Tips Gameweek 22 FPL Fantasy Premier League

And so another game-week has crept by and with it many fantasy managers are one step closer to their goals while others are one step further away, and then there are those who are just in need of divine inspiration. With wildcard season well under way fantasy managers the world over are questioning their sanity. If you have resisted temptation and kept your wildcard then this could be a crucial week for you as there are so many tasty fixtures and so little room in that forward line. With Aguero scoring within a minute of his return to action and Negredo and Dzeko both helping themselves to two goals apiece against Blackburn, selection dilemas are on the horizon for both Pellegrini and fantasy managers alike. But fear not as we have once more put on our FF247 thinking caps and below we have a number of players we feel can aid you in reaching your goals this week.

Goalkeepers

Throughout the first half of the season there was some great value to be found in some of the cheaper goalkeepers as a number of the household names failed to live up to expectations. However, as we move towards the business end of the season we feel that it might be prudent to consider investing in a keeper from the premium price bracket. Our first tip this week therefore is Chelsea’s Petr Cech. We all know that Roman Abramovich wants Chelsea to play sexy football, but in recent weeks it appears that Jose has gone back to what he knows best and he has seriously tightened things up at the back. As a result of this Cech has picked up four clean sheets in his last five games and Chelsea now have the joint best defence in the league. Yes Cech is £6.1m and Chelsea have a number of tricky games coming up, but on current form Chelsea are capable of shutting most teams out.

Last time out Everton picked up their first clean sheet in seven games. Despite this lack of clean sheets they have still only conceded six goals in their last eight games and it’s for this reason that we are once again tipping their American stopper Tim Howard. Aside from a trip to near neighbours Liverpool in GW23 Everton have a number of relatively straightforward fixtures from which they are more than capable of picking up a number of clean sheets. Howard is quite reasonably priced at just £5.9m and currently features in just 7.9% of teams.

The only keeper to have scored more fantasy points than Tim Howard to date is Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny who, like the American, is also priced at £5.9m, but is somewhat more popular, featuring in 13% of teams. The Pole has kept nine clean sheets in the league this season and interestingly eight of these have come in Arsenal’s last thirteen games. Arsenal travel to play Liverpool in GW25 and host Man United in GW26, but aside from these two potentially difficult fixtures they have a great run of games up until mid-March which should see Szczesny add to his already impressive tally of clean sheets and as a result he could prove great value at £5.9m.

For those of you who have decided to stick with a policy of not spending too much on your keepers so that you can invest further up the park we would advise you to consider Southampton’s Artur Boruc or Hull’s Allan McGregor. Southampton got off to a great start this season and as a result Boruc picked up six clean sheets in the first nine games. However he suffered a bad hand injury against Chelsea in GW13 and as a result he was sidelined for seven games, returning last week to keep his seventh clean sheet of the season. As a result of that injury Boruc has dropped in price from £5.1m to just £4.7m. Priced at just £4.5m McGregor has picked up 67 points thus far keeping five clean sheets in the process. Hull have a relatively straightforward run of fixtures over the next eight game-weeks and we won’t be at all surprised to see the Scot pick up another few clean sheets. It’s also worth noting that Boruc and McGregor rotate quite well over the remainder of the season.

Defenders

As we have already alluded to above, Chelsea now have the joint best defence in the league and as a result we’re sure many of you will want to consider a Chelsea defender. The obvious choice is John Terry who has started every game this season and in the process he has picked up two goals, an assist, eight clean sheets and fourteen bonus points. Terry is now priced at £6.6m and features in 18% of teams which may put some managers off, but as we’ve said before, you get what you pay for. For those of you unwilling to pay the money for Terry you could consider his colleague Cesar Azpilicueta. At the beginning of the season it appeared as though Mourinho didn’t rate the Spaniard as he only played a total of 31 minutes in the first ten game-weeks, however since GW11 he has started all bar one game and has picked up three clean sheets in the last five game-weeks. Priced at just £5.3m he is currently the cheapest route into the Chelsea defence and he represents an excellent differential as he features in just 2.5% of teams.

