Tips Gameweek 21 FPL Fantasy Premier League

So Christmas and the New Year have come and gone for another twelve months and with them the crazy period that saw us all face 4 game-weeks in a ten day period. For many it was a successful time as they stormed up the rankings, while for others, it was a torrid time which forced them to turn to the turkey sandwiches to find some solace. We have now moved into another extremely important period as we all have the opportunity to tinker extensively with our teams using the January wildcard. Whether you have already activated the wildcard or whether you are holding onto it for a week or two we feel the below tips & suggestions will be beneficial to you.

Goalkeepers

With ten points from a possible twelve since their humiliation at the hands of City, it’s safe to say that Arsene Wenger has had the response from his Arsenal side that he would have hoped for. Wojciech Szczesny has also bounced back well, keeping three clean sheets in those four games. Despite conceding those six goals against City, Arsenal still have the best defence in the league, conceding just 18 goals in 20 league games this season. A quick glance at their next four fixtures would suggest that Szczesny will be quietly confident of adding to his nine clean sheets to date. At £5.9m the Pole is one of the most expensive keepers in the league but his stats suggest he’s worth it. Should you decide to bring Szczesny into your squad you could then choose a non-playing keeper as your second keeper to save a few pounds and you also won’t have to worry about rotating your keepers.

The clean sheets have somewhat dried up for Everton in recent weeks, in fact they haven’t kept a clean sheets in their past six league games, despite that we are this week tipping Tim Howard. Despite their lack of clean sheets Everton still boast the best defence in the league over the last eight games, conceding just six goals over the course of this period. With the likes of Norwich & Villa to visit Goodison Park in the coming weeks as well as a trip to play West Brom, we believe that there is an excellent chance that Howard will be chalking up another clean sheet or two over the coming weeks.

Clearly Szczesny and Howard are both in the premium price bracket for keepers and at this time of the season we realise that many fantasy managers are reluctant to shell out for an expensive keeper so with that in mind we will now take a look at three budget keepers. First up is Sunderland’s Italian stopper Vito Mannone who is priced at just £4.4m. Sunderland have only kept five clean sheets this season, however it is worth noting that these have all come in their last ten games. With games against the likes of Fulham, Stoke & Hull to come in their next five games we feel that Mannone could prove to be good value especially now that he has all but made the jersey his own.

The other two budget keepers who we feel warrant some consideration are Hull’s Allan McGregor and Crystal Palace’s Julian Speroni, both of whom are priced at £4.5m. Hull have conceded just ten goals in their last eight games, with McGregor picking up two clean sheets in his last five games. Hull have a tough game this weekend as they face Chelsea at the KC Stadium, but following this game they have a run of games from which they could possibly pick up a number of clean sheets. The appointment of Tony Pulis at Selhurst Park would appear to be having the desired effect as Palace sit 9^th in the current form table with three wins and a draw in their last eight games, conceding just eight goals. With Palace’s next three home fixtures against Stoke, Hull & West Brom we believe that Speroni is a good bet for those of you on a wildcard. Even against the better teams we would not bet against Palace picking up the odd clean sheet here and there as Pulis continues to drill them defensively.

Defenders

Seamus Coleman is the most popular defender in this seasons FPL, in fact he’s the 3^rd most popular player overall, only Yaya Toure and Luis Suarez are more highly owned. However, it’s hardly surprising when you consider that he has already scored five times this season, there are plenty of forwards who would like to have scored five! Given the form that the Irishman is in, coupled with Everton’s upcoming fixtures we see no reason for his astonishing form to stop and we are happy to tip him once more. For those of you who feel that you’ve missed the boat on Coleman and are looking for a slight differential you could consider his teammate Leighton Baines. Yes Baines is actually £0.7m more expensive than Coleman, but he only features in 14.1% of teams compared to 44.8% for Coleman and it’s worth remembering that Baines is on all set pieces for Everton and is always a good bet for a goal when Everton get a free kick near the oppositions penalty area.

Considering the fact that Arsenal have the best defence in the league and have kept more clean sheets than any other team we feel that it is prudent to assume that the majority of fantasy managers are at the very least considering having an Arsenal defender in their squad. If you were to look at points scored to date the obvious choice is Per Mertesacker, however we are not tipping the German, instead we’re going for his French colleagues Bacary Sagna & Laurent Koscielny. Both Sagna & Koscielny are £1.0m cheaper than Mertesacker and have significantly lower ownership figures when compared to their colleague. The two Frenchmen are both tied on 70 points, with Sagna scoring once, assisting twice and picking up four bonus points compared to Koscielny’s lack of either goals or assists and ten bonus points while Koscielny also has an extra clean sheet to his name. We’ll let you decide which one to pick, as we expect them both to be among the points over the coming weeks.

