Fantasy Premier League Tips Gameweek 26

Fantasy Premier League Tips Gameweek 26

Welcome to Fantasy Premier League Tips Gameweek 26.In the words of The Pet Shop Boys ‘What have I, What have I, What have I done to deserve this?’. I haven’t written a Tips article for the site since 2016 and my first one of 2017 happens to fall on the first blank game-week of the season. Great. To be honest I can handle dealing with the blanks although you wouldn’t know it if you looked at my team and rank, it’s having to follow on from Mito’s superb Tips article last week which is causing me problems. Now while Mito likes to mix things up I on the other hand am a creature of habit and I will be adopting the tried and tested format.

We moan time & time again throughout the season that we’re being beaten by casual FPL players who just get lucky. Well now is the time to make our knowledge count. Obviously, we have the blanks this week and again in GW28 and while it would be stupid to buy a player from any of the four teams who blank twice (take a look at this week’s transfers in) the likes of Chelsea & Spurs who only blank in 28 should not be ignored. Before you load up on players who feature in GW28 be sure to check their fixtures in the weeks following GW28.

Before any of us can decide who to purchase this week we have a decision to make regarding our United, City, Southampton & Arsenal players. Do we sell or hold? That will depend on several variables such as the current make up of our squads and the value we have invested in players such as Sanchez & Ibrahimovic. I’ll let you answer that question yourself…I’m just here to tip a few players!!

Goalkeepers

It may come as a surprise to many of you to see that Eldin Jakupovic is our first pick this week. The Hull stopper was a popular choice among fantasy managers in the early part as he was priced at just £4.0m and more importantly he started. Unfortunately, the love affair didn’t last long as Mike Phelan ditched him for David Marshall. That decision didn’t quite go to plan as Marshall failed to keep a clean sheet in the 15 games he started. New boss Marcos Silva immediately installed Jakupovic as his #1 and the Swiss international hasn’t disappointed keeping two clean sheets from his five starts. This is more impressive when you consider that these clean sheets were kept against United and Liverpool. Anyone who watches football will have seen the notable difference in Hull since Silva has taken over. To put it simply they’re better organised and allow fewer shots on their goal. So their form is decent and they also play this week and in GW28 but just as important, their fixtures not only immediately after GW28 but through until the end of the season are on paper relatively straightforward. Granted they’ve got a couple of tricky fixtures but who doesn’t? At just £4.1m I suspect he’ll be quite popular over the next week or so.

Of the other eight keepers who will feature in game-weeks 26&28 I’m struggling to identify one whom is worth investing in. Bournemouth’s Artur Boruc should be avoided at all costs. Aside from facing Chelsea in GW27, West Ham’s fixtures aren’t too bad but defensively they don’t fill me with a great degree of confidence. While West Brom have two great home fixtures coming up they then have three extremely tough fixtures so I’d avoid Ben Foster. Despite the fact that Swansea have picked up some great results under Paul Clement they’ve continued to leak goals so notwithstanding a decent run of fixtures from GW27 I couldn’t tip Fabianski with any degree of confidence. Liverpool are Liverpool so I’d avoid Mignolet. Take a quick glance at Burnley’s upcoming fixtures and you’ll think happy days, take a 2nd look and you’ll realise their next four are all away from home…not so happy days! Even Tom Heaton can’t work miracles away from Turf Moor although he will make quite a few saves and it’s for this reason I’d pass on him. I would however consider Everton’s Joel Robles who has kept five clean sheets in his last eight games and is available for just £4.7m. The purchase of Robles could however cause you one or two problems as there’s an argument to be made for doubling up on Coleman & Baines, and in all likelihood you will also want Lukaku, the purchase of Robles would rule one of these three out.

As I noted at the beginning you shouldn’t ignore teams/players who blank in just GW28 and as I’ve tipped them in every Tips article I’ve written this season I’ll once again include Spurs’ Hugo Lloris and Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois. Spurs have struggled at the back in recent weeks due to the absence of both Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose. However Vertonghen returned to first team action on Sunday against Fulham and this may allow them to revert to a back three. A return to three at the back should increase their clean sheet chances and the return of Vertonghen alone means I would certainly consider investing in Lloris as Spurs have a reasonably kind run of fixtures. Courtois has kept 13 clean sheets to date and Chelsea’s fixtures over the coming weeks suggest that Courtois will certainly add to that figure. I should mention that Courtois missed a scheduled TV appearance during the week due to gastroenteritis, hopefully Conte will provide us with an update on Friday.

