Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 17

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 17

The recent midweek game-week gave us all a taste of what to expect over the Christmas period as we squeeze four of them into just 13 days. Forget Santa, forget presents, forget family & friends, forget alcohol, Christmas is all about FPL! Actually ignore what I said about forgetting alcohol, you’re going to need it as you attempt to come to terms with Jose et al rotating players for no other reason than because they might get tired! The rotation started early for some teams last weekend as City chose to rest Zabaleta while Azpilicueta once again sat things out for Chelsea and don’t get me started on a certain Bosnian picking up an injury in the warm-up. We’ve said it before and no doubt we’ll say it again but these examples just highlight the fact that FPL is a squad game and over the festive period you will, whether you like it or not, need to call on your bench when your star players are rested. There are now just four game-weeks to negotiate before the January wildcard is available and with that in mind we have below outlined a number of players whom we feel can deliver across those four games.

Goalkeepers

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Manchester United comfortably beat Liverpool 3-0 on Sunday last but if it hadn’t have been for David de Gea things might have been different, his performance was indeed that good and on current form he’s the best keeper in the Premier League. The United rearguard has come in for much criticism this season and despite the fact that LvG has to keep changing his defence due to injuries they now have the 4th best defence in the league, conceding just 17 times in their opening 16 games. De Gea has now kept five clean sheets this season, with three of them coming in the last six games during which time they have conceded just three goals. Given their current form and their upcoming fixtures I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see de Gea keep a number of clean sheets over the coming game-weeks and at £5.6m he could prove great value for money. There are cheaper routes into the United defence but given their injury record the Spaniard is the safest bet. I should also point out that United have a decent set of fixtures through until the end of January, so if you plan on holding the January wildcard until as late as possible then de Gea might be the keeper for you.

Across the City in the blue half of Manchester the noisy neighbours would appear to have rediscovered the art of defending which is quite lucky as they have no one left at the other end of the pitch! Another clean sheet for Joe Hart on Saturday was his 6th of the season and significantly it was the first time this season he has kept back to back clean sheets. City have conceded just 14 times to date with only Chelsea & Southampton having a better defence and in their last six games Hart has only been beaten on four occasions. Ordinarily the loss of captain and defensive lynchpin Vincent Kompany would leave us worried about the City defence but with three of their next four games at home to Palace, Burnley & Sunderland I don’t see the absence of Kompany proving detrimental over the coming game-weeks.

For those of you who are reluctant to shell out a substantial amount of money on your keepers both de Gea and Hart are unlikely to be of interest to you, however the following might float your boat and they are Villa’s Brad Guzan, Burnley’s Tom Heaton and Hull’s Allan McGregor. Defensively Villa are one of the leagues form teams with just four goals conceded in their last six games, only United & Chelsea can better that. Their next two fixtures are quite tricky as they host United & travel to Swansea, however their following two fixtures are at home to Sunderland & Palace both of whom have been rather shy in front of goal of late and therefore Guzan could very well add to his five clean sheets. Burnley sit 5th in the current form table with three wins and two draws from their last six games and during this period of good form they have conceded just five goals. Unfortunately the Clarets have scored just 11 times this season so if they are to survive a lot will depend on Heaton and his defensive colleagues. Burnley don’t have the easiest of games over the coming weeks but on current form they could possibly become the Christmas Grinch. It’s been a while since Allan McGregor has featured on these pages and given Hull’s current form it might surprise a few to see him included this week. They have conceded nine in their last six games, but they have faced the likes of Spurs, United & Chelsea. As a result they are now knee deep in a relegation fight, however their next four games will afford them the opportunity to haul themselves up the table and don’t be overly surprised if the Scot doubles his clean sheet tally in the process.

