Tips Gameweek 25 FPL Fantasy Premier League

Tips Gameweek 25 FPL Fantasy Premier League

So the premier league managers have played their hand and they have finalised their squads for the remainder of the season, only time will tell who has the best hand. Luckily for us fantasy managers we don’t face the same restrictions when it comes to transfers although this brings its own headaches! The transfer window could have serious implications for fantasy managers as players who were once considered to be nailed on may no longer be so, due to a new recruit and this is something which we would advise everyone to keep an eye on. With all of this in mind we have below detailed a number of players who we feel could deliver the points over the coming weeks.

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Goalkeepers

Before Monday night’s game against Chelsea, Manchester City had scored 42 goals in 11 games at the Etihad, so it came as somewhat of a surprise when Chelsea kept them scoreless. Or did it really? Chelsea now have the best defence in the league conceding just 20 goals in 24 games and Petr Cech has now kept ten clean sheets. Six of those clean sheets have come in his last eight games and in those two games where he failed to keep a clean sheet he conceded just a solitary goal. At £6.1m he is currently the most expensive keeper in the FPL but when you consider that he started the season at £6.5m many would consider £6.1m a bargain! Having kept the most potent team in the league quiet, they will be pretty confident of doing likewise to the majority of other teams and one look at their fixtures over the coming weeks would suggest a number of clean sheets for the Czech

Having secured a commendable draw at home to Arsenal in GW23 Southampton backed it up with an excellent performance away to now bottom of the table Fulham. In the process Artur Boruc claimed his eight clean sheet of the season and his second in four games since his return from injury. Southampton have a great run of fixtures coming up, with five of their next six against teams below them in the table. At £4.7m Boruc is potentially the cheapest guaranteed route into the Saints defence. Clyne & Chambers are both cheaper options but it is unclear as to which of them is first choice right-back, so we feel that Boruc is a safer bet.

A number of other keepers who we feel warrant a mention are West Ham’s Adrian, Cardiff’s David Marshall and Tim Howard of Everton. If you believed everything that Sam Allardyce said you’d think he was some sort of tactical genius! Granted they would appear to have somewhat turned things around and at the heart of this has been an improvement at the back which has resulted in Adrian picking up three clean sheets in his last four games. The Hammers have a number of fixtures over the coming weeks from which they could claim another few clean sheets and at £4.3m Adrian could prove to be a great investment. Clean sheets have been a rarity for Cardiff of late, but as we pointed out in last week’s article they have had some horrid fixtures of late. There has been some rotation in front of Marshall over recent weeks but Ole Solskjaer has now been in charge for a month and he is slowly putting his own stamp on the team and the back four should become more settled which in turn should offer Marshall more protection. Cardiff have a relatively easy run of fixtures over the coming week and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Marshall pick up a couple of clean sheets. Despite boasting the third best defence in the league Howard has only picked up the one clean sheet in his last ten games. However they have had injuries to key defenders during that period and this certainly will not have helped their cause. They have a number of relatively straightforward games mixed with some tricky ones in the coming weeks and with a full complement of defenders we fancy Howard to be back amongst the clean sheets quite soon.

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Defenders

As we have already indicated above Chelsea boast some rather impressive defensive stats over their last eight games with just two goals conceded. As a result we feel that it would be prudent to have a representative from their defence in your squad, in fact given their current form, doubling up at the back might not be a bad idea. The good news is that you are on a winner no matter which of the four you choose, however we are tipping Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta. Cahill has been in superb form of late and is a threat in the opposition’s penalty area as demonstrated by the two assists he recently picked up against United. The English international certainly appears to have nailed down the spot beside JT having started 13 of the last 16 games and represents great value at £5.9m. Despite the presence of Ashley Cole, Azpilicueta appears to have made the left back slot his own, starting 13 of the last 14 games. The Spaniard is not as effective going forward and is yet to chip in with a goal or an assist however he is £0.5m cheaper than Cahill. Both represent solid differentials featuring in just 8.1% & 3.5% of teams respectively.