Defenders

At the time of writing Seamus Coleman was proving to be the most popular defender this week with a total of nearly 41k transfers in. To be honest I expected the figure to be a little higher. His figures over the last 10 game-weeks have been superb, not only has he picked up five clean sheets but he’s also weighed in with two goals & three assists, while he’s also picked up seven bonus points for good measure. On current form, he’s producing the type of returns we expect from a mid-priced midfielder and is making a mockery of his £5.9m price tag. Despite this form he figures in just 14.5% of teams although this figure rises to 21.4% when dead teams are removed. Looking at his attacking stats over that period he is top or very close to the top in the majority of categories. One look at Everton’s next four fixtures would suggest that we can expect returns from Coleman in at least three of them. When discussing Joel Robles above I alluded to the possibility of doubling up on Coleman and Leighton Baines. It’s certainly something worth considering as Baines’ stats, while not in Coleman’s bracket, are still quite good. The problem is his attacking returns appear likely to come only from a set piece. Therefore if you intend on doubling up on Everton defenders I’d be tempted to pair Funes Mori with Coleman. At £4.7m he’s £1.2m cheaper than Baines and over the last six game-weeks he’s had more efforts on target and more penalty area touches than Baines.

Having made Eldin Jakupovic our first keeper pick this week it goes without saying that we will be including a Hull defender. As we’ve already mentioned Hull have improved defensively since Silva took over while they’ve also got some decent fixtures coming up and thus there could be some value for money to be found here over the coming weeks. We have three to choose from…Andrew Robertson, Harry Maguire and Andrea Ranocchia. As new signing Ranocchia has only started the last two games I’ll take a quick look at the stats from those two games. As the sample size is so small it is not surprising that there’s little to choose between the three. From an attacking point of view full back Robertson leads the way and it’s clear that the Scot has been asked to get forward more often. Defensively Maguire and Ranocchia are more involved with Maguire leading the way. If I was forced to choose between the three it would undoubtedly be Harry Maguire whom I’d choose. Why? He’s been unlucky not to score this season and only six defenders have had more touches in the opposition penalty area. He scored nine goals in 134 games for Sheffield United so he’s due a goal.

Staying with our GW28 octet for a moment and it’s difficult to ignore Swansea’s Alfie Mawson and West Brom’s Chris Brunt. I mentioned above that Swansea have continued to leak goals since the arrival of Clement but what I failed to mention is that their defensive stats have improved significantly, they allow fewer efforts on goal and allow the opposition fewer big chances. I realise they have Chelsea this weekend but after their trip to the Bridge they have a run of fixtures from which they may pick up a clean sheet or two. It is however Mawson’s goal threat which has brought him to our attention, he’s scored three in his last six games. The issue with Mawson is that he’s only had five attempts in the six games and has scored with three of them. Can he continue at such a rate? It’s unlikely but that lad clearly knows where the goal is. I could very easily have gone for Gareth McAuley over Brunt as he has a tendency to pick up fortuitous goals. Given the attacking returns that the Baggies’ defenders have been picking up at home it’s difficult to ignore them with back to back home games against Bournemouth and Palace while their odds of picking up a clean sheet are significantly higher at home. I’ve gone for Brunt over McAuley simply because his underlying stats are more impressive.
For those of you who are happy that your current squad will stand you in good stead for GW28 you may want to look elsewhere and consider the likes of Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso or Middlesbrough’s Calum Chambers. There’s nothing I can say that you don’t already know about Alonso so I’ll simply highlight the fact that he’s currently the 2nd highest scoring defender (1pt behind Gary Cahill) despite not starting a game until GW7. If you can squeeze himself and Coleman into your team it will be like having an additional two midfielders. Boro are well and truly in a relegation fight and this is unlikely to change over the coming months. Should they beat the drop this season it will be due to a miserly defence. To date they’ve conceded just 27 goals giving them the joint 4th best defence in the league. Granted they blank in GW28 and face United in GW29 but aside from that they’ve got some decent fixtures which should throw up a couple of clean sheets. Why Chambers? There’s very little to separate him from his defensive colleagues but his stats are slightly more impressive.

