Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 21

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 21

It’s that time of the season, yes it’s silly season otherwise known as the January wildcard. ‘When is the best time to play the January wildcard?’ is a commonly asked question at this time of the season and the answer is that there is no right or wrong time to play. There are pros & cons to playing it early or late, play it when you feel you will get most from it. The last few game-weeks have proved as expected quite turbulent & unpredictable and this has forced many managers into rolling the dice early. Whether you decide to play it early or late there is one thing I will guarantee you, it will frustrate the bejaysus outta ya! As usual we have had a busy week deciding who to include and below we have detailed a number of players whom we feel could deliver over the coming weeks and hopefully you will find this useful whether you are on a wildcard or not.

Goalkeepers

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]With Chelsea coming off the back of a 5-3 humbling from Spurs (yes that did actually happen…apparently Spurs are releasing a DVD!) it might surprise some to see that our first tip of 2015 is Thibaut Courtois. Despite conceding these five goals they still have the league’s 2nd best defence, conceding just 19 goals from their opening 20 games. They have kept nine clean sheets thus far with Courtois responsible for seven of them, while they have only conceded two or more on four occasions and I will wager money with anyone that they will not suffer another blip like they did against Spurs again this season and I’ll guarantee you that Jose will look to ensure that his defence tightens up over the coming weeks. One look at their next 10 or so fixtures would suggest a significant number of clean sheets on the horizon and should you choose to go with Courtois you won’t have to worry about rotating your keepers.

With a total of 80 points David de Gea is the 2nd highest scoring keeper in the FPL, only a point behind Fraser Forster. If truth be told he should probably have more than that as he has only picked up bonus points on one occasion this season despite turning in a number of virtuoso performances over the course of the season and without him United would not currently be 3rd in the table. Defensively United are one of the leagues form teams having conceded just four in their last six, unfortunately for de Gea this has only resulted in two clean sheets. The return of Morcos Rojo and Daley Blind, both of whom are nearing a return to full fitness, should bring a great deal of solidity to United and with a never ending stream of injuries their return will be a welcome relief. Following this weekend’s visit of a resurgent Southampton United have a great run of fixtures from which de Gea will surely pick up a number of clean sheets.

A trio of cheaper keepers who warrant a mention this week are West Brom’s Ben Foster, Sunderland’s Costel Pantilimon and Tom Heaton of Burnley. Foster features this week as a result of The Baggies appointing Tony Pulis as their new manager. Last season he worked miracles at Palace as he took over a team destined for relegation and forged them into one of the most difficult teams to beat in the league eventually finishing 11th. Fantasy managers around the world will be hoping that he can replicate what he did at Selhurst Part at The Hawthorns and if he does, Foster and his defensive colleagues will be much in demand. Despite West Brom conceding 29 goals to date Foster has managed to claim six clean sheets, so there is clearly something for Pulis to work with. Their fixtures between now and the end of April are relatively straightforward and at just £4.6m Foster could turn out to be a bargain! Sunderland have conceded a total of 30 goals in their opening 20 games, however since Pantilimon took possession of the gloves back in GW10 they have conceded just 13 in 11 games and the big man has kept five clean sheets in that period. Their next two games are at home to Liverpool & away to Spurs, from which they could easily pick up at least one clean sheet, but it’s their following nine or ten games which are quite interesting and I suspect that Panty will be adding to his clean sheets over the coming months. Burnley have conceded 32 goals to date and on six occasions they have conceded three or more goals which is hardly a ringing endorsement for Heaton. He has however kept five clean sheets and is in fact the 6th highest scoring keeper only eight points off top spot. In the short-term Burnley have a great run of fixtures, but more importantly they rotate very well with Sunderland through to the season’s end.

[divider_1px]

Defenders

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Much was made of Southampton’s difficult run of fixtures which began back in GW13 and the general consensus was that they would slide down the table. When they lost four in a row to City, Arsenal, United & Burnley conceding seven and scoring just one it appeared the masses were correct. However they have bounced back with a draw against Chelsea and a win over Arsenal in their last two games. With just one game left in this tough run of fixtures the Saints sit 4th in the table and have the league’s best defence, conceding just 15 in their opening 20 games and keeping nine clean sheets. Those of you who chose to hold your Saints defenders through this tough period are now in a strong position while for those of you who ditched them maybe now is the time to get them back! So which one do you pick? Ryan Bertrand & Nathaniel Clyne have both excelled this season with two goals apiece while Bertrand has two assists and Clyne one. However if you look at their underlying stats you will see that Bertrand’s are more impressive which would suggest that he is potentially the better option of the two and therefore he’s my choice. For those of you short on cash, Bertrand and Clyne are currently priced at £5.7m, you should consider Toby Alderweireld. The Belgian doesn’t offer the same attacking threat of the other two but he is £0.7m cheaper. Southampton face United this weekend, so for those of you not on a wildcard you might want to wait until next week to bring in a Saints defender, however if you’re on your wildcard you might as well go for it.

