The Watchlist Updated – Gameweek 8 – The Forwards

Having analysed the defence and midfield over the past few days, we complete our look at this week’s Watchlist rankings, which offer player recommendations for the next four-to-six Gameweeks, with a review of the forwards. Jamie Vardy’s remarkable form sees the England man rise to second place on our ladder, while Romelu Lukaku is on the ascendancy after a rampant second-half performance against his former side West Brom on Monday night.

With the upcoming fixtures (NEW, BOU, mun, NOR, avl, LIV) still very much in his favour, Sergio Aguero clings on to top spot in our latest update. The Argentine still only has one league goal and a single assist to his name so far this season, and has managed only 10 shots from inside the box in the last four Gameweeks, compared to the same number in just 194 minutes across the opening three matches of the campaign. Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, the 13.2-priced forward does lead this week’s Captain Poll ahead of the visit of Newcastle to the Etihad, with over 53% of the vote.

After registering his first double-figure score of the season in Leicester’s 5-2 defeat to Arsenal, Jamie Vardy looks one of the obvious targets as a replacement for Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson, who has been ruled our for around six months with a serious knee injury. The Foxes front man is the most transferred in player this week in in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with 346,000+ new owners, and has already seen his price rise by 0.3, now up to 6.6 in FPL. Claudio Ranieri’s side face a fairly friendly run of fixtures (nor, sot, CPL, wba, WAT, new), so the Premier League’s top goalscorer looks a great option for our three-man frontlines.

While he only delivered an assist in the plum home fixture against Sunderland, Man United’s Anthony Martial remains towards the top of our ladder. The France international does face a fairly difficult run of matches (ars, eve, MCI, cpl, WBA, wat) over the upcoming period, but his price tag of 8.4 in FPL still looks extremely good value given Louis van Gaal’s men have scored 10 goals over the last four Gameweeks, more than any other side.

Southampton’s Graziano Pelle is a climber this week on the back of his two assists in the 3-1 win against Swansea. The Italian international has averaged eight points per appearance over the last four Gameweeks and with some kind upcoming fixtures (che, LEI, liv, BOU, sun, STO) over the next month or so, Pelle, who is available at 8.0 in FPL, looks a dependable option in attack for Fantasy managers.

Another forward who has seen a large spike in his ownership in the wake of Wilson’s injury is Watford’s Odion Ighalo. Over 76,000 FPL bosses have drafted the Nigerian in so far this week, seeing his price rise to 5.2 in FPL. Although the upcoming schedule for the Hornets (bou, ARS, sto, WHM, lei, MUN) is not particularly favourable, having fired in 10 shots from inside the box over the last four Gameweeks, Ighalo should get plenty of opportunities to add to the four goals he’s scored so far in the top flight.

One significant faller in our latest refresh is Swansea’s Bafetimbi Gomis, who has blanked in each of the last three Gameweeks. The France international was also hauled off at half-time at St Mary’s last weekend after an ineffectual first-half, and while the 7.3-valued forward is expected to keep his starting berth ahead of Eder, it is a slight concern. The Welsh outfit do face four home encounters (TOT, STO, avl, ARS, nor, BOU) over the coming period, though, so the former Lyon may yet return to form having scored four goals in his first four appearances of the campaign.

Romelu Lukaku was undoubtedly the star turn among the forwards in Gameweek 7, bringing in a huge 16-point haul after bagging a brace, laying on an assist and picking up all three bonus points. Everton’s fixture list remains difficult in the short-term (LIV, MUN, ars), but with three good match-ups from Gameweek 11 onwards (SUN, whm, AVL), the 8.2-rated Belgian looks likely to attract plenty of investment over the next few weeks if he can kick on from his performance at the Hawthorns.

West Ham’s Diafra Sakho remains in our thoughts, having scored in three of his last four outings. The Senegal international offers great value at 6.6 in FPL, and has some favourable fixtures (sun, cpl, CHE, wat, EVE, tot) on the horizon in which to continue his impressive form. He also stands third among forwards over the last four Gameweeks from shots from inside the box with 13, so the former Metz striker could well be capable of maintaining his form in front of goal.

It was a long time coming, but Harry Kane finally broke his duck in Tottenham’s outstanding 4-1 win against City last weekend. While Spurs’ mixed upcoming schedule (swa, LIV, bou, AVL, ars, WHM) and the plethora of other attacking options available to FPL bosses means there’s unlikely to be widespread investment in the 9.2-priced striker right now, the confidence the England man would have gained from getting off the mark could really kick-start his season.

With four favourable fixtures (cpl, SUN, nor, LEI) over the next four Gameweeks, we’ve turned to West Brom’s Saido Berahino after Salomon Rondon was ruled out of the trip to Palace by Tony Pulis. Priced at 6.2, the former has scored in each of the last two matches, despite being fielded on the left flank, and has spot-kick duties to bolster his appeal as a valid budget option.