Two weeks ago I advised you to look into your heart and see if you really wanted to keep Aguero.
Now, this caused a bit of a stir before his match against Newcastle United and an even bigger stir after he scored five goals in MW8. So if you decided to keep him, congratulations on your 25 points (50 if you completely ignored my advice and captained him!)
If you decided to drop him, congratulations on listening to me. You can relax knowing that you are a week ahead of the game in terms of replacing a player now set to miss a month of action.
Unfortunately, Aguero was not the only significant injury that happened in the past few weeks. Manchester City also suffered injuries to key players/fantasy studs David Silva, Yaya Toure, and Aleksandr Kolarov. Liverpool have lost Danny Ings and Joe Gomez for the season due to knee injuries, and were already dealing with the absences of Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino. Bournemouth lost Tommy Elphick until the new year with an ankle injury and now have lost their captain, record signing and top scorer.
These real life injuries certainly are not doing your fantasy team any favours as 30% of all players with an ownership of 10% or more are currently out with injuries. It is safe to assume you are dealing with at least two injuries in your side and are trying to figure out how to fill those gaps.
There are plenty of articles out there discussing the best ways to replace Aguero such as this one by my Fantasy Premier League Round Table co-host Rob Langevin, so read that then let us move on to my tips for buy and sell.
13
Sell: Sergio Aguero – Forward, Manchester City, 13.3
Mentioned it a little in the introduction, but with Aguero out for a month it is hard to rationalise keeping him. You should be able to buy back in at a lower price in two to three weeks time if you so desire.
11
Buy: Alexis Sanchez – Midfielder, Arsenal, 11.2
After three consecutive weeks of being on the wrong side of Sanchez performances I finally got one right! While five goals on five shots on target in two matches is a difficult pace to maintain, his chances created and take ons will continue to rake in the points. The Watford defense is sneaky good, tied for best defensive record in the league (seven conceded) but Anya and/or Ake will likely be unable to contain him.
Sell: N/A
10
Buy: Kevin de Bruyne – Midfielder, Manchester City, 10.4
The Belgian is the eleventh highest scoring fantasy midfielder, and he has done it in just four matches! The absence of Silva means de Bruyne will get to play in his preferred position behind the striker and looks set to continue his dominance against an injury riddled Bournemouth side.
Sell: Wayne Rooney – Forward, Manchester United, 10.2
There is no hiding the fact that Rooney has been disappointing this year. He has earned more than two points just twice this season and now faces a much improved Everton defense. Anthony Martial is the Manchester United forward you want to own.
9
Buy: N/A
Sell: Pedro – Midfielder, Chelsea, 9.5
Pedro has notched just seven fantasy points in his last four matches and seems to lack the sharpness that saw his ownership skyrocket after his first two performances. It is hard to see Willian being dropped given his current form for both club and country.
8
Buy: Graziano Pelle – Forward, Southampton, 8.2
I will admit it, I am a bit of a Pelle hater. I have seen him miss loads of great chances, fail to make runs when a perfect cross has been sent in, and he is over reliant on the performance of Sadio Mane. That all having been said, it is hard to deny his recent performances. He has finished with less than eight points in just one of the last five matches and has tallied five goals and five assists in that span. Perfect replacement for the injured Aguero.
Sell: Wilfried Bony – Forward, Manchester City, 8.2
This is really more of a “Don Not Buy” than a sell. I am not a big fan of handcuffing players in the official game and we have seen time and time again how ineffective Bony has been in the Manchester City system. Bournemouth is ripe for the picking, I am just not sure Bony will be the one who does it.
7
Buy: Dusan Tadic – Midfielder, Southampton, 7.0
Tadic burned me badly in the second half of last season, but he is set to break out soon and 7.0 will look a steal. On the surface he has been too goal dependent, but Tadic is currently fifth in chances created and leader in successful crosses among all players. Sitting on just one assist only 2% of his creative opportunities have resulted in goals which is unsustainably awful.
