Best Punts – Gameweek 25

The fixtures come thick and fast and Tuesday sees the start of Gameweek 25. That is good for me as I can quickly forget last Gameweek’s punts. It was a rare blank as none of my three punts brought home more than two points. Bafétimbi Gomis had chance after chance against Sunderland, coming close on many occasions, but failed to stick the ball in the back of the net. It was a similar story for Victor Moses. He was influential in what was a dire match between Stoke and Newcastle but lacked the cutting edge needed to bring home the points. Southampton kept another clean sheet, as predicted, but my defensive punt Matt Targett was forced off after a nasty collision early in the first half. I’m hoping for better luck with Gameweek 24’s Best Punts, ownership figures correct as of the February 8.

Martin Kelly

Position: Defender

Club: Crystal Palace

Price: 4.4

Ownership: 0.6%

One of the most consistent players in the league this season, Martin Kelly is a no-frills full-back. He gets the job done and works hard for his side. However, recent weeks have seen him up his performances a notch and he has caught my eye. Kelly has been a threat from wide for the Eagles and also has been busting a gut to get back and help his side out. He has clearly been rejuvenated by Alan Pardew. He has put in 37 crosses so far this season, and despite only seven being successful, Palace’s forwards are being encouraged to shoot more by Pardew and I am confident that the likes of Dwight Gayle and Yaya Sanogo will get on the end of his through balls. Full-backs are required to put crosses in but Kelly also likes shooting and three of his eight shots this season have been on target which shows that he is not squandering his chances.

This Wednesday, Palace face Newcastle at home. The Magpies struggled to a point against Stoke on Sunday and failed to carve out many clear-cut chances. Ayoze Pérez failed to influence the game and Papiss Cissé didn’t make much of an impact on his introduction into the fray. The Eagles have kept three clean sheets since Gameweek 19 and I think there is another one on the cards this week. Although Pardew likes his teams to attack, the defensive solidity that Pulis engrained is still there in Palace’s back-four. Selhurst Park is a difficult ground for any team to go to and under the lights with current form, the crowd will be bouncing. Newcastle will have their work cut out to score this Gameweek.

Ahmed Elmohamady

Position: Midfield

Club: Hull City

Price: 4.9

Ownership: 1.9%

The only reason that I don’t have Elmohamady in my team is that he is classed as a midfielder. The Egyptian plays as a wing-back for Hull and his classification in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game is disappointing. However, his recent performances make him look more like a winger than a defender. He had the ball in the back of the net against Newcastle two Gameweeks ago (albeit with his hand) and also hit the crossbar against Manchester City on Saturday. This points to the fact that he is getting in the right positions to score. He also has a terrific leap on him despite being only 1.82m tall and this, combined with his pace, makes him a nightmare to mark. He has also put 135 crosses in this season, which is in the top five for all midfielders in the league and has led to his three assists so far this term. With Jelavic fit again and set to start, Elmohamady has the perfect aerial presence to convert his crosses.

Hull will be bouncing after their point against Manchester City, which in truth should have been three. This Gameweek they will carry that confidence into their meeting with Aston Villa. The Villains finally scored last Gameweek but Paul Lambert will now be worried about a defence that has conceded 10 goals in the last four Gameweeks. The Villains haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home since December 2 and Hull will be confident of continuing that trend. With Aly Cissokho prone to getting caught out of position, I think Elmohamady will exploit this and bring in the points on Tuesday.

Jermaine Defoe

Position: Forward

Club: Sunderland

Price: 2.2

Ownership: 2.2%

This will be the last Gameweek that Jermaine Defoe is under that 2.5% ownership benchmark that I set as his popularity is likely to rocket this week after he netted for the second week in a row. Gus Poyet has done some brilliant business bringing the English veteran in. This Gameweek Sunderland welcome a managerless QPR who are in free-fall. Sadio Mané’s last-minute goal will have hurt the Rs and crushed the little bit of confidence that they had left after Harry Redknapp’s departure. Their morale will be low and after going through the whole of January without a clean sheet and will not be expecting a result against a Sunderland side with new-found firepower. QPR’s away form is notoriously bad and they haven’t kept a clean sheet at all on their travels this season. The script seems written!

Defoe has had four attempts in the last two Gameweeks, three of which have been on target. He is still a sharp-shooter who is clinical with his chances as that makes an average of a goal per two attempts. He has been averaging a goalscoring chance every 42 minutes and a shot on target every 56. His experience makes him fantastic at running the channels and finding gaps in defences, of which there will be plenty in QPR’s backline. Jermaine Defoe is as hungry for goals as ever and a poor QPR side gives him the perfect chance to build on his Premier League goal tally!

Last Gameweek’s Best Punts:

Maya Yoshida – 12pts, 0.9%, 4.2

Chris Brunt – 13pts, 0.3%, 5.2

Ashley Barnes – 7pts, 1.3%, 4.4