FF247 Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 25

FF247 Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 25

GW24 was supposed to be the one when Aguero finally marked his return with fireworks and at least a hat-trick. At least. Now we don’t know if this was a sign or just coincidence but at the time of writing 666 people had voted for Aguero in the Captains poll. Spooky, and slightly prophetic, as said fireworks were more of a damp sparkler as he grabbed a late assist to give his many many captainers a crumb of comfort. If you plumped for someone else this week either out of great judgement or more likely just that you couldn’t afford Aguero then you may have fared better with the likes of the ever popular Hazard and Kane grabbing three goals between them. GW25 is a midweek affair which kicks off on Tuesday night with four fixtures and the great news is that we can see the line-ups for all of the Tuesday games prior to the transfer deadline at 7.30pm UK time. Our usual tact with the regular Tips article is to highlight players to pick with a view to the next few weeks but given that GW25 is such a quick turnaround and that GW26 is a good while away we are going to look at GW25 specifically this week and challenged our team of skillful writers to tell us who they would pick for each position with this in mind…

Goalkeepers

The selection process for keepers for GW25 only is a very straightforward choice between three names. I really only mean two, but that would make this section far too short in comparison to the other three wafflers. So in reverse order I give you David de Gea. I say in reverse order as I wouldn’t choose him myself, despite United being at home to Burnley. After all, even Leicester scored at Old Trafford two weeks ago, but if you’re one of those managers that like to save as many players as possible for the second day of FPL then give DDG a run out and assume that a clean sheet is a strong possibility.

Now for the proper options and they both appear on Tuesday evening. David Ospina and the Gooners may have taken a Kaning on Saturday, but back to the comforts of their library surroundings at the Emirates a home fixture vs Leicester is about as good as it gets. Well, not quite as good as Villa at home but the home chants last time out “Can we play you every week?” were sadly denied by the Premier League powers that be. So it’s Leicester, and not Villa, who are the guests this week, but expect the same result and performance – ie continual attacks and chances for the home side and 90mins of twiddling his thumbs for Ospina. This is of course assuming that Foxes boss Nigel Pearson doesn’t try and strangle him.

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[/three_fourth]Our final and preferred choice for GW25 between the sticks is the old Black Cat stopper Costel Pantilimon. Now “Pants”, “Pantu”, “Panti” or “Pantuuuuuuuuu” as some refer to him, is every FPL manager’s dream. He just stands up and saves loads. Forget clean sheets as they are just a bonus – it’s his save points that stand him head and shoulders above Joe Hart and others. Sunderland has kept just one clean sheet in their last five matches yet our mate Panti has scored 20pts in that period and still only costs 4.6mln. Chuck in the fact that QPR are the visitors on Tuesday – this is a QPR who has lost EVERY away game this season and are missing top scorer Charlie Austin, who is injured – and you will now become attracted to Pants if you are not already an owner. Plus there is no danger of Pantuuuuuuuuu getting strangled by the oppo manager – Rangers decided they don’t need a manager. Tuesday night is Pantu night – buy him and fill ya Pants.

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]Perhaps unsurprisingly our first defensive tip this week is an Arsenal defender. Why? Because they face a Leicester side at the Emirates who have scored just five goals in their last six games, while the Gunners have conceded just five in their last six. They did of course concede twice at the weekend in the NLD but they came up against the country’s inform striker and with it being a derby I wouldn’t read a lot into the defeat. So which of their back four do you choose? At a budget friendly price of £4.5m Hector Bellerin is difficult to ignore and having started the last three games it would appear that at least for now he has cemented his place in the side. As we saw in their rout of Villa the young Spaniard likes to get forward and involve himself in Arsenal’s attacking play and against a Leicester side who have conceded 12 goals in their last six away games he will surely be given the licence to get forward. If you are considering bringing Bellerin in this week please do not do so until you see the Arsenal team sheet on Tuesday night and you can confirm that he has once more been selected.

Swansea and Sunderland played out a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon and it’s to these two teams we turn to for our next defensive tips, in the form of Swansea’s Kyle Naughton and Sunderland’s Patrick van Aanholt. Having made just 42 league appearances since joining Spurs back in 2009 Naughton finally decided to call it a day at the Lane and decided to move to Wales in search of regular first team football. He’s certainly hit the ground running and has picked up a clean sheet and an assist in his first two starts for the Swans. In their last two games Swansea have shown signs of getting back to the defensive solidity which they had in the earlier part of the season and this week they play a West Brom side who have managed just four goals in their last six games. Sunderland host a QPR side on Tuesday night who have scored just three goals in their last six games and have only managed to find the back of the net on six occasions in 11 away games, while Charlie Austin who has scored 13 of their 24 goals will miss the game through injury. If Sunderland don’t keep a clean sheet in this game we give up. So why van Aanholt? Simple really, he offers the greatest attacking threat of all their defenders. Both Naughton and PvA offer great value for money at £4.3m & £4.2m, while they both have some decent fixtures over the coming weeks and it should also be noted that they rotate quite well.

