Tips Game-week 35 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

As we suspected, DGW34 wasn’t the point’s bonanza that DGW31 was and in truth it left the majority of fantasy mangers rather frustrated. If we had told you last week that Jason Puncheon would be the game-weeks highest scoring midfielder and that Conor Wickham would be the highest scoring forward you would still be laughing at us now, but it just goes to prove that when it comes to fantasy football you should always expect the unexpected. Not only did the some of the big hitters fail, some of them of them have also picked up injuries, with the likes of Toure, Silva & Sturridge all flagged, who said that fantasy managers have an easy life! But enough moaning, there are still four massive game-weeks remaining and below we discuss a number of players whom we feel can lead you to the holy grail over the coming weeks.

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Goalkeepers
Chelsea haven’t exactly been shy in front of goal this season, they’ve found the back of the net on 66 occasions, but should they win the league it will largely be down to a defence which has thus far conceded just 24 goals in 34 games, with Petr Cech having kept 16 clean sheets which is likely to see him win this seasons Golden Glove award. The Czech stopper has now kept 12 clean sheets in his last 18 appearances. Aside from a trip to Anfield in GW36 Chelsea have an extremely easy run in and let’s be honest, none of us would be at all surprised should Chelsea manage to hold Liverpool scoreless and therefore we would expect a minimum of two clean sheets over the closing four game-weeks. Of course Chelsea do have the Champions League semi-finals on the horizon, but we wouldn’t let that put you off Cech as the chances of Jose resting him are quite slim.

With five wins and a draw in their last eight games Stoke sit 6th in the current form table and have conceded just seven in this period, with three of these coming in the one game against Chelsea. Stoke’s style of play has changed considerably under Mark Hughes and over the course of the season they have not been as tight at the back as they were under his predecessor Tony Pulis, but it’s clear that Hughes has put his stamp on the team and they are now becoming more comfortable with his style of play and therefore we’re tipping Asmir Begovic to be amongst the clean sheets as the season draws to a close. Take a look at their remaining fixtures and we’re pretty sure you’ll agree with us.

With Yaya Toure and Daniel Sturridge picking up late season injuries and with Sergio Aguero making a return many fantasy managers are trying to raise some much needed coppers as they attempt to rearrange their squad for the final four game-weeks. It’s possible you could raise a few quid by changing one of your keepers and a couple of cheap keepers who are worth some consideration are Hull’s Steve Harper and West Ham’s Adrian. With their safety all but secured and with an FA Cup final on the horizon Hull may possibly take their eye off the ball in the league but at just £4.1m Harper might just be worth a gamble and of course a double game-week makes him that little more tempting. Only Chelsea have kept more clean sheets than West Ham this season and while they haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last eight games their next two are at home to Palace & away to West Brom and at just £4.5m Adrian might free up that all important £0.1m!

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Defenders
In both reality & fantasy goal scoring defenders are worth their weight in gold! Seamus Coleman has grabbed all the plaudits this season, however with seven goals to date Martin Skrtel is this season’s highest scoring defender. The Slovak international has come in for criticism at times this season, particularly when he scored two own goals in three games, however Rodgers clearly has faith in him as he has started every game aside from the opening two fixtures of the season and he has now become a menace at set pieces. Clean sheets have not been Liverpool’s forte this season and while their run-in might yet produce a banana skin they could very well pick up a clean sheet or two. It’s also worth noting that despite Skrtel’s goals he still represents an excellent differential, featuring in just 7.6% of teams. While on the subject of goal scoring defenders another who certainly warrants a mention is Cardiff’s Steven Caulker who has found the back of the net on five occasions. Somewhat like Liverpool, clean sheets have not been the order of the day for Cardiff but they showed their battling qualities against Southampton last weekend and Caulker might just be the man for you if you’re looking for a differential.

What can we say about the Chelsea defence that we haven’t already said in recent weeks? Against Swansea last weekend they ground out a 1-0 win with Gary Cahill picking up three bonus points while John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic picked up two apiece. As we have noted above, aside from their trip to Anfield, they have a relatively easy run in from which we expect them to garner at least another two clean sheets. Many have doubled up on the Chelsea defence in recent weeks, reaping the benefits in the process and to be honest this tactic could continue to bear fruits over the coming weeks.

