Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 16

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 16

Get in! I suspect many of us shared such a reaction last Saturday afternoon when we checked the results and saw that Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez had scored a hat-trick. We then realised that the Algerian is currently FPL’s most popular player and features in over 60% of teams. This meant that his points were unlikely to have a significant impact on our rankings, unless you were smart enough to have captained him. With this in mind we have decided to look at a number of differentials this week who could actually boost your ranking should they score well over the coming weeks. As we’ve said in the past, differentials are differentials for a reason in that there are always better options available and more often than not they come with a certain amount of risk. We’re certainly not suggesting you go out and pack your squad with oodles of the below players, maybe just one or two, and should your choice score big over the coming weeks you’re likely to see some green arrows.

Goalkeepers

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[/three_fourth]Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea, where has it all gone wrong? The reigning champions have endured a torrid start to the defence of their title, so much so that Jose is now talking about a top six finish. Best of luck with that Jose! Much was made of their current run of fixtures which began with a home tie against Bournemouth on Saturday last, the same Bournemouth who prior to Saturday had kept just one clean sheet over the entire season and had scored just eight goals in their previous eight games. What happened? Bournemouth won 1-0 of course. We’re not really selling Chelsea here, are we? Unfortunately that’s the issue with differentials! One player to emerge from the Bournemouth game unscathed was the returning Thibaut Courtois who pulled off a number of saves to keep Chelsea in the game. The Belgian international had missed the previous 10 games due to injury and while his replacement Asmir Begovic didn’t do badly there’s no denying that Courtois is the better keeper. If you can envisage Jose turning things around at the Bridge over the festive period you might want to consider Courtois who is now available for the lowly sum of £5.2m and appears in just 6% of teams, the majority of which are surely ‘dead teams’.

In terms of goals conceded over the first 15 game-weeks United are the standout team conceding just 10 goals, however Spurs are not far behind them with just 12 conceded. Unfortunately for owners of Hugo Lloris Spurs have only kept five clean sheets as compared to United’s nine. However with an ownership of just 6.1% and a price tag of just £5.1m we feel Lloris justifies his inclusion this week. Only twice this season has Lloris conceded more than one goal in a game and therefore you must assume that Spurs will begin to pick up more clean sheets and with their settled defence coupled with their upcoming fixtures there is every chance that this will happen over the festive period.

West Ham have struggled at the back this season conceding a total of 21 goals and keeping just four clean sheets, with first choice keeper Adrian being present for just two of those clean sheets. The Hammers have a relatively easy fixture list over the coming weeks and I’ve a sneaky feeling that we’ll see them tighten up at the back, they don’t really have a choice as their attacking options continue to drop. The Spaniard currently features in just 2.9% of teams and with his predilection for penalty saves that big score is always a possibility. One keeper who just misses out is Watford’s Heurelho Gomes who despite being the 2nd highest scoring keeper features in just 6.6% of teams. However due to Watford’s upcoming fixtures we just can’t bring ourselves to tip him…which probably means you should get him!

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]Having beaten Southampton 6-1 in the League Cup last week some media outlets were proclaiming that Liverpool could win the title, they then went and lost to Newcastle of all teams. What this proves is that despite the obvious improvements under Klopp, Liverpool will continue to be inconsistent. Once Liverpool had managed to get a foothold in the Southampton game they attacked at will and one of the stand out players was Alberto Moreno who pushed forward to join the attack at every opportunity. Against Newcastle on Sunday it was much different and Liverpool’s play was a lot less dynamic and while Moreno got forward he didn’t do so with the same verve although he was very unlucky to have a great goal ruled offside. Moreno currently features in just 5.4% of teams and as we’ve seen in recent weeks he’s a good bet for attacking returns while Liverpool should pick up a couple of clean sheets over the coming games, and at just £4.9m the Spaniard could prove great value for money.

Against City last Saturday Stoke picked up their 6th clean sheet of the season and impressively all of them have come in their last eight games, so it’s safe to say that their defence has been playing well of late. Jack Butland has unsurprisingly proved quite popular this season but the same cannot be said for the defenders in front of him with none of them featuring in more than 3% of teams. Having looked at some stats from their last eight games we would suggest that it’s a choice between Glen Johnson and Erik Pieters. Unsurprisingly their attacking stats are far superior to their centre back colleagues while their defensive stats are just as good. We should point out that Ryan Shawcross and Geoff Cameron have not featured in all eight games although even if they had we suspect it would still be a choice between Johnson and Pieters. There really is little to separate the two, just three points over the course of 15 game-weeks but if we were forced to choose we’d slightly favour Erik Pieters (1.2%) as his underlying stats over the course of the season are marginally better.

