Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 10

Welcome to Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 10

Pizza Gate

Fine margins, marginal gains, close but no cigar – call it what you like, Gameweek 9 showed how much of a cruel mistress FPL can be when one small decision can have large ramifications. Those who captained Salah – and not the likes of Vardy or Raphinha – then saw their points totals go up by a rate of knots into the 80s, 90s and beyond. Those who didn’t, of course, only saw large red arrows – unless they instead went for the likes of Mount or Foden, of course.

As always, try not to be too downhearted when such a small decision doesn’t go your way. There are still 29 more game weeks to get those green arrows and we hopefully won’t have the same kind of Covid-related challenges that were experienced in the previous two seasons either. That’s easy to say, of course – much like a major news event, it’s possible to remember where you were when you hear of big events in FPL like Salah going berserk against Huddersfield when you’d triple-captained him, or Salah going berserk against Palace after being subbed on when you didn’t have him. Perhaps the lesson there is just to always captain Salah?! Indeed, he’s such an obvious mention for a tips article, you’ll forgive us for therefore not including him! Init waffled on enough about him in Capos anyway which you can catch here.

So, whether you’re looking to begin the recovery, build on your winnings, splash out on the wildcard or just see who tickles your fancy, take a look at the latest tips below.

This week, Swirly is bigging up Fernandez, Alexander-Arnold, Foden and Vardy, whilst Smash is recommending Ederson, Chilwell, Son and Toney and Rosco has given the backing to Martínez, James, Mount and Hwang. Smash would also like to add that he had pizza on the brain and got last choice for all his picks (not bitter).

Goalkeepers

Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

It’s always nice to see a newly-promoted team do particularly well and, this season, that is certainly Brentford. Following in the footsteps of Huddersfield (2017), Wolves (2018) and, looking further back, the likes of Newcastle (1993), Nottingham Forest (1994) and Blackburn (1992), the Bees may now be 12th, however, they had continuously been in the top half of the league before the 2-1 loss to Leicester.

Looking ahead, there are three nice opportunities for the West Londoners to climb back up the table, with Burnley, Norwich and Newcastle on the horizon. This leads me on to recommend Alvaro Fernandez, the side’s other Spanish shot-stopper, who is having to step in for the injured Raya. Yes, breaking news – the guy with three clean sheets and a not-too-shabby nine goals conceded from as many games is out for a fair while. Before his injury, he’d recorded 22 saves, all helping towards a 34-point tally and placing him a respectable eighth in the table.

But now we look at the £4.5m Fernandez and, moreover, let’s look at the aforementioned Burnley, Norwich and Newcastle, then. Well, as for Sean Dyche’s men, they’ve only scored seven so far, the second-fewest out of all the Premier League sides, as the Canaries have the worst with just two. Of the 11 times Newcastle have found the back of the net, however, seven of those have been at home, so it could be a bit tricky in that instance.

In an ideal world, you would never use a transfer on a keeper, but hey, we don’t live in an ideal world. By Gameweek 9, you would think another decent £4.5m / £4.6m option would have made themselves known, but here we are, still no clearer on whether Sanchez, Ramsdale or whoever else should be our budget custodian in the nets. So, why not sidestep the stress that those boys at that budget bring and instead go back to old faithful himself?!

Of course, last season Emi Martinez was the £4.5m keeper we all hope for; saves, clean sheets and bonus points galore. He finished the season on 186 points. Bargain. A price increase to £5.5m rightly put off a lot of FPL managers but at the weekend he reminded us all just how valuable he can be and, perhaps, still value for money at £5.5m. Only Martinez could end on the losing side, conceding three goals and still walk away with 10 points. Not content with six saves and two bonus points, he also saved a penalty. On his day – which is often – he really is quite special.

Martinez sits just four points behind the highest-scoring keeper Mendy, however he’s cheaper, his fixtures aren’t too shabby and even if they don’t look good on paper he’s shown us that even in defeat he can still walk off with the points. Over 33k have brought him in this week and, if you’re in the market for a new keeper, this one is a no-brainer.

