Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 7

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 7 – Differentials

The last two game-weeks have proved rather frustrating for the vast majority of fantasy managers with the average score in each of these weeks being a paltry 36 & 38, although if you managed to pick up a couple of decent scores in these game-weeks you are likely to have made significant advances up the overall rankings as well as in your mini-leagues. Low scoring game-weeks have a tendency to leave some fantasy managers with itchy fingers as they chase those highly addictive points and with big hitters such as Ramsey & Rooney set to miss a number of games the transfer activity is set to go through the roof this week. So whether you are faced with the problems caused by Messrs Ramsey & Rooney or you just need to freshen things up we have below outlined a number of players whom we feel can deliver over the coming weeks.

Goalkeepers

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[/three_fourth]As Cilla would say, ‘surprise surprise’, Fraser Forster appears once more on these pages…it’s beginning to become somewhat boring, but sometimes boring is good! After all, following the opening six game-weeks Southampton hold the best defensive record in the league, something none of us would have predicted at the beginning of August, despite their fixtures. At £5.1m Forster is no longer the cheapest route into the Saints defence, but he is guaranteed to start every week, and with their fixtures remaining extremely enticing for the next six game-weeks you can happily play Forster every week allowing you to possibly have a non-playing keeper (£4.0m) as your second choice which will save you some much needed cash. And to be honest, if Southampton can maintain this form you might decide to stick with such a policy even when their fixtures become more difficult.

Back in the days of Tony Pulis, Stoke boasted one of the league’s best defences but last season they were not as solid at the back as they became accustomed to Mark Hughes’ style of play. However after the first six games of the season they possess they 2nd best defensive record in the league with just five goals conceded and against Newcastle on Monday night Asmir Begovic claimed his second clean sheet of the season. Just like Southampton, Stoke’s next six fixtures are quite tempting making Begovic quite an appealing proposition and at £5.0m he could prove decent value for money over the coming game-weeks.

Clean sheets don’t grow on trees! After the opening six games no team has kept more than three clean sheets which certainly gives credence to the argument of not investing heavily in goalkeepers. Leicester have only kept one clean sheet to date and unfortunately for Kasper Schmeichel owners the Dane missed that game through injury. With Leicester having shipped 10 goals in their opening six games it may come as a surprise to see Schmeichel included here this week, but do yourself a favour and take a look at their upcoming fixtures. Their next two games are against Burnley & Newcastle who between them have only scored six goals to date and they follow these two games with a number of relatively easy fixtures. So at just £4.5m I reckon Schmeichel could offer excellent value for money over the coming six or seven game-weeks.

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]I was rather surprised when I spotted that Everton currently have the worst defence in the league! I know they conceded six against Chelsea but I didn’t realise they had conceded a total of 14. So now you are possibly asking yourself why I am this week tipping Leighton Baines. It’s simple really, you don’t pick Baines in the hope that he’ll get you a clean sheet, you pick him in the hope that he’ll pick up a goal or an assist and he’s already chipped in with a goal and two assists. The Toffees have had a rather difficult start to the season so perhaps it’s not surprising that they have struggled at the back, but following this week’s visit to Old Trafford they have a great run of fixtures and I suspect they will pick up a number of clean sheets. Despite the fact that I don’t expect them to keep a clean sheet this weekend I wouldn’t be at all surprised should Baines pick up some attacking points against a United defence who panic as soon as the ball is in their half!

Last week when looking at a number of differentials we tipped Ryan Bertrand and the Southampton man didn’t let us down as he scored and picked up a bonus point. As I’ve already mentioned and I’m sure you’re all well aware, Southampton currently have the best defence in the league and while I don’t think a Southampton defender is a must, it’s surely a very good idea to have one of them in your team and if you don’t agree just take a look at their next six fixtures. Given their attacking returns to date it is very difficult to look beyond either Bertrand or Nathaniel Clyne, who now have a goal and an assist each. Clyne’s ownership is now close to 25% while Bertrand’s is rising rapidly, so if you’re still on the hunt for a differential Toby Alderweireld is probably your man and he is just £5.0m.

