Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 10

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 10

GW9 was one which a significant proportion of fantasy managers will want to forget in a hurry. The average score was a paltry 38 and when the likes of Green, Skrtel, Eto’o and Austin are amongst the game-weeks highest scorers you know it’s been one of those weeks! The problem with such a game-week is if a player from one of the bigger team scores well while those around him flounder it makes his score appear even better and that was the case in GW9 with Alexis Sanchez, resulting in over 100k transferring the Chilean into their teams at the time of writing. Now we’re certainly not suggesting that Sanchez should be ignored, in fact he’s included in our tips again this week, rather we’re suggesting that some managers are possibly making knee-jerk decisions based on one game-week. Enough of that, you’re here to listen to us pontificate, you’re here for our world renowned tips and below we have outlined a number of players whom we feel can deliver over the coming weeks.

Goalkeepers

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[/three_fourth]If it ain’t broke don’t fix it and using that old adage we’re once more tipping Southampton’s Fraser Forster. Artur Boruc kept 14 clean sheets for Southampton last season so perhaps it came as somewhat of a surprise when Ronald Koeman spent £10m to bring Forster south of the border. Boruc was a favourite of many fantasy managers but Forster has ensured that both Southampton fans and fantasy managers have long forgotten the Pole and the English international has kept five clean sheets in the opening nine games and is currently the 2nd highest scoring keeper. The Saints are flying high in the league and with their next three games against Hull, Leicester & Villa I for one certainly wouldn’t bet against them picking up another couple of clean sheets. After these three games their fixtures become considerably more difficult and many will argue that they will suffer a reality check and while this might be the case it could also be argued that their current momentum will carry them through these more difficult fixtures.

When Thibaut Courtois returned to Stamford Bridge during the summer having spent the previous three seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid many wondered if he would oust the incumbent keeper Petr Cech, but nine games into the season there is no doubting that the Belgian is Jose’s #1. Chelsea currently have the 2nd best defence in the league having conceded just nine goals in their opening nine games, but like a number of other teams this hasn’t particularly translated into clean sheets, they have managed just three with Petr Cech accounting for one of these. Their recent fixtures have been rather tricky having travelled to Manchester twice as well as hosting Arsenal but their next 12 or 13 fixtures should see Courtois rack up a significant number of clean sheets and I wouldn’t be at all surprised should he be the highest scoring keeper come the end of January.

With clean sheets proving difficult to come by over the opening nine game-weeks, injuries to Hull’s Allan McGregor and Steve Harper could prove a blessing in disguise to many fantasy managers. These injuries have meant that Eldin Jakupovic has been handed the gloves at the KC stadium and the good news is that the Bosnian is priced at just £4.0m. Hull have a number of tough fixtures coming up but at £4.0m Jakupovic could allow you to free up some much needed cash to possibly bring in a heavy hitter further up the field.

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]Just as I have included Fraser Forster above I feel obliged to yet again include a Southampton defender. There has been little to separate Nathaniel Clyne and Ryan Bertrand as the season has progressed, both have a goal, an assist as well as five bonus points to their credit and both have amassed 49 points, with Leighton Baines the only defender with more points. However their superb form has seen both significantly rise in price with Clyne up £0.6m to £5.6m and Bertrand up £0.5m to £5.5m. If you are yet to invest in the Southampton defence it might be wise to consider Toby Alderweireld who is priced at just £5.0m and has a reasonable goal scoring record, despite not yet having found the back of the net for the Saints. Should you decide that the attacking threat offered by both Clyne & Bertrand is more appealing it is worth noting that Bertrand’s underlying stats are significantly better than Clyne’s.

As we have already outlined above, despite Chelsea having the league’s 2nd best defence they have not rewarded fantasy managers with many clean sheets, but I strongly suspect that this will change over the coming weeks. As with the Southampton defence the question now arises as to which of the Chelsea defenders to choose. As a result of his stunning start to the season, two goals & an assist in his opening three games, Branislav Ivanovic became extremely popular and now features in over 20% of teams. Now that the scintillating attacking returns have dried up the question arises whether he is worth £0.9m more than John Terry & Gary Cahill and for me the answer is no! To date there is nothing to separate Terry & Cahill, for now I’d slightly favour JT on the basis that he’s more of a differential. Obviously Azpilicueta should not be forgotten but as he’s suspended this weekend he’s one to consider in future weeks.

