World Cup 2014 – PLAYON LAST 16 PLAYER PICKS – FREE ENTRY, £500 POT

Our attentions return to the World Cup once again as the knockout stages prepare to get underway. We roll out our fourth player picks article for PlayON’s World Cup Game this afternoon and, as always, assess the PlayON Player Price List for potential budget bargains:

PlayON is running a FREE ENTRY, £500 GUARANTEED POT game for the Round of 16 Gameweek. You can enter up to 3 different teams into each game now at PlayON so your chances of success have never been better. The team picking and game entry deadline is 15.00 today so pick up to 3 teams and enter the £500 GUARANTEED game now at www.playon.co

Goalkeeper – Thibaut Courtois
Beaten only once during the group stages by a penalty from Algeria, the Belgium defence has been a reliable source of Fantasy returns so far. Courtois and co now go head-to-head with a USA side that failed to register a single attempt on target during Thursday’s loss to Germany and, priced at £8.6m, looks a reliable option between the posts. Costa Rica’s Keyler Navas also conceded just a single goal over his opening three fixtures, with clean sheets accrued against Italy and England – available for £8.3m, he’ll be confident of another shut-out, bearing in mind that upcoming opponents Greece netted just twice in their first three games. France’s Hugo Lloris comes in at £8.6m for a clash with Nigeria and will be looking for his third clean sheet in four appearances for Didier Deschamps’ side, after keeping out his opponents in two of the three group games.

Defender – Benedikt Howedes
Priced at just £8.8m for an upcoming clash against Algeria, the left-back offers Fantasy managers the cheapest route into Germany’s back-four. Joachim Low’s side have already picked up clean sheets against Portugal and USA over the group stages and will be heavily-backed to produce the defensive returns once again. Rested for France’s final Group E encounter with Ecuador, Rafael Varane comes in at £8.7m in the PlayON Player Price List. The Real Madrid man should be reinstalled to the starting XI for a game against a Nigeria side with a mere three goals to their name over the group stages. If you fancy doubling up on the Belgians and already have Courtois in goal, Vincent Kompany looks set to recovery from a minor injury in time for the clash against USA – he sets you back only £8.3m.

Midfielder – James Rodriguez
The form midfielder of the tournament so far, the Colombia playmakers is available for £8.8m ahead of a testing game against Uruguay. Rodriguez has notched in all three of his appearances so far and with a couple of assists also accrued, looks difficult to ignore against a side still reeling from the suspension of Luis Suarez. Having served up a goal and assist in the 5-2 win over Switzerland, Mathieu Valbuena was afforded the night off against Ecuador, with his side already through. Coming in at £8.6m, Valbuena is a budget-friendly option ahead of the showdown against Nigeria – first in line for set-pieces and corners for Les Bleus, he could be back amongst the points once again. Eden Hazard picked up a couple of assists in his first two appearances before being handed a brief sub appearance against South Korea on Thursday evening. The Belgium wide man is available for £8.8m as Marc Wilmots’ side look for a fourth consecutive win against the USA and looks vital to his side’s chances of progressing.

Forward – Robin Van Persie
Suspended for the final group game against Chile, the Dutch skipper is priced at a budget-friendly £10.8m for an upcoming clash with Mexico. Van Persie has found the net in both of his appearances so far and with spot-kicks also boosting his appeal, offers a route into the tournament’s highest scoring side over the first three rounds of matches. Further down the price bracket, Costa Rica’s Joel Campbell at £10.0m is nailed-on as the lone striker in a 5-4-1 and, with a goal and assist so far, looks the man most likely to deliver against Greece. Ezequiel Lavezzi could be set to benefit from Sergio Aguero’s ongoing injury problems. Priced at just £9.7m, the PSG man replaced Aguero in the first-half of the midweek win over Nigeria and could well be set to keep his place in the starting XI against Switzerland.

The Round of 16 Gameweek closes at 15.00 today so get picking at www.playon.co