Frisking the Fixtures – Gameweek 2 – The Strong

With the new season now up and running, it’s time to take a look at the sides with the most favourable schedules over the next four to six Gameweeks. Southampton and West Ham are the two stand-out teams, while Swansea and Tottenham’s assets should also be able to thrive over the coming weeks.

SOUTHAMPTON

While it took a late Shane Long header to salvage a point against Newcastle, there were still strong signs that Southampton will provide us with plenty of Fantasy options this season, particularly with favourable matches at Watford and at home to Norwich in the next three.

Graziano Pelle made it three goals from as many competitive matches and, perhaps more importantly, managed to score away from St Mary’s in the league, something he only managed to do once last season. Available for 8.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), the Italian looks set to start this term as well as he did the previous campaign. Jay Rodriguez (7.0) played 64 minutes on Sunday as he continues to regain his match sharpness, but it’s clear his pitch time is still being managed by Ronald Koeman.

In midfield, Sadio Mane carries the main goal threat in the centre of the park. Dusan Tadic, available at 7.0 in FPL – 1.0 cheaper than the Senegal international – bagged an assist and created six chances at the weekend. With the fixtures so strong for Koeman’s side, owning at least one of Pelle, Mane or Tadic for the forthcoming period would appear to be a sensible move.

At the back, the cheaper Maarten Stekelenburg and Cedric Soares, both priced at 5.0 in FPL, should provide great value with the Saints rearguard traditionally so strong at home, though Soares’ half-time withdrawal at St James’ – due to an early yellow card – needs monitoring. It remains to be seen if Maya Yoshida (4.5) manages to keep his starting spot ahead of Steven Caulker (5.5) in the heart of defence. Ryan Bertrand appears unlikely to return for this weekend’s home encounter against Everton, but the 5.5-valued left-back should return from his knee injury sooner rather than later, ending Matt Targett’s (4.0) run in the starting XI.

WEST HAM

Confidence in the Hammers’ assets is growing sharply following the 2-0 win at Arsenal and one look at the upcoming fixture list shows why. Goalkeeper Adrian registered an 11-point haul at the Emirates on Sunday and is likely to be a popular option between the sticks with four favourable home matches (LEI, BOU, NEW, NOR) in the next six.

In front of the Spaniard, Aaron Cresswell (5.5) is the obvious defender to target, with some doubt as to who from Angelo Ogbonna, Winston Reid and James Tomkins will start at centre-back if Carl Jenkinson returns at right-back against Leicester, after being ineligible to play against his parent club Arsenal.

Dimitri Payet (7.5) enjoyed a pretty impressive Premier League debut on Sunday, providing the assist for Cheikhou Kouyate’s opening goal. Although his monopoly of set-pieces makes the former Marseille midfielder the favoured pick, goalscorer Kouyate, priced at just 5.5 in FPL, created the same number of chances as the France international and could be a handy differential with an ownership of just 1.0%.

If Slaven Bilic continues with the 4-3-1-2 system used against the Gunners, Mauro Zarate (5.5) could provide us with a great budget option in the short-term, though the Hammers are expected to add to their attacking options before the transfer window closes. The 6.5-priced Diafra Sakho looks a more secure pick ahead of those plum home clashes.

SWANSEA

Garry Monk’s side produced a fantastic attacking performance at the Premier League champions on Saturday, scoring twice away to a defence that conceded just nine goals in front of their own fans last year.

With the schedule now more favourable for the Welsh side, the likes of Bafetimbi Gomis (7.0) and Andre Ayew (7.0) have certainly moved onto the radars of many Fantasy managers after finding the net at the weekend. Confirmation of the former Lyon forward as the Swans’ primary penalty taker also boosts his prospects.

Ayew provided plenty of close-range threat at the Bridge and looks set to offer a different dimension to the Swansea attack this season. Jonjo Shelvey created six chances against the Blues and offers us a cheaper alternative at 5.5 in FPL, given that Gylfi Sigurdsson has been handed a 7.5 price tag. Speedster Jefferson Montero (6.0), with an ownership of just 0.4% in FPL, is another viable option from the Swans midfield should Monk continue with his 4-2-3-1 set-up.

Ashley Williams and Kyle Naughton, both valued at 5.0 in FPL, appear to be the strongest Swansea options at the back, with the Wales captain likely to benefit from the Bonus Point System (BPS) if they keep clean sheets, while Naughton likes to push forward from right-back. Lukasz Fabianski is also available at 5.0, and brings the potential of save points to the table.

