Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 23

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 23

Another week, another intro. I was going to carry out some research as NIN & Init did for their excellent Fixtures article but I’m far too lazy for that, so instead I’ll just waffle on for a few more sentences! FPL has shown some signs of late that it is set to become a little interesting again as the template begins to crumble, although another is bound to form soon. Once the League Cup semis are completed next Wednesday night we will have our first blank game-week of the season confirmed which in turn will lead to our first double game-week of the season and who doesn’t love a good double?! With 10 days of the transfer window remaining there is still time for a couple of interesting signings which will hopefully spice things up. Anyway enough waffle, although some of it sounds like it makes sense, it’s time to reveal this week’s tips and as you’ll see a few of our old favourites have made a return.

Goalkeepers

You’ve got as much chance of picking the winning lottery numbers as you have of getting your choice of keeper correct! To date the top five defences in the league are Spurs, United, Arsenal, City & Stoke. However take a look at the current form table (last eight games) and you will see that Leicester & West Ham lead the way with just five goals conceded, followed by Spurs, City, Southampton & Bournemouth with seven goals conceded. Unlike your outfield players you are unlikely to chop & change your keepers on a regular basis so current form is not always as important when it comes to keepers. So where does that leave us? Good bloody question! Having analysed overall form, current form and upcoming fixtures we’ve decided to go with Cech, Lloris & Adrian.

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[/three_fourth]What were Chelsea thinking when they sold Petr Cech to Arsenal? Everyone knows that you don’t sell a key player to one of your rivals. Clearly they weren’t thinking straight or else Jose didn’t consider the Gunners to be title contenders at the beginning of the season. Not that it matters much to him now! Arsenal have the 3rd best defence in the league with Cech having already kept an impressive 10 clean sheets. The Czech international has made 102 saves to date with only Jack Butland having made more, so he has clearly played a significant role in ensuring Arsenal have been so solid. At £5.8m he’s not the cheapest route into the Arsenal rear guard but by picking the Czech stopper you are ensuring you have a keeper you can happily play every week. Obviously they’ve got a couple of tricky fixtures over the coming weeks but both Arsenal & Cech are more than capable of keeping the best teams quiet.

Hugo Lloris and the Spurs defence continue to frustrate many an FPL manager…they’ve got the best defence in the league but have only converted this into seven clean sheets from 22 games. While his defensive colleagues continue to pick up both goals & assists the French international is unfortunately not in a position to pick up either. Despite this he has picked up a total of 82pts to date and the only Spurs defender to have outscored him is Toby Alderweireld, whilst it’s also worth noting that he’s the cheapest guaranteed starter from the their backline. Despite their next two games being away from the Lane they are against Crystal Palace & Norwich, two teams who have struggled for goals over the course of the season.

As we’ve highlighted above West Ham on current form have the best defence in the league. They’ve conceded just five goals in their last eight games, keeping four clean sheets in that period. The Hammers host City this weekend and given City’s away form we would not be at all surprised should Adrian add to his tally of seven clean sheets. It’s worth noting that aside from Aaron Cresswell neither Adrian nor any other Hammers defenders feature in over 3% of teams (Oxford doesn’t count!), so if they can make the most of a great run of fixtures following the City game Adrian could prove a decent differential.

Before we move on from the keepers we’d like to give a quick mention to Southampton’s Fraser Forster. Prior to his return to the side in GW21 Southampton had been struggling to keep clean sheets, picking up just two in their previous 15 games. Forster returns and they keep back to back clean sheets! The Saints have a mixed bag of fixtures over the coming weeks, but if you’re trying to mix things up a little you might want to consider Forster who’s priced at £4.8m and features in just 0.3% of teams.

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]Only Manchester City have scored more goals than Everton this season yet the Toffees currently lie 11th in the table. This is largely down to the fact they’ve conceded 32 goals and kept just six clean sheets. So why then are we tipping Leighton Baines? There’s a couple of reasons. First of all Phil Jagielka has recently returned to the heart of the defence and Everton are undeniably a better team with him in the side. Seamus Coleman should be back in a couple of weeks and assuming they pick up no further injuries Martinez will be in a position to select his first choice back four. And of course there’s Baines’ attacking instincts as were in evidence against Chelsea last weekend when he picked a pair of assists. They’ve got a great run of fixtures over the coming weeks and once they have their first choice back four on the pitch we must assume that they will start to pick up some clean sheets. So if they can do so Baines could prove to be a decent differential particularly if he can chip in with the odd assist. It’s just a shame that he would appear to have lost out on some set pieces.

We could very easily have included Jack Butland in our goalkeepers section this week but unfortunately we can’t include everyone. Instead we turn our attentions to Stoke’s defenders and in particular Glen Johnson. Everyone is well aware of just how resolute Stoke have been this season and this has seen Johnson & Co claim nine clean sheets. They haven’t been quite as tight at the back of late but as they showed against Arsenal last Sunday they are still capable of frustrating the opposition. So why Johnson over his colleagues? It’s the attacking threat he offers, he’s picked up three assists and nine bonus points to go with the nine clean sheets. They’ve got a number of tricky fixtures over the coming weeks but having already kept the likes of City & Arsenal scoreless we wouldn’t back against a couple of clean sheets over the coming weeks.