The Chelsea rearguard is always going to attract a significant amount of interest as they can be relied upon to deliver clean sheets on a regular basis. In the early part of the season Branislav Ivanovic was the one to own as he got off to a flier. Azpilicueta then became the desirable one as he represented the best value for money. However John Terry is clearly the one to own right now as he has chipped in with three goals in his last four games and we all know that goal scoring defenders are worth their weight in gold. Of the recognised back four, Azpi is still the cheapest, but as we saw over the festive period he is clearly the most at risk to rotation and this could well continue as the season progresses. At £6.6m Terry isn’t cheap but should you decide to include you can count on him to be the cornerstone of your defence.

To say that Arsenal have struggled at the back this season would be something of an understatement, they have conceded at total of 25 goals to date and have kept just five clean sheets. I haven’t checked (please feel free to do so!) but I suspect Arsene hasn’t been in a position to field his first choice back four on many occasions this season due to injuries. He has however now got a full deck to deal from and my tip is Frenchman Mathieu Debuchy. He is the cheapest of the recognised back four while he also while he also offers an attacking threat from right back. Following next week’s trip to The Etihad the Goonies have a great run of fixtures and I fancy them to tighten things up at the back.

Before moving onto the midfield I’ll leave you with a number of defenders for you to consider and they are Sunderland’s Patrick van Aanholt, West Brom’s Andre Wisdom and Crystal Palace’s Scott Dann. Van Aanholt returned to the Sunderland XI against Leeds in the Cup last weekend turning in an impressive display and scoring the game’s only goal. Assuming he will retain his place in the XI he potentially represents excellent value for money at just £4.2m. Wisdom was left out of the West Brom side that defeated Gateshead in the cup at the weekend but for now we must assume that was simply so that Pulis could rest him. If Pulis can get the most from the West Brom defence Wisdom could prove to be a shrewd purchase at £4.4m. Palace currently languish in the relegation zone and will be hoping that the appointment of old boy Alan Pardew can bring an upturn in fortunes. Following this week’s visit of Spurs they have a relatively straightforward run of fixtures from which they could pick up a number of clean sheets and if you’re trying looking for differentials as you attempt to make up ground then Dann could be your man.

[divider_1px]

Midfielders

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]There is quite a strong possibility that come May Chelsea will once again be crowned PL Champions and should this happen both Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard will have played significant roles in this success. Fabregas has claimed 14 assists to date and while he rarely delivers any big numbers his consistency is unbelievable, he has started 19 games this season and only on five occasions has he failed to deliver. For the majority of the season Hazard was quite rightly deemed to be somewhat inconsistent but this has changed of late and the Belgian has delivered either a goal or an assist in each of his last five games. It was also considered that he only delivered at the Bridge but goals away to both Southampton & Spurs in his last two games have certainly changed this. With 44 goals scored in their opening 20 games Chelsea are the joint top scorers along with City and they have only failed to score once this season. For those of you currently on a wildcard I’m sure you have at least one of the two pencilled in and if you don’t, you should! Picking the two of them wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world, particularly if you decide against including Costa.

As I have alluded to above Arsenal have struggled at the back this season but scoring goals hasn’t been an issue, they’ve scored 34 in their opening 20 with only Chelsea & City scoring more. Summer signing Alexis Sanchez has been directly involved in nearly half of these goals with the Chilean having helped himself to 10 goals and six assists. He is surely the signing of the season? Take a look at his pitch map and you will see that he has taken up many positions over the course of the season which simply highlights his importance to the team. He has also been quite consistent this season which goes to show that he has the ability to deliver from all areas of the pitch. Unsurprisingly Arsenal have had a number of injuries to key midfielders this season which has meant that Sanchez has started every game since GW7 and given his importance this is unlikely to change over the coming months.

Angel Di Maria enjoyed a great start to life in Manchester scoring three and picking up six assists in his first ten games. Unfortunately for United and fantasy managers alike the Argentine suffered a groin injury against Hull in GW13 and has only managed 30 minutes against Villa in GW17 since. LvG has recently reverted to a back three and they are now unbeaten in ten games. However they have struggled away from home of late drawing with Villa, Spurs & Stoke scoring just two in these three games. They will hope that the pace of Di Maria can change this as he will allow them to break at a much quicker pace than they have of late. With some decent fixtures on the horizon many will want to have some United coverage and Di Maria is perhaps the best option.

With four wins and two draws in their last six Spurs sit 2nd in the current form table behind City. We have also witnessed a return to form for Nacer Chadli who has claimed a goal and four assists in his last four games. The Belgian had been a fantasy hit over the opening 11 gameweeks scoring six, unfortunately he then picked up an injury and for some reason he failed to return to the starting XI once fit, although he has certainly reclaimed his place now. Christian Eriksen’s season has been blighted by inconsistency and has yet to deliver in three consecutive games. He has however managed seven goals & two assists and is currently the 5th highest scoring midfielder in FPL. Eriksen is £1.8m more expensive than Chadli and has played over 400 minutes more but has only claimed four points more than the Belgian. This would clearly suggest that Chadli is the better option, but I should point out that Eriksen’s underlying stats are far superior.