TOTTENHAM

It was ultimately a frustrating afternoon for Mauricio Pochettino’s side at Old Trafford, but with the upcoming schedule more favourable, the likes of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Nacer Chadli should have the platform to deliver attacking returns.

The England forward registered three shots from inside the box against United and didn’t look particularly fatigued from his excursions with the England U21s this summer. Eriksen (8.5) has replaced Chadli (7.0) as our preferred Spurs midfield option on our Watchlist, after chalking up some impressive underlying numbers in the 1-0 defeat to United. The Belgian, by comparison, failed to attempt any shots or create any chances. Those two appear the only genuine Fantasy options from the Tottenham midfield, with less certainty over who will start in the other positions.

Hugo Lloris was an unused substitute in Gameweek 1 but should return to the starting XI against Stoke on Saturday, and looks well priced at 5.0 in FPL. The Spurs defence generally looked stronger than it did last season based on the opening 90 minutes; both Toby Alderweireld and Kyle Walker offer options at 5.0, with the latter having edged ahead of Kieran Trippier for the right-back berth.

ALSO CONSIDER…

Man City
Manuel Pellegrini’s men were mightily impressive against West Brom, handing Fantasy managers several headaches on how best to cover their attacking assets in particular. From Gameweek 4 (WAT, cpl, WHM) onwards, it could well be that owning at least two City attackers is the way to go, with Sergio Aguero (13.0), having got 28 minutes under his belt last night, likely to command one of those spots.

From the midfield, David Silva looks the safest bet, but his 10.0 price tag may prove too prohibitive for many at this early stage of the season. Yaya Toure was the highest scoring player from the opening Gameweek, racking up 16 points thanks to his two-goal haul, and is the friendliest on the budget at 8.5, while Raheem Sterling (9.0) failed to register any attacking returns, but did attempt two shots from inside the box.

The Citizens’ solid defensive performance at the Hawthorns also helped bring their defensive assets to our attention, with Vincent Kompany (6.0) and Aleksandar Kolarov (5.5) the primary options.

Bournemouth
Although many of the Cherries’ Fantasy assets failed to justify our pre-season investment, upcoming home matches against Leicester and Sunderland mean it’s not time to give up on them just yet. Those who opted for the likes of Matt Ritchie (6.0) and Callum Wilson (5.5) may be tempted to hold, despite back-to-back trips to West Ham and Liverpool – a run from Gameweek 4 (LEI, nor, SUN, sto, WAT) looks very promising.

The 4.5-priced Andrew Surman is one to keep an eye on – he registered the same number of goal attempts as Ritchie last weekend and created four chances. At the back, Simon Francis remains our Bournemouth defender of choice, while it’s expected that Tyrone Mings will be handed the opportunity to start at left-back ahead of Charlie Daniels sooner rather than later.

Sunderland
There’s no denying it was something of a horror show for Dick Advocaat’s side against Leicester on Saturday, but with four reasonable fixtures (NOR, SWA, avl, bou) in the next six, the likes of Jermain Defoe and Jeremain Lens should be worthy of some consideration by Fantasy owners. Defoe showcased his predatory skills with a sharp finish for Sunderland’s opening goal and is kindly priced at 5.5 in FPL, while Lens (6.5) and Adam Johnson (6.0) both grabbed an assist away to Leicester.

There will presumably be plenty of defensive work done on the training ground this week, but should the Black Cats concede again at home to Norwich, the likes of Costel Pantilimon and Patrick van Aanholt, who was given a torrid time by Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez, could see their ownership begin to dwindle.

Liverpool
The Reds ground out a 1-0 win at Stoke after Philippe Coutinho’s long distance effort, and with four home fixtures (BOU, WHM, NOR, AVL) in the next six, their Fantasy assets should attract plenty of investment.

Coutinho (8.0) may well be the most popular of the lot, although all three of his goal attempts did come from outside the area against the Potters. Jordan Henderson and James Milner, both priced at 7.0 in FPL, had quiet matches in terms of their attacking involvement on Sunday, but they should be allowed greater freedom to push forward at Anfield. Christian Benteke is only just behind Wayne Rooney is this week’s Captain Poll and should be afforded more opportunities against Bournemouth.

At the back, Simon Mignolet (5.0), Martin Skrtel (5.5) and Joe Gomez (4.5) all look set to add to their defensive returns accumulated at the Britannia over the next six Gameweeks, although it remains to be seen how long Gomez will be the preferred left-back ahead of Alberto Moreno.