For those of you on the hunt for a cheap defender we have a number of suggestions for you and they are Stoke’s Marc Wilson, Crystal Palace’s Adrian Mariappa and James Chester of Hull. Stoke, as we have alluded to above have been in great form of late and with a relatively easy run we fancy that Wilson is a good bet for a number of late season clean sheets. Tony Pulis is surely in the running to be named manager of the year for the job he has done at Crystal Palace. Unsurprisingly he has made them difficult to beat and this is proven by the fact that they have kept four clean sheets in their last six games. Admittedly they still have to play both City and Liverpool, but don’t be too surprised if they hold one of them scoreless and at just £3.8m he deserves some consideration. Mariappa went off injured against Everton on Wednesday night and at the time of writing we are unsure as to his current status so check back with us on Friday. As we have already suggested above, we wouldn’t be at all surprised if Hull are already thinking of the FA Cup final but at £3.8m and with a double game-week on the horizon we feel that Chester cannot be ignored.

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Midfielders
So Yaya Toure is human after all! An injury picked up early in the game against Liverpool will see the Ivorian sit out GW35 & possibly GW36. At this time of the season the majority of managers are reluctant to bench an injured player and therefore many are looking for a replacement. So let’s take a look at the options. The most obvious candidate is his midfield colleague at City David Silva, although worryingly the Spaniard was not even in the squad for Wednesday night’s game against Sunderland. Having scored three and created four in his last six games Manuel Pellegrini will be hopeful that he’s available for the majority of the run in, as will those fantasy managers who brought him in ahead of the midweek fixture. Check back with us on Friday for this weeks ‘Team Talk’ when hopefully we will have an update on Silva’s fitness.

Liverpool offer a number of potential replacements with the most obvious being Steven Gerrard. Captain fantastic has been in superb form since returning from injury on New Year’s Day, scoring ten & picking up four assists in his last 14 appearances and during this 14 game period he has only failed to register either a goal or an assist on four occasions. It’s also worth noting that Gerrard has successfully navigated the suspension tightrope and is no longer in any danger of picking up a suspension from yellow cards. Should you be trying to free up some cash while replacing Toure you could consider two of Gerrard’s midfield colleagues, Philippe Coutinho or Raheem Sterling. Coutinho really has come to the party for Liverpool in recent weeks with two goals & two assists in his last five games and represents an excellent differential, featuring in just 4.3% of teams. Sterling might still be just 19 years of age but be showed maturity beyond his years when making a fool of both Vincent Kompany & Joe Hart last Sunday and is excellent value at just £5.7m.

Christian Eriksen is currently the in-form midfielder in the FPL. The young Dane has four goals, three assists and eight bonus points in his last four games. Spurs are currently like a tea bag at the back but going forward they have looked quite lively and Eriksen is pulling all the strings. Given his current form he is an absolute bargain at just £6.8m and for all of you who are on the hunt for a differential well then Eriksen is the man for you as the 22 year old features in just 7.2% of teams. Spurs have stuttered their way through the season and even their current form isn’t great but given their remaining fixtures, coupled with Eriksen’s form, we feel that he is one to own over the remaining game-weeks.

Arsenal’s current form has been poor to say the least and they sit 8th in the current form table with three win & two draws in their last eight games and in this period they have managed just 11 goals. However against West Ham on Tuesday night they showed they are up for the fight as they came from behind to register a 3-1 victory. Santi Cazorla has not reached the heights he managed last season and the Spaniard has registered just four goals and five assists this season. He did however look rather lively against the Hammers, picking up an assist and two bonus points. Should he maintain this form over the remaining four games he could prove to be a shrewd investment as he features in just 2.7% of teams. If at £9.3m Cazorla is too expensive for your taste you could do an awful lot worse than go for Arsenal’s Welsh dynamo Aaron Ramsey who has made an appearance off the bench in each of the last two league games. He had only been on the pitch for five minutes before he created Arsenal’s 3rd on Tuesday with a deft header and at just £7.0m he could prove an absolute bargain over the remaining four games.

In game-weeks 32&33 Juan Mata gave us all a timely reminder of just what he is capable of as he picked up three goals, two assists and five bonus points. If David Moyes happens to be reading this we would just like to bring something to his attention and that is that you should always play your best players in their best position! Granted, United travel to Goodison Park this weekend and will do well to come away with anything but it’s their following three games which is likely to have fantasy managers salivating in anticipation as they host Norwich in GW36 and then host both Sunderland & Hull in GW37. Mata’s price has dropped to £9.1m but with such great fixtures just around the corner, interest in the Spaniard is likely to pick up so if money is tight it might be worthwhile investing in Mata sooner rather than later.

For those of you on the hunt for a cheapish midfielder how about Stoke’s Marko Arnautovic, Fulham’s Steve Sidwell or Morgan Amalfitano of West Brom? Stoke boss Mark Hughes was full of praise for Arnautovic during the week and the Austrian has shown some decent form of late with a goal & three assists in his last four games and at just £5.1m he could prove decent value for money over the remainder of the season. Sidwell hasn’t been as effective of late as he was earlier in the season but has still popped up with a couple of assists in his last three games. Fulham have recorded back to back wins for the first time since October, so maybe they’re coming into form at just the right time and with some decent fixtures Sidwell could very well register some more fantasy points before the end of the season. With two goals & two assists in his first four games Amalfitano enjoyed a great start of the season, although he then proceeded to go into hibernation. He has clearly emerged from that hibernation as he has claimed two goals and an assist in his last three. With a price tag of just £4.2m and a double game-week on the horizon the Frenchman warrants some of your attention.