Given the fact that Stoke boast the 2nd best defence in the league and have a decent run of fixtures coming up it might be wise to consider drafting one of their defenders into your squad and luckily for us fantasy managers they offer up three different propositions. In Ryan Shawcross you have a guaranteed starter who will always threaten from set pieces, however he is the most expensive of the three at £5.6m and features in nearly 15% of teams. In Phil Bardsley you have a full back who is encouraged to push forward, thus offering up both goal & assist potential and is just £5.0m and features in just 0.7% of teams. Marc Wilson is not really known for his attacking exploits but he is just £4.5m and for me he currently offers the best value of the three, particularly if Stoke can pick up a few clean sheets over the coming weeks.

Reigning champions Manchester City have endured a rather sluggish start to the season and are already five points behind Chelsea. They’ve struggled all over the pitch, particularly at the back where they have conceded seven, which isn’t really that bad, but they have only managed the one clean sheet. They have however faced the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal & Chelsea and aside from the visit of their noisy neighbours in GW10 their fixtures between now and the New Year are pretty straightforward, so maybe now is the right time to invest in their defence and our tip is Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentine or Argentinian, whichever you prefer, gave us all a timely reminder of his attacking threat last weekend against Hull as he chipped in with a couple of assists and with Pellegrini not employing any width in midfield Zabaleta will be encouraged to continue pushing forward.

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Midfielders

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[/three_fourth]With Aaron Ramsey having picked up an injury in last weekend’s north London derby a significant amount of fantasy managers must now decide who to replace the Welshman with. So let’s take a look at some obvious replacements and some maybe not so obvious. First up is Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling. Liverpool continue to struggle this season and are not a patch on the side that thrilled us at every opportunity last season, however Sterling has looked impressive and already has three goals, an assist and six bonus points to his name. Obviously they’ve already lost to both Villa and West Ham but aside from the visit of Chelsea in GW11 they have a great run of fixtures coming up and they will surely bounce back!! There’s no denying that Sterling is more effective when Daniel Sturridge is around and with the striker nearing a return to fitness I expect big things from Sterling over the coming weeks.

Both Manchester clubs offer up potential replacements for Ramsey, namely Juan Mata and David Silva. With Wayne Rooney set to sit out United’s next three games through suspension it would appear that Mata will be recalled to play in the hole behind van Persie and Falcao. The Spaniard has proved to be the odd one out since Falcao’s arrival, however with eight goals in his last ten games he can consider himself unlucky. Bringing Mata in is likely to be a short term move as Rooney will come back into the side following his suspension, but given United’s recent attacking play he might be worth the gamble. David Silva is unlikely to pick up big scores on a regular basis but the Spaniard will contribute a steady flow of points, particularly when City are playing well and against Hull last weekend they provided glimpses of what they are capable of and Silva picked up his first assists of the season. As I have already highlighted City have some decent fixtures on the horizon and with Silva only featuring in 10.5% of teams he offers something of a differential. Should you be in the mood to throw caution to the wind you could always consider a certain Frank Lampard who has scored four in four in all competitions. At present City look a better side when Lampard is on the pitch but this is no guarantee that he will start any of the forthcoming games both at just £5.4m maybe you can afford to take the risk.

Perhaps unsurprisingly Southampton also provide us with a potential replacement in the shape of Dusan Tadic. The Serb is slowly but surely settling into the Premiership with his displays becoming more & more influential and this has seen him pick up two assists in his last three games. With James Ward-Prowse side-lined for the foreseeable future this is likely to see Tadic handed extra responsibility around set pieces. At just £7.5m he will free up a substantial amount of cash should you choose to bring him in as a replacement for Ramsey, while he also represents an excellent differential as he features in just 2.6% of teams. Should you really be in the mood for a massive differential you could consider Sadio Mane who currently features in 0.1% of teams! The Senegalese midfielder made his league debut against QPR last weekend and impressed despite only lasting for a little over an hour, picking up an assist in the process and I suspect that once he is fully match fit he could be a bargain at just £6.9m.

