FPL Week 23 – Fantasy Premier League Preview – The Own Goal

Following on from our semi popular Premier League predictions, we introduce our weekly EPL Fantasy preview – The Own Goal FPL Week 23.

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 23 preview.

Or cut out the middle man and go straight to the official FPL website here.

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

Pogba / Rashford. The dynamic duo have scored 92 points between them in the five leagues games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and they combined nicely against Spurs to prove they are not just Lukaku type Flat Track Bullies.

Mo Salah – keeps scoring and justifying his hefty price tag.

Kane / Son – but Spurs will have to do without their double act due to injury and Asian Cup.

WHO STINKS

Leicester – can’t beat 10 man Southampton. Can beat Man City and Chelsea.

Fulham defence. As if anyone has one in their FPL side. Own goals are unfortunate, and funny, but they need two quick defenders in this transfer window to survive. PErhaps a cheeky Gary Cahill could be value if he moves a few miles down the road.

Wolves defence against Man City – own goals and red cards. Ouch.

FPL WEEK 23- THE BIG QUICK QUESTIONS

Is this Eriksen’s time to shine without Kane and Son? Or will he have to play a different role to cover both absences?

Will the Manchester United juggernaut roll on now they’ve beaten a big team?

Is David de Gea worth including now he looks back to his best and Man Utd don’t look so awful?

Any room for Jesus at the table? 

FPL WEEK 23 – IN KANE OF EMERGENCY BREAK GLASS

The big news from the land of the EPL and FPL is that Harry Kane will miss a chunk of time over the next few months. Kane is worth a lot and owned by many, so what can one do in his absence? And with Marko Arnautovic looking like China will be his new home, the options are thin. We’ll have a look now.

The big question is do you go for another big money striker to replace big money Kane, or is there some value out there so you can strengthen the midfield or elsewhere. We went for the latter, but that’s not for everyone.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Cost £11.3 – Selected by 33.7% – Form 6.8 – Total Pts 134

The best of the premium strikers left. Cheaper than Kane, so easy to do a straight swap. A doubt about Arsenal after failing to score against West Ham last start.

Sergio Aguero
Cost £11.2 – Selected by 22.4% – Form 3.4 – Total Pts 99

A quality striker no doubt, but with the resurrection of Jesus will he get the game time? With their stacked midfield, will Man City play both very often?

Gabriel Jesus
Cost £10.1 – Selected by 2.2% – Form 3.2 – Total Pts 56

In some decent scoring form now, a few against Wolves, plenty against Burton Albion, but has looked a little Morata at times this season. Confidence looks to have returned for now, but will the injuries stay away, and can he keep Aguero out.

Marcus Rashford
Cost £7.4 – Selected by 28.3% – Form 7.6 – Total Pts 86

Almost a must right now, given he has scored 63% of his total points in the last 7 fixtures, and there doesn’t seem to be an end to the Man Utd juggernaut right now.

Callum Wilson
Cost £6.6 – Selected by 25.1% – Form 2.4 – Total Pts 105

Still incredible value, but injuries and a woefully underperforming Bournemouth don’t help. However, he is one of the most sought after commodities this transfer window, so a new club might bring more goals, and for cheap. We go into that a little more below.

Aleksandr Mitrovic
Cost £6.6 – Selected by 15.6% – Form 3.0 – Total Pts 89

Fulham are terrible at the back, and they will go down because of it, but Mitrovic has been one shining light for them this season. But he has dropped off of late. One goals in nine games.

Troy Deeney
Cost £5.9 – Selected by 5.5% – Form 5.2 – Total Pts 66

Unfashionable selection, but under 6M and always tries hard and rarely injured. Watford have a decent run coming up. As the fixtures pile up, he can be relied upon to play, but score?

Jamie Vardy
Cost £8.9 – Selected by 4.6% – Form 5.0 – Total Pts 78

A great, hard-working striker, but his numbers are no better than players who cost 2M less. And Leicester’s form is so wildly different (beating Man City/Chelsea – losing to Cardiff/Newport County) that it would be hard to know when you think he might score.

Raul Jiminez
Cost £6.4 – Selected by 22.7% – Form 3.0 – Total Pts 96

Took over from Mitrovic as the value striker in FPL, and has ridden the wave of points with Wolves of late.

FPL WEEK 23 – THE CALLUM QUANDRY 

The biggest name in the current transfer window is Callum Wilson of Bournemouth. The English striker has had one of his best years, which is very convenient as a number of clubs are struggling for goals and/or a forward who can score them.

Bournemouth signed him for under 4 Million, but now 75 Million is being spoken about. Says a lot about the EPL

Where could he go? Here’s a list of the clubs which have been rumoured to be interested.

Chelsea (Very Likely) – badly need a striker and have paid over the odds for similar in the past. Would he play every week and combine with Hazard?

Wolves (Perhaps) – could do with a goal scorer, and a few more goals to push for 7th. Would play every week he is fit for Wolves.

West Ham (Maybe) – With Arnautovic heading to China, and Andy Carroll being Andy Carroll, he could be a great fit. Has scored four times at West Ham’s home in three games.

