Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 24

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 24

And so it has been confirmed folks, our first blank game-week of the season. I’m not going to discuss what this might mean in regards to any impending double game-weeks as both as both DMC and Mito have previously discussed this in some detail, suffice to say that Liverpool, Everton, Man City and Newcastle will not feature in GW27. So what does this mean for our teams and specifically our transfers over the coming weeks? Basically it calls for some detailed planning…some of us are screwed so! You will hear it said that you should not transfer in a player from the aforementioned teams as they blank in GW27 but there’s three entire game-weeks between now and then, so if you had planned to bring in the likes of Aguero, Firmino, Lukaku or even Andros Townsend this week I’d still go for it, but, be sure you have a plan in place for GW27. This is when it will pay dividends to have a strong bench. One piece of advice I’d give you regarding this week’s transfers is to try and wait until the last possible minute to make them as there is a small chance that we will have some news on those impending doubles before the deadline and this is bound to impact on your decisions. Oh and you’ll know if you’re team has picked up any knocks during the weekend cup games. Whatever you choose to do we hope you’ll find the below tips of some use as you plan for the weeks ahead…

Goalkeepers

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[/three_fourth]At this time of the season in years gone by you could have wagered your mortgage on the title challengers tightening up at the back making it in turn easier to predict where the clean sheets would come from. Last weekend there were five clean sheets only one of which belonged to a title challenger and that was of course Leicester. So where better to start this week than Kasper Schmeichel. Leicester started the season with all guns blazing and with scant regard for clean sheets, picking up just one from their opening 12 games. However like all good title challenging teams they have stiffened up at the back and have kept six clean sheets in the subsequent 11 games. They’ve got a few tricky games over the coming weeks but after keeping City & Spurs quiet in the not too distant past they’ll be quietly confident of picking up clean sheets against Liverpool, City (again) & Arsenal, and after that it’s plain sailing to the title. In all seriousness Schmeichel shouldn’t be ignored as a result of the next three games particularly if you’re on a wildcard and he represents great value at £4.5m.

So that’s the league’s inform keeper dealt with, where else might you turn your attentions? A trio of keepers whom we feel are worth some consideration at this moment in time are Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois, Southampton’s Fraser Forster and Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessy. Since Guus Hiddink’s return to Chelsea they have played four games at Stamford Bridge and three away from home, and bizarrely they’ve conceded eight at home but have kept three clean sheets on the road. We must assume that Guus will have spotted this trend and act accordingly thus tightening up at home. With a relatively straightforward fixture list over the coming weeks we envisage Courtois picking up a number of clean sheets. Since Forster’s return between the sticks in GW21 Southampton have kept three clean sheets on the bounce and while it us undoubtedly a coincidence there is no denying his quality and his impact on the team. Following this week’s trip to The Emirates they’ve got a great run of fixtures and Forster should add to his impressive stats. At £4.8m he’s great value and currently represents a great differential featuring in just 0.5% of teams. Hennessy has endured a torrid time of late with his horrendous error gifting Villa the win back in GW21 while he also followed that up with another blunder the following week against City. Despite conceding three against Spurs last weekend he was not at fault for any of the goals and had it not been for him the scoreline could’ve been a lot worse. Having had a number of tough fixtures in recent weeks Palace now have a great run of fixtures over the coming weeks and we’re backing Hennessy to add to his tally of six clean sheets.

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]Given the difficulty that most managers are encountering in attempting to predict clean sheets we have this week decided to focus on the cheaper end of the market. What’s the point in having an expensive defender picking up 2pts when a cheaper option can do just the same?! We’ll start off with Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma. The youngster has featured in six of the seven games since Hiddink has arrived and while he doesn’t offer the attacking threat of Ivanovic he is considerably cheaper at £5.4m. As we’ve noted above we expect Chelsea’s home form to improve over the coming weeks and should this transpire we predict that they will become a regular source of clean sheets. Talking about Branislav Ivanovic, we have seen a significant increase in his returns since Jose’s departure. I’m going to contradict my opening argument here and state that if you’re prepared to invest in an expensive defender he might just be the one. In the seven games since Hiddink has been in charge he has scored one, chipped in with three assists and claimed nine bonus points giving him a total of 47pts in that period.

Given Leicester’s current defensive form it would be remiss of us not to highlight at least one of their defensive options this week and in fact we’ll go one better and include two, full backs Danny Simpson and Christian Fuchs. With Simpson currently available for £4.1m as compared to Fuchs’ £4.8m it would appear that Simpson is the obvious choice. However their underlying stats would suggest that Fuchs is the better choice by some distance as he leads Simpson in nearly every category in both attack and defence. Despite the stats overwhelmingly favouring the Austrian there is little to separate the two with Fuchs leading Simpson by just 7pts. Fuchs has picked up seven bonus points in his last five games but we can’t justify the extra £0.7m and therefore if we had to choose between the two we’d go with Simpson.