Of late Kieran Gibbs has been unable to cement the left back spot at Arsenal, in fact he has started just four of the last eight games. However, Nacho Monreal was substituted with an injury against Villa on Monday night and early reports suggest he may have a broken metatarsal which will surely rule him out for a number of weeks. As a result of this it would appear that Gibbs is likely to start the next few games and this will give him the opportunity to make the spot his own once more. Priced at just £5.4m he represents the cheapest route into the Arsenal defence and presently he features in just 2.4% of teams. With Arsenal having some relatively easy fixtures over the next few weeks the acquisition of Gibbs could prove to be quite a shrewd move.

Unsurprisingly, much has been made of Manchester City’s attacking talents this season and as a result, aside from Pablo Zabaleta, their defenders have largely been ignored. However they have still kept eight clean sheets to date and have conceded just 23 goals. The obvious choices from the City defence have tended to be either Kompany or Zabaleta, but our tip this week is Aleksandar Kolarov. Clearly the Serb is a rotational risk as he battles with Gael Clichy for the left back spot, he has however started four of City’s last five games. Kolarov loves to get forward and has already picked up five assists to date and with City fast becoming the team to beat we can see him picking up a number of clean sheets and assists over the coming weeks and should you decide to invest in him, it could prove to be £5.4m well spent.

Newcastle have now lost their last three league games which could scare a number of managers away from the Geordies defence, however it should be noted that two of these games were against Arsenal and City. Despite these losses Newcastle have only conceded nine goals in their last eight games and it’s for this reason we believe that their defence warrants some consideration. Newcastle face Chelsea and Spurs in game-weeks 25&26 but either side of these fixtures they have a number of games from which they could quite easily pick up a number of clean sheets. Our tip from the Geordies defence is Davide Santon (£5.0m) who has featured in all bar one of their games to date. The Frenchman has yet to pick up any offensive points but he does enjoy getting forward as he proved on a number of occasions last season.

Having recently conceded five against Forest and six against City it may come as quite a surprise that our final defensive tip this week is West Hams George McCartney. Bizarrely the Hammers have kept as many clean sheets this season as both Arsenal and Everton! Admittedly the majority of these did come in the early part of the season, but they did show a certain amount of defensive solidity last time out against Cardiff. Besides a trip to London neighbours Chelsea in GW23 they have a number of fixtures coming up from which they could quite feasibly pick up a couple of clean sheets and at just £4.0m McCartney could prove to be decent value.

Midfielders

With six wins & a draw in their last eight games Chelsea currently sit second in the form table and sit just two points behind table toppers Arsenal. As a result of this form it would be quite a wise move to try and fit a Chelsea midfielder into you squad. Understandably the obvious choice is Eden Hazard who since GW7 has picked up a very impressive nine goals, seven assists and seventeen bonus points. However as a result of this form the Belgians price has rocketed to £10.5m which may price those who do not already own him out of the market. Until recently the only viable alternative to Hazard in the Chelsea midfield was Oscar, however in recent weeks Willian has begun to look like a potential alternative. The Brazilian has started four of the last six games and has made an appearance off the bench in the other two and in those games he has picked up a goal and two assists. There is no doubt that he is a gamble but priced at just £7.5m he will free up some of your valuable funds and he represents an excellent differential, featuring in just 0.3% of teams.

Jesus Navas has featured in each of City’s last thirteen games, although seven of those appearances were from the bench. However with Samir Nasri sidelined for the next six weeks it would appear as though Navas is set to feature more regularly in the starting XI. With City seemingly scoring goals at will we feel it is wise to have at least one if not two from their midfield and forward line in your squad. At just £8.3m the Spaniard could prove to be excellent value for money over the coming weeks and he represents an excellent differential, featuring in just 4.3% of teams.

In both reality and fantasy, Manchester United continue to disappoint! However, Adnan Januzaj continues to shine in an otherwise dull season for the reigning champs. The youngster now has three goals & four assists to his name and has featured in United’s last eight games, starting six of them which would suggest that David Moyes now sees the 18 year old as a key member of the first team. United face Chelsea this weekend, but follow that game with three rather easy games from which Januzaj could very well add to his burgeoning reputation. For those of you who have opted for a 3-5-2 formation, at £5.2m Januzaj is possibly the ideal fifth midfielder.

