Fantasy Premier League silly season has well and truly taken hold with managers activating their wildcards, tripling their captain points, boosting their benches and making use of those two free hit chips.
A raft of Covid-enforced postponements over the festive period has resulted in numerous double gameweeks springing up in FPL, sending managers into a hit-taking, point-seeking frenzy.
To illustrate that point, last week so Mo Salah become the most triple-captained player in FPL history with over one million bosses handing him the armband for Liverpool’s matches against Norwich and Leeds. The previous record, for comparison, was 359,246 for Harry Kane last season.
Salah repaid that faith in his first game, scoring a goal and earning three bonus points for a 10 point score in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over the Canaries.
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This week, the chip of choice looks set to be the free hit given none of Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool are in action, with the latter two squaring off in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final. There will be an inevitable surge of interest in Burnley players too as the Clarets are the only side to play twice in Gameweek 27 with games against Crystal Palace and Leicester, neither of whom are in particularly good form.
Here is this week’s team which costs £82.5m, half a million under the weekly budget.
Nick Pope (Burnley)
After keeping a solitary clean sheet in his opening 12 games of the season, Nick Pope has since managed five in his last eight matches as Burnley have belatedly remembered what it was that made them so successful. Pope has been one of the most popular ‘keepers in the game in recent years, owing to his ability to not only keep clean sheets but also accumulate save points. Indeed, in his last eight appearances, Pope has notched a bonus point for making three or more saves on six occasions.
Price: £5.4m Points: 79 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Crystal Palace (a), Leicester (h)
Connor Roberts (Burnley)
If it is guaranteed starts that you’re looking for from the Burnley back four, look no further than captain and long-serving stalwart Ben Mee. However, if it’s excitement that you’re after – yes, even from a Burnley defender – then take a punt on the attack-minded Connor Roberts instead. The Welshman has started each of Burnley’s last five games and stood out in last weekend’s 3-0 win at Brighton by providing an assist for Wout Weghorst as well as hitting the bar with a strike from distance.
Price: £4.5m Points: 26 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Crystal Palace (a), Leicester (h)
Joao Cancelo (Man City)
With Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson both out of action this weekend, Joao Cancelo is the go-to premium defender of choice ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Everton. Cancelo has had 57 shots on goal this season which is more than Bruno Fernandes, Son Heung-min and Kevin De Bruyne. Granted, he hasn’t actually scored with many of them – only one in fact – but it is reflective of the attacking threat he poses. A wounded City will be seeking a response to last weekend’s defeat against a leaky Everton at Goodison Park.
Price: £7.1m Points: 142 Gameweek 27 fixture: Everton (a)
Tino Livramento (Southampton)
Guess who’s back? Back again. Tino’s back, tell a friend (but not your fellow FPL managers). That’s right, everybody’s favourite budget defender from the Autumn has finally rediscovered the form that made him such a popular asset, racking up 12 points during Saints’ 2-0 win over Everton. Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side have been in excellent form of late and have a promising run of fixtures with Norwich (h) followed by Aston Villa (a), Newcastle (h), Watford (h), Burnley (a) and Leeds (a) in their next six.
Price: £4.3m Points: 67 Gameweek 27 fixture: Norwich (h)
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Son Heung-min (Spurs)
Son Heung-min has been a beacon of consistency during what has been an often turbulent campaign for Spurs, scoring more goals (nine) and providing more assists (five) than any of his teammates. The South Korean has been consistently among the points in FPL too, registering at least one attacking return in eight of his last nine games, including two assists at the Etihad last Saturday. Spurs are one of the teams that will play twice in Gameweek 29 and Son’s price tag is gradually creeping up and up ahead of those fixtures.
Price: £10.8m Points: 127 Gameweek 27 fixture: Leeds (a)
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
Speaking of FPL favourites who have come roaring back into form after a spell in the doldrums, here’s another in Bruno Fernandes. Following an uncharacteristically lean spell, Fernandes has registered attacking returns in four of his previous seven games, hitting double figures in three of them. Over the past four gameweeks, only Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling have a higher expected goals tally than Fernandes, which is evidence that he is rediscovering his goalscoring threat.
Price: £11.7m Points: 124 Gameweek 27 fixture: Watford (h)
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Southampton have put together an excellent run of late, winning four and drawing three of their previous eight league games despite having some tough fixtures. James Ward-Prowse has been absolutely integral to their success, providing four assists, three goals and a team-leading 54 points in that time. In fact, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen is the only player to have accrued more FPL points than Saints’ set-piece specialist since Gameweek 19.
Price: £6.5m Points: 102 Gameweek 27 fixture: Norwich (h)
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Surprisingly, given his recent form, Riyad Mahrez was demoted down to the bench for Manchester City’s shock 3-2 defeat to Spurs but he soon made an impact after coming on. The Algerian fired a pressure penalty into the roof of the net to restore parity in stoppage time, before Harry Kane went up the other end to head home the winner. That successful spot-kick ensured that Mahrez has delivered FPL returns in six of his previous seven appearances.
Price: £8.7m Points: 96 Gameweek 27 fixture: Everton (a)
Anthony Elanga (Man Utd)
A risky pick perhaps but Anthony Elanga certainly has a fan in Ralf Rangnick and could be worth a punt this weekend, particularly for those using their Free Hit. The teenage winger was only on the pitch for 23 minutes of Sunday’s 4-2 win against Leeds but registered two big chances – scoring with one of them – and an expected goals tally of 0.79. With Jesse Lingard failing to make the most of a rare start at Elland Road, Elanga could come into Rangnick’s XI for the visit of Watford. Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey is a safer option at the same price point.
Price: £4.8m Points: 25 Gameweek 27 fixture: Watford (h)
Wout Weghorst (Burnley)
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Burnley strikers haven’t exactly been in demand this season given Sean Dyche’s side have propped up the ‘goals for’ column for much of the campaign. However, ahead of this weekend’s action their latest towering centre forward Wout Weghorst is comfortably the most bought player of the gameweek. The Dutchman has made a huge impact at Turf Moor since his £12m move from Wolfsburg, scoring once and providing two assists in his first four appearances for the club. He could even be a possible captain candidate…
Price: £6.5m Points: 21 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Crystal Palace (a), Leicester (h)
Harry Kane (Spurs)
This has been the worst season of Harry Kane’s Tottenham career and yet on Saturday, he delivered arguably his best-ever performance for the club during that dramatic victory at the Etihad. Kane’ split the City defence wide open with an exquisite pass in the build-up to Dejan Kulusevski’s opener before scoring the second and third goals himself. Despite playing the best defence in the league, Kane had the highest xG of any player in Gameweek 26. Just imagine what he might get up to against Leeds…
Price: £12.2m Points: 83 Gameweek 27 fixture: Leeds (a)
from Fantasy Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/kOjXLrD
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