Once again, Saturday morning tempts you with a trio of overlooked alternatives for the weekend ahead. This time around, we have a couple of likely out of position contenders for your perusal, while England’s latest wing hero also makes an appearance.
Marko Arnautovic
Stoke’s summer signing arrives on the radar after a move up front boosted his potential in the previous Gameweek. Classified as a midfielder across the Fantasy games, Arnautovic was handed the chance to lead the line for the Potters’ trip to Fulham and while he failed to open his account for the season, the Austrian offered plenty to suggest that goals may just be around the corner.
Lauded as the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic after moving to Inter, Arnautovic has failed to realise his potential but there’s no doubt he brings a real touch of class to Mark Hughes’ side. Granted, Stoke’s toils in front of goal hardly make a persuasive case for our consideration but with seven attempts against the Cottagers, Arnautovic looks the likeliest to solve their attacking woes.
Coming in at 5.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), 4.9 in the Sky Sports game and 2.0 in the Sun Dream Team, Arnautovic has the perfect opportunity to endear himself to the Potters faithful as West Brom roll up to the Britannia this afternoon. With a mere 0.3% ownership in FPL, he’s firmly off Fantasy radars but could be an out of position contender worth considering for those looking for an alternative to the current midfield template.
Glen Johnson
Back in the Liverpool squad for the first time since Gameweek 3, Johnson’s return from injury happily coincides with a recent change in formation which is sure to increase his appeal. Providing Brendan Rodgers keeps faith in the 3-4-1-2 system which has harvested back-to-back wins, Johnson is expected to be installed on the right of the midfield four, with his raiding runs down the flanks providing plenty attacking menace.
A trip to Newcastle is the first in a hugely favourable run of fixtures, which also sees Rodgers’s side square up to the likes of West Brom, Fulham, Hull, Norwich, West Ham and Cardiff in the next 10 Gameweeks. Now down to just 5.7 from a 6.0 starting price in FPL (7.2 in the Sky Sports game and 5.0 in the Sun Dream Team,) Johnson’s out of position potential, allied with a resilience which has seen the Reds concede just five times so far, could well be highly profitable. Early adopters could well be rewarded for their foresight before the bandwagon begins to roll.
Andros Townsend
There’s no doubt the Tottenham wide man has the ability to frustrate. The statistics will show that Townsend’s penchant for a long-range effort has seen him register more efforts than any other midfielder so far but he’s managed just a single assist over six league starts for Andre Villas-Boas’ side.
Happily for his country, that tendency to try his luck from distance reaped reward over the international break and with his confidence sky-high, Townsend looks set to stave off the challenge of Aaron Lennon and Erik Lamela for Sunday’s trip to Villa Park. While the likes of Paulinho, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Christian Eriksen have proven popular midfield picks, Townsend (5.5 in FPL, 4.6 in the Sky Sports game and 2.5 in the Sun Dream Team,) will be hoping to bring his England form to the table as the north London outfit attempt to recover from the disastrous Gameweek 7 home defeat to West Ham. A strong display this weekend and Townsend could well cement another start as Hull come calling to the Lane next weekend.