Our last two defensive tips this week might come as a surprise to many of you as we’ve opted for Hull’s Michael Dawson and Aston Villa’s Alan Hutton. Hull have conceded nine in their last six games while Villa have conceded 10 in their last six. So why are we tipping their defence? Because they face each other at the KC Stadium on Wednesday night and Hull have scored just three times in their last six games while Villa have managed just one, yes one. Now both teams could of course go goal crazy, but we’re confidently predicting a scoreless snooze fest! So why Dawson & Hutton? Why not? It’s not like there are any standout players in either defence. Hull have had a raft of injuries lately so it’s somewhat difficult to know what Steve Bruce’s first choice defence is but having started each of the last three it is safe to assume that Dawson will start. Likewise there is no outstanding reason to pick Hutton over any of his defensive colleagues, but he is £0.3m cheaper than Aly Cissokho who has started all but one game this season and his underlying stats are much more impressive than the Frenchman’s.

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Midfielders
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[/three_fourth]The midfield argument this week this week is dominated by Arsenal really. Yes they may have lost at Spurs but they have bottom club Leicester at home this week and they have been particularly dominant at the Emirates this season with a 5-0 defeat of Villa last time out to showcase just what they can do and we fully expect a similar display this time out. They are the top scorers in the league at home with 26 goals. They could of course stutter and stall but the odds and stats suggest that this will be a routine home victory and could be another ‘Villa’ if they put their mind and feet to it.

Whatever happens we have no excuses for not being on the right horse/punt as we will see the Arsenal line-up prior to the deadline this week. Alexis Sanchez will be the one name that will be most anticipated we expect as many will have held him last week in the faint hope that he had convinced Cautious Wenger that he was indeed fit by climbing up rock faces and the like but also in the knowledge that even if he failed to make that one he had a plum home fixture on Tuesday. Sanchez’s efforts and pleas fell on deaf ears, but whether Wenger can resist the diminutive Chilean again remains to be seen. If he plays then he is an obvious pick this week. What is less obvious is who Wenger fits him in for with Ozil, Cazorla, Walcott and now seemingly Welbeck. The answer in Sanchez’s absence last week was to play Ozil, Cazorla and surprisingly Welbeck in the 3 behind Giroud with Walcott only coming on from the bench.

We could realistically make a case for any of the above, but we suspect your decision in this respect will be dictated solely by that team sheet which will appear at approximately 6.45pm on Tuesday. If Sanchez is on there then happy days as you can’t really go wrong with a guy who has 12 goals, 7 assists, 22 bonus points and is the 2nd highest points scorer overall in FPL. If he doesn’t make it then Santi Cazorla is a fine replacement with 6 goals, 4 assists and 14 bonus points in the last 10 GW’s. He’s managed double digits in 4 of those weeks too with 14, 10, 14 and 17.

Don’t fancy Santi? Don’t worry. We have a raft of these small Arsenal dudes… Next up is Mesut Ozil. Having been AWOL since early October, Ozil has returned with a bang scoring twice, assisting once and grabbing 3 bonus points for a total of 21 points in the last 2 games alone.

Don’t fancy Mesut? No worries. We have more. Theo Walcott has actually only played 159 minutes all season – less than 2 whole games, In fact, by that logic, he didn’t even make the 70min mark in the second one. Despite this his return has been embraced by many a fantasy manager and those brave enough were firstly rewarded with a goal in the Villa game and then soundly kicked in the nuts in the Spurs game as Wenger duly benched Wally and decided that Welbeck was ‘more suited to this sort of game’. We have no idea what that means but he was somewhat vindicated as Welbeck played a huge part in creating the Ozil goal in that one by roasting poor Danny Rose before teeing up Giroud for his comedy assist to Ozil. If Walcott plays and Sanchez doesn’t then he could be a great pick this week against a team that has the 3rd worst defensive record away from home in the league (3rd worst overall, in fact.)