Southampton have only kept one clean sheet since GW9 so it might come as a surprise to many of you to see that our next tip is their Spanish centre half Jose Fonte. One look at their fixtures since GW9 and you will see that The Saints have had quite a few tough fixtures, but their fixture list is about to get somewhat kinder as five of their next six matches are against West Brom, Sunderland, Fulham, Stoke & Hull, none of whom are prolific in front of goal and as a result we believe that they will pick up a number of clean sheets over the coming weeks. For many the obvious picks from the Southampton defence are Shaw (£4.8m) & Clyne (£4.5m) but both have had a number of injuries over the course of the season so this week we are tipping the more reliable Fonte.

We’re quite aware that many fantasy managers have already pressed the button to activate their January wildcard and these managers are on the hunt for a number of cheap defenders and we feel that the following three are worth serious consideration. They are Crystal Palace’s Joel Ward (£4.1m), Hull’s James Chester (£3.9m) and Phil Bardsley of Sunderland (£4.5m). Ward has picked up five clean sheets in his past ten games, but more interestingly he has been moved into midfield of late which potentially increases his chances of picking up some offensive fantasy points. The mere fact that James Chester is priced at just £3.9m makes him a viable option in our opinion, he becomes an even more viable one when you consider that in the last five game-weeks he has picked up two clean sheets and also scored one. Since Gus Poyet took over at The Stadium of Light Phil Bardsley has started all thirteen league games and has picked up five clean sheets as well as scoring twice. We firmly believe that each of the three are good bets for clean sheets over the coming weeks and who knows, the braver fantasy managers might even consider all three!

Midfielders

Theo Walcott’s injury has been a huge blow not only to Arsene Wenger & Roy Hodgson, but it has also thrown a spanner into the works for many fantasy managers who had already brought Walcott in or had plans to bring him into their squads. The Arsenal midfield alone provides a number of possible replacements and this week we are tipping both Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla. Ozil started the season priced at £10m and quickly rose to £10.8m, but the good news is that he’s now available for the bargain price of £10m! The German has four goals and eight assists to his name this season and on five occasions he has picked up ten points or more. Cazorla has certainly not been quite as effective as Ozil so far this season, with just one goal and two assists to his name, however, of late he has shown some glimpses of the form which brought twelve goals and thirteen assists last season. There’s no doubt that of these two Ozil is the much more sensible choice, yet it’s worth noting that Cazorla currently features in just 2.5% of teams and as such represents an excellent differential. For the gamblers among you, you could take a punt on Serge Gnabry! The youngster is priced at just £4.2m and might now see more game time over the coming weeks.

Over at Arsenal’s North London rivals Spurs, fortunes have taken a turn for the better since the sacking of AVB and under Tim Sherwood they have taken ten points from a possible twelve. Christian Eriksen, who had seemingly been cast aside by AVB, has played a central role in this mini renaissance and the young Dane has picked up two goals, an assist and six bonus points in these four games. Spurs have a number of winnable games over the coming weeks and given the fact that they have adopted quite an attacking philosophy under Sherwood we expect there will be quite a few goals along the way. At just £7.2m the Danish international will not break the bank and he represents an excellent differential as he features in just 3.4% of teams.

‘He can’t keep this form up’, these words have been uttered many times over the past couple of months in regards to Yaya Toure but the Ivorian just keeps going from strength to strength. We’ve known for a long time that Yaya was the driving force in City’s midfield but this season he has added a little more finesse to his game and this has resulted in him picking up ten goals and three assists to date. However, as a result he is now priced at £10.1m and features in 45.3% of teams which might scare a number of fantasy managers away from him. For those of you who feel as though Yaya is now out of reach we would suggest you turn your attentions to his colleague David Silva. The Spaniard is priced at £9.3m and features in just 5.3% of teams. Despite missing nine games this season through injuries and a suspension Silva has still managed four goals and six assists. With the form that City are in, particularly at home, both Toure and Silva are likely to be among the fantasy points over the coming weeks. We should point out at this stage that Yaya may have picked up an injury on Wednesday night, so we would advise you to keep an ear out for Pellegrini’s press conference on Friday.