Leighton Baines’ popularity continues to increase and he now features in just over 22% of teams and his price has risen to £7.2m. If you are one of the many managers who do not own him I would imagine you are continually questioning whether you can afford to do without him. On current form I would suggest you can’t, he now has a goal and six assists in his last seven games. It would appear as though Baines is certainly benefiting from the new bonus points system, he has now picked up more bonus points than any other player aside from Diafra Sakho and against Burnley last weekend he picked up two bonus points despite Everton not keeping a clean sheet. It is a little concerning that Everton have only picked up two clean sheets to date but given their upcoming fixtures Baines will surely start adding clean sheets to his repertoire over the coming weeks.

For those of you who are currently in the market for a cheap defender I would suggest you consider Arsenal’s Calum Chambers or West Brom’s Andre Wisdom. Aside from the visit of United in GW12 Arsenal have a number of fixtures from which they will expect to pick up a number of clean sheets and at just £4.6m Chambers could represent excellent value for money. When Wisdom moved to the Baggies on a season long loan from Liverpool back in August fantasy managers got quite excited as it appeared that we now had a £4.0m defender who would play regularly and with three clean sheets and an assist to date Wisdom hasn’t let us down. Aside from back to back games against Chelsea & Arsenal in game-weeks 12 & 13 West Brom have a number of fixtures over the coming weeks in which you could quite easily choose to play Wisdom.

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Midfielders

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[/three_fourth]Last week we looked at a number of options which would allow you to break away from the template midfield, but as we said, those players who feature in template teams are more often than not there for a reason – they deliver! And this is most certainly the case with Cesc Fabregas who against United last weekend claimed his eight assist of the season and the Spaniard has now created more goals than QPR, Burnley & Villa have actually scored. Chelsea will cause trouble to the vast majority of teams from set plays and with Fabregas on the lion’s share of corners he will continue to pick up assists from both open play and set pieces. While I will point out that Fabregas is only one yellow card away from a suspension I wouldn’t let this put you off him… we all remember Luis Suarez sitting on four yellow’s for a number of game-weeks last season!

I’m not quite sure how I managed to neglect David Silva last week when we were looking at ways to dismantle the template midfield and while City were beaten by West Ham the diminutive Spaniard gave us all of reminder of what he’s capable of with a wonderfully taken goal. He also claimed all three bonus points and at long last owners were rewarded with a decent points haul from Silva whom in previous weeks had failed to turn impressive displays into fantasy points. City have thus far failed to turn in a run of impressive performances, but aside from Chelsea and Southampton, no other teams have managed to perform consistently this season, although City certainly have enough quality to put in a run of impressive performances and this could quite easily start with the derby this weekend. If they can sort themselves out Silva will be at the heart of things and he could prove an excellent differential as he currently features in just 10.4% of teams. I should point out that at the time of writing Silva has just gone off injured against Newcastle so I would advise you to listen out for Pellegrini’s press conference later in the week.

While we may have mistakenly omitted Silva last week one player who we did include was Alexis Sanchez and the Chilean international certainly didn’t let us down. He scored both goals as Arsenal defeated Sunderland two nil, bringing his tally for the season to five goals, two assists & nine bonus points and he is quickly becoming the clubs talisman. His work rate over recent weeks has been quite impressive and this has meant that he’s creating chances for himself and is not simply relying on others to do the work for him. At £10.4m he’s not cheap and it might take a little tinkering to get him into your squad but given his current form and Arsenal’s fixtures it might prove worthwhile and he actually represents somewhat of a differential as he features in just under 15% of teams. Before you get too excited it is worth noting that Theo Walcott is due back in the coming weeks and assuming he can stay fit he may yet prove to be the Arsenal midfielder to own.

Unsurprisingly Dusan Tadic has grabbed the midfield headlines at Southampton of late and following his demolition of Sunderland in GW8 he deserves whatever plaudits come his way. As a result of this Sadio Mane continues to fly under the radar. The Senegalese international has now made four league appearances for the Saints and already has two goals and an assist to his name. However he still only features in 0.2% of teams and therefore he could represent a superb differential over the coming weeks.