[divider_1px]

Defenders

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Last weekend we tipped both Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta & Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta and what happens…they both get rested! However it’s because of this that I am once again tipping both players this week. Let’s take a look at Zaba first. Bacary Sagna came into the City XI for the game at home to Leicester and didn’t do much wrong, but he is nothing more than backup for Zabaleta. Defensively he might be as solid as the Argentine but offensively he cannot match Zabaleta. What’s more, with Vincent Kompany sidelined for the remainder of the year I suspect that Pell will want the players whom he trusts on the pitch and Zabaleta is certainly one of those. Sticking with City for a moment and Gael Clichy started once again to suggest that he is now first choice left back ahead of Kolarov. At £5.6m Clichy is £0.8m cheaper than Zabaleta, but I fully expect Kolarov to feature at some stage over the festive period. If money is an issue I would go for Clichy ahead of Zaba but be prepared to see him on the bench at some stage over the coming game-weeks. Things are a little more complicated at Chelsea as summer signing Filipe Luis is an excellent replacement for Azpilicueta. However Azpi has been solid at left back this season and I fully expect him to regain his position this weekend. The fact that he can deputise at right back means that if & when Ivanovic is rested over the festivities then Azpi can deputise and should Jose decide to play Ivan at the centre back when resting Terry or Cahill, Azpi can once more deputise at right back. If for one reason or another you don’t fancy Azpi you could consider Gary Cahill who has some decent underlying stats and always offers a threat from set-pieces.

As I have already indicated above Manchester United despite their defensive frailties have the league’s 4th best defence and have now kept five clean sheets. It’s just a pity that none of their defenders can stay fit for more than five minutes, this is best illustrated by the fact that Marcos Rojo has seen the most pitch time with 865 minutes, however this is 575 minutes short of the maximum time he could have played. As you can see it will take a brave manager to include a United defender in their squad, however I’m going to stick my neck out and tip Phil Jones. The English international made just his 5th appearance of the season against Liverpool last Sunday, but despite his lack of action he was calm and composed throughout, although this was possibly due to the opposition! When you look at United’s current form as well as their upcoming fixtures it suggests that a number of clean sheets are on the cards and at just £5.2m he could turn out to be a Christmas cracker, particularly as he carries a threat from set pieces.

A couple of full backs who I feel warrant some consideration ahead of the festive period are Sunderland’s Anthony Reveillere and Ben Davies of Spurs. As I pointed out last week Sunderland have become the leagues draw specialists and last weekend’s one all draw with West Ham was their 10th of the season and they have conceded only six in their last six games. Obviously they play Newcastle this weekend, a game which is impossible to predict and they travel to City in GW20, but it’s the two games in between against Hull & Villa that are of interest. Both games have a nil nil draw written all over them meaning the acquisition of Reveillere could pay dividends over the coming weeks. Following his summer move from Wales it has taken Davies a little longer than expected to force his way into the Spurs team, but having started the last four games it would appear as though he has made the left back slot his own. Spurs form has proved rather indifferent over the season something which they would probably attribute to the Europa League. However with no Thursday night football to concern themselves with until mid February I suspect that they might put a decent run together. If you’re going to get Davies in get him in now as their next two fixtures are against Burnley & Leicester, though they then play United & Chelsea and we all know what’s in store for Spurs in those two games. However at just £4.4m the Welsh international is cheap enough to hide on your bench for these two games.

As usual I’ll finish up with a couple of cheap stocking fillers and they are QPR’s Suk-Young Yun and Hull’s Andrew Robertson. You’re probably asking yourself why Yun continues to get a mention despite QPR having the league’s worst defence, it’s pretty simple, he’s £3.9m and he starts. All of our squads will be affected by rotation over the coming game-weeks and acquisition of Yun might allow you to you to improve your bench and you can always hide him as your 3rd sub. At £4.5m Robertson is a little more expensive than your average filler, but as I mentioned already Hull have some decent fixtures coming up and the young Scot does love to get forward.

[divider_1px]

Midfielders

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]So Eden Hazard can score away from home after all? Granted it was only against Derby in the League Cup, but it was a wet & windy Tuesday night! In the league he continues to terrorise defences at Stamford Bridge and he now has five goals, an assist and 13 bonus points in his last five games at the library. Fantasy managers will be hoping that Tuesday’s goal against Derby is a sign of things to come as three of Chelsea’s next four fixtures are away from home although two of them are against a Southampton team in freefall and a Spurs team who usually roll over for Chelsea. Should you decide not to take a risk on the Belgians away form you could always go for the safe & dependable Cesc Fabregas who as a result of his recent suspension and subsequent price-drop is now £1.0m cheaper than Hazard at £9.6m. The Spaniard doesn’t grab the headlines in the same manner as Hazard and only on two occasions this season has he hit double figures but damn is he consistent. He now has 11 assists to his credit this season and only on five occasions has he failed to register either a goal or an assist. With many having doubts over Diego Costa and whether he provides value for money, perhaps it is an idea to double up on the Chelsea midfield. Finally a word of warning, Jose has clearly stated that every player will be rested at some stage over the Christmas period, so be prepared!

