Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 7

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 7

First of all a massive thanks to both Calvin & Bryan for doing such a wonderful job with the tips article over the last two weeks, while I enjoyed the odd Sagres. Either of you fancy the gig on a fulltime basis?! So what’s happened in my absence? Well Bry’s mate Jez Corbyn was elected leader of the British Labour party. Apple released yet another update. The rugby World Cup has kicked off. And what about FPL? Well that’s still an unpredictable mess. There’s a rumour doing the rounds that a template team has formed, however that very same rumour also suggests that said template team is s**t and with this in mind we’ve decided to take a look at a number of differentials this week. As Ewan McGregor once said, Choose a life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f*****g big television… and if you’re so inclined choose one of the following differentials!

Goalkeepers

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[/three_fourth]As I’m sure I mentioned a number of times last season, we rarely choose a keeper on the basis that he’s a differential simply because the pool of realistic options is quite small. However as we feature a number of keepers every week we will once again highlight a number of options. Sergio Romero kept three clean sheets in the four games he has played for United this season, but David de Gea (8.5%) rolls back into town and the Argentine is out in the cold! De Gea must be good so? Well he’s conceded three goals in two games. He’s rubbish so? Far from it, he’s undoubtedly the best keeper in the league and over the course of the season he will win a number of games for United. He may have conceded twice against Southampton on Sunday but he made a number of top class saves to ensure United went away with the points. Granted United have a tough run of fixtures coming up but they’re 2nd in the league and have the 3rd best defence so they’re doing something right and with de Gea between the sticks they’ll pick up their fair share of clean sheets.

You would expect a Chelsea keeper priced at just £5.0m to feature in a significant number of teams but due to their poor start to the season Asmir Begovic currently features in just 1.9% of teams. After a horrid start to the season a game against Arsenal was just what the doctor ordered as we all know that Jose v Arsene equals 3pts for Chelsea and it led to Chelsea’s first clean sheet of the season, and it’s quite possible that this result will kick start their season. With Thibaut Courtois side-lined for the foreseeable future Begovic is set for an extended run in the side and if they can build upon the Arsenal result he could yet prove to be a bargain, particularly when you take a look at their upcoming fixtures.

A couple of other keepers who are worthy of a mention this week are West Ham’s Adrian (3.4%) and Watford’s Heurelho Gomes (2.4%). West Ham have been a proper Jekyll & Hyde side this season, they’ve lost at home to both Leicester & Bournemouth, while they’ve gone and won at Arsenal, Liverpool & City. Adrian was back in the side for the win over City following his three match suspension and made a number of superb saves to highlight his qualities. They’ve got a rather easy run of fixtures coming up and if they can show the same endeavour against the so called weaker sides as they have done against the top teams then Adrian is a good bet for clean sheets. Watford have looked quite solid at the back over the first six game-weeks and this has resulted in Gomes claiming three clean sheets and currently only Myhill & Howard have more points. Their fixtures between now and December are quite tempting and at just £4.5m Gomes is a great shout.

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]They’ve kept four clean sheets from their opening six games and Tony Pulis is their gaffer, yet none of the West Brom defenders currently feature in more than 1.6% of teams. So in essence the entire Baggies defence represents a differential. We’ll narrow it down a little, and from their backline our choices would be Jonny Evans (0.6%) or Gareth McAuley (0.2%). Evans oft came in for criticism during his time at United, much of it from the United fans, and while he possibly wasn’t good enough to play consistently for a team with title aspirations he is more than capable of doing a job for Pulis. He brings with him a wealth of experience thanks to a total of 198 appearances for the Manchester club. At £5.0m his fellow countryman is £0.2m more expensive but he is always a threat from set pieces and has weighed in with eight goals over the last four seasons. The Baggies have a nice run of fixtures coming up which should see both Evans & McAuley claim another few clean sheets.

