Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 6

Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 6

It illustrates just how troubled the waters beneath Stamford Bridge are at the moment for Chelsea that no-one, from a team that cruised to the Premier League crown last year, is being considered a ‘must-have’ this season. In fact, barring Pedro and the budget friendly Begovic, few FPL squads have any Blues representation. Sure, Jose will be hurt by the defeats; he’ll be smarting at the defensive lapses; he’ll be befuddled by key players’ complete lack of form; but you know what will leave the Portuguese inconsolably crestfallen? That none of his men feature in this week’s Fantasy Football 247 Tips article. What fickle beasts we all are. Shame on you.

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Goalkeepers[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]If Man Utd’s plan was to wind Real Madrid up over the David De Gea farce, boy they played a blinder. Making the Spanish no.1 seem available, only to sabotage negotiations at the last, and then get DDG to commit to a four-year-deal isn’t just a humiliation for the Bernabeu giants. It was the equivalent of leading them through a booby-trapped door, releasing a bucket of water overhead, slapping a custard pie in their faces, pulling the rug from under their feet and then, for good measure, giving them a wedgy and pushing them into a manhole. But Benitez’s loss is FPL’s gain and the Red Devils victory over their Anfield arch-rivals saw De Gea swiftly restored ahead of the deputising Romero. A few nervous moments aside, his display showed enough to convince he can quickly return to his best. Admittedly, Van Gaal has some awful fixtures to navigate over the next month, but at least it’s not Swansea.

Stoke have yet to keep a clean sheet, but Jack Butland has looked every inch the future England netminder. Butland’s made 27 saves and 63 recoveries so far, more than any other goalkeeper, and in a season where BPs are being served to keepers with uncharacteristic generosity, this isn’t an inconsiderable thing. Owners should expect to reap some fair rewards over the Potters’ foreseeable, favourable fixtures, providing that City can keep 11 (or even 10) players on the field.

Heurelho Gomes won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Eccentric, unpredictable and playing for a newly promoted club. In fact, let’s face it, that combination sounds less like a cup of tea, and more like a stein of tepid bovril blended with almond jelly and Marmite. But the Hornets have surprised critics with their defensive solidity, which could well continue against upcoming opponents Newcastle, Palace and Bournemouth. Incredibly, the Brazilian has already secured 3 clean sheets, behind only Hart, and on par with this week’s final tip between the sticks….

Liverpool have failed to settle into any attacking rhythm so far this season, and looked decidedly lacklustre in their defeat at Old Trafford. However, their early shutouts against Stoke and Bournemouth showed that at least they’re capable of keeping out lesser opposition. It just comes down to whether you consider upcoming opponents, Norwich and Aston Villa, to be lesser opposition. Either way, those two consecutive games at Anfield will entice many into grabbing Simon Mignolet. For all the criticisms often levelled at the Belgian, he’s a reliable source of fantasy points, outperforming Joe Hart last season. If the defenders in front of him can cast the past two horror shows aside, there’s no reason they can’t return to the form that saw them open in August with 3 straight clean sheets.

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Defenders[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Staying with the Liverpool theme (This article is ordinarily Kop Warrior’s turf after all) affords the chance to compare their fullbacks. While the difference in FPL output is minimal, the prices aren’t, and a closer look at the stats show that Joe Gomez, a mainstay on these pages now, marginally deserves the nod over Nathaniel Clyne regardless. The teenager tips the balance in nearly all of the key areas. CBI’s (Gomez 33/ Clyne 23), key passes (3/2), forward passes (82/77), through balls (1/0), goal attempt assists (3/2), assists (1/0), dribbles (6/1)… well, you get the idea. In fairness, Clyne has looked more likely to deliver a killer cross, but this isn’t surprising given Gomez is a right-footed left-back. Weighing up price and potential, it’s difficult to look past this Liverpool starlet.

While Gomez is indeed great value, he’s a badly kept secret having already piqued quite a lot of interest. The first of two defenders here who may have escaped many folks’ attention is Allan Nyom (0.5% ownership). One of the most delighting things about Watford’s play so far this season is how much Quique Sanchez Flores encourages his fullbacks to get forward. To 99.5% of FPL managers Nyom may be little more than amusing onomatopoeia, but in reality the Cameroonian is a force of nature, storming at will into the opponents’ final third like a Mexican-pursued Donald Trump. 4 BPs to date suggest he’s going to chime in with some impressive tallies once he starts finding Troy Deeney with some of his crosses, having already attempted 24 in open play so far.