We’ve ignored him over the past number of weeks but can’t do so any longer. A goal in each of the last four game-weeks makes Patrick van Aanholt stand out from the crowd. Granted he’s the most expensive option from the Sunderland defence but the rest of them are bobbins. Over the last four game-weeks he’s amassed 25pts while Jones, Brown & O’Shea have amassed just 13 between them! This however does point to a glaring lack of clean sheets in recent weeks, in fact they’ve now gone nine games without a clean sheet and a look at their immediate fixtures would suggest that’s unlikely to improve anytime soon. However four goals in four games ensures he deserves some consideration.

Our final defensive tips this week are Crystal Palace’s Damien Delaney, Bournemouth’s Charlie Daniels and Matt Targett of Southampton. The popular Palace defender this season has obviously been Scott Dann but his price has climbed to £5.8m but with both Delaney & Papa Souare both available for just £4.4m we feel that they currently offer better value for money when compared to Dann. We’ve gone with Delaney over Souare as he offers more of a threat in the opposition penalty area. We could have easily included Adam Smith in place of Charlie Daniels this week as at £4.1m he’s £0.5m cheaper and just like Daniels he’s encouraged to get forward at every opportunity, however we’ve gone for Daniels simply because he’s on penalties. At the time of writing Matt Targett is the 2nd most popular defender this week with close to 28k managers transferring him in. This is hardly surprising though as over the past three game-weeks he’s picked up 29pts and is available for just £3.8m. Having been out of favour for the majority of the season so it’s difficult to know how long he will maintain his place but given Southampton’s current form he’s unlikely to lose out in the near future.

Actually we’ve got one more name for you and this guy currently features in 0% of teams! The man is question in Spurs’ Kevin Wimmer. The Austrian made his first PL appearance for Spurs last weekend when he replaced the injured Jan Vertonghen for the last 16 minutes of the game. With Vertonghen set for a spell on the sidelines Wimmer should get an extended run in the side and is available for just £4.6m. There is of course a chance that Eric Dier will move back to play alongside Alderweireld but Pochettino will be reluctant to move him from his defensive midfield role.

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Midfielders

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[/three_fourth]The injury sustained by Kevin De Bruyne while most unfortunate for the Belgian and for City has helped to spice up FPL a little more. With just one assist in the last five game-weeks many had begun to dump him but he is still owned by just under 22% of teams, although this figure is likely to drop significantly as at the time of writing he has been discarded by close to 115k managers this week. So for those with the Belgian in their ranks who should we be considering as a replacement? An obvious place to start is with one of his midfield colleagues and that provides us with three options – Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling & David Silva. Let’s take a quick look at their respective performances over the last six game-weeks. Toure leads the way with 26pts (2 goals & 4 bonus), closely followed by Silva with 25pts (1 goal, 2 assists & 4 bonus) with Sterling some distance behind with just 14pts (1 goal) although it should be noted that he only featured in five of the six games. A quick look at some stats show that unsurprisingly Sterling lags some distance behind his two more senior colleagues, with little to separate Toure & Silva, although the Spaniard slightly edges it as he has been more involved in and around the opposition penalty area. Therefore based on the last six game-weeks it’s a clear choice between Yaya & Silva. Toure is significantly cheaper at £8.7m whereas Silva represents a greater differential as he features in just 6% of teams. If you were to force us to choose between the two we’d slightly favour Silva due to his ability to play on the same wavelength as Aguero and if they click the Spaniard will pull in the points.

Another obvious replacement for De Bruyne is Alexis Sanchez. Many fantasy managers have recently been questioning how exactly they were going to squeeze the Chilean into their squads once he had returned from injury, well now you might very well have your answer. Sanchez came off the bench against Chelsea last weekend to play a little over half an hour, but with Arsenal trailing by a goal to nil and down to 10 men he struggled to make an impact. However he reported no ill effects following the game and is likely to step up his return against Burnley this weekend. Having missed out on eight consecutive game-weeks Sanchez has no form to bank on but what he does offer is potential – potential to score big and with an ownership of just under 10% he remains a differential, for now!