As we pointed out in our recent fixtures article Sunderland have a number of relatively easy fixtures coming up over the next four game-weeks and as a result we feel that it might be time to consider one of their attacking options. After scoring a hat-trick it was hardly surprising that Adam Johnson received all of the plaudits following Sunderland’s victory over Fulham, however our tip from the Sunderland midfield is Sung-Yeung Ki who chipped in with a goal & an assist against Fulham. The South Korean international is priced at just £4.8m, meaning he is ideally priced to be your 5^th midfielder and also represents an excellent differential as he features in just 1% of teams.

Forwards

21 goals & 12 assists in just 16 games says everything you need to know about Luis Suarez, so we’ll leave it at that! Instead we will focus on his strike partner Daniel Sturridge. The English international was Mr Consistent over the first twelve game-weeks this season, picking up nine goals and two assists. However he was then forced to sit out eight games as a result of an ankle injury picked up in the Merseyside derby. He returned to action last weekend with a 25 minute cameo against Stoke and he picked up where he left off. Had he looked rusty no one would have been surprised but anyone who saw the game will tell you that he looked anything but rusty as he helped himself to a goal & an assist. Doubling up on forwards is an extremely risky strategy but with Liverpool in such rampant form we expect many will take the plunge on Suarez & Sturridge. As a result of his lengthy absence Sturridge’s price has dropped to just £9.2m making SAS an even more enticing option.

Having missed City’s last five games through injury, Sergio Aguero returned to the side off the bench in Wednesday night’s cup replay against Blackburn and took less than a minute to get back amongst the goals and as a result he is likely to feature against Cardiff this weekend. Just like Sturridge, Aguero’s price has dropped as a result of his injury and he is now available at the bargain price of £11.9m. What’s more interesting is the fact that the Argentine only features in 10.1% of teams and as such he represents something of a differential, although we suspect this will change over the coming weeks. In Aguero’s absence Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko have struck up quite an effective partnership although with Aguero back it is likely that they will battle it out to partner the Argentine up top. Both Negredo and Dzeko are significantly cheaper than Aguero, so if you are brave enough to pick one of them rather than Aguero you will certainly free up funds to be invested elsewhere.

With Theo Walcott ruled out for the season, Aaron Ramsey just returning from injury and Mesut Ozil proving too expensive for many peoples tastes, Olivier Giroud is potentially the best option at present if you are looking for some Arsenal offensive coverage. The Frenchman started the season priced at £8.5m but that price rose to £9.6m by GW9, but due to a slump in form he is now available at £8.6m. He has however shown glimpses of his early season form of late and in his last three games he has picked up two goals & an assist and with Arsenal having a number of straightforward fixtures over the next few game-weeks we feel that Giroud will remain amongst the goals.

Finally, for those of you who have decided it’s now or never and need to take a gamble up front we have three possibilities for you and they are, Villa’s Christian Benteke (£8.7m), Swansea’s Wilfried Bony (£7.3m) and wait for it…West Hams very own Andy Carroll (£7.2m). As the old saying goes, one swallow doesn’t make a summer and the same can be said about goals and strikers! However, goals do breed confidence and Benteke’s confidence is likely to have taken a boost following his goal against Arsenal on Monday night. Villa face Liverpool, who are rather vulnerable at the back, this weekend and follow this with a number of games in which Benteke could very easily bag you a fistful of fantasy points. Bony hasn’t had the impact in the English game that both he and Swansea would have hoped, the fact that Swansea have been riddled with injuries this season probably hasn’t helped. Swansea have been poor of late and as a result they find themselves just three points above the drop zone, but following the visit of Spurs this weekend they face four teams who are also embroiled in the relegation battle and Bony could very well find himself among the goals. Ok, so Andy Carroll would be a massive gamble but sometimes in life you need to take the odd risk! He climbed off the bench last weekend to prove to West Ham fans that he’s not just a figment of their imagination and in the process he chipped in with an assist. As we have already mentioned West Ham have some decent fixtures coming up and Carroll will be relishing the opportunity to get back amongst the goals.

This article was written by Kop Warrior