Spot the Differential – Gameweek 5

Our Friday evening regular is back to tempt you with a trio of overlooked alternatives ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. After our Bulgarian headline act came up trumps last weekend, our new batch have plenty to live up to…

Aaron Lennon

With 2011/12 Fantasy heavyweights such as Gareth Bale, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Clint Dempsey amongst the competition for our Tottenham midfield affections this term, the former Leeds winger has stayed firmly under the radar. It’s been a steady opening from Lennon, though – providing an assist in two of his opening four matches under Andre Villas-Boas, he’s certainly proven the best value of the quartet so far.

Coming in at 7.0 in FPL and 6.0 in the Sky Sports game, Lennon offers an intriguing mid-price alternative for those Fantasy managers who are keen to take a punt on Spurs without going overboard on the budget. Game time looks assured, too – he has played all but four minutes of the London outfit’s campaign so far and, having been handed the armband for the midweek Europa League showdown with Lazio, he is clearly looked upon as a key member of the first XI.

Up against a QPR side that are devoid of the likes of Fabio and Armand Traore at left-back, Lennon could be set to prosper this Sunday as Villas-Boas attempts to finally clinch a first win at the Lane. With home clashes against Villa and Wigan to follow in the next six, in addition to a trip to Southampton, Lennon – with just 4% FPL ownership – seems a tempting over the next few Gameweeks.

Adam Lallana

An assist in the opener at City hinted at his potential but since then, it’s been pretty quiet in terms of returns for the Southampton midfielder. Lallana has been getting into the opposition box on plenty of occasions but has yet to benefit from his intelligent runs forward from midfield – bearing in mind he played a part in 24% of his side’s goals last season, with 10 goals and 11 assists, his attacking instincts are clearly crucial to the Saints’ forward forays.

Having failed to pick up a point from their opening four, Nigel Adkins’ side are set to welcome Villa to St Mary’s tomorrow. The hosts may have shown plenty battle in losses to City and United but they can ill-afford defeat here; Adkins will have his troops fired up for the midlanders’ visit, with a victory crucial to his side’s cause.

While Rickie Lambert has picked up a substantial number of new suitors this week, Lallana has been mainly ignored – only 713 FPL managers have snapped up his services ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. Priced at 6.0 in FPL and 4.9 in theSky Sports game 4.9 with a mere 1.5% and 2.3% ownership respectively and with a fair share of corners and free-kicks also in his locker, tomorrow could be the platform Lallana needs for his burgeoning talents to flourish.

Shaun Maloney

A consistent finish to the previous campaign brought the Wigan midfielder onto our Fantasy radars. Having missed most of the season through injury, Maloney returned to pick up 52 FPL points over just eight starts, with a series of eye-catching displays helping the Latics clinch top-flight survival. Match-fit and injury-free, he’s off to a bright start this time round – starting all four of his side’s games, the Scot has already accrued a goal and assist against Stoke and Southampton respectively, drawing blanks against Chelsea and United.

Up against travel-sick Fulham tomorrow, Maloney offer a real cut-price midfield alternative for our five-man midfields. Coming in at 5.0 in FPL, he’s currently owned by a mere 1.4% of managers and with his spot-kick duties already coming in handy this season, Maloney’s owners will be confident of returns – the Cottagers have shipped three goals in both of their away games so far.