Sometimes in life, it’s good to be boring like having a cheese sandwich, a Margarita pizza or going to a specialist cocktail bar and ordering a coke. There’s nothing wrong with boring if it tastes good or it’s effective. Now I have never been a fan of a premium goalkeeper I must admit but Ederson is boring and effective. This season is different as there isn’t a Martinez of last season and the cheap keepers are not keeping the clean sheets or making the saves. Manchester City have the best defence in the league and at 6 million Ederson is an effective keeper. It does not matter the fixture as we almost expect Manchester City to keep the clean sheet regardless. 8 big chances conceded (1st), 123 chances conceded (3rd), 6 clean sheets (1st), 60 goal attempts conceded (1st by miles). City come out on top with most of the defensive stats so maybe you should stop wasting your time with the cheap keepers and just go premium.

Defenders

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 24: Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

“Ooh, I wouldn’t bring in Trent Alexander-Arnold this week, ahead of that game at Man United”, I said in my infinite wisdom to myself. Then that game happened and, whilst a certain Egyptian took all the glory – and you’ll notice he’s not in a pick in this article as, well, if you don’t have him yet, then there really is no hope – our favourite, well only, £7.6m defender also grabbed an impressive 10 points to get to 51 from just 603 minutes’ play. That equates to a point every 11.8 minutes, or 7.6 points for every 90 minutes. After the games against Crystal Palace and Man City were missed, it still feels like we’re just getting started with the number 66, and the fixtures on the horizon could well bring his ownership up from the 25.2 per cent it is at the moment.

First up is a Brighton side against whom he has already registered three assists and as many clean sheets from just seven meetings. Whilst the Seagulls sit pretty in fifth at the moment, both them and Spurs stick out from their nearest competitors when it comes to goals scored, having only found the back of the net nine times so far. Like the fixture against Man City, the south coast side could find themselves on the wrong end of a few goals, unlike the last time they visited Anfield, which finished 1-0 in their favour.

After Graham Potter’s men have visited, it’s then a trip to West Ham – a side Trent has registered two assists and two clean sheets in the six times he has played against them – who haven’t been afraid of getting forward, but are leaky at the back too, with 16 and 10 respectively when it comes to goals for and against. As for the Gameweek 12 opposition of Arsenal, there are three assists and one clean sheet in the seven times he has faced them. Whilst the Hammers and Gunners will be tricky customers, there is then a nice run of fixtures until the end of the year, where the 23-year-old can bring in those all-important points!

Ideally, given their current form and of course, their fixtures, a double-up on the Chelsea defence looks to be the way to go. So, who do you go for? Well, Antonio Rüdiger is probably your safest bet, but if you want to ditch the vanilla and live life on the edge, then Reece James (£5.5M) is your man. You could argue that Chilwell is the better pick (as I’m sure Smash will do in just a moment), and he may be right, but Alonso is always there, in the background, ready to ruin your day.

James had a scoring return to Chelsea’s starting 11 at the weekend, he also grabbed a bonus point along with the per functionary clean sheet, finishing the game on 13pts. He’s only actually played 90 minutes twice this season but in just 279 minutes he has 2 goals, 2 assists, and 35 points (by comparison Luke shaw has played 753 minutes, 1 assist, and 19pts). Crikey.

James is in my opinion the best value for money option in the Chelsea backline, over 95k have transferred him in already this week, and come the end of the season, I fully expect him to have made a mockery of his £5.5m price tag.

