The end of the World Cup means we can all enjoy a few weeks of football-free calm… right? Right? Wrong.
Barely a week will have passed between Lionel Messi’s career-defining moment, Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick and Emi Martinez’s X-rated antics with the Golden Glove award and the resumption of the Premier League on Boxing Day. And you all know what that means: Fantasy Premier League is back!
As ever at this most wonderful time of the year, there is lots of football to devour whenever there is a pause from the Christmas festivities. Fancy a break from organised fun? Watch the football. Need a lie down after inhaling Quality Street’s (always Quality Street, never Roses)? Watch the football. Looking for something else on TV after sitting through Home Alone and Home Alone 2 (let’s face it nobody watches 3)? Watch the football.
Before doing any football watching, though, make sure that your FPL team is prepped and ready to go. If that means setting a 10.30am alarm on Boxing Day, 30 minutes before the Gameweek 17 deadline, then so be it. And make sure to get your errands out the way early as Amazon Prime will be showing seven matches live, with four different kick-off times from 12pm until 8pm. Make sure you’re sitting comfortably.
More from Football
i's guide to the pundits, commentators and presenters for festive football on Amazon Prime22 December, 2022
Arsenal's injuries, Spurs' sad demise, Leicester's disaster: Every WSL club's season so far22 December, 2022
Nottingham Forest announce shirt sponsorship deal witth UN refugee charity22 December, 2022It’s always tricky to navigate the festive period in FPL as managerial rotation goes into overdrive, however this year it is doubly hard to gauge what shape teams and individual players will be in. Some may be suffering from a post-World Cup hangover, while others could take time to get up to speed after having a mini pre-season during winter. A couple of clubs at the wrong end of the table are under new management too.
Fortunately, FPL has given managers unlimited transfers to make up until the deadline which should hopefully make decision-making easier. And if you had a dreadful start to the season you may discover a motivational boost via FPL’s “Second Chance League” which will tally your points from Gameweek 17 onwards and discount those accumulated from gameweeks 1 to 16.
If you haven’t done so already, do join i’s league on the official Fantasy Premier League game to pit your wits against fellow readers and subscribe to our weekly FPL newsletter here to receive tips directly to your inbox each week.
Here’s i‘s team for Gameweek 17:
Gameweek 17 fixtures
Boxing Day
- Brentford vs Tottenham (12.30pm)
- Crystal Palace vs Fulham (3pm)
- Everton vs Wolves (3pm)
- Leicester vs Newcastle (3pm)
- Southampton vs Brighton (3pm)
- Aston Villa vs Liverpool (5.30pm)
- Arsenal vs West Ham (8pm)
Tuesday 27 December
- Chelsea vs Bournemouth (5.30pm)
- Man Utd vs Nottingham Forest (8pm)
Wednesday 28 December
- Leeds vs Man City
Goalkeeper: Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
A non-playing member of England’s World Cup squad, Aaron Ramsdale will be eager to get back into the swing of things after impressing during the first part of the season. Arsenal’s No 1 has the joint-highest number of clean sheets with seven alongside England colleague Nick Pope.
The Gunners were particularly resolute before the break, keeping clean sheets in four of their last five matches with Ramsdale averaging six points per game during that run. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s upcoming opponents West Ham have struggled badly for goals, registering 12 in 15 games with only three away from home.
Price: £4.9m Points: 58 Gameweek 17 fixture: West Ham (h)
Defender: Luke Shaw (Man Utd)
It seems a long, long time ago that Luke Shaw was an FPL flavour of the month. Before the start of the 2021-22 season, he was the most-owned player in the game off the back of his goalscoring exploits in the Euro 2020 final; he could be back in vogue after a similarly impressive showing on the international stage – coupled with Diogo Dalot’s injury.
Shaw temporarily lost his place in Erik ten Hag’s starting line-up following the bashing at Brentford but has seemingly regained his spot from Tyrell Malacia after starting in United’s previous seven league fixtures. Clean sheets could be forthcoming with the Red Devils playing Nottingham Forest (h), Wolves (a) and Bournemouth (h) in their next three.
Price: £4.8m Points: 30 Gameweek 17 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Defender: Joao Cancelo (Man City)
Joao Cancelo has established himself as one of the leading full-backs in world football during his time with City but was an unusually subdued presence for Portugal in Qatar. So much so that he lost his place in the XI to Dalot during the knockout rounds.
Although Cancelo had a disappointing tournament, his reduced minutes should work in City’s favour. Since the start of last season, Cancelo has started 50 of City’s 52 Premier League matches, including every game this campaign. Only three defenders have accumulated more bonus points than City’s No 7 (yes, it still looks weird) this term.
Price: £7.4m Points: 70 Gameweek 17 fixture: Leeds (a)
Defender: Reece James (Chelsea)
Selecting Reece James is undoubtedly a risk considering he won’t have played a competitive match for 11 weeks by the time Chelsea host Bournemouth. James was left out of England’s World Cup squad due to an ankle injury but played 60 minutes in a friendly against Brentford, raising expectations that he could (emphasis on could) start on 27 December.