Spurs (Unlikely but intriguing) – Kane is out for a while now, and Llorente wants to go to Spain, leaving Spurs with bugger all options up front. Shot term fix awaits, and Wilson could well be willing to take a back seat to play at Spurs alongside Kane at this stage of his career. 

Our pick – Spurs

STAT ATTACK

For a little more Callum Wilson, and his potential new club, we found his top five clubs that he has scored goals and provided assists against, and have a neat little table that shows which of the above teams are still to play against Wilson’s top five and where.

FPL WEEK 23 – YOU DO WIN FRIENDS WITH SALAH

For those FPL tight-arses who didn’t want to splash the cash, perhaps now is the time to admit defeat and find a way to bring Mo Salah into their side.

13.4 is a big price, but for that you get big returns. Double figure returns from five of his last seven games. And it guarantees you one good captain to choose from every week. 

Plus, at that price, if he gets injured, you have a lot of money to freshen up the side.

Liverpool’s exit from the FA Cup is a bonus, given they will get a break while all of the other top six contenders have to battle the FA Cup and Europe over the next few months.

STAT ATTACK

Mo Salah averages more than 1.5 goals/assists per game against seven EPL sides, and Liverpool have to play six of those teams still. Three of them in the next six matches. 

For the record, here they are.

FPL WEEK 23 – RISKY BUSINESS

We do like taking a risk in FPL, hence our lowly position in the overall FPL standings, but sometimes they pay off, and we’d hate not to share….

IN – SAMIR NASRI (West Ham) Price 5.5M – Before the drugs ban, and getting left out of the Man City squad in 15/16, Nasri averaged 123 points a season for the previous six. It is another risk based on a West Ham team that has quite a few blasts from the past, 

IN –  DECLAN RICE (West Ham) – Price 4.4M A prospect for West Ham who cashed in last week. Whilst it is usually best not to get excited too quickly after one big haul of points, he is cheap at 4.4 and could also attract the interest of other clubs in this transfer window.

IN – SHAQIRI (Liverpool) – Price 7.1M  Hard to select a player not guaranteed to start every week, but he does have some impact. He is ahead of Salah and just behind Sane for points per minute. Has only started four times this season but does average six points when he does. Perhaps a luxury at the moment.

OUT – EDEN HAZARD (Chelsea) – How can you take out one of the season’s best players? Well because until Chelsea  sort out their striker problem, he either has to play with someone he scores less with, or plays out of position because they have no other option. Maybe wait to see how January goes, or ditch him until they get a new striker. Which we have for Salah. The potentially incoming Higuain may not solve their problems either.

STAT ATTACK

Here are Hazard’s stats with and without Morata and Giroud for no good reason.

FPL WEEK 23 – CAPTAIN? MY CAPTAIN?

Eden Hazard – the hardest fixture of all the potential captains – and only has 5 goals and 2 assists in 14 games v Arsenal.

Mo Salah – playing Crystal Palace at home. surprisingly, Liverpool’s record at home to Crystal Palace isn’t great. 1-0 win last season, then three losses in a row.

Paul Pogba – 54 points in five matches – and the prospect of playing Brighton who are not great away. Only one goal in three vs Brighton though.

Man City Midfield – away to Huddersfield who have forgotten how to win, but have changed manager. Problem is which one to pick. Sterling, Sane, Silva? And Man City only score half as many goals away than home.

We suggest: Mo Salah / Paul Pogba

FPL WEEK 23 – NEW MANAGER BOUNCE????

Given the bump in form that each side gets from a new manager, it’s time to have a look at whether Huddersfield offer anything at all to the Fantasy Premier League player, after the departure of David Wagner in a rare case of genuine mutual consent.

POTENTIAL HUDDERSFIELD PURCHASES

Hard to take an attacker for a team who doesn’t score often, and without their best player Aaron Mooy. But here’s a few names that might be worth a look. Or perhaps wait for the transfer window to see if they can unearth a newbie for value.

Jonas Lossl (GK)
Price 4.4 – Form 5.0 – Total Pts 70

Huddersfield aren’t as terrible in defence as they are in attack, and their Goalkeeper has scored a handy 20 points in the last three games. Only behind a few players at the 4.4 value for saves that are guaranteed starters.

Philip Billing (Midfield)
Price 4.5 – Form 3.4 – Total Pts 55

Hard to pick a midfielder, but Billing has scored a few goals, and looks like he is guaranteed game time every week.

Jason Puncheon (Midfield)
Price 4.2 – Form 0.8 – Total Pts 8

Taking him on faith of previous deeds for Crystal Palace before this season and last. He has recently moved to Huddersfield, where he came on for the first time in their recent match at Cardiff. Averaged 109 pts a season from 12/13 to 16/17 in the Premier League.

Who’s next for the sack? Probably Leicester’s Claude Puel. More and better information available at the excellent Sack Race website – next EPL manager sacked.

FPL Week 23 – 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. We used the wildcard this week in honour of Harry Kane’s injury.

FPL – Electric Higuita Exp

FPL WEEK 23 STATS AND STUFF

Here’s some slightly useful information about upcoming games for each team. Who has the most games against the current Top 6 and Bottom 6. 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.

With thanks to Transfermarkt for and WhoScored most of the above stats.