Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 6

Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 6

Welcome to Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 6. As the nights start to draw in and it gets colder – in the UK at least – it feels like we’re starting to get the proper conditions for football now. You’re sat in a stand, freezing your bits off as the wind howls around you, while the soaked-through footballers look miserable on the pitch – that’s much more the kind of football experience we are used to.
Another thing we are also beginning to find all too familiar from previous seasons is the realisation after a couple of weeks that the wildcard needs to be used as plans haven’t gone to, well, plan! After a lot of people used their wildcard in the international break, I thought I’d see it through and, with events at Vicarage Road on Saturday, I am now on said wildcard. My team now has a few of the culprits in the demolition of Watford and, put it this way, had I had the team I have now a week ago, my rank would hopefully be six figures and not what it currently is!
Anyway, without further ado, here are my picks. A good few of them are in my new team and so you can be assured that I will also suffer if my advice is of no use!

Goalkeepers
My first pick is a Swansea goalkeeper – that’s a sentence I didn’t think I would write this season! Lukasz Fabianski has been key to The Swans’ squad; having registered the most saves so far this campaign. 24 times in four games he has kept his team in the game, in fact. The £4.5m shot stopper was the team’s hero away to Spurs at Wembley, registering eight saves to keep Kane and co. at bay and earning himself 11 fantasy points including three bonus.

Looking ahead, the Polish shot stopper faces Watford this week, who were well and truly brought down to reality with a bump last weekend, having started the new season very well. After that, The Swans are away to West Ham, who have only scored four times this campaign – of which two were in one match, away at Southampton. Swansea then return home to play Huddersfield and Leicester. All in all, not bad fixtures at all! Just note, however, that Fabianski is the most bought player this gameweek and so you may want to bring him in sooner rather than later to avoid the misery of missing out at the hands of a price rise.

Next on the list of goalkeeper suggestions is Fraser Forster, who costs £5.0m. The Saints have three clean sheets already this season – just one behind Man United, who lead the list – thanks to positive results away to Crystal Palace and Huddersfield, along with the home fixture versus Swansea at the start of the season. You never know, further positive performances could see the player called up to the England squad.

It may seem odd to be suggesting a goalkeeper who has the unenviable task of trying to save the predictable bombardment Man United will throw this weekend, however the fixtures afterwards bring more clean sheet potential to keep Southampton up in the rankings. Stoke away is the last game of September for the team, followed by Newcastle and West Brom at home in October.

Rob Elliot is only £4.1m and is a starting goalkeeper. Not only that, he has two clean sheets to his name. And he’s not in your team, why?! His ridiculously low price tag will give you a good bit of dosh to spend on the rest of your team and it’s probably for that reason that he is the second most transferred-in goalkeeper this gameweek. Most recently, his three saves against Stoke proved to be vital as his teammates spurned a fair few chances to come away 2-1 victors, registering their third win in a row to reach fourth place.

The Magpies make the long journey down to Brighton this weekend, facing a team that has suddenly found its way to the goal with four in the last two matches, having failed to find the back of the net in the first three fixtures. The last time the two sides met was, of course, in the Championship, when Newcastle came away 2-1 winners, having won 2-0 at home earlier that season.

My last selection is Nick Pope, who costs £4.5m. This is the guy tasked with standing between the sticks in Tom Heaton’s absence, following the first choice ‘keeper’s shoulder injury picked up against Crystal Palace that has since called for surgery, resulting in months sidelined.

He was thrown right in at the deep end as The Clarets made the trip to Liverpool; however, like Fabianski at Wembley, he was the hero of the day by helping his team hold on to a draw by registering a number of cracking saves. Huddersfield are next up for Burnley, with games against West Ham and Newcastle split up with fixtures away at Everton and Man City. A mixed bag, sure, but he’s easily rotatable.

