Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 17

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 17

Bah Humbug! Christmas is cancelled! Given the mood of many fantasy managers I suspect many would like to cancel Christmas. At this stage I would like to quote NIN from Sunday night, however I fear my editor wouldn’t be too impressed with the flavour of the language. So instead I’ll paraphrase, ‘this is a crap season’! But for those amongst you who share NIN’s sentiment fear not, for the festive period provides us with four opportunities in the space of 16 days to get our seasons back on track. When writing this article we typically focus on the next six game-weeks but this week we are solely focusing on the busy Christmas period…whilst a puppy isn’t just for Christmas a fantasy footballer might very well be! So we’ve put on our Christmas hats and below we discuss a number of players whom we expect to be amongst the fantasy points throughout the festivities.

Goalkeepers

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[/three_fourth]On paper Stoke don’t have the easiest of fixtures over the festive period, but football isn’t played on paper and we simply can’t ignore the form of Jack Butland. The England #2 has kept six clean sheets in his last eight games to bring his tally for the season to seven and he is now the FPL’s highest scoring keeper. Stoke clearly knew what they were doing when they sold Asmir Begovic to Chelsea this summer as on current form Butland is the best keeper in the league and should he maintain this form the clamour for him to be picked ahead of Joe Hart this summer will continue to grow. It’s not like he hasn’t been kept busy during his last eight games, he’s picked up an extra seven points thanks to the saves he’s made whilst he’s also picked up the maximum bonus points on three occasions. Despite only scoring five times in their last eight games Stoke currently sit 5th in the form table which just further emphasises how reliant they are on Butland and his defence. Priced at just £4.9m he is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Like Stoke, Arsenal don’t necessarily have the easiest of fixtures over the coming game-weeks but they’ve conceded just six times in their last eight games, with only Stoke & Man United having a better record during that period. Against Villa on Sunday Petr Cech kept his 169th Premier League clean sheet to equal David James’ record – a feat he managed in just 349 games, to put this into comparison it took calamity 572 games. The Gunners will have taken a lot of confidence from qualifying for the next round of the CL and they will be eager to maintain this form over the holidays. Wenger hasn’t tended to rotate his defence this year but there’s always the chance of someone being rested during the busy period and therefore Cech is possibly the best bet from the Arsenal defence.

So Butland and to a lesser extent Cech are form over fixtures, now let’s take a look at a number of keepers who’ve got some decent fixtures over the festivities and they are West Brom’s Boaz Myhill, Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessey and West Ham’s Adrian. Myhill has conceded 10 times in his last eight games and has kept just two clean sheets in that period, the Baggies have however faced the likes of Leicester, Man United, Arsenal, Spurs & Liverpool. He has however picked up six clean sheets this season and with their fixtures certainly about to take a turn for the better there is every chance Myhill will be back amongst the clean sheets. Despite keeping just two clean sheets in their last eight games Palace have managed to keep things relatively tight at the back, conceding eight and three of those came in the one game. They’ve got a number of fixtures coming up against teams struggling for goals and this should see Hennessey pick up a couple of clean sheets. West Ham have also conceded ten times in their last eight games but having kept clean sheets in their last two games they’re coming into some form and they’ll need to maintain their defensive form as they’ll struggle for goals without their best players!

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]At this time of the season we would typically expect the title ‘contenders’ to tighten up and put a decent run together, and this would give us the confidence to invest in their respective defences. Unfortunately this is unlikely to be the case this season… City can’t buy a clean sheet without Kompany, United have no fit defenders, Spurs can’t even beat Newcastle and no one believes Leicester are actually contenders! So that really just leaves Arsenal. They haven’t exactly set the world alight this season but they still find themselves with the 2nd best defence in the league and a total of seven clean sheets. So which one to pick, none of them have stood out of late. However after having a quick look at some stats one of them does in fact stand out and that’s Nacho Monreal. The Spaniard is more involved than any of the other three in the opposition half while he also leads the way in a number of defensive stats, which would suggest he’s more likely to pick up those valuable bonus points.

When clean sheets prove difficult to come by it’s oft an idea to try and pick up a couple of defenders who are likely to pick some attacking returns and Spurs provide us with a number of alternatives. As we’ve mentioned a number of times in recent weeks Spurs have the league’s 3rd best defence but have not picked up as many clean sheets as perhaps they should have done. However Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier & Danny Rose have proved it’s not just about clean sheets. Alderweireld is the most expensive of the three at £5.8m while he’s also the most popular with an ownership of 30.5%, however you get what you pay for and with two goals, two assists & seven bonus points he is the 2nd highest scoring defender in FPL and for that reason he’s our choice this week. If you can’t afford Toby we would go with Rose ahead of Dier. There’s little to separate the two over recent game-weeks, however Rose’s stats are just that little bit more impressive.