Sticking with the pizza theme, Ben Chilwell is the meat feast or the veggie deluxe. He has the base of the exceptional Chelsea defence with 6 clean sheets and the attacking returns are all the toppings, he’s an exciting pick. There is a pattern emerging at the top of the table that Liverpool, Chelsea and City are the strongest teams and all are strong defences with very attacking fullbacks. I could easily tip a City defender here but I’m going to stick with Chelsea and go with Ben Chilwell who has been on fire. He now seems to have the LWB spot over Alonso after missing the opening few games. Three goals in his last three games, which includes 35 fantasy points is as good as it gets fantasy-wise. During these three matches, Chilwell has had seven shots (1st), five attempts on target (1st), four key passes (4th), 16 corners (1st) for all defenders Chelsea play Newcastle and Burnley next too. With Chelsea’s number nine, whoever it is, generally blanking then the goals seem to be coming from the wing-backs. To add to this Chelsea under Tuchel are defensively solid as we all know, so Chilwell is your man especially after being rested in the cup.

Midfielders

(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Now we have Phil Foden and new memories of his 18 points against Brighton last weekend. Well done to those who brought him in ahead of the game, having picked up on the goal and assist in the previous two games against Liverpool and Burnley respectively. But will he start, or will he be a victim of Pep Guardiola’s notorious rotation that screws over FPL managers weekly?

Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question – and, unfortunately, not many people can get into the manager’s head to offer anything concrete – however, you would like to think that such performances in the trio of matches should continue to be rewarded with a place. That’s especially when you look at the likes of Jack Grealish who, unfortunately, hasn’t shown to be good value for money so far. That can just be seen in the most recent game. Before he’d joined Man City, the number 10 had a record of four goals and an assist in seven against the Seagulls, whereas the eighth go against the same team just had a solitary assist out of four goals.

Anyway, back to the Stockport lad and we look forward to Crystal Palace coming to the Etihad this game week, a side that is currently 15th in the table. The 21-year-old has only played 31 minutes from two games against the Eagles, however, the wider picture of the Cityzens’ record shows eight wins, one draw and a single loss in 10 home meetings. An impressive 34 goals have been scored for the Manchester side across those games and so there is a good chance of a goal-fest for a second week in a row which, hopefully, Foden can be at the centre of once again. Gameweek 11 sees a trip to local rivals Man United – and whoever is in charge of them by then – before hosting Everton and then West Ham after yet another international break.

No player has more transfers in this week (thus far) than Mason Mount(£7.5m). Almost 400k have snapped up the Blue’s midfielder following his 24-point salvo in Chelsea’s GW9 7-0 demolition of Norwich. A hat-trick, an assist, and max bonus, it’s not often you see a score-line like that in a season (Mo Salah doesn’t drink, but if he did this is the moment he’d ask you to hold it). I digress, back to Mason.

While the masses flocked to Kai Havertz, it turns out the smart play was to get Mount instead. Who knew? Well, the bloke in my mini-league who also went and captained him certainly knew, although I’m sure even he was more than pleasantly surprised with how that decision turned out.

Some would call this pick ‘chasing the points’, and it is a bit, however, Chelsea still has a favourable run of fixtures, someone needs to score the goals, and Mason Mount at just £7.5m feels like a risk worth taking. Will he score double-digits every week? No, of course not, but I do expect him to chip in with his fair share in the coming weeks. Get him now, soon everyone will have him and where’s the fun in that?

You know what you get with Heung-Min Son – it’s like going to an Italian restaurant in Italy and ordering a pizza, you pay that bit extra but you get what you pay for. Son is a consistent FPL points returner he always gets points and sometimes with a bit of spice like his 18 points vs United last year.

Who do Spurs play this week? That’s right, it’s Manchester United who are conceding for fun currently with Ole at the wheel. The Red Devil’s have conceded 15 goals (16th), with an xGC of 13.84 (14th). Son has only blanked three times this season and despite Spurs struggling this season the South Korean has been consistent with his returns. Son has been impressive with four goals and two assists.
He has registered 12 Shots in the Box, 5 Big Chances and an xG of 3.31. Son has also created 16 Chances with an xA of 1.22. Spurs fixtures look good from an attacking point of view too as they face United (H), Everton (A), Leeds (H), Burnley (A), Brentford (H) and Norwich (H).

