Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 8

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 8

Where do I begin? Seriously I’m at a loss at how best to describe the opening seven game-weeks of the season. Words such as carnage, disaster & catastrophe spring to mind but I’m not sure if they would do it justice. In previous seasons we had the old reliables who performed week in week out, they formed the bedrock of your team and you filled the rest in around them. Sergio Aguero has scored once in seven games and this is despite City having scored 13 goals. Last season’s player of the season Eden Hazard has managed just a goal & two assists, the least said about Chelsea the better. Aleksandar Kolarov scored 46 points in the opening five game-weeks which led to a mad scramble to get him in, in the last two game-weeks he’s scored nothing. I could go on! Those fantasy managers who have had the balls to ditch the ‘big hitters’ in favour of the form players are the managers who are doing well this season, while the rest of us wallow in self-pity. I think that’s enough of a rant, here are this week’s tips…

Goalkeepers

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[/three_fourth]Fixtures over form or form over fixtures? Take a look at the next five or six games and ignoring form pick the teams you would expect to keep clean sheets, based purely on the fixtures you’ll be looking at the likes of Leicester, Newcastle (aside from GW8), Chelsea, City & Sunderland. The problem is that Leicester, Newcastle, Chelsea & Sunderland have some of the worst defences in the league, and we’ll get to City in a bit. We’d struggle to put an argument together as to why you should pick a keeper from any of those teams, although Chelsea will surely prove us wrong. Instead we’re going to go with a keeper who is currently in fine form and that is Spurs’ Hugo Lloris. Prior to last weekend’s game against City the Frenchman had kept three clean sheets on the bounce and despite conceding against City he picked up five points thanks to a bonus point and a couple of save bonus points. Despite having the joint best defence in the league Lloris and his defensive colleagues have largely gone unnoticed and while their upcoming fixtures are something of a mixed bag we’d back them to pick another few clean sheets up over the coming weeks.

Prior to last Saturday Manchester City had the best defence in the league so it came as quite a surprise when Spurs knocked four past them at lunchtime on Saturday. Joe Hart missed that game through injury and while I suspect that City would still have lost the game had he been playing something tells me that City would not have conceded four. The good news is that he was back back between the sticks tonight and while he did concede he stopped a penalty and made a number of top class saves. Two weeks ago it appeared that City already had the league won but having lost their last two games conceding six goals it now appears as though they’re mere mortals like the rest of us. Despite this blip their forthcoming fixtures indicate that they will soon be back amongst the clean sheets, particularly as Hart will naturally return and hopefully they can get Vincent Kompany back on the pitch soon.

When West Brom went 2-0 up after 54 minutes at home to Everton on Monday night the majority of us probably assumed that there was a good chance they were set to claim their 5th clean sheet of the season, we certainly didn’t expect them to concede three and to lose the game 3-2! This result shows just how difficult it is to predict clean sheets this season and in fairness you’d have a better chance trying to understand the female psyche. Despite this result our final keeper tip this week is Boaz Myhill. With their next four fixtures against Palace, Sunderland, Norwich & Leicester there is every chance that Myhill could add a minimum of two clean sheets to the four he has already picked up and with Ben Foster having suffered an injury setback and now being ruled out until Christmas the gloves are most certainly Myhill’s to lose.

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]Having conceded seven goals from their opening seven games Arsenal have one of the better defences in the league and this has seen them keep three clean sheets. When fit, Laurent Koscielny is probably the best option from The Gunners defence but he is also the most expensive and the most popular. Therefore our tips from the goonies defence are Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal. Both appear to be first choice in their respective positions with Bellerin missing just the first game of the season while Monreal has been an ever present this season. Both are more than willing to get forward with Bellerin having claimed one assist and Monreal two, while Monreal has five bonus points and Bellerin four. This leaves Monreal on 33pts and Bellerin on 29 so there is little to separate them after the opening seven game-weeks. Both are attractively priced at £5.6m with Monreal representing a decent differential at 4.3%. Monreal’s underlying stats are a tad more impressive and therefore we would slightly favour him over his compatriot.