A couple of other defenders who offer an attacking threat are Swansea’s Ashley Williams and West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell. Hmmm…I’ve just checked Williams’ stats so as to prove my point and it turns out that he’s not the attacking threat I assumed him to be. Including Monday nights goal he’s scored just three times in 164 top flight appearances. Ok so he’s clearly not an attacking threat but he is most certainly a bonus point magnet, he’s picked up maximum bonus points on four occasions in the last six game-weeks to bring his total for the season to 17. In the four games in which he’s claimed maximum bonus points Swansea have kept a clean sheet, so basically a Swansea clean sheets equals bonus points for Ashley. The Swans have a number of games over the coming weeks from which they will hope to claim clean sheets particularly given their recent form. Unfortunately Cresswell is turning into one of those players whom you always expect more from than what he actually delivers. However, given the Hammers upcoming fixtures we’re prepared to give him another chance. This week’s game against City could see them get hammered but given the recent form of the two there’s as much chance of Cresswell picking up a clean sheet. Following the City game they’ve got a great run of fixtures from which we would expect a couple of clean sheets and maybe even an assist or two for Cresswell.

Finally for those of you trying to balance the books we’ll leave you with Bournemouth’s Charlie Daniels and Southampton’s Matt Targett. With Daniels having accumulated 45pts across the last five game-weeks many will argue that those who don’t already own Daniels have missed that boat and while there might be an element of truth in the argument it must be remembered that he’s on spot kick duties. So in a nutshell he’s a defender priced at £4.5m who takes penalties, what’s not to like? The fact that Bournemouth appear to have made significant improvements at the back and have some decent fixtures over the coming weeks is just the icing on the cake.

Perhaps Southampton’s back to back clean sheets isn’t solely down to the return of Fraser Forster! Against Watford in GW21 Koeman adopted a 3-5-2 system and stuck with this system against West Brom last weekend. This saw Targett drafted into a right wing back roll and with an assist in each game he’s certainly repaid his gaffers faith in him. Will he maintain his place in the starting XI? We don’t have the answer to that but if Southampton can build on their performances there is no reason for Koeman to change. And at just £3.7m perhaps he’s a gamble worth taking.

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Midfielders

We appear to have gone from a situation in which it was a struggle to get all the midfielders you wanted into your squad to a situation where all of those who had been performing and were a part of the template team have stopped performing, certainly on a consistent basis. Mahrez has failed to produce in the last five game-weeks. Ozil in the last three, although it may be somewhat premature to suggest his form has dipped. Wijnaldum disappears outside of Newcastle. Barkley has contributed just three assists in the last eight game-weeks. Arnautovic it must be said continues to perform, with two goals and two assists in his last five games. It’s worth noting that four of these five are amongst the top five midfielders in terms of ownership with Wijnaldum being the odd one out. Let’s therefore take a look at a number of players with considerably lower ownership.

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[/three_fourth]Sergio Aguero stole the headlines last weekend at The Etihad and as a result the return to form of David Silva has somewhat gone unnoticed. The Spaniard has struggled this season and has been overshadowed by Kevin De Bruyne. Against Palace last Saturday afternoon it was Silva who stood out claiming a goal & an assist although it must be said that the Belgian still managed to chip in with an assist. Silva has been eased back into the fray in recent weeks but we expect him to once more be a regular starter over the coming weeks. The fact that he has been absent for a significant part of the season to date could in fact be of benefit to himself & City over the remainder of the season as he is unlikely to burn out as happens to many players. While we’re not advocating a direct swap from De Bruyne to Silva we would suggest that those of you are without a City midfielder you should first of all consider the Spaniard. At £9.9m he’s nearly £1m cheaper and he currently features in just 5.5% of teams. If City are to reclaim their title, and at this stage they’re favourites to do so, Silva is likely to play a significant role over the remainder of the season.

Those of you who like to be one step ahead of the game might want to gamble on Alexis Sanchez this week. The FPL website still has him at 50% but the word coming out of The Emirates is that he’s likely to feature off the bench at the very least against Chelsea. Obviously we would suggest you wait until Cookie brings us all the news from around the grounds on Friday before you make a decision. So why would you bring the Chilean in so early? Of course it would be a massive gamble but just like Aguero Sanchez is one of those explosive players who who has the ability to reward the brave with significant returns. The Gunners might be top of the table but they haven’t built on their impressive victory over City back in GW17 and they will be hoping the return of Sanchez will allow them to get back on track.

Dimitri Payet was the star of the show back in GW21 thanks to a goal & an assist as West Ham defeated Bolton 3-1. As a result in excess of 330k managers brought him ahead of last week’s trip to Newcastle and of course he blanked. However we wouldn’t let that put you off of him as we witnessed his class on numerous occasions prior to his injury. Granted his ownership levels have grown to just under 20% but given The Hammers upcoming fixtures he could prove great value at £8.0m. If you’re reluctant to shell out for Payet you could instead turn your attentions to his midfield colleague Michail Antonio. Signed from Forest back in September it has taken him some time to break into the first team but he has bagged two goals and four assists in his last six games and is available at just £5.2m.