A number of cheaper midfielders whom I feel warrant a mention this week are West Brom’s Chris Brunt, West Ham’s Morgan Amalfitano and Southampton’s Jack Cork. As a result of Saido Berahino’s recent goal scoring exploits Brunt has flown under the radar, he has however picked up four assists in his last five games and currently features in just 0.3% of teams. Having started each of West Ham’s last four games it would appear as though Amalfitano has secured a starting spot, at least in the short-term. The Frenchman has scored twice this season and currently features in just 0.1% of teams. Cork has gone rather unnoticed at Southampton this season but he costs just £4.4m, features in just 2.3% of teams and has scored twice.

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]As a result of his one man demolition of Spurs fantasy managers the world over spent big to get Sergio Aguero into their side ahead of City’s visit to West Ham last Saturday lunchtime, unfortunately it all went wrong as the Argentine drew a blank. As a result of said clamber his price has now increased to £12.6m making him the most expensive player currently plying their trade in the FPL, while he now features in just over 25% of teams. I certainly wouldn’t let his price or ownership levels put you off investing in Aguero and to be honest I expect both to increase over the coming weeks. I’m sure you will all agree that City have yet to get out of 3rd gear, yet Aguero has still managed to plunder nine goals for himself and his performance against Spurs was a timely reminder of what he’s capable of. He’s a big game player and games don’t come much bigger than this weekend’s Manc derby, so don’t be overly surprised should he torment LvG and his band of merry men on Sunday.

It’s unlikely to come as a surprise to see Southampton’s Graziano Pelle yet again included, we’re strongly considering changing the name of this article to ‘Southampton’! The Italian was unlucky not to get on the score sheet last weekend against Stoke, but he did pick up an assist to bring his tally for the season to six goals, three assists and nine bonus points, making him the highest scoring player in the FPL with 59 points. Southampton’s great run of fixtures continues for the next three weeks and I suspect that Pelle will remain in the fantasy points. While the Saints fixtures then become somewhat tougher, at least on paper, Koeman’s side won’t fear anyone and there’s no reason as to why Pelle cannot continue to score, even against the so called better teams.

Slowly but surely two of last season’s leading goal scorers are starting to rediscover their form, I’m referring to Everton’s Romelu Lukaku and Swansea’s Wilfried Bony. Lukaku has scored in each of his last two games, bringing him to four goals for the season, while Bony now has four in his last four games. Roberto Martinez typically adopts a 4-2-3-1 formation with Lukaku leading the line, however Martinez is spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing who plays behind the Belgian leading to quite a lot of rotation as was witnessed last weekend with the benching of Barkley. Therefore should you fancy taking advantage of Everton’s upcoming fixtures, Lukaku is probably your best bet. Swansea’s next three fixtures are certainly not the easiest as they face Everton, Arsenal & City but as Bony proved time & time again last season, when he’s on form he can be a handful for the best of defences.

With Diafra Sakho likely to at the very least miss this weekend’s game against Stoke, the obvious choice for those of you on the hunt for a cheap 3rd striker is West Brom’s Saido Berahino. The youngster has been in scintillating form of late and has five goals in his last four games and with his next two games against Leicester & Newcastle, there’s every chance that his scoring run will continue. For those of you who are trying to free up some cash ahead of maybe playing your wildcard during the next international break you could, I stress the word could, consider Newcastle’s Ayoze Perez! With Papiss Cisse and Emmanuel Riviere both injured the young Spaniard is likely to be given another chance and at just £4.8m he will certainly free up your cash!

Finally, two players who need no introduction are Chelsea’s Diego Costa and United’s Wayne Rooney. Costa has missed the last two games through injury and this has seen his price tumble from £11.2m down to £10.8m. Should his gaffer have something positive to say in his press conference later this week I would suggest getting Costa at £10.8m as he’s unlikely to remain at this price for very long. Rooney has missed the last three games through suspension and would have been expected to walk straight back into the side, however he is rumoured to have picked up a foot injury in training. Should LvG suggest in his press conference that Rooney is fit I would suggest giving him some consideration. His price has dropped to £10.2m, his ownership levels have dropped to 12.3% and he loves scoring against City.

Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 10. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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