A couple of other defenders who are always a good bet for some attacking returns are Crystal Palace’s Scott Dann and West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell. Dann has scored three times this season and this has resulted in him picking up 10 bonus points. He’s currently the 3rd highest scoring defender in FPL and at just £5.4m he’s possibly the best value for money defender at this moment in time. As we’ve mentioned above Palace have some decent fixtures over the coming game-weeks and this should see him pick up a couple of clean sheets. Cresswell has yet to find the target this season but he has chipped in with three assists. Against Stoke last weekend it was notable that he was taking up a more advanced role than in previous weeks, this is perhaps a result of West Ham missing a number of their creative players and with Andy Carroll now the focus of their attack Cresswell certainly has a target to aim for.

For the scrooges amongst you we’ll wrap up a couple of cheap & cheerful options in the form of Stoke’s Philipp Wollscheid and Leicester’s Danny Simpson. Last week in our focus on differentials we discussed Glen Johnson & Eric Pieters and while both remain excellent picks we are this week tipping Wollscheid on the basis that he is the cheapest route into a Stoke defence which has kept six clean sheets from their last eight games. At £4.4m he appears to be a no brainer!! At £4.0m Simpson is one of those players whom you are happy to leave on your bench safe in the knowledge that he will do is job when called upon. Since coming into the team back in GW8 he has started every game picking up four clean sheets and for £4.0m you can’t really ask for much more.

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Midfielders

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[/three_fourth]When Mesut Ozil joined Arsenal back in September 2013 we all knew the Gunners were getting an immensely talented player. Unfortunately since arriving in London we haven’t seen the best of him on a consistent basis. Until now that is. The German international has now delivered returns in each of his last 10 games and he has only blanked on four occasions this season. With Alexis Sanchez failing to shine this season it is the German who has firmly become the team’s talisman, dictating the play from his #10 role. Although if David Moyes is to be believed, the jury is still out on Ozil! There have been media reports in recent days to suggest that Wenger will rest Mesut over the busy period and while we wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen we wouldn’t let that stop you bringing him into your squad, just ensure you’ve got a decent replacement on your bench. As we mentioned last week the current injury crisis at Arsenal as provided Aaron Ramsey with the opportunity to play through the middle and with two goals, an assist and six bonus points in the last two games he is making the most of his opportunity. Given his relatively low price of £8.1m and extremely low ownership of 3.8% he deserves some serious consideration and there’s even an argument to be made for doubling up on Messrs Ozil & Ramsey.

We haven’t included Riyad Mahrez in this article in recent weeks due to the fact that he’s owned by over 60% of you but given the fact that it’s Christmas we’ve decided that we should maybe highlight him to those non-owners! Jamie Vardy has grabbed the majority of the headlines this season but for me Mahrez has been the standout player of the season to date, turning in another man of the match performance against Chelsea on Monday night. While Jamie Vardy is the highest scorer and Mesut Ozil has the most assists Mahrez is performing in both categories, he’s the 3rd highest goal scorer and is also 3rd in the assists chart, and this has resulted in him picking up a staggering 26 bonus points. Actually forget about all his stats, he’s an absolute joy to watch and you’ll enjoy it even more once he’s in your team.

Having scored 14 in four games Everton have dropped off the pace in recent weeks with two 1-1 draws against both Palace & Norwich. Ross Barkley blanked in both games while Gerard Deulofeu picked up just one assist although he probably should have been awarded a 2nd. Despite this slight dip in form we are including them both again this week as we fancy Everton to score a few over the holidays. Saturday’s game against Leicester has the makings of being a Christmas cracker and they follow that up with a game against Newcastle on Boxing Day, and despite Newcastle’s recent defensive resilience you just get the feeling that they’re just one or two mistakes away from the floodgates opening. As we’ve seen over the course of the season Barkley is the more explosive of the two but Deulofeu’s understanding with Romelu Lukaku continues to grow, so you should in theory be rewarded by whichever one you choose.

A quartet of mid-priced midfielders who we feel warrant a mention this week are Newcastle’s Georginio Wijnaldum, Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson, Stoke’s Marko Arnautovic and Crystal Palace’s Yannick Bolasie. I’m sure you’ve not forgotten the furore surrounding Wijnaldum following his four goals against Norwich back in GW9? While the excitement levels haven’t quite reached those since this time around he is currently the most popular midfielder in terms of transfers in this week. Why? Well Newcastle have beaten both Liverpool & Everton in their last two games and play Villa at home this week. Against Liverpool he scored one, created another and picked up maximum bonus points, and followed that up with an impressive display against Spurs. Both Newcastle & Wijnaldum will frustrate & disappoint in equal measures, but at this time of the season it’s important to back form. If any Liverpool player was tailor made for Jurgen Klopp’s high pressing game it is Henderson who leads from the front and provides perpetual motion from midfield. If Liverpool can somehow find an element of consistency over the festivities Henderson could prove to be a shrewd purchase. It remains to be seen whether he’s still on penalties but at just £6.5m he’s not going to break the bank while he’s also a great differential, currently featuring in just 4% of teams. Arnautovic played a starring role as Stoke comprehensively beat City a couple of weeks ago. Stoke don’t score many goals but when they do the Austrian is typically involved. Bolasie is becoming an integral part of the Palace attack and this has seen him pick up three goals and an assist in his last five games. Palace have some decent fixtures coming up and Bolasie’s pace & power is likely to cause their opponents plenty of problems.

