Spot the Differential – Gameweek 9

After Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso, one of last week’s selections, provided a clean sheet in the win over Leicester City last weekend, we’ve opted for another defender capable of providing points at both end of the pitch in our differential picks this week.

A Fantasy favourite from Swansea City and a West Ham forward who takes on bottom side Sunderland complete our Gameweek 9 choices.

Gylfi Sigurdsson

While he hasn’t been under serious consideration for our five-man midfields so far this season due to Swansea City’s tough start to the campaign, Gylfi Sigurdsson is a player who’s likely to attract significant investment over the next few weeks.

The Iceland international scored his second goal of the season last weekend in the 3-2 defeat to Arsenal, where he started in an unfamiliar “false nine” role.

While Sigurdsson, who is currently priced at 7.2 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), may return to his usual number 10 role when the Welsh side host Watford today, the fact he is the first choice penalty taker and dominates set-piece duties makes him a hugely attractive proposition.

Although Watford have defended reasonably well over the past few weeks, their 2-0 defeat to Burnley in Gameweek 6 suggests they can be vulnerable on the road, and with new Swans manager Bob Bradley in desperate need of three points, Sigurdsson will be expected to provide the inspiration for the home side.

The Swansea talisman is currently owned by just 3.4% of FPL bosses, and with decent fixtures against Stoke City and Crystal Palace also on the horizon over the next five, he may just warrant immediate investment. Certainly, a wave of interest is imminent when the fixtures smile very kindly from Gameweek 15 onwards.

Ryan Shawcross

Although it took until last weekend for Ryan Shawcross to register his first defensive returns of the season in Stoke City’s 2-0 win over Sunderland, it’s the defender’s attacking statistics, along with the Potters favourable upcoming schedule, that has brought him to our attention.

Shawcross, who sets us back 4.9 in FPL, has registered seven goal attempts from inside the box over the first eight rounds of matches, the same total as team-mate Joe Allen, with only Scott Dann and Toby Alderweireld managing more among defenders.

He is also ranked third for penalty box touches with 23, and should benefit from the return to fitness of dead-ball specialist Xherdan Shaqiri, who leads all midfielders for successful corners with seven since his return from injury in Gameweek 6.

Set-pieces could prove crucial when Mark Hughes’ men travel to the KCOM Stadium later today then, given Hull City, who have let in 17 goals in their last four matches, have conceded 23 goal attempts from set-piece situations over the last four Gameweeks. Only Burnley (25) are worse off in that respect.

With Stoke’s upcoming schedule (hul, SWA, whm, BOU, wat, BUR) so favourable, and given Shawcross has the potential to deliver points at either end of the pitch, he looks a great differential option with just 1.6% FPL ownership.

Simone Zaza

It’s fair to say that Simone Zaza has hardly set pulses racing since he arrived at West Ham in the summer, yet a home clash against Sunderland has brought the Italian into our thinking.

Zaza, who’s available at 6.5 in FPL, was restored to the Hammers starting XI at Selhurst Park last weekend, and put in a more encouraging performance, registering three goal attempts, two of which came from inside the penalty area.

Slaven Bilic’s side should come into the Sunderland match with more confidence following the 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace, and look to have the ideal opponent in which to build on that momentum.

The Black Cats have conceded six goals in their four away matches so far, and put in a fairly abject performance in last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Stoke.

No team has made more errors (four) than David Moyes’ men on their travels so far this season, and with Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini providing plenty of creativity, Zaza, who is owned by just 0.3% of FPL managers, may be able to break his duck against the basement-dwellers.