Early indications suggest that Seamus Coleman will return to the Everton starting XI this weekend against Spurs having missed the last two games with a groin injury. The Irishman is an integral part of the Everton side and he was sorely missed in the Merseyside derby. Thanks to his five goals to date it is his attacking exploits which people talk about but it shouldn’t be forgotten that Coleman is part of an Everton defence which has kept nine clean sheets. Everton’s fixtures are somewhat of a mixed bag over the coming weeks but the beauty about having Coleman in your side is that even if Everton fail to keep a clean sheet there is always the possibility that he will chip in with a goal. As a result of his recent injury his price has dropped to £6.5m, a figure which we expect will begin to rise over the coming weeks.

West Ham have thus far conceded 33 goals in the league meaning that they have only the 12^th best defensive record in the league. This stat might put many off the Hammers defence, but it shouldn’t, especially when you consider that they have kept 11 clean sheets, a figure only matched by Arsenal. Unfortunately due to injuries not one of their defence have been present for all 11 of those games and as a result many are now flying under the radar. Last week we tipped James Collins and the Welsh international didn’t disappoint and therefore we see no reason not to tip him again this week. West Ham’s upcoming fixtures suggest a number of clean sheets and at just £4.1m Collins could prove to be a bargain over the coming weeks.

A number of other defenders who we feel warrant a mention this week are Sunderland’s Phil Bardsley, Crystal Palace’s Joel Ward and Fabio of Cardiff City. While both Sunderland & Palace each have a rather straightforward fixture this weekend it is clear that they both have some difficult fixtures in the following weeks, particularly Sunderland. However, both teams are in good form and sometimes you need to go with form over fixtures. Bardsley has clearly been instructed by Poyet to get forward at every opportunity and this has resulted in him picking up two goals and an assist. Ward has been an extremely consistent performer this season and has been utilised in a number of positions by Pulis. Fabio went straight into the Cardiff team last weekend and he will be keen to prove that he is good enough for the Premier League and he could prove to be a canny addition to your squad.

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Midfielders

Eden Hazard has now gone three games without either a goal or an assist which is rather surprising given his form in December and the first half of January, however one the games was against a Sam Allardyce inspired West Ham and the other two were against the Manchester clubs. Jose Mourinho has reverted to what he knows best and has made Chelsea extremely difficult to beat but to win games you need to score goals and Hazard is typically involved in their play going forward and he is clearly Jose’s main man. Chelsea have a number of fixtures over the coming weeks against teams who are unlikely to cause them many problems and because of this we fully believe that Hazard will be back on the goal trail.

Despite winning six and drawing two of their last eight games Arsenal have at time lacked a spark when trying to break teams down, but one player who has impressed in recent games is Santi Cazorla, with the Spaniard chipping in with three goals and an assist in his last three games. Arsenal face Liverpool & United in their next two games but neither team is great at the back and Cazorla has already scored against Liverpool this season. With an ownership of just 4.2% he represents an excellent differential and with Arsenal suffering from a number of injuries to key midfielders at present the chances of Cazorla being rotated are very slim.

One quick glance at Jose Mourinho’s managerial CV will be enough for you to realise that he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to management. Despite this we along with many others were baffled when he decided to sell Juan Mata to Manchester United, but that is a decision best discussed over a few pints, but clearly, Chelsea’s loss in United’s gain! The Spaniard is obviously not the answer to all of United’s problems but his undoubted class can only but improve them as an attacking force and he has already provided an assist in each of his first two games for his new club. Should United click over the coming weeks Mata could very well become a points monster especially if he can develop an understanding with the likes of van Persie & Rooney.

It’s many a long day since Merseyside dominated English football and it is unlikely to ever happen again, but one thing is for sure and that is that both Liverpool & Everton are performing significantly better than they have done in the recent past. Both sides have had some mixed results over recent weeks but two players who have performed consistently are Steven Gerrard and Kevin Mirallas. Since his return from injury Gerrard has been largely utilised in a defensive midfield role and many assumed it would curb his fantasy appeal, but since his return he has scored three albeit two from the spot. Following this weekend’s visit of Arsenal, Liverpool have a number of fixtures from which they will hope to pick up maximum points as they continue their push for CL football and we feel as though Gerrard could prove a shrewd investment at £8.9m. Much was expected of Mirallas before the season kicked off, but once it did he failed to live up to expectations which led to him being benched for a number of games in November and December. Of late he has forced his way back into the starting XI and has started the last five games, scoring three in his last four. Should you be in the market for a mid-priced midfielder we would suggest you run the rule over the Belgian who represents a decent differential as he features in just 8.2% of teams.