We don’t like to blow our own trumpets in these parts but last week we tipped both Roberto Firmino & Andre Ayew, and neither let us down. With two goals, an assist and maximum bonus points Firmino was the star of the show as Liverpool convincingly (!!) beat Norwich 5-4. That was the Brazilians 3rd double figure points’ haul of the season and his 2nd in the last three games. He’s featured in every league game under Klopp except for the German’s first game in charge and has started the last seven games so it’s now safe to assume that he’s a permanent fixture in Klopp’s favoured XI. The issue with owning a Liverpool player is that Liverpool have been unable to string a number of half decent performances together this season but the fact that Firmino is playing OOP means he warrants some serious consideration. Priced at just £7.9m he’s not going to break the bank and he represents an excellent differential currently featuring in just over 7% of teams. Swansea turned in one of their most impressive performances last weekend as they defeated Everton 2-1 with Ayew playing a leading role with a goal and assist as well as maximum bonus points. He now has two goals and two assists in his last three games and just like Firmino he’s playing OOP. Swansea have some decent fixtures over the coming weeks and if they can build on the Everton performance Ayew could prove an interesting prospect.

One quick glance at the fixtures over the next five or six game-weeks and you will see that West Ham have a great run and this makes Dimitri Payet a very enticing prospect. Despite blanking for the 3rd time since his return from injury he led City on a merry dance and underlined his potential for the weeks ahead. With Enner Valencia in decent form up top Payet has a great foil and this should see him pick up both goals & assists over the coming weeks. Michail Antonio continued his great run of form last weekend with an assist although it should be said that he claimed the assist via a throw in. Somewhat worryingly he was hauled off with 25 minutes to be replaced by a fit again Victor Moses. At £5.3m he’s great value for money but Payet is unquestionably the better pick.

Those of you haven’t yet seen the wonder goal scored by Dele Alli last Saturday need to do yourselves a favour and check it out. Given his performances over the course of the season he is surely a shoe-in for the Young Player of the Season award? His form over recent weeks has seen his popularity increase and he now features in over 23% of teams but given his form and price (£5.7m) you ignore him at your peril. If it’s a differential you’re after you might want to consider Alli’s midfield colleague Christian Eriksen who currently features in just 6.4% of teams. The Viking has two goals and an assist in his last two games but as we all know he can be as frustrating as a midget with a yo-yo!

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]If you don’t already own Sergio Aguero you really do need to make it your business to get him ASAP or else you’re going to spend every City game behind the couch. Now before you start harping on about he’s so expensive and how there’s much better value for money out there just let me stop you. There isn’t! When Aguero is fit and on form there isn’t a better striker in the league, in fact there isn’t another striker in the same class as the Argentine. And having watched his last three games against Palace, West Ham & Everton he is clearly 100% fit and on form. As we’ve said in the intro don’t be concerned by the fact that he doesn’t feature in GW27, concern yourself with the three games he’ll play between now and then. Two of these games will play a significant role in deciding where the title goes meaning both City & Aguero will be well up for these games. Just get him in sit back and relax.

So that’s Kun out of the way. Next we turn our attentions to Diego Costa and Harry Kane. Costa is currently flagged having departed Chelsea’s win over Arsenal with a knee injury but has apparently trained ahead of their Cup game with MK Dons. Earlier in the season Chelsea were effectively carrying Costa as he offered little or nothing to the team but in recent games we’ve seen the Costa of last season. He’s getting in the face of the opposition which they don’t like but more importantly he’s scoring goals, in his last five games he’s got five goals and two assists. Chelsea apparently believe they can still make top 4 and if this is to happen they will rely heavily on the goals of Costa. Without being spectacular this season Kane has scored 13 goals with only three players having scored more and we wouldn’t be at all surprised should he end up as the leading scorer come the end of the season. While Chelsea foolishly continue to harbour top 4 aspirations Spurs must now be considered title challengers and given their recent form Kane will get chances in each & every game.

Two players who we shouldn’t forget about are Jamie Vardy and Odion Ighalo. Prior to last weekend Vardy had gone six games without a goal although he has chipped in with three assists while Ighalo had gone three without a goal. Both have been discarded by many managers in recent weeks and we suspect many are now regretting this as both found themselves on the scoresheet for their respective teams last weekend. We expect both to amongst the goals over the coming weeks.

Finally a couple of new signings you might want to consider and they are Southampton’s Charlie Austin, Bournemouth’s Benik Afobe and Steven Naismith now with Norwich. Austin played just 12 minutes on his Southampton debut yet walked away with 8pts thanks to a goal and maximum bonus points. I’m still scratching my head as to how they picked him up for just £4.0m. Anyway he’s proved that he still knows where the Premier League goals are and we expect many more from him over the coming weeks. Afobe has enjoyed a dream start to life at Bournemouth and has scored twice in his first three games. With the type of football the Cherries play they are always likely to create chances and as we’ve seen Afobe is well able to tuck them away. Considering Norwich were playing Liverpool Naismith was always going to score on his debut. The ginger goal machine picked up 11pts thanks to his gaol, an assist and two bonus points. Given how poor their defence is they will need more of the same from him if they are to survive the drop.

Enner Valencia. Don’t believe me? Just take a read of Guy’s excellent Capo’s article where he puts forward a superb case for the Ecuadorian.

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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 24. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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