Match week 3 is upon us and, man, have there been a lot of price changes!
I will be the first to admit that the premise of this article was a little short sighted. My goal was to offer you options at every price point but as more and more price changes are made, it would be entirely too long for me to write and you to read. We will be starting with the incoming Premier League players, to then be followed up by a buy and sell option within each 1.0 value.
Newcomers
Pedro – Midfielder, Chelsea, 9.5
The Spanish playmaker comes to Chelsea with twenty trophies to his name from his time at Barcelona. While this signing may cause issues for Willian and Oscar owners, you can rest assured Pedro is immediately one of the first names on the team sheet. I would have likely added him to my team for 10.0 so the 9.5 price seems a steal for now!
Nicolas Otamendi – Defender, Manchester City, 6.5
Otamendi comes from Valencia having scored six goals last season in La Liga. I think his high 6.5 price point is a little inflated due to that goal tally but if City continue to look this good at the back he may well be worth it.
Florian Thauvin – Midfielder, Newcastle, 6.5
While I was sad to see Remy Cabella leave, Thauvin seems to be a much better fit for Newcastle’s philosophy and formation. The Frenchman struggled a bit last season notching just five goals and seven assists at Marseille. That having been said, he is definitely better than Gabi Obertan and priced quite reasonably at 6.5.
Gokhan Inler – Midfielder, Leicester, 5.0
Inler seems like an excellent solution for the Cambiasso-shaped hole in the Leicester midfield. The price of 5.0 is very affordable for a player that will likely get at least thirty starts, but unless you are in a league that uses expanded to stats he is unlikely to do much in the way of fantasy points.
Now onto the established Premier League players!
13
Buy: Sergio Aguero – Forward, Manchester City, 13.1
The Argentine striker scored his first of the season against Chelsea on Sunday. While his 13.1 price tag is a bit high, he is unquestionably the best striker in the Premier League. The struggles of Wayne Rooney and Diego Costa just emphasise the need to own Aguero.
11
Buy: Alexis Sanchez – Midfielder, Arsenal, 11.0
It seems that Sanchez will be playing despite his fitness issues, and when he starts he is absolutely a top three fantasy choice. Joe Gomez will likely struggle against the Arsenal talisman despite an excellent start to the season.
Sell: Eden Hazard – Midfielder, Chelsea, 11.5
Last week I said not to panic on him, well, feel free to panic now. I am still sure that Hazard will end up in the top ten of fantasy scorers, but nothing seems to be going right at Chelsea at the moment. Alexis and David Silva both seem better options for the time being.
10
Buy: David Silva – Midfielder, Manchester City, 10.0
A lot of fantasy experts will advise against chasing assists, which is true, you should not! With Silva, though, you are not chasing assists, you are just getting them almost every week. Everton have looked much improved this season, but considering what Manchester City just did to Chelsea, I am not sure there is a matchup that would keep me from playing Silva.
Sell: Wayne Rooney – Forward, Manchester United, 10.5
I am holding on to Rooney for one more week, but honestly it is probably time to cut and run on the Englishman. His scoring record against Newcastle has been brought up by many despite just scoring twice against them since 2009. Selling Rooney and re-distributing your money may be the best use of it.
9
Buy: Pedro – Midfielder, Chelsea, 9.5
See “Newcomers”
Sell: N/A
8
Buy: Christian Benteke – Forward, Liverpool, 8.5 / Romelu Lukaku – Forward, Everton, 8.1
Benteke scored and easily could have had a second against Bournemouth at the weekend. He and Lukaku (8.1) have both started well and have outperformed every striker not named Aguero. Both Belgians have tough matchups this week but are definitely worth a pickup as their prices are sure to rise again soon.
Sell: Oscar – Midfielder, Chelsea, 8.4
It already looked as though Willian would take some starts away from Oscar this season. Now Pedro has joined the title holders and will cause even more of a timeshare issue between the two Brazilians. If he does get the start, West Brom will set up to defend and will likely limit the fantasy upside for Oscar.
7
Buy: Bafetimbi Gomis (FOR) and Andre Ayew (MID) – Swansea, 7.1
If you followed my advice last week, these two just served you incredibly well as both got on the score sheet. Not only do both look thoroughly imposing, but now face a Sunderland side that has conceded seven goals already this season. Both are going to score tonnes of points this week, just be sure they are on your team when they do.
Sell: Falcao/Remy/Ings – Forwards, 7.3
None of them are starting despite their high price. No point owning them.
6
Buy: Jeremain Lens – Sunderland, Midfielder, 6.5
Hey look, it is the only Sunderland player worth owning! Genuinely though, Sunderland look as though they are on the fast track to relegation despite the efforts of the Dutchman. He managed four points last week despite the result against Norwich at home. He will continue to send in great crosses to Defoe and does not face a decent right back until Darmian in match week 7.
Sell: Ross Barkley – Midfielder, Everton, 6.6
Everton seem to be back in a big way and Barkley is a huge part of it. Facing Yaya Toure and Fernadinho seems a daunting task for the young Englishman, and that is just the start of a terrifying run for the Toffees. Their opponents after City are, in order: Tottenham (a), Chelsea (h), Swansea (a), West Brom (a), Liverpool (h), Man United (h), Arsenal (a) which is more than enough to scare me away.
5
Buy: Nathan Redmond – Midfielder, Norwich, 5.5
At just 5.5 Redmond is already the fifth highest scoring player in the official Fantasy Premier League game. His finishing looks much improved since we last saw him in the Premier League, scoring two goals in as many matches. Stoke’s defense has been historically good, but the individual matchup against Glen Johnson does little to put me off Redmond.
Sell: Glenn Murray – Forward, Crystal Palace, 5.9
Depite his excellent scoring record towards the end of last season, Murray seems to have lost his job to Conner Wickham. I do think he will do well if he manages to get some playing time against Aston Villa.
4
Buy: Joel Ward – Defender, Crystal Palace, 4.5
It is a shame that it took a goal against Arsenal for people to realise that Ward is an excellent fantasy option. Palace have a well structured defense that should get more clean sheets than last season’s seven. Scott Sinclair and Jordan Amavi are both very pacy and may cause issues for Ward this week.
Sell: Patrick van Aanholt – Defender, Sunderland, 4.9
After being a top ten fantasy defender last year he looks almost unownable in 2015/16. He has not looked like the same player from last year and all of his linemates seem to have regressed even further. Up this week they face a Swansea side that has scored two goals the past two weeks against much better defenses.
TEB Fantasy Football League – Top 10 (of 257) after MW2
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1 | The Remarkable Ones | Mark Saunders | 62 | 132 |
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2 | npl XI | david champion | 82 | 115 |
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3 | Usual Suspects | Tony Saunders | 64 | 114 |
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4 | Wheddsta | Harvey Wheddon | 55 | 110 |
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5 | Depay’s tuna canoe | John Munnelly | 53 | 109 |
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6 | lets football | Kiran ManU | 55 | 108 |
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7 | Crystal Phallus FC | Simon Dixon | 47 | 108 |
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8 | Irish eagles | tony quinn | 47 | 106 |
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8 | The Moon Kestrels | Stuart Ions | 52 | 106 |
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10 | View from Jericho | Owen Davis | 71 | 106 |
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10 | Dany Mills have eyes | Chris Saunders | 67 | 106 |