Midfielders

While many of us expected Liverpool to struggle while Sadio Mane was away at the AFCON none of us expected January to be the unmitigated disaster that it became for the club. In his absence they drew with United and lost to Swansea in the league while they were also knocked out of both cups. Although he was clearly missed, this drop-in form cannot be attributed solely to the loss of the Senegalese international as he was a part of the team beaten by Hull in GW24. However he gave us all a reminder of his qualities in GW25 scoring both goals in the 2-0 win over Spurs and he could easily have had more. Something else that became clear over the course of January is that sitting back and defending in numbers is the way to frustrate and beat Liverpool, something Spurs failed to do. The good news for Liverpool and those of you are considering investing in Mane is that none of their opponents over the coming weeks are likely to sit back in an effort to frustrate Liverpool. First up is Leicester on Monday night and they’re currently playing like they’re still at Jamie Vardy’s party, they then face Arsenal who don’t know how to sit back and in GW28 they entertain Burnley who are woeful on their travels. It has also been suggested that Liverpool struggled in January due the sheer volume of football which effected their high intensity football. As a Liverpool fan myself I’m not going to use that as excuse but if there’s any element of truth to it it’s worth noting that Liverpool have just 13 games left over the course of the season so there will be plenty of time to recuperate between games.

Swansea travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon and because of this I wouldn’t be in a rush to purchase Gylfi Sigurdsson this week but at the same time I wouldn’t completely rule it out, after all he has scored at Anfield and The Etihad in recent weeks. Paul Clement has had an immediate impact at Swansea winning three of his five games in charge. In these five games they’ve scored eight goals with Siggy scoring three and assisting two. Swansea’s style of play has altered somewhat under Clement and their average possession has dropped but this has clearly had no effect on Siggy and his returns. Take a look at Swansea’s fixtures after the Chelsea game and you will see that given his current form there is a strong argument to be made for holding the Icelandic in your team through until GW38. You’ll do well to find better value for money in midfield.

Mane & Sigurdsson are undoubtedly the standout midfielders of those who play in GW26 & GW28 but there are others whom are worth a look, notably Everton’s Ross Barkley, West Ham’s Robert Snodgrass and West Brom’s James Morrison. Everton sit on top of the current form table with five wins and three draws from their last eight games scoring 19 times in the process. During this time Barkley has scored two and assisted another four. It’s worth noting that aside from one of these goals the remainder all came at home and with three of their next four games at home to Sunderland, West Brom & Hull I’d expect some fantasy returns from him over the coming weeks. He’s not the type of player I’d back with my mortgage but given their fixtures he’s worth a flutter. Four of West Ham’s next six fixtures are away from home. Now for most clubs this would be an issue but not the Hammers as they struggle to settle into their new surrounds. Snodgrass probably hasn’t had the returns he’s deserved in his two starts for the club but his stats have been impressive and it’s unlikely to be very long before he turns those stats into points. It’s not that long ago since Matt Phillips picked up four goals and seven assists in ten games, and we had convinced ourselves that he’d be gold come game-weeks 26&28. How times change, he’s blanked in his last five games. If you’re in the position where you’re attempting to bulk up your squad ahead of the blanks and you don’t own a Baggies midfielder Morrison might be your man. He’s scored three and assisted another in his last six and is available for just £4.7m.

Eden Hazard blanks in GW28 but over the next 3-5 game-weeks he could, given his quality coupled with Chelsea’s fixtures, unquestionably outscore the majority of players who don’t blank in GW28. The Belgian now has 10 goals and six assists for the season and in terms of FPL points only Alexis Sanchez has more. Despite keeping the points ticking over in recent weeks he had to some extent gone off the boil but anyone who witnessed his performance against Arsenal will tell you that he’s returned to the boil. He was by some distance the best player on the pitch and his solo goal was a thing of beauty. Chelsea don’t look like they’re going to smash any teams at present but you’d still expect a minimum of two goals from them in the vast majority of games meaning there will be plenty of opportunities for Hazard to add to his 147pts.

Between GW12 and GW22 Spurs scored a total of 30 goals. In their subsequent three games they managed just one. What’s gone wrong? The loss of Danny Rose and to a lesser extent Jan Vertonghen has without a doubt had a serious impact. This has resulted in them switching to a back four and therefore there hasn’t been as much width in their play. It has also led to Dele Alli playing a little deeper which has lessened his ability to influence the game. The good news for Spurs is that Vertonghen is now back from injury and while it has been confirmed that Rose is still a number of weeks away from full training the return of Vertonghen may encourage Poch to return to a back three with Ben Davies playing at left wing back. While Davies doesn’t offer the same attacking threat as Rose, I would still consider Alli who between game-weeks 12 and 22 plundered eight goals and four assists, should Poch give us any indication of a return to a back three. Aside from the visit of Everton in GW27 and the blank in GW28 Spurs have a great run of fixtures through to GW35.