Defenders

It may have been the £6.5m Antonio Valencia who got the wonder goal in the match against Everton, but I’m conscious money needs to be saved in defence to afford the big points scorers in midfield and up front. Therefore, first up on my list is Antonio’s teammate and the King of Gurning himself, Phil Jones. That face is probably one of the most memorable out of all Premier League players and it is also the face of a cheap Man United player who has started all of the team’s league games so far, costing just £5.1m.

The key statistic in persuading you to put Jones – or indeed any Man United defender – in your team is that the Red Devils have the most clean sheets out of any Premier League team so far this season, with four. Whilst Jones may not offer too much going forward, his record is certainly a good omen for things to come. A trip to Southampton this weekend could be a bit tricky but your faith in Jones will, no doubt, be rewarded as the hopeless Crystal Palace come to town the week after.

Talking of Crystal Palace, my next defensive pick will no doubt have the pleasure of facing The Eagles this weekend. Man City’s Nicolas Otamendi is the second-most brought in defender this gameweek, with a whopping 120,000 fantasy managers already deciding he is an essential part of their squad. Who can blame them though as, like Jones, he is a great, cheap way to get into a major team’s defence, costing just £5.6m. Not only that, he has three clean sheets and a goal to his name already, with the 12 points in the Vicarage Road victory a highlight. After Roy Hodgson’s men come to the Etihad, The Citizens make a difficult trip to Stamford Bridge in what promises to be a massive match, however ties against Stoke and Burnley back at home beckon afterwards.

Ben Davies may have been left out of the match against his former employers Swansea, however don’t let that spook you. The £5.7m Welsh left back missed the game due to a combination of a knock to his ankle and a need to rotate, according to Spurs boss Pochettino – and I imagine he’ll be back for the away day to West Ham who, as previously mentioned, have been far from prolific in front of goal. Following that, it’s a trip to Huddersfield and then a welcome to Bournemouth back at Wembley. You can’t look past Davies’ start to the season though, with a goal, two assists and two clean sheets contributing to an incredible total points haul of 32. The only defender in the league with more points is Antonio Valencia with 36.

Having already suggested Fabianski, it probably comes as no surprise that my next suggestion is fellow Swansea player Kyle Naughton. Three clean sheets and an assist already this season, it’s fair to say it’s been a good start, especially when you consider these are statistics for a defender costing just £4.5m, owned by just 5.2 per cent of fantasy managers. The Swans have some great fixtures now, with only Arsenal away on 28 October looking like a nasty tie between now and 29 November – and, even then, Swansea have had a good record at the Emirates in recent years.

Talking of Arsenal, it is probably quite a surprise to see Nacho Monreal popping up in the tips article with Arsenal’s rather mediocre start. Well, this is following on the theme of players at the back who play for the top teams but have an FPL-friendly price tag and just happen to have some good fixtures coming up. Nacho has played all 450 minutes out of 450 so far – with the last 180 a particular highlight, where he has registered 16 points thanks to two clean sheets and four bonus points, of which three came in the 0-0 draw away at Chelsea.

So, what are these good fixtures that Arsenal have that mean Monreal should be in your team? Well, the next two are West Brom and then Brighton at home, followed by Watford away. This could well be Arsenal’s opportunity to start looking up the table before their standard capitulation around Christmas time.

Another surprise addition is Phil Jagielka, especially when you look at how pants Everton have been this season, deservedly languishing in 18th place with four points to their name. Since their opening day 1-0 victory against Stoke, they’ve been on a run of conceding 10 goals and one point has been obtained thanks to the 1-1 draw away at Man City.

The £5.0m player, however, has been picked because The Toffees have some great fixtures coming up. This is one of those few times where you can look purely at fixtures over form, especially with Bournemouth coming to Goodison Park this weekend. The Cherries have actually scored more than Everton so far, however that is still only three goals – of which two were in the last game against Brighton – and so it’s fair to say there’s a good chance of a 0-0. Famous last words, I know. After that, it’s Burnley at home and then Brighton away.

There’s finally a £4.0m defender I can recommend, in the form of Chancel Mbemba. The Newcastle defender has 13 points from 326 minutes played, with the away match at Swansea the only fixture he hasn’t played any time in, thanks to a brief injury. As a back up player – a fifth defender, if you may – this guy is currently a great option to fall back on if any of your team play zero minutes.