12 months ago, to have mentioned 4 Arsenal midfielders, and not one of them being Aaron Ramsey would have been unthinkable but that speaks volumes for the strength in depth at their disposal and that Ramsey is now deployed strictly as a defensive midfielder. Wouldn’t it be just like him to throw us all a curve ball and pop up with a couple of goals this week… We’re stretching the Arsenal point here and will call it a day before we even begin to make a case for Francis Coquelin…

So are any other midfielders worth consideration this week outside of the Emirates? Chelsea are a formidable force at home so of course the FPL’s top scorer Eden Hazard has to come into consideration. You probably already own him though. 38.6% of teams do. If you don’t, you should. Simples. Argue all you want about spreading value and Oscar or Fabregas ‘covering’ Chelsea for you. You just can’t ‘cover’ 149 points, 9 goals, 6 assists, 26 bonus points and an amazing 13 clean sheet bonuses. With 10 wins at home out of 11 and the most goals scored in the league (54) the opposition almost becomes irrelevant. It’s Everton as it goes, who are struggling at best.

Man United and in particular Angel Di Maria will have been a source of many a fantasy managers frustration these past few weeks. They/he (let’s call him the United midfield as you’d be unlikely to have had anyone else) had a great little run of fixtures including QPR and Leicester as opposition but said United midfielder has managed just 1 paltry assist in the 4 games since he has returned from injury with no goals and no bonus points. In fact it’s just 12 points for him in those 4 games in total. The one and only plus point is that they/he face Burnley at home this week and it’s surely last chance saloon here as Burnley have conceded the 2nd most goals both overall and away from home whereas United have scored the 2nd most at home. If you already own him then this is perhaps one to keep him for. We probably wouldn’t go rushing out to buy him though if you don’t.

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Forwards
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[/three_fourth] Go ahead accuse us of being boring in the forward department. Facts are that taking chances in this position can usually lead to depression if you get it wrong. So with that in mind we turn to Harry Kane as a prime candidate to be in your team. Yes we know, most of you already have young Harry, but there are still a couple of stragglers out there and sometimes they just need a bit more reminding than the rest. With 11 goals and 4 assists in his last 15 appearances that should be all the convincing you need. NO? Ok then, the lad has managed 4 double figure hauls in his last 7, included in those hauls he scored a pair of braces vs top teams like Chelsea and Arsenal. I could go on and on about him, but frankly if highlights or a quick glance through his stats hasn’t convinced you of owning him, you might be a Kane denyer, which is the reincarnation of the Yaya denyers from last season. Some might get scared of the all of a sudden vaunted Liverpool defence. Careful study though shows that despite their 4 clean sheets on the bounce, they do struggle vs teams higher in the standings. Allowing 11 goals in 6 games against said competition and although Spurs blanked Liverpool in this first encounter, it was not a game that Kane featured in.

Go ahead make a second yawn, because here comes the Argie Sergio Aguero. Yes, he has struggled and not looked great since he came back from injury, but probably more than anyone in EPL he is capable of a massive explosion. Still only owned by 28%, he will make a difference in leagues where managers around you are willing to risk going without him. The problem with ignoring him as that he usually only needs a goal to get going again. So he might look out of form, but if that shot against Hull doesn’t hit the crossbar and instead goes in, well everyone be claiming he is back. Stoke City are not the sort of opposition that can hold him down, this is strictly on him. With only 2 clean sheets all season at home, the Potters certainly won’t pose a major obstacle if the Argentinian gets it rolling. However if you still harbour doubts because of that old wise tale “can he do it on a cold Tuesday night at Stoke” we remind you that the fixture is actually on Wednesday.

How could we go a game-week or 24 hours (Captaincy Article) without lavishing praise on our favourite playboy Olivier Giroud. A man who has never had a bad hair day and many woman find tastier than a piece of bacon is certainly someone most will need to go to bed with in GW25. So don’t be shy and just give yourself…errr sorry, I mean buy him. Olivier has managed a goal or assist in his last 3 games and despite not playing many minutes over the season his stats are reflecting good production when he is healthy or not banned. Sometimes we all need more convincing though, so we present exhibit A: they play Leicester! A team who has only managed 4 clean sheets all season doesn’t sound like a team that can keep Olly off the score sheet.

Ok, so we went with the obvious picks in the first 3. But you know us, we like to offer the punter a little something also. Loic Remy is the most likely man to lead the line for Chelsea in this next game if rotation follows the current path. Yeah he is a big risk and obviously a one week punt, as we all expect Costa to be back next game. However occasionally there are players looking for a one game gamble. Remy has not taken part in much action for Chelsea since coming over, but when he has, he has done well. He has only been given 5 starts in all competitions so far this season with CFC and still has managed 5 goals. So if given the start, don’t be surprised to see Loic get you a little something, something.

Really wanted to tip a Manchester United forward considering their fixture, but I made the mistake of watching their games. The best I can say is that they played, kind of.

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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! We published an article earlier today to explain the tournaments in more detail and we recommend you get yourselves over to WooFBet.com as this week they have over €300 in free entry prizes and a whopping €1500 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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Thanks for reading FF247 Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 25. This article was written by Cookie, Inittowinit, Kop Warrior and Mito

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