The recent injury to the king of Manchester led many of us to bring in Edin Dzeko as our City cover, well that was a good move, wasn’t it?! With both Dzeko & Jovetic injured and Manuel Pellegrini unlikely to trust youngster Jose Pozo with an extended run in the side our attentions turn firmly to City’s midfield. The obvious choice is Yaya Toure with the Ivorian finding the back of the net on three occasions in his last five games. In the absence of Aguero, Toure will now be entrusted with penalties and the majority of free kicks in and around the penalty area. However he is delicately poised on four yellow cards and just one misdemeanour will see him sit out a game, so at £10.8m he could be seen as somewhat of an expensive gamble, although it’s worth remembering the damage that Luis Suarez did last season while sitting on four yellows! The others who warrant serious consideration are Samir Nasri and David Silva. Nasri has shown some decent form of late claiming two assists in his last three league games while he also played a starring role as City secured their spot in the next round of the Champions League with a goal in the victory in Rome. Silva has only just returned from injury so he has no recent form to refer to, however we are well aware of his talents and he could easily step up to the plate in the absence of Aguero. Finally, for the gamblers out there, you could always take a punt on either Frank Lampard or James Milner. Despite being limited to primarily substitute appearances Lampard has weighed in with four goals & two assists and could see more game time over the busy festive period. Pellegrini has indicated that he could play one of his midfielders as a deep lying forward and has suggested that it may even be Milner. I would recommend paying close attention to City’s line-up and formation this weekend and if Milner is afforded a forward berth he could prove fantasy gold at just £5.4m.

Thanks to his nine goals, five assists and 17 bonus points Alexis Sanchez, or shoulders to his friends, is now the leading scorer in this seasons FPL. Arsene Wenger eased him slowly into Premier League action but he has now started every game since GW7 and in the subsequent 10 games he has failed to deliver a goal or an assist on only three occasions. It’s easy to see why he now features in just over 40% of teams. Three of Arsenal’s fixtures this side of the January wildcard are away from home, however two of them are against Liverpool & Southampton with the only difficult fixture likely to be the London derby against West Ham in GW18, so all in all I would expect Sanchez to enjoy his first Christmas in the UK. For those of you who feel that the Chilean is now out of our reach at £11.4m you could do a lot worse than consider Santi Cazorla. After a slow start to the season the Spaniard has really come to the party of late with three goals and an assist in his last four games. Not only is he considerably cheaper than Sanchez at £8.1m but he also represents an excellent differential as he currently features in just 2.1% of teams.

There has been a certain amount of discussion lately as to whether Gylfi Sigurdsson still represents value for money. I’ll let you all draw your own conclusions on this, but for those of you who decide to drop the Icelandic international I feel that on current form both Christian Eriksen of Spurs and West Ham’s Stewart Downing are ideal replacements for Siggy. When Eriksen played just 45 minutes in each of game-weeks 10 & 11 it appeared as though he had fallen out of favour with Pocahontas, he has however started the five subsequent games scoring three as well as picking up two assists and nine bonus points. The Dane can prove frustrating at times but given his current form and next two fixtures now could be the time hop aboard the Viking longship. West Ham have been in great form of late with three wins & two draws from their last six games and Downing has played a major part in this with a goal and two assists in his last three. The Hammers have a mixed bag of fixtures over the festivities but given their current form they could quite easily upset the likes of Chelsea & Arsenal, while they will be confident of taking maximum points from home games against Leicester & West Brom. It’s worth noting that both Eriksen & Downing have to date proved to be bonus points magnets with both accumulating 17 to date, a figure only matched by Sanchez & Aguero.

Turning our attentions to the cheaper midfielders and there really isn’t anyone turning in consistent displays, although you get what you pay for. After scanning the fixtures one player struck me as a possible long shot and he is Hull’s Sone Aluko. You can stop your laughing, I’m deadly serious, well sort of! The Nigerian speedster has featured in seven of Hull’s last eight games, scoring the equaliser against Everton in GW14. Priced at just £4.6m and featuring in only 0.1% of teams Aluko could prove to be the surprise package over the holidays. Perhaps a somewhat safer bet is Newcastle’s Sammy Ameobi. The Geordies suffered their annual beating at the hands of Arsenal last weekend but aside from a trip to Manchester on Boxing Day their next four fixtures aren’t the worst and Ameobi could easily add to the goal and three assists he has already picked up.

