With the holiday season upon us and the crazy scheduling about to hit the Premier League, here are my tips for your fantasy teams to cover the next few rounds of games.
13
Buy: Sergio Aguero – Forward, Manchester City, 13.1
Crazy as it sounds, Aguero is a very good differential play over the next few weeks considering he is only the fifth most owned forward (12.7%). Many people have funds just sitting in the back so the prospect of adding him for favourable upcoming fixtures (Sunderland, Leicester City, Watford) may well be a viable strategy.
10
Buy: David Silva – Midfielder, Manchester City, 10.0
Silva has tried my patience over the past few weeks, but his match-up against Sunderland this week is simply too good to ignore. In the spirit of full disclosure, I looked into his statistics against Sunderland and found that David Silva has never notched an assist against them! I hope he does well this weekend, but if he does not I will be dropping him from my team.
Sell: Alexis Sanchez – Midfielder, Arsenal, 10.8
This seems an easy target as he is currently dealing with an injury, but this nomination serves as a warning for Sanchez even once he is fit. His current estimated return date of mid-January would see him face Liverpool, Stoke City, Chelsea, and Southampton in his first four matches. I would recommend waiting on him until we have seen not just his return, but rather his return to form.
9
Buy: Harry Kane – Forward, Tottenham, 9.7
After a brief dry spell, Kane got back on the score sheet last week notching his ninth of the season. Kane does boast the second most shots on target, behind Odion Ighalo, and could well see his tally rise soon as he faces just one top ten defence (Watford) in the next five matches.
Buy: Olivier Giroud – Forward, Arsenal, 9.1
Giroud is seventh in shots on target in the league and has four goals in five so even I cannot dispute the Frenchman’s form. He may be negatively impacted by the return of Alexis but it is looking as though that will not happen until mid-January. Southampton, Bournemouth, and Newcastle United are their next three and Arsenal have been impressively consistent in a year full of randomness.
8
Buy: Theo Walcott – Midfielder, Arsenal, 8.3
Two Arsenal players in a row? From me?! It is a Christmas miracle! All jokes aside, Walcott has looked excellent since his return from injury. He is a full-time starter at the moment and, when playing at least 45 minutes in a match, is averaging 5.6 points per match. Southampton inarguably have a talented defence, but they have failed to pick up a clean sheet in their last five matches.
Sell: Christian Benteke – Forward, Liverpool, 8.2
Let us not limit this just to Benteke, but frankly you should avoid all Liverpool forwards! While everyone has been complaining about the impotency of the Manchester United attack, Liverpool’s strike force has managed just 28 total shots on target this season, scoring a combined ten goals. Ighalo, Kane, and Vardy all have more shots on target and goals.
7
Sell: Andre Ayew – Midfielder, Swansea, 7.0
After a great start start to the season, Ayew has cooled considerably scoring three or less point in six of his last seven matches. To be fair, Swansea City have been struggling as a whole, but I am not willing to go back to Ayew until I see some decent performances. Unfortunately, that may not happen soon as they face three consecutive top ten defences (West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace, Manchester United).
Sell: Graziano Pelle – Forward, Southampton, 7.9
He has quickly fallen from the fantasy elite striker to wholly unusable, averaging a measly 1.89 points over his last seven matches. Sadio Mane is not creating nearly as many opportunities for Pelle as he did last season when Southampton were sat near the top of the table, and it shows in their stagnant play. Things will likely get worse before they get better as they face seven top ten defences out of their next eight matches.
6
Buy: Erik Lamela – Midfielder, Tottenham, 6.8
Lamela has finally decided to live up to his massive fee from Roma, and has become a staple of Mauricio Pochettino’s starting eleven. He currently sits top ten in chances created (32) and has favourable match-ups on the horizon with Tottenham Hotspur facing four bottom ten defences in their next five matches.
