The Stock Check – Gameweek 18 – Boxing Day

Zlatan blends goals and assists to provide a season-high tally. Pedro furthers his mid-price CV with another Stamford Bridge haul, while yesterday’s men Romelu Lukaku and Raheem Sterling suggest that they may yet have a major say in our seasons. Here’s the Stock Check following Boxing Day’s eight matches.

On the Rise

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
United’s frontman justified his place at the top of our Gameweek 18 Captain Poll with one goal and a pair of assists helping him serve up 15 points at home to Sunderland.

Not only was this his biggest haul of the season, it was also Ibrahimovic’s third successive double-figure tally at a time where both Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero return to contention following suspension.

With the fixtures still very much in United’s favour, Zlatan’s bandwagon looks set to roll on ahead of a home clash with Middlesbrough – only Costa has earned more transfers in since yesterday’s deadline.

Just five points behind the Chelsea striker in the FPL standings, Ibrahimovic has more than atoned for his patchy early-season output and is finally starting to justify his status as the top-owned player in the game.

Pedro
A goal and assist at home to Bournemouth once again highlighted the Spaniard’s importance to Chelsea’s attack.

With Diego Costa in the stands, Pedro served up the points for a fifth time in his last six appearances at the Bridge, bettering Eden Hazard by 13 points to 10.

However, a fifth yellow card of the campaign has ensured that the former Barcelona man will remain off our radars for the time being. He will miss the Gameweek 19 visit of Stoke City to return for the trip to White Hart Lane in Gameweek 20.

Nonetheless, a price of just 7.0 and owned by just 3% of managers, Pedro continues to look a viable value route into Antonio Conte’s three-man frontline for those who feel Costa and Hazard are too demanding on the budget.

Eden Hazard
Handed the central support role against Bournemouth in place of the suspended Costa, Hazard had to rely on penalty duties to get amongst the goals.

Granted, the Belgian has struggled to replicate the same sort of consistency as team-mate Costa, yet yesterday’s strike takes him to just two points off the Spain international ahead of the New Year’s Eve visit from Stoke City.

With Ibrahimovic and Aguero battling it out for our three-man frontlines, those with a 3-5-2 set-up may well choose to overlook Costa, with spot-kicks and midfield classification strengthening Hazard’s appeal as an alternative.

However, he will likely need to build on current form to improve his output – two goals in six Gameweek appears to fall short of the demands put upon a heavy-hitter in the current landscape.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan
The silky Armenian returned to the Manchester United squad and emerged from the bench to flick home a sublime goal and underline his undoubted talent.

With strikes in his last two appearances, Mkhitaryan is beginning to suggest that he can emerge as a force and a potential differential throughout 2017.

Priced at 8.9, a start against Middlesbrough in Gameweek 19 would offer us another opportunity to assess his stock as a consideration for our midfields.

Tom Heaton
The keeper made just a pair of saves in the 1-0 win over Middlesbrough, but Heaton claimed 15 recoveries to earn the maximum bonus points on offer.

The Burnley skipper has now fetched 13 bonus points and is just six behind Thibaut Courtois at the top of the overall FPL goalkeeper standings, despite earning just four clean sheets to the Chelsea man’s 11.

Winston Reid
Now ranked fifth for FPL defenders, Reid plundered a third goal of the season in the 4-1 win at Swansea City and collected bonus points for the third successive Gameweek.

Level with Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta for that metric on 15, Reid has clearly emerged as the go-to option in the West Ham defence.

A trip to Leicester City follows, with an upturn in fixtures from Gameweek 21 promoting possible investment in Slaven Bilic’s improving rearguard.

Andy Carroll
A second goal of the season on his third consecutive league start hints that Carroll could yet emerge as a viable mid-price striker option.

Currently valued at just 6.2, he is another Hammer who could come into the equation from Gameweek 21 should he continue to prove his fitness following a string of injury setbacks.

Michail Antonio
The third West Ham asset to come out of the victory in South Wales with credit and a Stock Check boost.

Antonio returned to a role on the right flank and claimed a third goal in six Gameweeks to remain on simmer as a midfield selection.

Now down to just 6.7, Antonio could offer obvious value should he be retained in an advanced role ahead of those aforementioned Hammers’ fixtures.

Romelu Lukaku
The forgotten man among FPL forwards, Lukaku offered a reminder of his abilities by claiming a superb second goal for Everton in the 2-0 win over Leicester City.