Finally, a trio of relatively cheap midfielders who warrant some consideration are Stoke’s Victor Moses, Everton’s Aidan McGeady and West Ham’s Stewart Downing. Moses has been impressive of late picking up an assist in each of his last two games and perhaps he is recapturing the form which saw Chelsea sign him from Wigan back in August 2012. With Kevin Mirallas likely to miss the next four weeks McGeady is surely set for a run in the side and with Everton’s fixtures set to pick up the Irish international could be an interesting addition to your squad. So Downing isn’t exactly a sexy pick but he has shown some form of late and has a goal and two assists to his name this season and at £5.6m he could provide decent value for money over the coming weeks.

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]The dismissal of Wayne Rooney last weekend has left fantasy managers scrambling to pick up a replacement for the OAP lover! There are quite a few obvious replacements and let’s start with his teammates Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao. United have scored nine goals in their last three games and with their defence leaking goals I suspect that we will see them continue to attack over the coming weeks. In Juan Mata they have a readymade replacement for Rooney and in my eyes Mata is more suited to playing in the hole behind Falcao & RvP and the dynamic duo could in fact benefit from Rooney’s absence. There have been signs in the last two games that these two can strike up quite an effective partnership with van Persie scoring in each game and Falcao claiming the assist on each occasion. Van Persie currently features in just 2.2% of teams and Falcao in 9%, although the Dutchman is £1.5m more expensive than the Colombian at £12.4m. If you can afford him I’d go with van Persie.

Both Manchester City and Sergio Aguero are struggling to get out of second gear, but this hasn’t stopped the Argentinian marksman scoring four times. Pellegrini continues to manage Aguero’s game time and this has seen him play the 90 minutes on just two occasions this season, but to be honest this makes his four goals appear even more impressive and it should be remembered that last season he scored 17 and picked up 11 assists despite playing just 1,528 minutes. With City having already slipped five points behind Chelsea, Pellegrini may feel the need to play Aguero more often than not and with their fixtures beginning to become significantly easier there is every possibility of him going goal crazy over the coming weeks. Should you not be in a position to afford Aguero or you simply don’t trust his hamstring but you fancy a piece of the City strike force you might consider Edin Dzeko who scored his first goals of the season against Hull last weekend. The Bosnian isn’t in the same league as Aguero but he is over £3.5m cheaper. I should point out that Stevan Jovetic returned to the side off the bench against Roma on Tuesday night and his return could impact on Dzeko’s game time.

Southampton really are the darlings of the fantasy football world at the moment and therefore it should come as no surprise to see Graziano Pelle included once again. With four goals and an assist in his last four games the Italian is on fire and this has seen his price rise to £7.8m. However given his form and Southampton’s fixtures I feel that this still offers outstanding value for money. It’s worth remembering that a number of the Southampton first XI are still relatively new to the side and as such I believe there’s room for improvement and this can only benefit Pelle. For those of you who missed his goal against QPR last weekend do yourself a favour and check it out on YouTube!

Having already tipped the frustrating Edin Dzeko, next up is the equally frustrating Romelu Lukaku. However as well as bringing you frustration he will also bring you goals, last season he scored 15 while the season before he managed 17. Everton face United this weekend and he should, I stress should, give them a torrid time with his power & pace. Following their trip to Manchester, Everton have quite a tasty run of fixtures and I reckon we will see the Belgians name on the scoresheet on a regular basis.

Our final two tips this week are a couple of cheap forwards who have been in decent form of late and they are Stoke’s Peter Crouch and West Ham’s Diafra Sakho. Crouch has two goals and an assist in his last two games and with Stoke having a decent run of fixtures, coupled with the form of Victor Moses I wouldn’t bet against Crouch over the coming game-weeks. Sakho has two goals and an assist in his last three and is certainly worth some consideration should you have just £5.5m to spend on a striker.

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

Follow @KenLyons79

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