Sunderland have struggled for goals this season and have only managed 18 to date and on nine occasions they have failed to find the back of the net. As a result of this ineptness in front of goal Adam Johnson continues to fly under the radar. The English international (no he hasn’t retired from international football!) now has four goals & an assist to his name this season, but significantly three of the goals and the assist have come in his last five games, so he is clearly in form. If you’re on the hunt for a midfield differential then Johnson is worth some serious consideration as he currently features in just 2.9% of teams.

A number of cheaper midfielders who warrant some consideration this week are Hull’s Ahmed Elmohamady, Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse and good ol’ George Boyd at Burnley. Elmo as we’ll call him has been in decent form of late with a goal & an assist in his last three games. Hull have shown some glimmers of form of late and they have some decentish fixtures coming up. JWP has certainly hit the ground running since his return from injury and has four assists in his last four games. Since his return off the bench in GW16 he has started three out of four games which would suggest he’ll see plenty of game time over the coming weeks and at just £4.8m he could prove excellent value for money. Georgie has become the darling of the fantasy world of late in that he’s cheap and can be relied upon and this is unlikely to change over the coming months.

[divider_1px]

Forwards

[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

[/three_fourth]Typically I finish off by rounding up the bargain basement strikers who are worth a punt and young Harry Kane has in the past featured in that section. However as a result of his recent form I feel he deserves top billing, I’m sure he’ll be honoured! In his last five games he has scored five and claimed three assists, with two goals & two assists coming in his last game against Chelsea (you had him on your bench didn’t you?!). There is a train of thought which suggests that those of us who don’t already own him have missed the boat, but at the time of writing he’s been transferred in by over 300k managers, that train of thought is clearly being ignored. It’s not surprising that he’s been transferred in at such a rate…his form is superb, Spurs as a team are playing quite well and he costs just £5.6m. Spurs harbour hopes of a top four finish and if this is to happen they need to Kane to remain red hot and should this occur he will border on the ‘must have’ status for the remainder of the season. In short, whether you’re on a wildcard or not, get him in.

For those of you who are currently on a wildcard you are probably working out how best to accommodate a certain Sergio Aguero once he returns from injury. One option is to bring in someone who you can swap straight out for Aguero and the obvious candidate is Robin van Persie. The Dutchman is clearly not the player he once was but there is always the chance that that he could hit a rich vein of form and with Di Maria set for a return you would suspect that United will create more chances than they have done in recent weeks. Aguero’s return appears to be imminent but if for any reason it is delayed van Persie has games against QPR and Leicester following this weekend’s visit of Southampton and it should be noted that he has already scored twice against Southampton this season.

Diego Costa has in recent games found some of his early season form and has scored three in his last five games. The BrazilianSpaniard now has 14 goals for the season and in all likelihood he should comfortably break the 20 goal barrier for the season and as I’ve said before, you can’t say that for many others, aside from Aguero. Playing in front of the likes of Cesc & Haz, Costa will certainly get the chances and therefore it’s simply a matter of him finishing such chances…easy isn’t it? If you decide to invest heavily in your forward line I would suggest that you include Costa.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that Olivier Giroud left quite a few fantasy managers more than a little frustrated back in GW18 when he stupidly got himself sent off against QPR, typical Frog! Let’s forget about this moment of madness and concentrate on his goals. Since his return to the side he has scored four in six games, with three of those being in last two and with Danny Welbeck his only competition he was set for an extended run in the side. Having now served his three game suspension he will surely return to the side for this weekend’s game against Stoke. With the Arsenal midfield in great form Giroud will certainly get chances and just like Costa above, it’s just a matter of taking these chances. He’s also a fantastic differential as he currently features in less than 4% of teams.

I’ll leave you this week with a number of cheaper strikers who’s inclusion will allow you to free up some cash and they are Burnley duo Danny Ings & Ashley Barnes as well as West Brom’s Saido Berahino. Ings is far from being prolific, he has managed five goals and three assists in his last 12 games but to be honest that’s more than acceptable for a player costing just £5.6m, while Barnes is even cheaper than Ings at £4.4m and has three goals in his last five. Burnley currently sit 2nd from bottom but they will be hoping to secure an absolute minimum of six points from their next four games which are against teams just above them in the league and to do this they will need goals from both Ings and Barnes. I should point out that Sam Vokes who scored 20 goals for them last season is close to a return to the starting XI and his return will mean either Ings or Barnes stepping down. Berahino has not been included as a result of his four goal salvo in the cup, after all they were only playing Gateshead. He’s included because of the Baggies fixtures, Tony Pulis couldn’t have picked a better time to take over. As a result of a very lean period in front of goal his price has dropped to £5.4m and if Pulis can instil some confidence in him, he could prove great value for money.

Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 21. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79