Forwards

(Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

A search through the tips articles I have written for FF247 reveal a particular bias towards a certain Leicester player. However, in my defence, Jamie Vardy is the basis of ‘Vardy Party’, ‘Chat ****, Get Banged’ and, of course, was connected by marriage to ‘Wagatha Christie’ – and there is the small detail of 125 goals in his Premier League career, of which seven have already come this season. Add to that 57 assists since his debut in 2014 and you can see why he’s made a name for himself on the pitch, as well as off it.

Now we look to the fixtures for the 34-year-old and his Foxes teammates, as they come into Gameweek 10 on the back of two wins against Man United and Brentford. First up is Arsenal, a side that the number nine loves to play against, having scored a very impressive 11 and set up one other in the 13 times he has played them. Indeed, the 3-1 loss sustained in Gameweek 26 last season ended a run of four consecutive games where Vardy had found the back of the net at least once. The £10.8m forward then has Leeds away, who are 17th both in the actual table and when it comes to the goals conceded, having shipped in 16 in nine fixtures. A tricky home fixture versus Chelsea brings with it the gateway to nice fixtures right up to Christmas.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the number of injuries at the moment – particularly to forwards – there is doubt hanging over Vardy with regards to injury. When asked about it on a podcast on Sunday, Ben Dinnery – who is well worth a follow on Twitter if you don’t already – stated that the forward had felt something before Gameweek 9’s Brentford game, lasted 45 minutes and came off at halftime as a precaution. At the time of writing, he would have had a scan on Monday and so we should hopefully know more before Gameweek 10 kicks off, especially with a League Cup game in the middle, which the striker probably wouldn’t have appeared in any way – especially with the form his colleague Patson Daka is in at the moment.

Ivan Toney, if we stick to the food theme, is the one-off special of a Duck pizza at the new food van. It’s new and we don’t know what to fully expect. It might be special or it might be average. Ivan Toney is just that. The Brentford striker has blanked in his last three games like most of the premium forwards. It might be a bit strange to tip a player who has done just that but here I am. Toney has two goals and two assists so far this season but it really could be a lot more. He has 15 Shots in the Box, 8 Shots on Target with an xG of 2.35 and has created 5 Big Chances (2nd) with an xA of 2.85 (5th).

Brentford faces Burnley in Gameweek 10 who are no longer the defensive force they once were when we all had Nick Pope in our fantasy teams. The Clarets have conceded 15 goals (16th), 99 Shots in the Box (20th) and an xGC of 15.54 (17th). They then play Norwich and Newcastle the two worst defences in the league so I’d expect a lot more fantasy points from Toney. I mean most players seem to score goals against Burnley, Norwich and Newcastle, plus Brentford has been impressive.

We all started the season with the £7.5m forwards. Then came the premiums with the introduction of Ronaldo and Lukaku. And now we simply don’t know where to turn. Well, as a Jamie Vardy owner I’ll be watching nervously to see if he recovers from the injury which saw him withdrawn at halftime in GW9. If he’s out of GW10 then I know exactly who I’ll be getting in. Step forward Hwang Hee-Chan (£5.7m).

Yes, I get that Hwang is not the most exciting of picks, but he’s so cheap that it’s what he allows you to do elsewhere that has piqued my interest. For my team, for example, Vardy to Hwang allows White (£4.4m) to Chilwell (£5.8m) and the injured Doucouré (£5.6m) to Son (£10.2m). Quite an upgrade.

Hwang himself has also not looked too shabby of late, and more importantly, he looks to have cemented his spot in the wolves starting 11. 3 goals in his last 3 games, decent fixtures on the horizon and cheap enough to bench if like me you look to redistribute your funds elsewhere. You can’t go Hwang really.

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 10. This article was written by Swirly, Rosco and Smash.

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