Sit: Odion Ighalo – Forward, Watford, 6.1
I am not selling him, so I cannot in good conscience tell you that you should, but things could get rough soon for this fantasy hero. He currently boasts a higher shot accuracy percentage (61%) than either of last years top scorers (Aguero, Kane) and would finish the season with 27 goals, a mark that has only been hit once since 2012 (Suarez). While those may look like positive statistics, it is highly unlikely that Ighalo is able to maintain a higher pace than some of the Premier League greats. His next three matches may well be the start of his regression to the mean as he faces Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester City.
5
Buy: Jordan Ayew – Forward, Aston Villa, 5.5
How the heck did an Aston Villa player make this list?! Well, all narrative to the contrary, Aston Villa have actually been putting in better performances of late, with Ayew leading the charge. Since his return to the starting line up Ayew has scored 67% of Villa’s goals and is heading into some favourable fixtures (West Ham United, Norwich City, and Sunderland). Owned in just 0.4% of leagues, Ayew offers a great differential option over the busy holiday period.
Buy: Dele Alli – Midfielder, Tottenham, 5.2
It is time to stop thinking of Alli as a bargain bin option, but rather a great fantasy option on the whole. He has averaged six points over his last five matches and is currently the fourth highest scoring fantasy player at Tottenham! The holiday fixtures look pretty tasty as well.
4
Buy: Philipp Wollscheid – Defender, Stoke, 4.5
Currently owned in just 3.5% in leagues Wollscheid continues to be a great fantasy bargain. He naturally benefits from being part of the fifth best defense in the league and, while you may want to sit him against Everton, it is worth bringing him in to face the stagnant attacks of Manchester United and a Salomon Rondon-less West Brom side.
Sell: Heurelho Gomes – Goalkeeper, Watford, 4.7
He currently sits as the highest scoring fantasy keeper, but it may be time to sell on the former Tottenham man. His next three matches look particularly trying (Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City), and Watford’s current pace of a clean sheet every other game would break Chelsea’s record last year when they won the title.
TEB Fantasy Football League Table after MW17 (top 25 from 257)
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1 | Money Cabaye Success | Matt Jones | 81 | 1,026 |
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2 | fifty-fifty | Ramchandra Ram | 58 | 1,003 |
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3 | Chelsea Dagger | David Gilbert | 79 | 1,002 |
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4 | SexDrugs&CarltonCole | Chris Hopkins | 76 | 995 |
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5 | Cabaye-Bye-Bye | Matthew Freeman | 63 | 986 |
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6 | MurderOnZidanesFloor | Tom Harding | 74 | 984 |
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7 | Fortress Selhurst | Shane Sayed | 76 | 983 |
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8 | Irish eagles | tony quinn | 90 | 978 |
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9 | E Pluribus Anus | Rory Jackson | 66 | 977 |
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10 | Worlddumbination | Phil Thomas | 90 | 976 |
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11 | Enduring Eagles | Simon King | 68 | 970 |
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12 | Crystal Phallus FC | Simon Dixon | 70 | 962 |
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13 | Tea and Busquets | Lewis Carter | 61 | 961 |
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14 | Glen’s Eagles | Glen Samuel | 78 | 960 |
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15 | Oxted Eagles | Julian Chenery | 70 | 959 |
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16 | Chamakh My Bitch Up | Ryan Grant | 85 | 955 |
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17 | AkraLeuka | Luis Bernabeu | 81 | 952 |
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18 | Evil Dinosaurs | Jack Carty | 80 | 950 |
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19 | Obi 1 Kenobi nil | Cam de la Huerta | 93 | 948 |
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20 | Reds in my Bed | Graham Matthews | 60 | 944 |
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21 | Mané Kurian FC | James Kearney | 73 | 944 |
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22 | ATL-EAGLES | Glen Haag | 61 | 940 |
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23 | Paintacpfc | daniel painter | 84 | 940 |
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24 | crystanbul | Edmund Brack | 66 | 937 |
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25 | TEB FC | The Eagles Beak | 80 | 936 |