With an ownership of (10.1%) Aaron Creswell is slowly but surely moving away from differential status but for now we’re happy to include him. Having won player of the season in his debut season for The Hammers he has already turned in a number of impressive displays this season and is now being linked with a January move to Old Trafford. At £5.6m there are cheaper options from the West Ham defence but none as attacking as Creswell who has already picked up a couple of assists this season. As we’ve noted above West Ham have a great run of fixtures over the coming months which should see Cresswell claim a number of clean sheets and hopefully another couple of assists.

Nicolas Otamendi made his Premier League debut against West Ham and City promptly conceded their first goals of the season. However the Argentine international cannot be faulted for either goal and in fairness he turned in an impressive display. Thanks to the form of Kompany & Mangala he’s had to wait for his chance, but with both now injured he has a chance to make the place his own. Against West Ham he looked composed on the ball and he could form a great partnership with Kompany. At £6.5m he’s more expensive than both Kompany and Kolarov but we’re here to talk about differentials and he currently features in just 0.3% of teams. He’s clearly got an eye for goal, he scored six for Valencia last season and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet against the Hammers. Given City’s form and upcoming fixtures Otamendi could prove a great source of points over the coming weeks.

Finally a couple of £4.5m defenders who represent a decent differential are Everton’s Brendan Galloway (0.7%) and Watford’s Allan-Romeo Nyom (1.1%). Given Everton’s forthcoming fixtures Galloway is one to keep an eye rather than pick up immediately, although despite a number of tough fixtures in the opening six game-weeks they have conceded just five and have kept three clean sheets. In the absence of Leighton Baines it would appear as though Galloway has made the left back spot his own and is certainly worth monitoring. Watford have three defenders priced at £4.5m whom are separated by just 2pts, although we’ve gone for Nyom on the basis that he’s picked up four bonus points and despite not registering any attacking returns his underlying stats are pretty impressive.

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Midfielders

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[/three_fourth]When a club spends £50 odd million on a player you expect him to be a success and while it’s still very early days for Kevin De Bruyne at City the initial indicators suggest he’s going to be a hit. This is hardly a surprise given the fact that he registered 10 goals and 20 assists for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga last season. At this stage it’s difficult to say where Pellegrini intends the Belgian to play as David Silva has missed both games in which De Bruyne has featured. Against Palace in GW5 he featured predominantly on the left side of the three behind Bony whereas against West Ham in GW6 he played most of the game in the #10 position. His versatility means he can play in any of the three positions behind Aguero and I suspect that over the coming weeks we’ll see him add to the goal and three bonus points he picked up against West Ham. He currently represents a superb differential featuring in just 3% of teams although this is unlikely to last for long.

Unsurprisingly Eden Hazard and Pedro are the most popular Chelsea midfielders. Hazard has had a slow start to the season but against Arsenal showed some promising signs, while Pedro has slowed down after a lightning start. Should you be of the opinion that Chelsea are back on track following their win over the weekend and you’re looking for a differential you might want to consider either Cesc Fabregas (8.1%) or Oscar (1.2%). Fabregas has been a massive disappointment over the opening six games but just like Hazard he showed glimpses of his capabilities against Arsenal and if he can get into the groove the assists will once more begin to flow. Ok, so Oscar is always going to be a massive gamble but in the two games he’s started this season Chelsea have won both. Coincidence? Probably. However Jose is obviously a fan and if he can get a decent run in the #10 role he could prove an interesting differential.

On the whole Arsenal have been a disappointment this season, although I’m not sure whether or not we should be surprised. They were expected to challenge for the title this season and while they still might they will need to improve in the attacking third of the field as to date they have managed just five goals. They are a team packed with attacking talent and surely they will click into gear sooner rather than later. Should this happen we are then left with the difficult decision of which of their attacking options to pick. Over the opening six game-weeks none have stood out although it must we said that Mesut Ozil & Santiago Cazorla have the best underlying stats of the lot. I’m not suggesting you go out and buy Ozil this week but he & Arsenal are certainly worth monitoring, particularly as he features in just 8.2% of teams.