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Forwards
Sergio Aguero didn’t have the impact on GW34 that many had hoped for, not least Manuel Pellegrini! Although non-owners must have feared the worst as he picked up an assist after just two minutes of the game against Sunderland. City’s performance against Sunderland was nothing short of lacklustre and their form must be a worry to City fans but from a fantasy point of view Aguero got some good game time across the two games and is surely nearing full match fitness which is good news for the 10.8% of teams he features in. With five games to go City are now 3rd favourites for the title but we suspect they won’t give up without a fight and therefore we expect Aguero to be amongst the goals.

Since his hat-trick against Cardiff in GW31, Luis Suarez has managed just one goal in the subsequent four games, however he has picked up an assist in each game to ensure the points keep ticking over. The Uruguayan has now scored 28 & claimed 25 assists and would anyone be at all surprised should he reach 30 in both categories! With Suarez now featuring in over 50% of teams we’re quite sure that everyone reading this article is a proud owner, however we wouldn’t be doing our job properly if we didn’t tip the best! Whether or not Liverpool win the league, Suarez must surely be a shoe in for player of the season and he’s certainly been the FPL’s player of the season. Liverpool have a number of tough games remaining but we reckon the deadly Uruguayan will be back amongst the goals in the near future.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Olivier Giroud share a number of characteristics, on their day both are capable of the sublime, but when it’s not their day they can frustrate the bejaysus out of you! Giroud as we all know enjoyed a great start to the season scoring in each of the first four games, however since then he has not scored on a consistent basis. As we have already mentioned, Arsenal have a particularly easy run in and with the likes of Cazorla, Ramsey and maybe even Ozil creating the chances you’d have to suspect that the Frenchman will tuck a few of them away, as was the case on Tuesday night. With one swing of his right boot last Saturday Adebayor proved just how frustrating he can as he took what can only be described as a terrible penalty! However, Spurs, just like Arsenal have a relatively straightforward run-in and with Christian Eriksen in fine form behind him you would expect to see Adebayor’s name on the score sheet a number of times before the we reach the seasons end.

With Robin van Persie out for the foreseeable future and with Wayne Rooney having a sore toe, both Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez potentially represent two great differentials, with Welbeck featuring in just 3.8% of teams while Hernandez appears in just 0.6% of teams. The problem is, which of them do you choose? Welbeck has started 13 games this season while Hernandez has only started 5, so this would certainly suggest that Welbeck will get the nod. However, Welbeck may very well be in David Moyes’ bad book having gone out on the piss on the night after United crashed out of Europe and has subsequently been fined. Now Moyes might give us a clue as to which on them will start in his weekly press conference, but in fairness there’s as much chance of United winning the league. Hopefully Cookie will be able to break the Moyes code and will have some good news for us in this weeks ‘Team Talk’.

Finally, with a number of mid-priced midfielders showing some good late season form some of you might be considering a move to 3-5-2 and therefore are on the lookout for a cheap 3rd striker. If this is you we would advise you to consider some of the following; Stoke’s Peter Odemwingie, Hull’s Shane Long, Fulham’s Hugo Rodallega, Everton’s Steven Naismith and Harry Kane of Spurs. Odemwingie is hardly the brightest crayon in the box (just ask West Brom) but you’re not looking for mastermind, it’s a cheap goal scorer you want and with four goals in his last six games the Nigerian could be your man at just £5.5m. Long got off to a great start at the KC stadium with two goals in his first three games but has only managed one more in the subsequent eight games. However at just £5.5m and with a double game-week around the corner Long is potentially a viable option. Ok so Rodallega is a longshot considering he’s only picked up 27 points over the entire season, however with a goal in each the last two games he’s possibly hitting form at the right time of the season and he could prove to be Fulham’s saviour. If Everton manage to secure a much coveted top 4 spot they will have a lot to thank Naismith for as the Scot has chipped in with three goals & an assist in the last four games and at just £4.7m he will free up quite a bit of cash. With both Fulham and Everton having something to play for over the remaining game-weeks this might be something worth considering when making your decision. If you are really tight on cash Kane is cheapest of the quintet at just £4.4m. Granted the youngster has only started twice this season but these starts have come in the last two games and he has scored in each of them.

Thanks for reading Tips Game-week 35, this article was written by Kop.