Leighton Baines climbed off the bench on Monday night in what was his first PL appearance of the season. Young Brendan Galloway has performed admirably in the absence of Baines but we must assume that Baines will take the position now that he is fit, although there is a small chance that Baines will be fielded ahead of Galloway on the left side of midfield, however this seems unlikely. Wherever Martinez chooses to play him he’s going to represent a differential as he features in just 2.5% of teams and as he hadn’t featured in the league before Monday night we must assume that the majority of these are ‘dead teams’. Our very own Toffee, Init, was at the game on Monday night and commented after the game ‘we need Baines for attacking balance’ and as we’ve seen in previous seasons he does love to get forward. Whether he still has spot kicks & free kicks in his locker remains to be seen.

Another few differentials worth some consideration are Crystal Palace’s Joel Ward (5.2%), West Brom’s Jonny Evans (1.1%) and Sunderland’s Patrick van Aanholt (0.5%). Scott Dann has certainly been the defender of choice from Palace this season but at £0.9m less we feel that Ward is a decent option. The Eagles have found clean sheets difficult enough to come by of late but they’ve only conceded eight in their last eight games and with a decent fixture list over Christmas we expect them to pick up one or two clean sheets and as Ward proved earlier in the season, he’s got an eye for goal. West Brom haven’t been as tight at the back this season as many would have expected, although they’ve still managed to pick up five clean sheets. They’ve had quite a tough fixture list of late but following this weekend’s trip to Anfield they have a number of games from which they’re more than capable of picking up a couple of clean sheets and at just £4.8m Evans could prove to be a solid investment. One look at Sunderland’s festive fixture list and it’s clear they’re on Santa’s naughty list, but as they’ve proved in recent weeks they have improved and will certainly make life tough for those teams who THEY face over the holidays. With Big Sam playing three at the back PvA has a little more freedom to get forward which should therefore mean there’s a greater chance he’ll pick up an assist or two.

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Midfielders

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[/three_fourth]Of late much has been made of Arsenal’s injury problems and while they are of concern to the Gooners they have certainly provided other players with an opportunity. One such player is undoubtedly Aaron Ramsey. The Welsh international has made no secret of his desire to play through the middle for Arsenal but Wenger was reluctant to break up the pairing of Coquelin and Cazorla and with Mesut Ozil in such superb form he was never going to play #10. However with both Coquelin and Cazorla now injured, Wenger was left with no choice last weekend but play Ramsey in central midfield and the Welshman didn’t disappoint, bagging a goal, an assist and three bonus points. Despite Wenger’s reluctance to play him through the middle this is undeniably his best position as it lets him break into the box unmarked in a manner reminiscent of Frank Lampard in his pomp. Aside from the visit of City in GW17 Arsenal have a decent fixture list over the coming weeks and with an ownership of just 2.7% Ramsey could yet prove to be the ultimate festive differential. We can’t move on from Arsenal without a quick mention of Mito’s mate Theo Walcott. Prior to his most recent injury he had scored twice and picked up a couple of assists in five games. With Arsenal currently suffering with so many injuries Walcott is likely to be played in his best position on the wing and with an ownership of just 1.5% he could turn out to be a Christmas cracker.

15 games into the season and it would appear as though no one wants to win the PL. Just when it looks like one team has come into form they throw it all away with a couple of poor results. For now Manchester City remain favourites to lift the title come May simply because they have the best squad. The good news for those fantasy managers on the hunt for a differential is that one of City’s key players currently represents an excellent differential. Of course we’re referring to David Silva who presently features in just 5.6% of teams. The Spaniard has been eased back into the fray and while he hasn’t sparkled in the league he showed enough against Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday night to suggest his best form is not too far away. Once City can get Sergio Aguero fully fit they will have a devastating attacking foursome in Aguero, KDB, Sterling and Silva, with the Spaniard likely to be the conductor which should result in him picking up a significant number of assists as well as the odd goal.