Robbed of his blossoming partnership with Yannick Bolasie, Lukaku had appeared to stall badly as a potential Fantasy asset, scoring in just one of seven matches between Gameweeks 11 and 17.

However, following two goals at Watford and the confidence shown in his King Power Stadium strike, it’s clear that we should not write off the 9.4 priced asset just yet, particularly with Everton’s fixtures improving markedly from Gameweek 22.

Mason Holgate
Returning to the Everton line-up for the first time since Gameweek 3, it remains to be seen if the 4.0 priced asset can now cement regular starts.

Everton kept only a fourth clean sheet of the season at Leicester, as Ronald Koeman shifted to a 3-4-2-1 system, electing to again leave Phil Jagielka on his bench and deploying Holgate on the right-side of his three-man backline, pushing both Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines forward as wing-backs.

Raheem Sterling
Another early-season asset experiencing a renaissance, Sterling returned two assists in Manchester City’s win at Hull City to maintain a recent ascent.

After starting just twice between Gameweek 11-15, Sterling has been named in the City first XI in each of the subsequent three, providing returns on each occasion.

Now priced at just 7.6, Sterling could certainly be a short-term differential to be exploited when we can be more certain of Pep Guardiola’s teamsheet selection.

Yaya Toure
Toure’s dominant performance in the City midfield demonstrated his growing influence for Guardiola’s men.

The Ivorian has now started five of the last seven Gameweeks, having benefited from the long-term injury to Ilkay Gundogan.

Toure’s second-half penalty took him to three goals for the season, although he will likely relinquish those duties on Sergio Aguero’s return for the Gameweek 19 visit to Liverpool.

In Decline

Christian Benteke
Now without a goal in three Gameweeks, Benteke missed a second penalty of the campaign to return a -1 figure for the second occasion.

This has lead Sam Allardyce to suggest that he may now revise his designated spot-kick taker.

The reaction has been instant, with the Belgian ranking only behind Spurs’ Harry Kane for transfers out among FPL strikers ahead of Gameweek 19.

However, giving up on Benteke may well be premature.

It is expected that we will witness a revival under Allardyce and, with the fixture list turning very kind for the Eagles from Gameweek 21, investment in their assets may spike.

Benteke’s output could depend on the availability of winger Wilfried Zaha, with Allardyce indicating that he is set to discuss his potential departure to the Africa Cup of Nations imminently.

Gylfi Sigurdsson
The Icelandic international is struggling to overcome a series of abject Swansea City displays to deliver on his potential.

Having blanked in three successive Gameweeks, the pressure on Sigurdsson to perform in the visit of Bournemouth next time out has now intensified.

Following that, Swansea and Sigurdsson face another crunch clash with Palace before the fixture list turns on the Welsh club.

Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean sparkled throughout the 1-0 victory over West Brom, amassing more efforts on goal than any other player in Gameweek 18.

His goal threat blossomed despite being shifted to a role on the flank to make way for Olivier Giroud, Arsenal’s eventual match-winner.

Patience is surely the key, then, although with Costa and Aguero returning, Sanchez’ owners will likely need to see returns from the midfielder for the visit of Palace on New Years Day.

Certainly, a single goal and two assists from the last four Gameweeks struggles to justify a 11.9 price tag. But Arsenal’s encouraging run of opponents suggests that Sanchez will soon improve on that output, casting real doubt on the validity of any exit plan.

Theo Walcott
While Sanchez blanked, Walcott failed to make the line-up as he was de-railed by a minor calf complaint.

The reaction has been instant. Despite returning three goals in his last five Gameweek starts, Walcott is already the most sold FPL midfield asset ahead of a possible return against Palace for Gameweek 19.

Again, Arsenal’s fixture list appears to promote patience, although unlike Sanchez, Walcott’s starting berth could soon come under threat from the fit-again Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck.

Kevin De Bruyne
While both Toure and Sterling promoted their cause in the Hull City victory, the jury remains out on De Bruyne’s value to our midfields.

He has now failed to score in 12 Gameweek appearances and, while a peerless supply of assists have kept his tally ticking over, De Bruyne’s output is simply not measuring up to midfield rivals.

The concept that De Bruyne can cover for Sergio Aguero’s returns surely needs revising, given that he is now without a double-figure total since Gameweek 6.