Following on from our semi popular Premier League predictions, we introduce our weekly EPL Fantasy preview – The Own Goal FPL Week 27
Each week we’ll attempt to give a quick round-up of some of the points of interest in Fantasy Premier League.
We used to do a podcast through our Fantasy United team, but who’s got time for that these days.
So enjoy The Own Goal FPL Week 27 preview.
Disclaimer: We are Ipswich Town fans, so have no prejudice against any side in this division. Or the next, come August 2019.
WHO’S HOT
SERGIO AGUERO – scoring goals for fun in all competitions – the premium striker right now, and still good value.
PAUL POGBA – a masterclass against Fulham last match continuing a great run of Post Mourinho form.
BURNLEY – Burnley are quickly saving their season, and are one of the form sides in the last six matches.
SON – Just keeps racking up the stats, not letting the Asian Cup adventures slow him down.
Here’s the top ten on recent form with some handy stats.
| Player | Price | TSB | Form | TotalPts | PPP | AvgMins | Games | GS | A | CS | BP |
| Aguero | 11.5 | 32% | 11.3 | 149 | 0.98 | 78.25 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Pogba | 8.8 | 43% | 10 | 143 | 1.14 | 85.75 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Son | 9 | 25% | 8.7 | 132 | 0.97 | 67 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Mane | 9.6 | 22% | 8.3 | 140 | 0.86 | 89 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Wood | 6.2 | 1% | 8 | 74 | 1.29 | 86.25 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Jimenez | 6.8 | 33% | 7.7 | 124 | 1.13 | 89.5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Sterling | 11.3 | 11% | 7.5 | 173 | 0.66 | 75.25 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Barnes | 5.6 | 2% | 7.3 | 79 | 1.30 | 90 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Llorente | 5.7 | 3% | 7 | 27 | 1.23 | 72.25 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Cathcart | 4.5 | 2% | 7 | 80 | 1.56 | 67.5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Note: PPP = Points per Price (1 GBP)
WHO STINKS
FULHAM – especially their defence. They look doomed to go down, and only Mitrovic is worth including in your side. unless they eventually give up and let all the decent Championship players who got them promoted have another go.
BRIGHTON – you used to be able to at least rely on Brighton’s home form, but Burnley proved last time out that the Seagulls are no invincible, and they need to be as their away form is terrible. As long as Glenn Murray stays fit he might be worth keeping for now.
FPL WEEK 27 – NO MAN CITY OR CHELSEA (and Everton and Brighton)
Given Chelsea’s recent run, not many will have three Man City and Chelsea players, but if you do, your bench better be in order.
Moving Chelsea players permanently might not be a bad idea, as they aren’t playing well, their manager is under pressure to keep his job, and Chelsea look like they have an upcoming fixture list that features either top six sides, or in form sides.
Taking Eden Hazard out is always a risk, but with the annual Real Madrid speculation, perhaps he won’t be at his imperious best. As for any other Chelsea players, most if not all can be replaced with an equivalent top six substitute.
Manchester City’s win in the Champions League with 10 men shows just how good they are, and how much talent is on offer. As long as you have the right Man City players, we’d recommend just benching them for a week and unleashing in the upcoming midweek fixtures. They play West Ham at home.
Normally no Brighton and Everton wouldnt’ cause too many problems, especially given their recent form drop off, but Richarlisson or Glenn Murray are quite popular mid range players, and if combined with the above Chelsea and Man City losses, there’s potential for a very depleted team. Glenn Murray is always worth hanging onto if you already have him, few have his scoring power at the price. Richarlisson might be worth getting rid of however, given there’s a tendency for second half season syndrome. Perhaps replacing him for a couple of cheaper options listed in the next section.
FPL WEEK 27 – RISKY BUSINESS
Time to take a risk then, and we have a few suggestions outside of the top six. These are based on clubs who have a pretty good run of fixtures coming up, or are in form.
NEWCASTLE – Avoid top six sides in their next five fixtures, and don’t play anyone higher than 9th. Have won two in a row at home, and their last start draw away to Wolves shows progress.
Isaac Hayden (MID – Price 4.3) tops the recent form for Newcastle, and racked up two assists and a goal in his last four starts, and could be a real option to have on the bench or start this weekend for the Huddersfield visit.
Salomón Rondón (FWD – Price 5.8) – although not a prolific scorer, he chips in occasionally. In fact he seems to score every third week, and he is currently on a two game scoreless streak.