Midfielders

First on my list of eligible midfielders is a player in a team that has 16 goals already – joint with rivals Man City – while he, himself, has the most assists by any Premier League player. I am, of course, talking about Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who is great value for money, for club and FPL managers alike – costing just £8.5m in the case of the latter.

Whilst the Armenian may have come out and said that Man United will struggle without Pogba, I can’t help but think it’s just a mere inconvenience for their standards – as good as he is, of course. They certainly brushed aside Everton without him, anyway, in a match that saw Mkhitaryan silence the away fans with his first goal of the Premier League season. Looking ahead it’s Southampton away and Crystal Palace at home, followed by a tasty fixture at Anfield against a pretty poor Liverpool defence.

David Silva is my next pick, who is both second on my midfield recommendations and second on the list of assists, where the Spaniard has been the last player before the goalscorer four times already this campaign. Now £8.3m, his price has risen £0.3m so far this season, having been brought in by over 400,000 managers since getting the first of the assists away at Brighton.

The player is part of a team that usually starts the season all guns blazing and this campaign is no different, with a goal difference of +14 already after only four games. In Silva you have a player who presents a great points per £million ratio, with very good fixtures coming up as the Citizens look to keep up the tempo. Crystal Palace are unfortunate to visit the Etihad this gameweek and then it’s a tasty game away to Chelsea up next. Stoke and Burnley at home then provide some great point scoring potential.

Liverpool may have disappointed in their 1-1 draw at home to Burnley last weekend, but Mo Salah certainly rewarded those who own him in their team – 33.5 per cent of all managers, in fact. Scoring his third goal, accounting for a third of the entire squad’s league tally, he was also given the full three bonus points and came away with 11 points for his efforts. In fact, it’s worked out that he has earned 10 points or more every other game so far, so perhaps he won’t get much away at Leicester, but will then be the centre of the action when they travel to Newcastle? Whatever happens, I’d strongly suggest you include the £9.2m player in your plans.

Pascal Gross has been, by a country mile, the most impressive Brighton player. Costing just £5.5m, his 32 points give him excellent points per £million value, providing an excellent opportunity to take the coveted third or fourth midfielder spot in your team. Had you picked him before gameweek four, you would have seen him bring you 25 points, with two goals and an assist against West Brom and the set up of March’s scoring against Bournemouth on Friday night.

Will he keep this up all season? Probably not, however I would suggest you should put him in your team to make the most of this excellent form. As previously mentioned, Newcastle come to the Falmer Stadium this weekend and, after they’ve played Arsenal away, Brighton can then look forward to fixtures against Everton, West Ham and Southampton.

My next recommendation is more the focus on a team than a specific individual, with the Newcastle pairing of Christian Atsu and Matt Ritchie, who cost £5.0m and £5.9m respectively. Whilst the Magpies may not have had the best of starts, losing 2-0 to Spurs and then 1-0 to Huddersfield, their fortunes have since turned around with wins against West Ham, Swansea and Stoke. Atsu has contributed a goal and assist to the last three games, while Ritchie has managed four assists. Handily, the former Bournemouth player left it to me taking him out of my team before he started performing – something I’m sure you can all relate to with various players!
As mentioned in my Elliot and Mbemba suggestions, Newcastle have Brighton, Liverpool, Southampton and Crystal Palace as their next four games, which all present excellent points scoring potential for the duo.

My final midfielder suggestion is Andy King, who costs just £4.4m, therefore freeing up vital funds to bolster up the rest of your squad as he sits on your bench as a fifth midfielder. Gameweeks three and four have seen him pick up a point in both, whilst the most recent match away at Huddersfield saw him register an assist and therefore six points. Whilst the Leicester player may not set the world on fire, he can be there to provide a couple of points should any of your players fail to start.

