Fantasy Football Week 5 - All You Need to Know

Gameweek 5 of the Premier League is almost upon us and just a few days after mid-week European competition. Last weekend’s fixtures produced some thrilling entertainment so let’s hope for the same this weekend. Manchester is blue after Pep Guardiola’s City took three points away from Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United with a dominant 2-1 win. Watford’s stunning performance to come from 2-0 down to win 4-2 against West Ham saw them take three points for the first time this season. Liverpool’s thrilling 4-1 win at home to champions Leicester was tainted by yet another defensive error!

Read more below to see our recent winners 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 James Minghella’s “Leavemyarsalona”, who bagged himself £20 in bet365 free bets and most importantly an FST Mug!

FANTASY FOOTBALL WINNER – WEEK 4

James Minghella’s “Leavemyarsalona”

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— Football Super Tips (@FootySuperTips) September 13, 2016

August’s Winner!

August’s overall winner was Liam Cojeen’s “Hearn Bashers”, who also scored himself an FST Mug alongside £50 in bet365 free bets! See our transfer in and out recommendations below!

FANTASY FOOTBALL WINNER – AUGUST

Liam Cojeen’s “Hearn Bashers”

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— Football Super Tips (@FootySuperTips) September 13, 2016

Who to Buy

1. Diego Costa or Eden Hazard (Chelsea) – Price: £9.9m and £10.3m respectively

   Eden Hazard was potentially the biggest single flop for fantasy managers in the 2015/2016 season. Before last year, the Belgian averaged over two-hundred points per season, racking up more than most in the Premier League. Now, the 25 years old seems revitalized and back to his best under Antonio Conte. Hazard is the third most expensive midfielder in EPL fantasy, but with two goals, an assist, and plenty of bonus points under his belt in the opening three matches, he is one of the highest scoring players so far.

   Diego Costa is another player who Conte has brought the best out of. Costa scored two goals against Swansea last weekend which took him to a total of four goals – joint top scorer in the Premier League – and an assist in four matches. Despite his theatricals he too would be a valuable asset to any fantasy side.

2. Romelu Lukaku or Kevin Mirallas (Everton) – Price: £9.1m and £6.6m respectively

   Romelu Lukaku ended a goalless run of 1139 minutes with an 11 minute hat-trick (the 12th fastest in Premier League history) against Sunderland on Monday, showing form is temporary but class is permanant. Two headed goals and one low finish were enough to seal Everton all three points and push them up to third in the Premier League. Lukaku will no doubt be full of confidence to add to his tally ahead of their next match at home to Middlesborough. While the 23 year-old Belgian was the star of the show, another Belgian, Kevin Mirallas, also put in another decent performance and assisted for Lukaku’s third.

   Mirallas is one of Everton’s most talented and creative players when he plays at his best, and Ronald Koeman brings that out of him. With most people opting for Barkley from the Everton midfielders (Mirallas is only selected by 4.6% of players), his impressive 22 point tally this season – from one goal and two assists – definitely flies under the radar. Not to mention his extremely reasonable price tag for a player of his calibre.

   

3. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – Price: £10.5m

   Kevin De Bruyne ran the show in Manchester City’s masterclass performance against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United last weekend. De Bruyne was involved in both of City’s goals, scoring the first and assisting Iheanacho for the second, earning himself a place in the “Dream Team” with a huge 13 point haul. Though he is on the pricey side at £10.5m, the second most expensive midfielder in Premier League fantasy, he is the joint 5th highest earning midfielder so far thanks to one goal and three assists over his first four matches. De Bruyne will no doubt prove a valuable long term investment, especially with fixtures against Bournemouth and Swansea in the next two matches.

4. Michail Antonio or Dimitri Payet (West Ham) – Price: £7.1m and £9.4m respectively

   While there was speculation about a late transfer for Dimitri Payet during his injury spell, causing almost half his orignal fantasy owners to transfer him out, he is staying with the Hammers for the time being. Payet was one of the most valuable assets to any fantasy team last season, tallying 171 points through 9 goals and 13 assists, and has only gotten better since. He is the designated set piece taker and assisted both of West Ham’s goals, one from a corner and one from a world class rabona, in their deflating 4-2 defeat at home to Watford last weekend. With Payet certain to feature in the coming fixtures, he should soon pay out his $9400 price tag in points, particularly as his return was somewhat “overshadowed” by our next recommendation, Michail Antonio.