Forwards

Romelu Lukaku. I’m not sure if I’ve previously given the Belgian top billing in our Tips article and if I have it won’t have happened very often. Looking ahead to GW28, those that choose to go without Lukaku will be taking a sizeable risk. That risk is increased when you consider his fixtures in the surrounding game-weeks. Three of their next four games are at home to Sunderland, West Brom & Hull who between them have conceded 24 goals in their last four away games. Everton have scored 13 in their last four at Goodison Park. Lukaku has scored 16 goals to date with nine of these coming at home and seven away while he’s also picked three assists at home. It’s worth noting that Lukaku has made 13 appearances away from Goodison and just 11 at home so he clearly enjoys his come comforts. His underlying stats are unsurprisingly also more impressive at home, he averages more shots on target and has more penalty area touches, and essentially he’s just more involved. He currently features in 32.5% of teams a figure that increases to 39.5% when dead teams are excluded and these figures are only going one way. At the time of writing Lukaku is currently flagged with a calf injury and he didn’t travel to Dubai with the club for their training camp. However the club have said it’s nothing serious and that he will be available to face Sunderland on Saturday. Check in with Cookie on Friday afternoon when he brings us the news from Around the Grounds.

Aside from Lukaku the only other forward from our octet of teams that play in both game-weeks 26&28 who has staked a claim for a place in our squads is Andy Carroll. Unfortunately Eeyore has been ruled out of this weeks game away to Watford. So why does he appear in the article? I’d already written the article and I wasn’t taking him out! That and the fact that Bilic has said he’ll be back very soon. His recent record has been impressive, he’s scored four in four and is the focal point of the Hammers attack when he plays. Since coming off the bench to score against Arsenal in GW14 he had featured in every game until he missed out in GW25 so the club are obviously managing him quite well.

Let’s take a quick look at the forward options from the remaining six teams of the octet. At Hull Oumar Niasse appears to be the only option. He’s featured in every game since joining on loan from Everton and scored in the win over Liverpool. Bournemouth’s Benick Afobe has only started two of the last six games despite Calum Wilson being ruled out for the season although he did score in GW22. West Brom’s Salomon Rondon has started each of the last six games but has failed to find the back of the net since scoring a hat-trick in GW16. Burnley provide us with two options in the shape of Andre Gray and Ashley Barnes. Both have started the last six games each scoring once. Swansea’s Fernando Llorente has also started the last six scoring a brace against Liverpool in GW22. Liverpool don’t have any forwards. Forced to pick two from this rabble I’d go with Ashley Barnes and Oumar Niasse. I realise Burnley’s fixtures are nothing short of being atrocious as they’re all away from home but Barnes is available for £4.5m and can easily be benched. Why Niasse? Well Hull have the best fixtures of the lot and his stats are ok’ish!

Looking at the fixtures of the remaining teams coupled with the form of their respective strikers it’s rather difficult to make a strong case for any of them but I’ll attempt to do so for Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Spurs’ Harry Kane. With 52 goals to date only Liverpool & Arsenal have scored more goals than Chelsea. They’ve scored consistently over the course of the season a fact highlighted by their 17 goals in their last eight games. They don’t blow teams away, they’ve only scored four or more on three occasions but they’ve only failed to score twice. Costa himself had been quite consistent for the majority of the season but has gone quiet of late with just one goal and two assists in their last five. However just like Hazard he was impressive against Arsenal and picked up two assists. Given their fixtures over the coming weeks I suspect we’ll see him consistently among the points. Unlike Costa, Kane hasn’t been consistent. He scored five in four between game-weeks 11&14 and six in four between game-weeks 18&21, these account for 11 of his 14 goals. He’s only scored one in his last four and during this recent barren spell Spurs as a team have struggled. Their starting XI is probably on a par with any other starting XI in the PL but as we’ve seen of late they don’t have the strength in depth to deal with injuries. Just like with Dele Alli above if Poch suggests a return to a back three this weekend Kane once again becomes a great prospect.

Figures relating to dead teams are taken from www.fantasyfootballfix.com

Thanks for reading Fantasy Premier League Tips Gameweek 26. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

Fixture Tracker – the next 6 games

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