Perhaps it’s time we took Eric Dier seriously as a fantasy prospect? Despite being the 4th highest scoring defender over the opening seven game-weeks he features in just 7.4% of teams. Much of the attention on Spurs to date has been directed at Harry Kane and his lack of goals and as a result the fact that Spurs have conceded just five goals from their opening seven games has gone unnoticed. Dier is being played as a defensive midfielder and some may have expected him to lose his position but given his current form that appears unlikely anytime soon. With three clean sheets, two goals and three bonus points to his name he certainly deserves some consideration. I should point out that with four yellow cards Dier is currently walking the suspension tightrope. Another Spurs defender who warrants some consideration is Ben Davies. Priced at just £4.5m he has started six of the seven games and it certainly appears as though he has made the left back spot his own. It’s also worth noting that he features in just 1% of teams.

With just five goals conceded and four clean sheets from their opening seven games Manchester United currently have the best defensive record in the league. Granted they have some difficult fixtures over the next three weeks with trips to face Arsenal & Everton while they also host their nearest & dearest, but given their form I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them pick up a couple of clean sheets from these games. Matteo Darmian had started the first five games but was surprisingly benched for the trip to Southampton, however he was brought on at halftime as United struggled to contain The Saints. With United carrying a number of knocks at the back the Italian is unlikely to be benched anytime soon and despite their tough fixtures he could prove a decent source of points over the coming game-weeks.

Last we stated that the entire West Brom defence was a differential and we highlighted Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley. The Baggies then went and conceded three against Everton while their defensive colleague Craig Dawson went and scored, while McAuley didn’t even start! Now we’re not about to start backtracking and advocate Dawson over Evans but we will once more recommend you get a Baggies defender as their next three games scream clean sheets.

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Midfielders

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[/three_fourth]Without playing particularly impressively Manchester United have somehow found themselves on top of the table. However one player who has impressed to date is Juan Mata. Since joining United back in January of 2014 Mata has failed to live up to the expectations of many United fans, although this may have something to do with the fact that he was in & out of the team. This season he has however started every game and this has seen him become the consistent performer he was during his first two seasons with Chelsea. Despite not playing in has favoured #10 position he has adapted well and is a constant threat on the right of three attacking midfielders. As we’ve noted above United have three tough fixtures in succession but given Mata’s form he should not be ignored, he has delivered returns in five of the seven games to date claiming three goals, three assists and six bonus points. His ownership levels have steadily increased over recent weeks and he now features in 17% of teams, and given his current form he has the potential to hurt those without him. He’s also on penalties which cannot be underestimated and to illustrate that point he grabbed one of those against Wolfsberg to add to an assist which would have seen him probably get all 3 bonus points for an FPL total of 13.

Who could have predicted that after the opening seven game-weeks of the season West Ham & Leicester would be the joint highest goal scorers with 15 goals? Undoubtedly the star players in each team have been Dimitri Payet and Riyad Mahrez. Payet has picked up three goals, three assists and eight bonus points while Mahrez has five goals, three assists and a staggering 14 bonus points. Mahrez is the game’s most popular player with an ownership of over 52% while Payet features in nearly 24% of teams, so clearly neither are a differential but with both West Ham & Leicester both in the midst of a decent run of fixtures it’s still not too late to pick either of them up.

With so many of the so called ‘big hitters’ failing to deliver on a consistent basis it was comforting to witness Alexis Sanchez explode into life with a hat-trick against Leicester last weekend. Prior to the Leicester game he had managed just one assist, although many had persevered with him as his underlying stats were impressive…sometimes patience is rewarded, are you listening Sergio? Arsenal fans would have hoped to kick on from the Leicester result but instead they went and lost to Olympiakos, although from a fantasy perspective it was encouraging to see Sanchez turn in another impressive display. Perhaps ‘shoulders’ is back? The Gunners have a tricky fixture list over the coming weeks but as we saw last season Alexis, when in form, is fixture proof.