   Antonio is notoriously dangerous in the air and was the benefactor of Dimitri Payet’s assists, scoring two headed goals last weekend. This took Antonio’s tally up to four goals in three matches, making him joint top scorer in the Premier League and the 2nd highest earning player in Premier League fantasy. He’s available for a very reasonable £7.1m tag.

5.  Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) – Price: £5.7m

   Kyle Walker was, arguably, the most impressive English player at the Euros this summer. His high work ethic and constant presence down the right wing works well for both club and country and has already seen him tally two assists for Tottenham over their first four fixtures. Walker picked up an assist and a clean sheet in last weekend’s 4-0 thrashing away to Stoke City, which was more than enough to earn the right-back a spot in the “Dream Team”. He is the highest earning defender overall in Premier League fantasy and much better value than more expensive counterparts at £5.7m. With a fixture at home to the out-of-form Sunderland on Sunday, we expect Tottenham to likely keep another clean sheet there.

Who to Bench

1. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

   Despite appeals to the Football Association panel from Manchester City, Sergio Aguero was found guilty of violent conduct after he elbowed Winston Reid in their 3-1 win at home to West Ham. Aguero has already served the first of his three match ban, missing City’s 2-1 win away to United in the huge Manchester derby last weekend. Aguero will also be banned for this weekends trip to Bournemouth so if you are one of the 25% that are still holding onto the most expensive player in Premier League fantasy, transfer him out and open up some funds to invest elsewhere until his return!

2. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

   So what are our thoughts on the world record £89m man? So far, we remain largely unimpressed. Pogba, who has started United’s last three games, has been criticised heavily, including Jamie Carragher. Carragher stated “Paul Pogba’s performance in the Manchester Derby was ill-disciplined . . . like a kid in the school yard, running where he wants and doing what he wants”. The French 23 year-old took a lot of convincing to go back to Old Trafford and with some underwhelming performances, some fans are already turning on him. Pogba has earnt just eight points and is yet to register a goal or assist for fantasy managers, enough for us to say it’s time to look elsewhere. We recommend taking the £8.5m of your budget spent on Pogba and instead investing the sum in more involved midfielders, such as those mentioned above.

3. Stoke Players

   Stoke’s form seems to get worse with every passing week and will likely not improve any time soon thanks to their injury crisis. Veteran Shay Given has stood in for the injured Jack Butland, who isn’t expected back until mid-November. Though Given hasn’t been awful, he is yet to keep a clean sheet this season. Stoke have also suffered without Glen Johnson and Xherdan Shaqiri, who are both doubtful for Sunday, lacking creativity down the right hand side. The Potters will likely benefit from new signing Wilfried Bony in time. While Bony is certainly a decent signing, he’ll likely take a while to acclimatise himself to Stoke’s style of football and would definitely benefit from the creativity of a fully fit Arnautovic, Bojan, and Shaqiri trio going forward.

4. Virgil van Dijk or Southampton Players

   Southampton have had an equally disappointing start to the season. The Saints have taken just two points from their opening four fixtures and have scored just two goals (excluding Petr Cech’s own goal) in “win-able” 1-1 draws at home to Watford and Sunderland. Newly signed Nathan Redmond has been quiet since his goal in Southampton’s opening fixture and Dusan Tadic is yet to show the same flare he had when coming off the bench last season, though his free-kick which resulted in a Petr Cech own goal did earn him an assist last weekend.

   Southampton’s Virigl van Dijk, who is popular amongst fantasy managers (selected by 9.4% at the time of writing), is yet to keep a clean sheet, meaning the Saints haven’t earnt many points defensively either. Southampton’s mid-week Europa League match against Sparta Prague also means they have just two days rest before their next fixture against Swansea.

5. Luke Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United), Danny Rose (Tottenham), David Silva (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), and Theo Walcott (Arsenal).

   All of the above are the latest doubtfuls ahead of Gameweek 5, 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 with the absent player will be subbed in once all matches are finished.

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— Football Super Tips (@FootySuperTips) 8 August 2016