Prior to his recent injury, Steven Gerrard had scored three and picked up seven assists in ten games. Having played the last half hour against Hull in GW20 and a little over an hour against Oldham in the cup the chances of Gerrard starting against Stoke this weekend would appear to be quite good. Luis Suarez has been the star of the show at Anfield this season but as Gerrard demonstrated in the weeks prior to his injury he is still an excellent source of fantasy points and with some relatively easy fixtures over the coming weeks we feel that it won’t be long before Gerrard is back in the groove. As a result of his injury Gerrard’s price has dropped to just £8.7m and he features in only 5% of teams.

Apparently Adam Lallana has changed since he became an England international! Whether he has or hasn’t is of no concern to the vast majority of fantasy managers, all that we’re concerned with is his ability to the deliver those valuable fantasy points and with a goal and three assists in his last four games he has certainly been doing that. Priced at £7.3m, Lallana cannot be considered cheap and with an ownership of 23.7% he certainly can’t be considered a differential but for those of you looking to play five in midfield we feel Lallana could be ideal, especially when you consider Southampton’s upcoming fixtures.

For those of you on the hunt for a cheap midfielder you might want to consider Jason Puncheon of Crystal Palace. Puncheon has featured in every game since Tony Pulis took over at Selhurst Park and while he hasn’t exactly set the world alight he did score a penalty last time out against Norwich. Any midfielder priced at just £4.9m who is on penalties is in our opinion worth some consideration.

Forwards

Luis Suarez has had a quiet time as of late with just a goal and an assist in his last three games, although we’re sure most of you have not forgotten that in the previous four games he notched nine goals and seven assists, garnering an astonishing 77 points in those four games! The Uruguayan has at times been unplayable this season and the fact that he only features in 52.2% of teams is quite surprising. Some people will argue that the return of Daniel Sturridge will have a detrimental impact on Suarez, but on the other hand the return of Sturridge might just end up creating more space for Suarez as defenders must also worry about Sturridge. One way or the other we feel that Suarez will remain amongst the goals for the remainder of the season and therefore he is probably a ‘must have’.

With Robin van Persie having missed eight of United’s last nine games, Danny Welbeck has stepped up to the plate with five goals and an assist in his last five games. David Moyes must wish that a few more players would step up. United have for now lost their aura and given their current form we’re not sure if any of their games can be described as easy but on paper three of their next four games are quite straightforward. For those of you currently playing your wildcard maybe Welbeck isn’t for you but for those holding onto their wildcard for a couple of weeks and are on the hunt for a cheapish short-term striker, well then maybe Welbeck is for you. At £7.2m he isn’t going to tie up a significant proportion of your funds and he represents a decent differential, featuring in just 6.8% of teams.

When Emmanuel Adebayor is in the mood even the best of defenders will have a tough time keeping him quiet. Tim Sherwood had no hesitation bringing Adebayor in from the cold as soon as he got the Spurs job and the Togolese international has certainly repaid Sherwood’s faith in him with three goals and two assists in four games. With Jermain Defoe seemingly destined for Toronto and Roberto Soldado struggling for form it would appear that Adebayor is likely to be the main man for the remainder of the season. Given his current form Adebayor is very attractively priced at £7.7m and he has been selected by only 5% of teams.

When Sergio Aguero picked up his current injury many fantasy managers flocked to Alvaro Negredo and while he hasn’t been prolific in the Argentines absence he has chipped in with a goal and an assist in the last four games. However in two cup games he has scored four and was in sensational form as City put West Ham to the sword on Wednesday night. City have a number of tough games coming up but given his form against The Hammers we feel that the Spaniard still warrants some consideration.

Three other strikers who we feel warrant a mention are Southampton’s Jay Rodriguez, Norwich’s Gary Hooper and Newcastle’s Yoan Gouffran. For those of you looking for a cheap 3^rd striker who you can play every week we feel that the three of these fit the bill. Rodriguez (£6.2m) has been in great form this season with eight goals & two assists and with Southampton all set to embark on a relatively easy run of fixtures we feel that he will continue to score over the coming weeks. With five goals and an assist in his last ten games Hooper (£6.1m) looks good value for money, as does Gouffran (£6.4m) who has five goals and an assist in his last eleven games. Clearly none of the three are going to score you massive points but when you’re only paying a little over £6.0m for a striker you can’t expect massive returns.

This article was written by Kop 

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