Whereas Sanchez exploded into life Kevin De Bruyne has enjoyed a steady but impressive start to life in the Premier League. While City have struggled in the last two weeks De Bruyne has looked every part the player City fans were expecting and this has seen him score in each of those games. Despite their recent slump, three of their next four games are at home to Newcastle, Bournemouth & Norwich, and it’s because of these games that their attacking players remain such an enticing prospect. The Belgians goals have seen his price rise to £10.2m but he still remains a great differential as he features in just over 6% of teams.

Our final midfield tip this week is something of a punt and it’s Spurs Eric Lamela. Since signing from Roma back in August 2013 he has been nothing but a flop. In his first two seasons he made just 38 appearances, scoring only twice and picking up eight assists. Spurs have struggled for goals this season but last time out they found the back of the net on four occasions, with Lamela scoring one and assisting another. His form this season has seen him recalled to the Argentinian squad as a replacement for none other than Lionel Messi! At just £6.8m and with an ownership of 1% those brave enough to take a punt on the Argentine could reap the rewards.

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]Last Saturday was the first time this season we saw Daniel Sturridge strut his moves in the EPL after finding the back of the net, in fact thanks to injuries we only saw it on four occasions over the entirety of last season. What last Saturday’s game against Villa proved is that if Liverpool are to have any chance of even challenging for the top 4 (/ not being relegated) they will need Sturridge fit for the rest of the season. Unfortunately for Liverpool fans and those fantasy managers with plans to bring him in, the chances of him going injury free for the remainder of the season are quite low. However I wouldn’t let that put you off bringing him in because as long as he’s fit and playing regularly he’ll score goals. Ok, so he’s unlikely to match his returns from 2013/14 when himself and Luis Suarez wreaked havoc on defences around the country but he will score goals. Liverpool have a tough run of fixtures over the next 3-4 weeks but for those of you who have become disillusioned with Aguero and want to try and break away from the template then Sturridge could be the man for you.

The news that Callum Wilson is set to miss the next six months of the season came as a big blow not only to Bournemouth but also to the 30% of fantasy managers who had him in their squad when he picked up a serious knee injury last Saturday. For those of you who are yet to ship Wilson out who should you be considering? The good news is that are quite a number of options in the £5.5m to £7.0m price bracket and our tips from this bracket are Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, West Ham’s Diafra Sakho and West Brom’s Saido Berahino. Vardy has scored six times this season but has been overshadowed by the form of Mahrez. Having scored five in his last four games and given the fact that Leicester’s next six fixtures are relatively straightforward he is the prime candidate to replace Wilson. Just like Vardy at Leicester, Sakho has been overshadowed at West Ham by Payet, but has shown some form of late with three in his last four games. Just like Leicester West Ham have some decent fixtures over the coming weeks and Sakho deserves to be considered. Berahino is probably the longshot of the three but with two goals and five bonus points in his last two games he is clearly in form. As I’ve suggested above The Baggies are a good bet for a couple of clean sheets over the coming weeks but they should also find themselves amongst the goals and if this is the case I expect to see Berahino’s name on the scoresheet.

Our next tip is fantasy footballs most frustrating forward, yes you’ve guessed it, it’s none other than Everton’s Romelu Lukaku. Why frustrating? Well he’s the 2nd highest scoring forward in FPL and this is despite blanking in four of his seven games. However he scored a brace in GW2 and another brace in GW7 and has also picked up a couple of assists. Therefore the moral of the story is that should you pick Lukaku in your team you need to leave him there and learn how to deal with the frustration he causes. The Toffees have a number of difficult fixtures over the coming weeks but they have claimed a number of impressive results to date and I wouldn’t back against them repeating such results over the coming weeks.

As noted in the intro Sergio Aguero has scored just once in seven games and costs £13.2m, so what is he doing here I hear you cry? It’s simple really, I’m going with the old adage of ‘form is temporary, class in permanent’ and the fact that he faces Newcastle, Bournemouth & Norwich in his next three home games, and if these games don’t kick-start his season I’ll call it a day!

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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 8. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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