If the opening six games are anything to go by it would appear as though Southampton’s revolving door policy might be set to finally catch up with them. Just one win from their opening six games sees them sit 16th in the table. They have managed to find the back of the net on seven occasions which suggests that all is not lost. One bright spark for The Saints has been Sadio Mane (3.9%) with the Senegalese international claiming four assists in his last three games. Unfortunately their fixtures have taken a turn for the worse. However if Mane and Graziano Pelle can build upon their partnership all may not be lost for The Saints.

Wes Hoolahan may have been omitted from the Norwich squad which dropped two points against Liverpool but he should not be ignored. The Irish international has been in great form for The Canaries this season and has a goal & four assists to his credit from five appearances. At 33 he is not going to start every week as was proved last weekend but for £5.1m you will struggle to find better value for money and he currently features in just 3.6% of teams.

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]Player of the moment is undoubtedly new United signing Anthony Martial. He’s enjoyed a dream start to life at Old Trafford, scoring against bitter rivals Liverpool on his debut and following that up with a brace in GW6 against Southampton. Questions were raised about the size of his transfer fee and it was said that he was a player for the future but such are United’s lack of options that’s he’s already been thrust into action and he hasn’t disappointed. His scoring record in France wasn’t anything to get excited by so his superb start has come as a surprise to most, although those who witnessed the composure with which he took his first goal against Southampton would swear that he’s being scoring goals for years. At the time of writing he has been transferred in by slightly over 400k managers this week and he already features in 14.5% of teams so he’s unlikely to remain a differential for long, in fact at this rate he may not even be a differential this weekend. United play Sunderland this week and many will be expecting them to rack up a cricket score. Their following three games are against Arsenal, Everton & City. However I wouldn’t let this put you off the Frenchman as despite the fact that United appear to be struggling they are 2nd in the table with nine goals scored and they will always create a number of chances in each game, and it looks like Martial is the man to convert these chances.

Another new signing who has hit the ground running is Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son. The Korean international shone on his home debut with two goals against Qarabag in the Europa League and followed that up with the only goal of the game last weekend against Palace. Spurs have found goals difficult to come by this season scoring just five in their opening six games with last season’s scoring sensation Harry Kane yet to find the back of the net. He was of course bought as a support striker but he proved against Qarabag that he is more than capable of leading the line and Pochettino will be hoping that there’s more to come from the Korean. Priced at £8.0m the majority of managers will want to see more from him but as he features in just 1% of teams those that take the gamble could reap the rewards.

Thanks to three goals and two assists from his opening six games Dimitri Payet has proven to be the popular choice from the West Ham attack and as a result Diafra Sakho has been largely ignored. The Senegalese international has scored two in his last three and currently features in just 3.5% of teams. As noted above The Hammers have a great run of fixtures over the coming weeks and as a result I’m sure many of you will be looking for coverage from their attack, and at £6.5m Sakho is considerably cheaper than Payet. However there is a strong argument to be made for doubling up.

When West Brom have a decent run of fixtures our attentions always turn to their defence and rightly so, but given their upcoming fixtures it might be remiss of us to ignore their attacking options. And it’s not like they don’t have any decent forwards, Solomon Rondon has scored goals wherever he has played while Saido Berahino found the back of the net on 14 occasions last season. Despite wanting to leave the club over the summer Berahino is likely to give everything in an effort to secure a move away from the club next summer while Rondon will be eager to prove himself in the Premiership. Both are reasonably priced with Berahino £0.8m cheaper at £6.2m, although Rondon is much more of a differential as he features in just 0.9% of teams as compared to Berahino’s 7%.

Callum Wilson has proven to be the budget striker of choice this season, but thanks to a hat-trick in GW3 and goals in GW’s4&6 his price has rocketed to £6.0m and he features in nearly 30% of teams. As a result, the form of Odion Ighalo has largely gone unnoticed despite the Nigerian international having scored four times this season. At £5.1m he is now considerably cheaper than Wilson and he represents a great differential as he currently features in just 3.8% of teams. With some decent fixtures over the coming weeks the Watford man certainly deserves some consideration.

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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 7. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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