Over on Merseyside the midfield stars have undeniably been Ross Barkley and Philippe Coutinho but as a result of their recent form they are far from differentials and therefore we must turn our attention to their midfield colleagues Gerard Deulefou (3.5%) and Roberto Firmino (3.1%). Given his recent form it’s easy to understand why Barcelona insisted on a buy back clause when they sold Deulefou. His searing pace terrifies defenders while he’s also got the tricks to beat them in tight spaces. His link up play with Barkley and Lukaku has been excellent to date and this has seen him pick up seven assists with only Mesut Ozil picking up more. With Everton’s great run of fixtures continuing until the New Year there’s no reason for his form to drop off. While Deulefou has been relatively consistent this season Firmino most certainly hasn’t. When he lit up the recent win over City many expected him to kick on, but unfortunately that hasn’t been the case. Why has he not kicked on? The fact that Coutinho has not featured since the win over City is perhaps one reason as the two had shown signs of forming a great understanding. With Countinho likely to be back in the squad this week we will hopefully see an upturn in Firmino’s performances. With Daniel Sturridge set for yet another spell with his feet up we could see Firmino fielded as a false 9 over the coming weeks which should in theory result in him being on the end of a number of chances.

Had Marko Arnautovic not scored both goals in Stoke’s 2-0 win over City last weekend would he have featured on these pages this week? Possibly! He did however score twice and therefore we are unashamedly tipping him this week. After all he features in just 2.2% of teams so he is clearly a differential. Those two goals brought his tally for the season to five while he has also picked up two assists and eight bonus points. In fact the Austrian is the highest scoring midfielder under £6.5m and while Stoke have struggled for goals this season Arnautovic has been directly involved in just over half of their goals.

Many fantasy managers will argue that it’s not worth investing money in their bench and as a result they just concentrate on their starting XI. However over the festive period we feel it’s quite important to have a strong bench to cope with injuries and rotation. One player who is relatively cheap but remains a good source of fantasy points is Spurs’ Dele Alli (3.4%). Having missed the Chelsea game through suspension he returned to the starting line-up last weekend and promptly scored his 3rd goal of the season. His manager clearly believes in him and against West Brom he played in quite an advanced position, and if this continues over the coming weeks he could prove to be a steal at just £5.0m.

Before moving onto the forwards we will leave you with a player who currently features in 0% of teams and that is Aston Villa’s Jordan Veretout. Now to pick the Frenchman would unquestionably be the biggest punt of the season as not only does he play for Villa but he also costs £5.6m! He has however picked up an assist in each of his last two games, while he also scored seven times for Nantes last season so he’s clearly got some pedigree. Against Southampton last weekend he adopted quite an advanced role and showed a good deal of quality and drive.

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]Daniel Sturridge is back and firing on all cylinders and currently features in just 3.1% of teams. This is how I had planned to start our review of forward differentials this week but no sooner had I written his name Sturridge was injured again! Thanks Daniel! So we must look elsewhere and it’s to Olivier Giroud to whom we turn our attentions. With an ownership of just over 10% he’s a borderline differential but we’ve got to start somewhere. The Frenchman has rarely impressed this season but his goal last weekend was his 8th of the season and only four players have scored more this season. For much of the season there were fears that once Theo Walcott was fit that he and Giroud would be rotated up front, but with Arsenal currently missing a number of key midfielders this is unlikely to happen any time soon. As we’ve said time and time again Giroud will always be presented with chances, it’s just up to him what he chooses to do with them.

There’s just no stopping Odion Ighalo who has two goals and three assists in his last three games to bring his tally for the season to nine goals and five assists. The problem is that he now features in over 26% of teams. However his strike partner Troy Deeney features in just 3.5% of teams and he’s weighed in with five goals two assists in his last six games. Watford have a truly horrendous fixture list over Christmas but the form of Ighalo and Deeney would suggest they’ll trouble the best of teams and with Deeney having spot kick duty in his locker he deserves some consideration.

We’ll leave you with a trio of forwards this week who are most certainly differentials! They are Stoke’s Bojan Krkic (1.6%), Sunderland’s Duncan Watmore (0.4%) and West Ham’s Andy Carroll (0.1%). While it was Arnautovic and Shaqiri who grabbed the headlines for Stoke last weekend, Bojan despite not scoring, possibly had his best game of the season. Watmore followed up his goal against Stoke with another busy and industrious performance at Arsenal. His work rate is likely to create chances for himself and his teammates over the coming weeks. West Ham have caught the Arsenal disease and a significant number of their players will be able to put their feet up over Christmas, luckily for Bilic big Andy is fighting fit. Carroll will cause opposition defences problems over the holidays and he might even grab a goal or two….

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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 16. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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