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.
Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round matches pushes gameweek 22 of the Premier League into two midweek slots (Tuesday and Wednesday evening) next week. Last weekend’s Premier League action earnt plenty of points for players recommended in our previous article, so read more below to see our recent winners and our tips for who to buy and who to bench for the upcoming matches!
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If you haven’t joined the FST Fantasy Football League already then follow the link below to be in with a chance of winning weekly, monthly or even our yearly prize! Read more to see our recommendations for the upcoming matches!
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Weekly free bet prizes ▶https://t.co/oTRV7y09nd— Football Super Tips (@FootySuperTips) 8 August 2016
Last Week’s Winner!
Last week’s winner was Dan Manson’s “England”, who bagged himself £20 in bet365 free bets and, most importantly, an FST Mug!
FANTASY FOOTBALL WINNER – WEEK 22
Dan Manson’s “England”
DM us to claim your £20 bet365 Free Bets & FST Mug! pic.twitter.com/efB7U7srqb
— Football Super Tips (@FootySuperTips) January 25, 2017
Who to Buy
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Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)/Tottenham Midfielders – Price: £11.2m/varied
Harry Kane is back to his best after a slow start to the season. Over the last five matches, Kane has earnt a huge 44 points (an average of just over 8 points per match) through six goals, two assists and 6 bonus points. Three of Tottenham’s next four matches are rated 2 on the FDR (fixture difficulty rating), starting with a very winnable fixture away to Sunderland next Tuesday. Given Tottenham’s general form, either of attacking teammates Dele Alli (£8.8m) or Christian Eriksen (£8.7m) are recommended in combination alongside Kane.
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Romelu Lukaku (Everton)/Everton Midfielders – Price: £9.6m/varied
Romelu Lukaku has declined in popularity somewhat since his peak price of £9.9m in gameweek 12, but with three goals, an assist and four bonus points in his last five matches, his return to form should warrant some interest. Everton have, potentially, the most favourable set of fixtures of any Premier League side in the coming weeks; six of their upcoming seven matches are rated 2 or lower on the FDR, starting against Stoke City next Wednesday, who have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven matches. Hence, midfielders Kevin Mirallas (two goals, two assists and four bonus points in his last five), Ross Barkley (one goal, three assists and one bonus point in his last five) and the young prodigy Tom Davies (one goal and two assists in his last three) should all also warrant consideration.
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Seamus Coleman (Everton)/Leighton Baines (Everton) – Price: £5.6m
Everton haven’t just been in decent attacking form, but also in top defensive form – the Toffees have kept clean sheets in four of their last five Premier League matches. Coleman has featured in the FPL “Dream Team” in each of the past two gameweeks thanks to his one goal, one assist, two clean sheets and 6 bonus points over matches against Man City and Crystal Palace. Baines equals Coleman’s tally of one goal, one assist and 6 bonus points over Everton’s last five matches, but also has the added advantage of being on penalty kicks. As mentioned above, with such a favourable set of fixtures ahead for Everton, expect these two to be racking up even more points in the coming weeks.
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Dusan Tadic (Southampton) – Price: £7.0m
Having only two goals and three assists to his name this season, there isn’t much surprise that Southampton midfielder Dusan Tadic sits in only 1.4% of FPL squads. However, Tadic has upped his goal threat considerably since returning to Claude Puel’s starting 11 in gameweek 19, which payed off with a goal and one bonus point in Southampton’s 3-0 win at home to Leicester City last time out. Tadic’s attempts on goal over the last four matches follows not far behind that of Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez (£11.9m), Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen (£8.7m) or Manchester United’s Paul Pogba (£8.5m). Meanwhile, his attempts from within the penalty-area have more than doubled, indicating a much more forward role. Southampton face Swansea next Tuesday, who have conceded two or more in all but one of their last eight competitive matches.
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Matt Phillips (West Brom) – Price: £5.9m
West Brom bounced back from their crushing 4-0 defeat away to Spurs with a strong 2-0 win at home to Sunderland. Matt Phillips struggled against the in-form Tottenham, in a similar fashion to his performances across difficult fixtures against Arsenal and Manchester United towards the end of December. However, against weaker or struggling sides, such as, Hull City (two assists and 1 bonus point), Southampton (one goal, one assist and 3 bonus points) and Swansea (one assist), he has thrived. Phillips is on corners and free kicks – the Baggies are notorious for their effective set pieces – and with all of their next five fixtures being rated 2 or lower on the FDR, Phillips is the must have West Brom player at just £5.9m
Who to Bench
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Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Fan favourite Sergio Aguero (20.5% ownership) undoubtedly has moments of class. However, he just hasn’t been able to justify his position as the most expensive player in Premier League Fantasy (£12.8m) so far this season. Simply put, Manchester City’s form has not helped his cause and there are too many cheaper, more in-form and consistent strikers available, such as, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.6m), Harry Kane (£11.1m) or Romelu Lukaku (£9.6m), to make him a viable consideration.
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Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
One goal and two assists from Chelsea’s last five matches is by no means awful, but it’s not quite enough from one of the most expensive players (£10.4m) in Premier League Fantasy, especially considering he’s only earnt 2 of those crucial bonus points over the same period. Chelsea’s range of other alternative attacking players on the wing, such as, Pedro (£7.0m), Victor Moses (£5.6m) and Marcos Alonso (£6.6m) also lower his potential. Not to mention that Chelsea have a tricky fixture away to Liverpool on Tuesday.
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Joe Allen (Stoke)
Joe Allen has already exceeded expectation this season with five goals, three assists and 9 bonus points. However, since being put back into a deeper role upon the return of Crouch, Arnautovic and Shaqiri, the Welshman hasn’t seen too much of the ball going forward. He’s by no means a liability, costing just £5.2m. However, a cheap winger like Bournemouth’s Junior Stanislas (£5.3m), who has scored one and assisted two in his last four matches is a much better alternative.
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Dimitri Payet (West Ham)
Dimitri Payet failed to reach the same heights he did with the Hammers last season and is reportedly refusing to play for manager Slaven Bilic in order to force through a potential transfer to Marseille. Payet has been absent from West Ham’s last two Premier League matches and we don’t expect much to change before next Wednesday’s match at home to Manchester City given further transfer speculation.
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Virgil van Dijk (Southampton), Jan Vertonghen (Spurs), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
All of the above are some of the latest doubtfuls or potential AFCON absentees ahead of Gameweek 23, though there are plenty of others 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 take the risk then make sure to order your benched players, so if your doubtful player doesn’t feature, the players you want will automatically be subbed in after all this weekend’s matches are over.
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