[divider_1px]

Forwards

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Last week I suggested that Wayne Rooney was a safer bet than Robin van Persie, however in light of their respective performances in last Sundays win over Liverpool I feel the need to change my mind and tip van Persie ahead of Rooney. The Dutchman is still a shadow of the player who terrorised defences in the 11/12 & 12/13 seasons but in recent games he has shown signs of an improvement. Four goals, two assists and six bonus points have led to scores of 10, 2, 13 & 11 in the last four game-weeks and if someone like Aguero had delivered such returns we’d still be talking about it. Granted he is probably a little overpriced at £12.6m but given United’s current form, their upcoming fixtures and the fact that there isn’t an obvious replacement for Aguero it might be that now is the time to bring back van Persie. The fact that he only features in just 6.5% of teams makes him an even more tempting prospect. Wayne Rooney is certainly still an option, but the fact that he dropped into midfield for the Liverpool game with Juan Mata playing in the number 10 role is clearly a concern. He still managed to claim his 6th goal of the season but aside from that his influence on United’s attacking play was slightly curtailed. If money isn’t an option I would certainly go for van Persie but for those of you who cannot afford the required £12.6m I would certainly consider Rooney.

Wilfried Bony’s goal last weekend was his 8th of the season and the fact that only Sergio Aguero, Diego Costa & Alexis Sanchez have scored more than the Ivorian this season serves to underline that he is the real deal and that last season was no fluke. Only once this season has Bony hit double figures but he is becoming quite consistent and has now scored four in his last five games. Despite this his ownership figures are quite low at just under 15% and I suspect this is because many managers are reluctant to double up on Siggy & Bony, which is quite understandable given the fact that Swansea have scored just eight times in their last six games. However given the form of both Siggy & Bony I would certainly suggest that Bony is currently the more desirable of the two.

If, and it’s a big if, QPR are to avoid relegation this season a lot is going to depend on whether or not Charlie Austin can maintain his recent form. The R’s have managed just 17 goals from their opening 16 games and Austin has accounted for eight of these while he has also claimed three assists. There’s no denying that QPR are a bunch of homers, they’ve won four & drawn two of their eight games at Loftus Road, while they’ve lost all eight on the road. The good news for those who are considering bringing Austin in is that three of their next four games are at Loftus Road and the news gets even better in that these games are against West Brom, Palace and Swansea. Given QPR’s home form, Austin’s form in general and the fixtures you might struggle to find better value for money over the coming game-weeks and the fact that he features in just under 10% of teams just further sweetens the deal.

One striker who is as likely to frustrate you as he is to score big over the coming game-weeks is Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud. Despite starting just three league games this season Giroud has four goals to his name, which is one more than Danny Welbeck who has started 12. Apparently Welbeck is not the next Thierry Henry. Speaking of Henry, did you know he retired this week? You’d swear he’s the first player ever to retire! Anyway, back to Giroud. Should you choose to bring the Frenchman into your squad you need to accept the fact that he will miss chances but he does know where the net is, so he will reward you in the long run, you just need to be patient. One thing is for sure and that is that gorgeous George, sorry I mean Olivier will prove to be an excellent differential over the festivities as he currently features in just under 5% of teams.

For those of you giving some thought to adopting a 3-5-2 formation over the coming game-weeks I’ll leave you with a trio to strikers who you might want to consider as your 3rd striker and they are Harry Kane of Spurs, Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse and Hull’s Nikica Jelavic. With three goals and an assist in his last seven games Harry Kane appears to be the only Spurs striker who knows where the goal is. Roberto Soldado is, well he’s rubbish, while our old favourite Ade has had a few domestic problems back home in Togo. All this means that Kane is likely to play regularly over the coming games and could prove great value for money at £5.1m. Papiss Cisse now has seven goals for the season which is quite impressive for someone who has only played 90 minutes once all season. Given his recent history he’s unlikely to play all four games over the holidays, but given his form the chances of him scoring when he does play are quite high. Jelavic is a massive punt but given Hull’s next four fixtures it might just be a punt worth taking. He’s missed a significant number of games this season so he has no form to speak of, however he did manage four goals in seven games prior to his injury.

Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 17. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79