting to return to full training in the next week, so he’ll almost definitely be back for DGW34 and also around for the run-in which includes DGW37 for United. Damnit Wazza, that bargain basement confident and in form striker with ideal fixtures was perfect. And what about Anthony Martial?? Hmmmm, a conundrum indeed. Will LVG play all three with Martial and Rooney playing off Rashford? Well he could, but it’s more likely that two out of three will play at a time, with Rooney maybe not rushed back and LVG’s history of bringing through young players suggests that Rashford will get enough game time to score the points (and probably more) that you can reasonably expect for a 4.5mln striker. Martial shouldn’t be written off, but he seems to be played more as a winger these days and bearing in mind Rashford can’t play as a winger and Rooney is more of a swinger we’d probably urge caution on Martial – after all, surely you want your strikers playing in the box and being on the receiving end of chances rather than creating them?

Five other differential strikers we would advise you keep your eyes on are Newcastle’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, West Ham’s Diafra Sakho, Watford’s Troy Deeney, Jermain Defoe up at Sunderland and Palace’s Connor Wickham. Much has been made of Mitrovic’s aggressive play which causes him to get into trouble and this was very evident at the start of the season. Although he picked up a yellow card in the derby vs Sunderland, this was his first booking since the end of October. Newcastle of course are battling for survival and Benitez has already indicated that delivering crosses onto Mitrovic’s head offers the best chance of Toon finding the net. The striker’s stats are remarkably good and with this clearly designed tactic likely to play into Mitrovic’s hands, or head, and with a DGW coming up then 6.2mln may be a wise, if chancey investment. Sakho’s season has been plagued with injury, but when on form his partnership with Carroll and/or Valencia can be devastating for the Hammers. The striker is now fit, scored when coming off the bench in the win at Everton and with Antonio and Payet creating plenty and with two double game-weeks ahead Sakho could be a sneaky punt as he is owned by just 1.3% of teams and costs 6.2mln, the same as Mitrovic.

Deeney has been prominent in Watford’s impressive season in the Premier League. With many tipping them to be relegated, the Hornets have 37 points and are just a win away from guaranteed safety. While the FA Cup remains a distraction, manager Flores will also want his team to achieve the best finishing position possible to bring in some extra cash for next season’s investments. While much of the attention has been on Odion Ighalo, Deeney has gone somewhat unnoticed and is owned by just 4.8% of teams, while Ighalo is hardly a differential as he appears in 22% of teams. While it is true that the goals have dried up of late for Watford, it was Deeney who scored last week vs Stoke, and he also scored two vs Palace. They are the only three goals Watford have scored in seven and Deeney has notched them all. Chuck in two double game-weeks plus the fact that Deeney is on penalties and at 5.2mln he could just be your man.

Jermain Defoe’s goalscoring history needs no introduction and he is slipping under many a radar as Sunderland don’t double until GW37. The Black Cats are scrappers if nothing else, they are always involved in the relegation fight and over the past few seasons they have scrapped their way out of it – under Big Sam you would expect nothing else. Defoe has scored two and assisted once in the last three matches and has scored 12 goals in total this season. While they don’t double until late on, they do face West Brom, (Leicester), Stoke and Norwich in the meantime and you can expect Defoe’s ownership (4.4%) and price (5.1mln) to rise over the coming weeks.

Wickham had just begun to find some form before he suffered a thigh injury which has seen him sidelined since GW29. The striker has scored a brace in GW27 and GW28, with Pardew predicting Wickham would lead Palace to safety and possible Cup glory. Word is that the striker should return this weekend and if he does he looks a great asset for Palace’s DGWs in 33 & 34 – well, certainly 33 vs Norwich and Everton at least. Owned by just 0.3% of teams and costing just 5.5mln we believe, if fit, he should strongly be considered for those looking to make hay with double game-week players.

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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 32. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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