Sell: Radamel Falcao/Loic Remy, Forward, Chelsea, 7.1
They earned a combined total of five points in the absence of Diego Costa. Costa is back now.
6
Buy: Marko Arnautovic – Midfielder, Stoke, 6.0
He is currently the fifth highest scoring midfielder at 6.0 or cheaper. All four of the players ahead of him are owned by at least four times as many teams meaning, for a budget midfielder, you are making up a lot of points in differential. With Mame Diouf set to miss this one Arnautovic becomes an even better play this week.
Sell: Branislav Ivanovic – Defender, Chelsea, 6.7
This is super obvious, but for some reason he is still owned in 11.7% of teams! He has looked off the pace in a defense that has struggled all season. Now Ivanovic is hurt. Get him out and do not look back.
5
Buy: Victor Moses – Midfielder, West Ham, 5.3
He has had a goal or assist in three of four matches since joining West Ham and seems to be thriving in his new surroundings. The West Ham attack has churned out two or more goals in each of the past six Premier League matches and will be fresher than most opponents as they are in no other competitions. Moses is owned in just 0.6% of leagues.
Sell: Marc Albrighton, Midfielder, Leicester, 5.0
After starting the season quite well, Albrighton has massively fallen off the pace tallying a total of zero goals or assists and just one shot on target since MW2. Despite the Leicester attack being second best in the league with seventeen goals, Albrighton has failed to contribute much. Imagine how little success he will have once they regress.
4
Buy: Dele Alli – Midfielder, Tottenham, 4.9
Seriously what are you waiting for? I mentioned last week that he was due for some assists and, despite being fouls that led to Eriksen free kick goals, he notched two in MW8. With Dier suspended his place is guaranteed for another week and the Liverpool defense is far from stout.
Sell: Nemanja Matic – Midfielder, Chelsea, 4.9
Matic sits on the same twenty-two points as Alli but has had an extra 195 minutes in which to do it. Matic is owned in 4.9% of leagues while Alli is owned in just 0.6%. Someone explain this to me please.
TEB Fantasy Football League – Top 25 (of 257) after MW8
| # | Team | Manager | GW | TOT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | E Pluribus Anus | Rory Jackson | 102 | 469 |
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2 | fifty-fifty | Ramchandra Ram | 70 | 460 |
|
3 | Cabaye-Bye-Bye | Matthew Freeman | 113 | 455 |
|
4 | Money Cabaye Success | Matt Jones | 102 | 445 |
|
5 | Chelsea Dagger | David Gilbert | 114 | 442 |
|
6 | Dynamo Dan Dan | Daniel Bright | 105 | 438 |
|
7 | khabarmantra | Asif Naim | 89 | 428 |
 |
8 | Carthage Eagles | John Deeks | 79 | 424 |
|
9 | Prairie Wind | Graeme Wiseman | 106 | 424 |
|
10 | Best Weston | Asher Weston | 97 | 423 |
|
11 | Chamakh My Bitch Up | Ryan Grant | 102 | 422 |
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12 | npl XI | david champion | 71 | 419 |
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13 | Mighty Eagles | Alex Sherer | 110 | 418 |
|
14 | Aaaaaaaal Super Al | Mark Bonnici | 98 | 418 |
|
15 | Wilfried Zahaha | Michael Bellairs | 72 | 417 |
|
16 | How The Mighty Rise | Clive Mitchell | 80 | 416 |
|
17 | South London’s No. 1 | Josh Rufus | 107 | 416 |
|
18 | @Dare_To_Soar | Ryan Begley | 92 | 414 |
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19 | Malicious Penguins | Richard Lowe | 65 | 414 |
|
20 | Los Bosteros | David Walsh | 68 | 414 |
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21 | The Eagle has landed | gary ward | 58 | 413 |
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22 | Cabaye’ my lover.. | Greg Ross | 95 | 413 |
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23 | Hopkin2curl1 | Josh Nadarajan | 100 | 412 |
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24 | Wheddsta | Harvey Wheddon | 67 | 410 |
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25 | Creme Egg Army | Dan Lazar | 103 | 410 |