Jamaal Lascelles ( DEF – Price 4.6) & Fabian Schär (DEF – Price 4.6) Newcastle don’t keep a clean sheet very often, but they did against Cardiff a few games ago, so not impossible. Good cheap defenders are on offer, Lascelles is one of Newcastle’s best players and will always feature when fit. He has 1 Goal and 6 assists so far this season. Fabian Schar has peaked lately, with his 2 goals and an assist coming only in the last few matches.
Miguel Almirón (MID – Price 6.0) Perhaps taking on faith on his US Major League point scoring ways. We have taken the plunge and including him this week, epseically with Huddersfield away first up.
WEST HAM – If you overlook the Manchester City away trip in the midweek, West Ham have a great run, and an opportunity for some value alternatives.
Felipe Anderson (MID – Price 7.2) Has been one of West Ham’s best this season, and certainly one of the better buys for a club which is hit and miss at best. He has eight goals and four assists this season, and face Fulham at home. Fulham being the league’s winless and worst away team.
Michail Antonio (MID – Price 6.8) Slightly cheaper than Felipe Anderson and has three goals and five assists. Most of those points coming later in the season. Was super for West Ham last season in patches, and is currently their highest in terms of recent form.
Declan Rice (DEF – Price 4.5) Aaron Cresswell (DEF – Price 5.0) Defenders are a little hard to take from West Ham, but Declan Rice is a great prospect, good enough to change his allegiance from Ireland to England for international football. He hasn’t done much since scoring v Arsenal, so taking on faith. Same for Aaron Cresswell, taking him on past deeds to be fair., but he was good in patches when fit last season. We also recommend him as an Ipswich Town fan, clinging onto any success involved with the club.
Robert Snodgrass (MID – Price 5.0) Great player who hasn’t done a great deal lately, but he did score against Fulham last time they met. He is due a few big games.
We didn’t include Lukasz Fabianski as Risky business, as his stats and popularity makes him a good thing to include.
CARDIFF – Whilst they are still fighting relegation, Cardiff are winning games, and their recent form is not too bad. The win away at Southampton last time out shows they are ready for the relegation scrap, and that means more points from their players.
Sol Bamba (DEF – Price 4.6) Cardiff get more clean sheets than you would have thought, they have four clean sheets in their last eight games. Sol Bamba could take these points for clean sheets, and he did pop up and score a goal at Southampton last time.
Bobby Reid (FWD – Price 5.2) – His two goals against Bournemouth in their second last clash mask his total stats for 2019, but perhaps it is just the beginning of a goal glut that you don’t want to miss out on.
And there’s plenty more you can take a risk on from Cardiff. You don’t have to listen to us.
We Recommend: Miguel Almirón , Jamaal Lascelles , Felipe Anderson
FPL WEEK 27 – CAPTAIN? MY CAPTAIN?
Mo Salah – hasn’t scored against Man Utd in 3 games.
Marcus Rashford – Has been scoring frequently for Man Utd, and is a reason for their turnaround. Has the best goals ratio against FPL Week 27 opposition of most of the potential captains listed here with two goals and one assist in five matches v Liverpool.
Paul Pogba – In great form, but coming up against Liverpool, a team he has just the one assist against in two games. Has won a World Cup this season, so will be used to the atmosphere of a big, big clash.
Christian Eriksen – in almost as good form as Son, but has just one goals from six meetings against Burnley.
Heung-min Son – In red hot form, but has only scored once against Burnley in two games.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang OR Alexandre Lacazette – a very winnable fixture this weekend for the Arsenal pair as Southampton come to visit. 10 goals and 8 assists is a very handy contribution from Alexandre Lacazette. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has 15 goals and 6 assists which is more than Lacazette, but is also 1.6M more to buy.
We suggest: Heung-min Son, or one of the Arsenal forwards.
FPL WEEK 27 – OUR TEAM
You can’t give off tips without putting your money where your mouth is, so our team details are here for your information. Feel free to pick our team apart at your leisure.
FPL – Electric Higuita Exp
FPL WEEK 27 STATS AND STUFF
Here’s some slightly useful information about upcoming games for each team. We have a table showing the split between top and bottom 6 teams, and the sweet middle for each teams next six weeks.
Following on from that, we have designed a measure to rank each team’s next 6 games in difficulty. Using opposition ranking, points, factoring in home and away fixtures, and using a calculation of current form.
With thanks to Transfermarkt for and WhoScored most of the above stats.
Spurs and Watford have the most red fixtures this week.
West Ham have a good run with 4/6 games against the bottom six. Newcastle, Huddersfield and Leicester all avoid a Top six clash in the next six weeks.
The difficulty rating mostly follows the league table, although Newcastle appear to have a great run ahead for those looking to jump aboard the Toon train. Watford look the odd team out at the top of the difficulty ratings.