Ask most managers which Aston Villa defender they’ve got in their FPL squad and you’ll get one of two answers: “None” or “Micah Richards”, understandably so. After all Richards is experienced in the PL, comes cheap and is only 1 point behind his more expensive colleague Jordan Amavi (2.2%). The latter’s performances suggest, however, that this gap could grow considerably over the course of the season. Incredibly, Amavi sits at the summit of the defensive pile in recoveries, tackles made and interceptions. He’s also attempted more dribbles than either Mahrez or Hazard. Yes, you read that correctly. The Frenchman plays with reckless abandon. No wonder Tim Sherwood likes him.

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Midfielders[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]No goals. One assist. No bonus points. Is this really the same player that rattled in 207 fantasy points with Arsenal last season? Well… of all the 10m+ FPL superstar flops to frustrate us this season, at least Alexis Sanchez has looked like scoring. Though once again against Stoke the Chilean left many screaming into tightly-embraced cushions with his latest ‘close but no cigar’ performance. One can only trust in his ability, lean on the statistics and persevere. 20 of Alexis’ 28 goal attempts have come inside the box; he’s missed 4 big chances and been involved with 34 of the Gunners’ goal attempts. The goals are coming, surely.

For those who prefer their midfielders to create rather than dispatch, look no further than Alexis’ teammate Santi Cazorla. A quick comparison with current FPL darling Riyad Mahrez shows some surprising trends.

Naturally the differences owe much to Arsenal’s patient build up style, compared to Leicester’s more direct approach. Nevertheless it shows Cazorla to have an incredible level of involvement, particularly in areas that can hurt opponents, compared to the current points leader (and even his Arsenal peers). If the likes of Giroud, Walcott and Sanchez can deliver some consistent end product, expect the Spaniard’s stock to soar, a la 2014/15.

Joel Ward’s recent injury means managers wishing to ride Crystal Palace’s euphoric wave must turn to other options. Luckily, the transfer window welcomed a potential gem in Bakary Sako, a free transfer from Wolves. In spite of 2 of his 3 appearances coming against Chelsea and Man City, Sako has registered 2 goals and an assist, clocking up an irresistable 26 points in the process. His teammates have had a 2 game head start on him, but the Mali international has already contributed to 37.5% of all Palace’s goals, more than any other at the club. With Watford, West Brom, West Ham and Leicester on the horizon following this week’s tricky visit to White Hart Lane, this could be a bandwagon waiting to happen.

A first for this, and possibly any, fantasy football website as a pop-star graces us, and a female one at that. Stoke City’s Shakira has yet to illuminate the Britannia just yet, but having had to tackle Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal in their first 5 games, Stoke’s paucity of points may give a deceptively unfair account of their team’s place in the Premier League food chain. Whenever, wherever Shakira’s been, she’s scored goals, so the next two home games will give Mark Hughes’ team a chance to show that it was £12m well spent. These tips don’t lie.

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Forwards[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]With Sergio Aguero’s interminable on/off injury saga and Radamel Falcao’s…. well, Falcaoness rubbing off on club-mate Diego Costa, it may be prudent to look elsewhere until the big two recover some form. With a spectacular consolation goal against Man Utd under his belt Christian Benteke’s confidence should be high, even if Brendan Rodger’s still doesn’t know how to use him (Hint to Brendan: Get the ball wide and cross the ball). Hopefully for Liverpool fans, the next few fixtures will see the Reds on the front foot and showing some width. It would give further reinforcement to the growing dissent aimed at Rodgers perceived tactical ineptitude if the big Belgian fails to add to his 2 goals over the coming gameweeks.

One wonders who exactly enjoys international ‘breaks’. It leaves fans pining for domestic football; club managers cursing injuries to their stars; and several players having to endure long haul flights with little time to recover for league action. What it can do, however, is offer refuge to a player looking to rediscover his golden touch. Harry Kane’s England goals against San Marino and Switzerland should serve to kickstart his Spurs season. Home games against Crystal Palace and Man City will be far from easy, but as Kane showed last campaign, if he gets on a goalscoring run it won’t matter who the opponents are.

Coupled with their miraculous escape from relegation, Leicester’s electric start to this season has seen Ranieri’s little tinkers continue to confound expectations. Since April 4th, the Foxes PL record reads W9 D3 L1. This extraordinary record is obviously in no small part due to Algerian phenom Riyad Mahrez who is almost beyond ‘recommending’ by now. But let’s not forget Jamie Vardy who’s been directly involved in a goal in 5 of his previous 6 appearances. The Fox in the box’s scores of 5, 1, 5, 8, and 6 appear comparatively remarkable in the context In an FPL season notable thus far for a plethora of under-achieving strikers. Despite being the 3rd highest ranked forward and costing only 6.1m, his ownership is only 7.9%. There’s just no pleasing some people.

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Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 6. This article was written by Bryan Munich

Follow @bry_cooper

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