Forwards

Ah, this is my favourite section of the tips article as it is where we have the likes of players like Sergio Aguero, who is just banging them in for fun, to start proceedings. The Argentinian ace’s hat trick against Watford catapulted him to the top goalscorer position, having scored five times in as many games. Indeed, looking through the fantasy league tables you are a member of, gameweek five gave the opportunity to look at the scores and see who had Aguero in their team and who didn’t before you even clicked on their name. Or, of course, you got to see someone calmly walk into your office on Monday morning, who is dying to be asked how their team did over the weekend.

With Aguero there is always, admittedly, the danger that he’ll be rotated or fall out with the manager, as demonstrated last season when loads of managers triple captained him for a double gameweek and were, ultimately, very disappointed. Oh and he always seems to get injured or suspended about two to three weeks before Christmas as an early present, too. Both of those factors shouldn’t make you risk living without the Argentinian in your squad at the moment, though, especially as a lot of managers will probably captain him when he plays against Crystal Palace this weekend.

Perched at the top of the goalscoring list with Aguero is my next pick, Romelu Lukaku. A lot of FPL managers bravely took him out of their teams in favour of one of the Man City forwards on Saturday night, however they probably then realised the error of their ways as he carried on his excellent form to set up a goal and score one himself in the 4-0 win at Old Trafford. Celebrate in front of his old fans he did, as his new supporters also declared their admiration for more than just his footballing prowess.

If it’s the top six teams the Belgian player apparently struggles against, you theoretically don’t need to worry until gameweeks 10 and 11 when Man United play Spurs and Chelsea respectively. Keep the £11.7m player in your team if you can afford to, the blip in gameweek three when he missed a penalty against Leicester has been the only time less than six points have been scored per gameweek.

Whilst Aguero is my top pick, you wouldn’t be doing badly to have his teammate Gabriel Jesus in your team. Costing £10.5m, he has sprung to life after a disappointing first two weeks. After two points from two games, four goals in the three fixtures since – Bournemouth, Liverpool and Watford – have seen the player register 27 points. The highlight for those who had him in their teams was, no doubt, during the demolition of ten-men Liverpool where he managed to score twice – and then he got subbed off after 56 minutes!

Having made the 2017 Golden Boy nominations, it’s fair to say Jesus has been so influential at the Etihad that not even Aguero can be assured of a spot anymore. But then, it is Pep Guardiola who loves a good bit of rotation and so you could say he possibly isn’t immune from being ‘rested’ either! Anyway, you could do a lot worse than have the young Brazilian in your squad, especially with this aforementioned game against Crystal Palace on the horizon.

Alvaro Morata has somehow managed to escape much of my attention so far this season, even though he’s scored three goals and assisted twice. Highlights have included the home games against Burnley and Everton where he earned himself 10 and 12 points respectively, contributing to his current total of 31 – not bad for £10.2m, the cheapest of my striker picks.

Looking ahead to Chelsea’s fixtures, the Spanish player – who features in 17.7 per cent of all teams – has a trip to Stoke this Saturday, a team that has done pretty well at the be365 Stadium so far this season, having beaten Arsenal and managed a 2-2 draw with high flying Man United. Chelsea will, however, want to try and keep up with the Manchester clubs and so I can’t see The Potters keeping a clean sheet, put it that way. If Morata fails to find the back of the net in that game, the onus will very much be on him to manage it in the big game against Man City the week afterwards.

My final selection is Harry Kane, who has huffed and puffed but only been able to find the back of the net in the game at Goodison Park. A bit of a surprise he should be selected in this tips article, then, you could say. Well, this week he’s facing West Ham who are tied with Everton on the dubious honour of conceding the most goals so far this season, with 10.

It’s purely speculation, but you can’t help but think back to his goalscoring of previous years to think that there will be repeats of the antics against the Toffees sooner rather than later. And I, for one, don’t want to look on as he racks up the points thinking “I wish he was in my team”, like I did at the end of last season. That saw me lose out on winning the league on the final day, by just seven points. Not that I’m still bitter, or anything!

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 6

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