A couple of players with relatively low ownership and playing out of position are Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino (2.7%) and Swansea’s Andre Ayew (11.5%). Unfortunately neither have set the world alight although Firmino has been performing marginally better. The Brazilian is taking time adjusting to the physicality of the Premiership but he has given us glimpses of his potential, particularly in the games against City & Arsenal. With Christian Benteke currently the only fit forward at Anfield Jurgen Klopp has opted to play Firmino up top in a number of recent games as he clearly has no faith in Tekkers. Should Liverpool fail to bring in another forward Firmino could continue to play up front so he might yet be worth a gamble. Ayew enjoyed a great start to life in Premier League but his returns have dropped off as of late as he’s picked up just a goal and an assist in the last nine game-weeks. Swansea have struggled for goals which is not a ringing endorsement for the Ghanaian international, but for those of you who need to try something different he could potentially be an option.

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]Oh Sergio, where have you been? Of course we’re referring to none other than Sergio Aguero! I’m sure the Argentine will be the first to admit that he’s had a frustrating season, fantasy managers have certainly been frustrated with him. Aside from his demolition of Newcastle back in GW8 he hasn’t sparked thanks to a combination of injury & lack of form. That is until last Saturday when he bagged two goals, an assist and maximum bonus points. Granted there was an element of fortune in his 2nd goal but you make your own luck. Just like Silva he has been eased back into things but his performance on Saturday suggests that he’s now fully fit and when Aguero is fully fit we all know what that means. Goals. While he’s not yet a ‘must have’ he is a player who can hurt you if you don’t own him as us non-owners learned last week. His ownership currently stands at 20% but we suspect that this will increase over the coming weeks and it is unsurprising that at the time of writing he is the most transferred in forward by a margin of 60k. Don’t forget that once he does hit top form on a consistent basis you automatically have a contender for your armband no matter the opposition.

At the time of writing slightly over 45k managers have transferred OUT Romelu Lukaku. Now we must assume that he’s being ditched in favour of Aguero but such a transfer would appear fraught with danger. Granted he’s blanked in his last two games but he was quite unlucky not to get on the scoresheet last time out against Chelsea and in his previous ten games he’d weighed in with ten goals and three assists which I think you’ll agree is rather impressive. Everton’s next two games are at home to Newcastle & Swansea and if we assume that he hasn’t lost his form completely in the last two games he is surely a good bet for a couple of goals in these two games. Everton’s run of decent fixtures extends well into March and therefore we expect the leagues joint top scorer to continue scoring over the coming weeks.

I’ll probably get laughed off the site for saying what I’m about to say but I’ll say it anyway. Spurs could win the league. It’s unlikely to happen, but this could yet be their season. Everyone knows that they’ve got the best defence in the league but the fact that only City & Leicester have scored more goals would appear to have gone largely unnoticed. Harry Kane has scored 12 goals to date but he’s yet to hit top form on a consistent basis. The way Spurs have been playing of late means that Kane is likely to get chances in nearly every game and with penalty kicks in his locker he remains a good bet not only for the short term but also over the remainder of the season.

Despite spending a small fortune last summer this United team is as poor as the teams of the Ron Atkinson era of the early 80s! Although if they had a manager with a more attacking philosophy we suspect things would be different, but for now they’re stuck with LvG. Wayne Rooney has come in for much criticism over the course of the season but he has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks and has four goals and an assist in his last three games. Given United’s recent form as well as their upcoming fixtures we’re unlikely to see any free flowing football anytime soon but while the likes of Kun, Lukaku & Kane are likely to be a part of any template team the same cannot be said for Rooney. So again for those of you who need to jazz things up a little you might want to at least consider Wayne.

Two new additions to FPL who we feel are worth a mention are Bournemouth’s Benik Afobe and Southampton’s Charlie Austin. The Cherries have reportedly paid a club record £10m for Afobe in the hope that he will score the goals which will secure their top flight safety. He had a decent record in The Championship with Wolves, scoring 22 in 46 games. He impressed on his debut against West Ham and he really should have scored in that game, but it didn’t take him long to open his account last weekend against Norwich. From what we’ve seen he looks like a player who will do well in the Premier League and with Bournemouth having some decent fixtures over the coming weeks he could have an immediate impact. The fact that Charlie Austin has joined Southampton is no surprise, the fact that they got him for £4m is the surprise. Remember this is the same Charlie Austin who scored 18 goals for a very poor QPR side last season and has scored 10 in 16 in The Championship this season. How he’ll adapt to Southampton’s style of play remains to be seen but at the end of the day he’s a proven goal scorer. We’d suggest you wait for Friday’s Team Talk before making a decision on either Afobe or Austin as both are reported to be carrying knocks.

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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 23. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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