Before we move onto the forwards two other midfielders who we feel deserve a mention are Norwich’s Robert Snodgrass & Cardiff’s Wilfried Zaha. Snodgrass was a key man for the Canaries last season and finished the season with six goals and nine assists. Unfortunately for Norwich fans, due to injury & poor form Snodgrass has been unable to reach the same heights this season, although in recent games he has shown glimpses of this form with a goal and an assist in his last three games. Following the visit of City this weekend Norwich have a number of games from which they will hope to pick up maximum points and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Snodgrass continue with his revival. Cardiff picked up their first win in eight games last time out against Norwich and according to his new gaffer “Zaha came on and made the difference”. The 21 year old will be keen to prove to David Moyes that he is good enough for the top level and this could be good news for Cardiff and fantasy managers alike. Should his performance off the bench be an indication of what is to come he could be a bargain at just £5.4m

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Forwards

Should Liverpool secure a top 4 finish at the end of the season it will be thanks in no small part to their dynamic duo, otherwise known as the SAS, Suarez & Sturridge. Liverpool have scored 58 goals to date with Suarez accounting for 22 of them and Sturridge for 14, while Suarez also has 15 assists and Sturridge 3. We could go into more detail about both Suarez & Sturridge but we’ll let their goals & assists do the talking.

Robin van Persie, remember him? Over the previous two seasons he amassed 56 goals, 28 assists and a staggering 94 bonus points. Unfortunately for United and particularly David Moyes, injury has caused him to miss nearly half of the clubs league games this season. However he has started the last two games and in the process he has given us a reminder of what he’s capable of with a goal in each game. At £13.6m he is extremely expensive but believe it or not despite featuring in 17.3% of teams he potentially represents a differential, particularly for those of you in the upper echelons of the rankings. Having missed ten games between game-weeks 12&22 we are assuming that the majority of these 17.3% of teams are ghost teams and that any manager who is taking the game seriously will have ditched him.

With Kun Aguero likely to miss the next three game-weeks the question arises which City forward if any do you bring into your squad. Our tip is their Bosnian international Edin Dzeko. Due to the number of chances he misses Dzeko does not always inspire confidence but it shouldn’t be forgotten that he has scored four in his last six games. With Aguero out, Negredo not 100% match fit and Jovetic only returning from a lengthy period on the side-lines Dzeko would certainly appear to be in pole position for one of the two spots up top. At just £7.1m the acquisition of the Bosnian will not only give you City coverage but it is also likely to leave you with funds to invest elsewhere.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, if you’re looking for a relatively cheap third striker who you will play every week then Jay Rodriguez is the man for you. Rodriguez is now the 6th highest scoring forward in this seasons FPL and if you take a look at the five who have picked up more points you’ll see that that he is considerably cheaper than all of them. Southampton have some great fixtures over the coming weeks and we firmly believe that Rodriguez will add to his ten goals. Should you be after a differential up top (something which Rodriguez no longer is) you could always consider his Southampton colleague Rickie Lambert who provided us all with a timely reminder of his abilities last weekend with a goal and two assists against Fulham. At £7.0m Lambert is slightly more expensive than Rodriguez but he does represent a differential featuring in just 8.4% of teams.

Finally, for those of you who are still toying with the idea of playing 3-5-2 we have two names for you who could potentially be your ideal third striker and they are Shane Long of Hull and West Ham’s Carlton Cole, yes ‘the’ Carlton Cole! With a goal against Spurs last weekend Long would appear to have quickly settled into life at the KC Stadium and Steve Bruce will be hoping that the Irishman can score the goals that will allow the club to maintain their Premiership status. Despite being unable to nail down a regular position at Upton Park, Cole has managed to weigh in with four goals & an assist this season. He has actually played some part in the last nine games and with Andy Carroll suspended for three games Cole’s chances of starting should be boosted. At £5.0m he is perfectly priced to be your third striker and he embodies the ultimate differential featuring in just 0.3% of teams!

This article was written by Kop Warrior.

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