The Digest – Gameweek 12

Our last look back at Gameweek 12 casts an eye over Burnley’s in-form frontman and Palace’s improving attack under Neil Warnock, whilst we also assess the need to strengthen our benches after a number of call-offs left many Fantasy managers unable to field a full XI this weekend.

The Player

A finely taken double from Danny Ings in Burnley’s win at Stoke helped the Clarets off the foot of the table and handed Fantasy managers another budget forward to consider this weekend.

Ings arrived on the back of 20 strikes in the Championship last time around but, after failing to notch in the opening eight rounds of matches, seemed overawed by the step up to the top-flight. A goal against Everton in Gameweek 9 looks to have steadied the ship, though, and his weekend double took the England Under 21 star’s total to three goals in the last four Gameweeks – over that period, only three forwards have bettered Ings’ 15 attempts on goal.

Up next for Burnley are two crucial back-to-back home encounters with Villa and Newcastle before Ings faces a Loftus Road shoot-out with fellow budget forward Charlie Austin – fixtures that look vital to the Clarets’ plight. Like Austin, the in-form Ings sets us back less than 6.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game and, with spot-kick duties also boosting his appeal, is starting to look just as essential to his side’s relegation battle as the season unfolds.

The Team

Elsewhere near the foot of the table, Crystal Palace showed they still have plenty to offer with a resounding 3-1 win over Liverpool that heaped further pressure on Brendan Rodgers.

Under the guidance of Tony Pulis last season, the Eagles’ transformation saw them concede just 27 times in the final 26 Gameweeks – the fourth most resilient defence in the top-flight over that period – but this came at a cost up front, as Palace scored just 26 goals for the former Stoke boss; only two sides netted less.

With Neil Warnock at the helm, there’s a far greater emphasis on attack now. Whilst they’ve already shipped 21 goals over 12 rounds of fixtures, the Eagles have notched 17 times – more than any side in the bottom half of the table and the eighth most potent offence in the league. Palace have only blanked three times so far, scoring against the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea and sticking three past both Merseyside teams, having beaten Everton at Goodison in mid-September.

Clearly aware of his side’s defensive frailties, Warnock is handing the 5.4-priced Yannick Bolasie license to forage down the left and the winger’s weekend pair of assists means he’s already bettered last term’s attacking returns. Mile Jedinak is quickly becoming this season’s budget Yaya Toure, albeit at a lesser level of returns. The Australian has already grabbed four goals (a tally bettered only by Alexis Sanchez and Nacer Chadli in midfield) and with three of those strikes arriving from dead-ball situations, he’s showing that, in spite of a deep-lying role, his penalty and free-kick duties are coming to the fore as Palace’s trickery poses more threat further up the field.

Whilst Dwight Gayle and Fraizer Campbell vie for the lone striker role and Jason Puncheon and Wilfried Zaha battle it out on the right, Bolasie and Jedinak look nailed-on by comparison and at 5.4 and 5.1 respectively, may well prove handy festive budget options for our five-man midfields at a time when rest and rotation will remain a real factor into the New Year. Bearing in mind both Bolasie and Jedinak are set to miss most of January due to international commitments, the upcoming schedule – which pits them against Villa, Spurs and Stoke’s porous backlines over the next four – looks more vital than ever to the Eagles’ prospects of ascending the table.

The Talking Point

Rest, rotation and international knocks and niggles hit hard this weekend as our benches were severely tested for the first time this term. As we edge towards the festive period, Saturday and Sunday served a timely heads-up that we cannot afford to have passengers in our 15-man squads – as the schedule picks up pace, we need to account for such scenarios and look to ditch the deadwood.

Addressing our non-active players is never the most glamourous of transfers but, at a time like this, can prove to be a wise decision. While the likes of Liam Moore and Alex Bruce have fallen down the pecking order at Leicester and Hull, there are handful of cut-price alternatives that provide us with regular starts – Paul Dummett and Yun Suk-Young, at 4.1 and 3.9, have established themselves at Newcastle and QPR. In midfield, we have George Boyd, at 4.4, who has started every match since arriving at Burnley and is ready to step into the breach should our hands be forced.

Looking at the schedule, there’s no let-up, either. Gameweeks 13 and 14 are only three days apart and set the tone for a hectic period of eight rounds of fixtures over 34 days from November 29 (next Saturday) onwards.

There’s every chance we’ll see Premier League managers continue to utilise the strength and depth of their squads from now into the New Year, then, and Fantasy managers will need to react accordingly and follow suit at a time where fielding a full XI in some Gameweeks could potentially make that mini-league difference come the end of the season.