In terms of budget midfielders the standout option for the festive period is undoubtedly Junior Stanislas. Bournemouth have shown some great fighting spirit in recent weeks, picking up two wins and two draws in their last four games, and with three goals and an assist in this period Stanislas has played a starring role. Bournemouth have a mixed bag of fixtures over the holidays but they’re confidence is bound to be sky high and at just £4.2m Stanislas will make a great stocking filler. For those of you who fancy throwing caution to the wind over Christmas you could always take a punt on West Brom’s James McClean. The Baggies have some decent fixtures coming up and McClean has shown some signs of form in recent weeks with a goal and an assist in his last four.

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]Is Romelu Lukaku the new Jamie Vardy? When Vardy broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record last month he must have assumed that his record would stand for at least a few years, but it’s already in danger. Ok so it’s not quite in danger but Lukaku has now scored in six consecutive games, something which most of us would have considered impossible at the beginning of the season. Thanks to his superb run of form the Belgian now has 12 goals for the season as well as four assists and 19 bonus points. Despite his new found consistency he is still quite frustrating as was in evidence against Norwich last weekend, a game in which he should have had a hat-trick before half-time. Someone recently compared him to Andy Cole in that he’ll score plenty of goals but he’ll miss just as many! As we’ve noted above, we expect Everton to bang in a few goals over the coming weeks which invariably means we’ll see Lukaku’s name on the scoresheet.

So that’s the potential successor to Vardy’s crown, what about Jamie Vardy himself? Having broken van Nistelrooy’s record against United he then suffered a massive dip in form against Swansea when he actually failed to score, although he did manage to register an assist. He did however bounce back against Chelsea when he scored his 15th goal of the season. There has been some talk in recent weeks that now is the right time to cash in on Vardy as their fixtures are getting that bit more difficult, but it’s worth remembering that it’s Leicester who are top of the table, not their upcoming opponents. They’ve shown little fear in recent matches against both United & Chelsea, and this is unlikely to change against the likes of Everton, Liverpool & City. So in essence there is no good reason as to why Vardy will stop scoring.

In terms of fixtures no team has a more difficult set of fixtures over the festivities than Watford. They obviously p1ssed someone off in the fixtures department as they’ve ended up with Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs & City. So we’ve established they’ve got some difficult fixtures but they sit 3rd in the current form table with five wins from their last eight games and in Odian Ighalo they’ve got a striker who’s bang in form. He’s got three goals and three assists in his last four games to bring his tally for the season to 10 goals and five assists. Ighalo’s strike partner Troy Deeney is also in great form and between them they will make life difficult for their more illustrious opponents over Christmas.

Olivier Giroud is yet to score more than 7pts in a single game-week this season but he has kept the points ticking over thanks to his nine goals, while it’s also worth noting that started a considerable number of games on the bench throughout September & October. We may have mentioned it once or twice before but when you play in front of a midfield of the quality of Arsenal’s you will get chances in every game, particularly with Mesut Ozil in the form of his life. With Alexis Sanchez soon to return Wenger might be tempted to push Walcott up front but we reckon that the Frenchman has done enough of late to be assured of the striking role.

The above strikers are certainly the Premier Leagues in-form strikers, but are there any strikers not in form who might be worth some consideration? One name that springs to mind is Sergio Aguero who at the time of writing has returned to training and is poised to feature against Arsenal on Monday night. Through a combination of injuries & poor form the Argentine has had a disappointing season and has managed just seven goals. However as we witnessed in GW8 he is the league’s most explosive striker and you would never bet against him scoring. He’s unlikely to feature in all four games over the holidays so should you bring him in please ensure you’ve got a strong bench. Despite blanking in his last three games we can’t completely ignore Harry Kane. Neither he nor Spurs have impressed of late but as we saw between game-weeks 10&13 he is more than a one season wonder and will be back amongst the goals in the near future.

We’ll leave you with a name that is very much fixtures over form and that’s West Brom’s Salamon Rondon. The Venezuelan enjoyed a decent start to life at The Hawthorns picking up a goal and an assist in his first three games, however he failed to build on that start and has just three goals and two assists to date. The Baggies do have some decent fixtures over the coming game-weeks and with Saido Berahino currently out of favour Rondon is likely to start all four games.

Happy Christmas folks…let’s hope it’s a good one!

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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 17. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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