If there is room for doubt over James’ fitness, there is precious little in regard his FPL qualities; he provided five goals and nine assists in 26 appearances last season and has one of each in six starts this term. Chelsea play Nottingham Forest after the Cherries before navigating a mixed double gameweek against Man City and Fulham.
Price: £5.8m Points: 26 Gameweek 17 fixture: Bournemouth (h)
Midfielder: Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)
There will be some players who will be physically and mentally ready to go for the Premier League resumption and others suffering from a post-World Cup slump or else general rustiness after a mini pre-season. Marcus Rashford emphatically belongs in the former camp judging by his exploits against Burnley on Wednesday.
WHAT A GOAL MARCUS RASHFORD!!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2022
He just kept running and running and RUNNING!pic.twitter.com/Up2cAcybhL
Rashford was England’s joint-top goalscorer in Qatar with three goals despite playing fewer minutes than 14 outfield players in Gareth Southgate’s squad. He averaged a goal every 45.6 minutes at the World Cup and picked up where he left off with a sensational solo effort in the Carabao Cup.
Price: £6.7m Points: 62 Gameweek 17 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Midfielder: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
England’s other top scorer in Qatar. Bukayo Saka had more pitch time than Rashford but looked anything but fatigued as he ran rings around the French defence. Southgate didn’t get much wrong in Qatar, but his decision to take Saka off in the quarter-final was a puzzling one.
Related Stories
Saka was one of the breakout stars of the tournament and despite England’s agonising quarter-final exit, he should be full of confidence ahead of Arsenal’s first game back. The Gunners will need him to be at his best too with Gabriel Jesus sidelined for the foreseeable future after undergoing knee surgery.
Price: £8.0m Points: 76 Gameweek 17 fixture: West Ham (h)
Midfielder: Dejan Kulusevski (Spurs)
Dejan Kulusevski has started less than half of Tottenham’s Premier League fixtures so far this season and they have badly missed his creativity when he has been absent. The Swede returned just before the break and slotted back in seamlessly, providing back-to-back attacking returns against Liverpool and Leeds.
Kulusevski has had over a month to build up his fitness and has looked sharp in Spurs’ mid-season friendlies as they step up preparations for Brentford on Boxing Day. With Richarlison unavailable due to a hamstring injury, his starting place alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min is secure.
Price: £8.0m Points: 41 Gameweek 17 fixture: Brentford (a)
Midfielder: Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
Doubling up on Manchester United’s attack might seem risky given Nottingham Forest’s improved form before the break. Steve Cooper’s side have kept three clean sheets in their last five league matches, however, they also received a 5-0 pummelling from Arsenal during that run.
United might not emulate that scoreline, but with the Cristiano Ronaldo saga finally concluded, expect their attackers to play with more freedom moving forward. Bruno Fernandes was one of the best FPL assets in the game pre-Ronaldo and will be back on penalties now that his compatriot has moved on.
Price: £9.8m Points: 48 Gameweek 17 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Midfielder: Leandro Trossard (Brighton)
Leandro Trossard was one of the most in-form attacking midfielders in the Premier League heading into the World Cup but was bizarrely underused by Roberto Martinez as Belgium’s Golden Generation went out with a whimper.
Roberto De Zerbi will hope that disappointment can spur Trossard on over the festive period. The 28-year-old ranks fifth for both shots (36) and xG (4.99) among midfielders in the game and despite being almost half the price, has scored more goals than Mo Salah (with seven to six).
Price: £7.1m Points: 80 Gameweek 17 fixture: Southampton (a)
Forward: Erling Haaland (Man City)
Just under 50 per cent of players to have made a Premier League appearance this season went to the World Cup: Erling Haaland was not one of them.
The break came at a good time for Haaland who was suffering from one or two aches and strains in the weeks prior to the tournament kicking off. He has plenty of time to rest and recuperate: a sentence that will strike fear into the heart of Jesse Marsch – his former manager at Red Bull Salzburg – and Leeds United.
If you are contemplating captaining someone else, here’s some numbers for you: Haaland has scored 18 goals so far, six more than any other player, and averaged 9.46 points per game. That’s that settled, then.
Price: £12.2m Points: 123 Gameweek 17 fixture: Leeds (a)
Forward: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
There are a couple of rounds of fixtures to be played until Fulham play twice in Gameweek 19 – against Leicester away and Chelsea at home – but it makes sense to bring Aleksandar Mitrovic in now rather than scheduling in a transfer in a couple of weeks. There will invariably be other fires to put out before then.
At the time of writing, Mitrovic is both the fourth-most bought and third-most sold player ahead of the deadline, but judging by his form for Serbia, those signing rather than selling could be onto something. Despite only playing in 12 of Fulham’s 15 matches, Mitrovic has had more shots (56) than any other player in the division.
Price: £6.8m Points: 61 Gameweek 17 fixture: Crystal Palace (a)
from Fantasy Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/QnZXN51
via IFTTT
Post a Comment