A lifelong Birmingham City fan, Tom relocated to Germany for five years after graduating from university, where his interest in the Bundesliga developed. He began writing about and betting on German football for FST in 2016. He's also an avid fantasy football player and closely follows the Premier League and European competitions.
Gameweek 7 is quickly approaching just a few days after mid-week European competition. Last weekend’s Premier League matches made for some entertaining viewing so let’s hope for more of the same this weekend. Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United bounced back to form with a dominant 4-1 win at home to reigning champions Leicester City. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool continued their free-flowing scoring with a 5-1 masterclass over Hull City. Arsenal’s 3-0 win at home to Chelsea was one of Arsenal’s best performances in years, according to manager Arsene Wenger.
Read more below to see our recent winner and find out our recommendations for who to take and who to bench for the upcoming fixtures!
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Last Week’s Winner!
Last week’s winner was Kane Rose’s “Casnewydd Afon”, who bagged himself £20 in bet365 free bets and most importantly an FST Mug!
Who to Buy
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Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) – Price: £13.0m
Sergio Aguero was back last weekend following his three match suspension for violent conduct against Winston Reid. Not much more explanation is required for including the Argentinian. He is, admittedly, the single most expensive player in Premier League fantasy, but his explosive recent performances are that of a player in peak form. His two goals against Swansea City last time out saw him take away a decent 13 point haul and reinstate him as the highest scoring forward in the game.
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Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) – Price: £11.1m
Alexis Sanchez is another player in peak form. Though he is the most expensive midfielder available, the Chilean international will score five points for each goal he scores instead of the usual four points per goal that a striker receives. Given that Arsene Wenger is currently playing him as a forward over new signing Lucas Perez, this gives Alexis so much potential for huge point hauls. Last weekend’s 3-0 win over Chelsea, where Sanchez scored one and assisted one for 14 fantasy points, was his third double digit earnings in just four matches. Only 17.7% of teams currently have him selected but he’s gaining momentum and his price is rising. You’d be wise to pick him up quickly, especially when considering Arsenal’s very winnable next four fixtures.
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Liverpool Midfielders – Price: varied between £6.4m and £9.0m
Jurgen Klopp is spoilt for choice when it comes to attacking midfielders at Liverpool. Coutinho, Lallana, Mane, and Roberto Firmino are all decent and viable options depending on your fantasy budget. Coutinho is currently the fifth best midfielder overall in Premier League fantasy, however, he has only played a full 90 minutes in one of Liverpool’s opening fix matches so he does add some risk into the equation.
Meanwhile, Adam Lallana seems to have flourished under Klopp’s guidance and he is the sixth best fantasy midfielder overall. He scored one and assisted two in last weekend’s 5-1 demolishing of Hull City, adding 15 points to his impressive current total of 40 points.
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Marcus Rashford or Manchester United Players – Price: £6.9m or varied
Marcus Rashford finally got his place in Manchester United’s starting eleven as captain Wayne Rooney was dropped to the bench for the first time under Mourinho. Though Rashford was quiet for most of the first half, he soon came through for the Reds (as he always seems to do) and scored their third in United’s confidence-boosting 4-1 win over reigning champions Leicester City. Rashford has now scored three goals in four appearances and is simply a steal at £6.9m.
Daley Blind and Chris Smalling would also be viable defensive options for those looking to splash out on a “core” defender. Blind assisted Chris Smalling and Paul Pogba’s goals from corners last time out and we don’t expect Mourinho to change much about that moving forward.
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Salomon Rondon or Nacer Chadli (West Brom) – Price: £6.6m and £6.4m respectively
Salomon Rondon took away his third goal of the season in West Brom’s 1-1 draw away to the out-of-form Stoke City last weekend. His 8 point haul has taken him to 31 points total for the season and just a few points behind some of the highest scoring fantasy strikers. £6.6m for West Brom’s number one striker who is guaranteed 90 minutes and is facing Sunderland next week is a bargain.
Though Nacer Chadli picked up just one point from the same match, he is still averaging 8 points per match thanks to his huge 21 point haul against West Ham the weekend before last. He costs only £6.4m and with only 1.9% of fantasy managers selecting him, he wouldn’t make for a bad dark horse investment either.
Who to Bench
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Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Pep Guardiola has stated that Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne will miss up to three weeks with the hamstring injury he picked up against Swansea City. This is news that will no doubt disappoint a lot of fantasy managers, but his current £10.8m price tag is better used elsewhere for the time being.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United)
Though Zlatan is still the 2nd best forward in Premier League fantasy, he’s been a bit quiet for a star of his caliber. Ibrahimovic hasn’t been playing bad by any means, with one goal and one assist over his last three matches. However, given the current form of some other strikers, we have to question whether his £11.5m price tag could actually be used better elsewhere, especially considering United’s wider spread of points throughout the team since the recent inclusion of Marcus Rashford.
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Ross Barkley (Everton)
Ross Barkley has found himself fall out-of-form after a strong start to the season. Barkley earned 15 points in the opening 2 matches through a goal and an assist, but has taken just 7 points over a very soft series of fixtures since. Though Barkley doesn’t take up too much of your budget at £7.5m, we’d prefer to invest this amount in a more in-form player, such as Liverpool’s Adam Lallana or West Ham’s Antonio for the time being.
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Alvaro Negredo or Middlesborough Players
Alvaro Negredo’s and Middlesborough’s strong start to the season has overshadowed their disappointing performances over their last four matches. Negredo earnt 19 points over Boro’s opening two matches against Stoke City and Sunderland, scoring one and assisting two. Since then, however, the Spaniard has contributed nothing and taken just 7 points over his their last four. We find it unbelievable that 22% of people are still holding onto him when they could be trading him out for forwards such as West Brom’s Rondon, United’s Rashford or Sunderland’s Jermaine Defoe for about the same price.
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Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Leighton Baines (Everton), Scott Dann (Crystal Palace), Eric Dier (Tottenham)
All of the above are the latest doubtfuls ahead of Gameweek 7, though there are, of course, plenty of other current injuries to be aware of. Leaving doubtful players in your lineup in the hope that they are fit in time is a gamble, but it can sometimes have its reward. If you choose to leave a doubtful player in your lineup and take the risk, then make sure to order your benched players. That way if your doubtful player doesn’t feature, the players you want to be automatically switched for the absent player will be subbed in once all matches are finished.