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 13 is almost upon us after another exciting week of European competition. Last weekend’s Premier League action wasn’t the highlight of the season, so hopefully this weekend will provide a bit more entertainment.
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 Colin Diprose’s “pog mo thoin”, who bagged himself £20 in bet365 free bets and most importantly an FST Mug!
FANTASY FOOTBALL WINNER – WEEK 12
Colin Diprose’s “pog mo thoin”
DM us to claim your £20 bet365 Free Bets & MST Mug! pic.twitter.com/be5gVDCoMH
— Football Super Tips (@FootySuperTips) November 22, 2016
Who to Buy
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Liverpool Players – Price: varied
Jurgen Klopp is spoilt for choice when it comes to attacking midfielders at Liverpool. Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, and Mane are all decent and viable options depending on your fantasy budget. Coutinho (£8.7m) is currently the second best midfielder overall in Premier League fantasy, meanwhile, Roberto Firmino (£8.8m), who has solidified his false nine role ahead of striker Daniel Sturridge, is the fourth best and less popular option as he’s only selected by 17.9% of teams.
At the back, Liverpool were able to hold a clean sheet for the second time this season in their 0-0 draw away to Southampton. Nathaniel Clyne (£5.6m) took away all three bonus points for a decent 9 point haul and has a lot of potential for future matches with his involvement down the wings. Loris Karius (£4.9) is one of the cheaper goalkeepers available from a top side and should be able to keep a few more clean sheets in the coming weeks given Liverpool’s form and the fact that all six of their upcoming fixtures are rated 3 or lower on the “fixture difficulty ranking”.
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Yaya Toure (Manchester City) – Price: £7.6m
Yaya Toure was handed his first appearance by Pep Guardiola last weekend after the dust had settled following some troubles between them earlier this season. Toure collected the maximum bonus points alongside his two goals in Manchester City’s 2-1 win away to Crystal Palace. He’ll likely keep his spot in the starting 11 given he was not available for City’s midweek Champions League fixture away to Borussia M’gladbach. Hence, he should also be well rested ahead of this weekend’s match at home to Burnley.
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Charlie Austin (Southampton) – Price: £6.8m
Charlie Austin may have only scored one goal in his last four outings, however, these have been difficult fixtures against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. Southampton have a hugely favourable set of fixtures coming up with four of their next five matches being rated 2 on the “fixture difficulty ranking”. Austin has thrived against the weaker sides, scoring goals against Swansea, West Ham, Burnley and Hull this season, so we should expect to see more from him in the coming weeks.
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Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) – Price: £8.8m
Giroud is another who will likely have cemented himself a position in the starting 11. Giroud has scored three off the bench over his last three Premier League matches and also got himself on the score-sheet against PSG in Arsenal’s Champions League clash on Wednesday. Arsenal have a very “winnable” set of fixtures ahead of them, including Bournemouth at home this weekend, and Giroud is an extremely reasonable price for a striker of his calibre.
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Matt Phillips (West Brom) – Price: £5.1m
West Brom winger Matt Phillips delivered double-figures in back-to-back matches as he collected maximum bonus points alongside his goal and an assist in Monday’s 4-0 win at home to Burnley. His form has seen him cement his starting role having been benched in Gameweek 10 and Toni Pulis should be reluctant to make any changes ahead of this weekend’s trip to the struggling Hull City. For £5.1m of your budget he’s not going to break the bank and should be worth consideration.
Who to Bench
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Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City)
Yaya Toure’s return to action meant that Ilkay Gundogan (£5.8m) was rested from the squad altogether last weekend. Following his role in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw away to Borussia M’gladbach in the Champions League, we’re led to believe that this may be a regular occurance for the German as Guardiola hints at further rotation as the pace over the festive schedule increases.
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Hector Bellerin (Arsenal)
Hector Bellerin missed out on Arsenal’s trip to Manchester United last weekend due to an ankle injury. Though he has the 5th highest total points and is the 2nd most expensive defender in Premier League fantasy, he’s not expected back until later next month, so we’d recommend freeing up some of the budget instead.
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Adam Lallana (Liverpool)
Adam Lallana is another player who’s been in decent form this season but finds himself sidelined due to injury. Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Lallana will be out for a further few matches and while he doesn’t take up a huge portion of the budget, £7.1m is a decent sum to put towards another player in the meantime.
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Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Though Marcus Rashford featured against Arsenal in the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he was dropped to the bench in the match prior against Swansea following a (then) four match goal-less and assist-less spell. Rashford may find himself benched again if Jose Mourinho decides to revert to the lineup as it was at Swansea, which seems likely given that Pogba, Mata, Carrick and Herrera have all found solid form together.
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Joe Allen (Stoke City), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal), Eric Bailly (Man United), and Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham)
All of the above are some of the latest doubtfuls or suspended players ahead of Gameweek 13, though there are 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 after all this weekend’s matches are finished.
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