The Stock Check – Gameweek 22 – Saturday

Fernando Llorente and Andy Carroll step up on a day that saw the heavy-hitting strikers draw blanks. Elsewhere, both Tom Davies and Tom Carroll inspire a rethink of our fifth midfielder options and Roberto Firmino revives his fortunes on Philippe Coutinho’s return to the Liverpool starting line-up. Here’s the Stock Check following Saturday’s action…

On The Rise

Fernando Llorente
A brace in the 3-2 win over Liverpool – his first away goals of the season – suggest that the Spaniard is shaping up as a consideration under new Swansea City manager Paul Clement.

Priced at just 6.1, Llorente has now provided an impressive seven goals and two assists over the last 10 Gameweeks, ahead of home encounters with Southampton, Leicester City and Burnley in the next five.

Indeed, that Clarets clash may well see Llorente arrive on our radars as the Swans prepare for a kind schedule from Gameweek 27 onwards.

Gylfi Sigurdsson, Tom Carroll
Sigurdsson was another of Clement’s asset to defy the fixture list and find a first Premier League goal since Gameweek 15 – only his second return over that spell.

The playmaker has lost over 221,000 owners since Gameweek 19 but could be about to reverse that trend should he continue to contribute to a revival for the Welsh club.

That looks inevitable given that the Icelander has been involved (scored or assisted) 48% of Swansea’s goals this season.

Meanwhile, Carroll is a new name to consider in the budget midfield bracket.

Priced at just 4.2, he was granted an immediate start and 90 minutes by Clement on his arrival from Spurs and duly rewarded that faith with a compelling performance, capped by a first assist for the club.

Seemingly guaranteed a starting role, Carroll now offers a viable route for those looking to flush out funds with their fifth midfielder selection.

Roberto Firmino
The first-team return of Philippe Coutinho saw Firmino remain in the central role for the visit of Swansea, having recaptured that position for the Gameweek 21 trip to Old Trafford.

While Coutinho was the most transferred in midfielder ahead of Saturday’s deadline, Firmino was understandably largely ignored after a run of just one goal in his previous 10 Gameweeks.

But roaring back into form with a brace – a fourth double-figure return in front of his own supporters – Firmino has now returned to the radar as the Reds brace themselves for a run of six Anfield fixtures over the next nine Gameweeks.

Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal are three of those next opponents on Merseyside. However, should Jurgen Klopp’s defence go on conceding goals in similar fashion to Saturday’s defeat, Firmino will be a key element of a Liverpool attack driven to find goals to maintain fading title hopes.

Andy Carroll
A trip to Middlesbrough looked a testing task for West Ham United, with Aitor Karanka’s men managing four clean sheet sheets in their previous six home matches.

Yet Carroll continued his recent surge in form with a brace at the Riverside Stadium, moving him to four goals from his last five Gameweeks.

Taking his cue from Swansea’s Llorente earlier in the day, Carroll’s emergence adds a further option for our three-man frontlines.

With home encounters against Manchester City and Chelsea in the next five Gameweeks, the schedule could be easier for Slaven Bilic’s men. However, priced at 6.2, Carroll is, to a degree, a fixture proof asset capable of troubling any defence.

Withdrawn early with a groin problem on Teesside, the striker also conveniently confirmed that this was merely a precaution, declaring himself fit to continue his run of goals ahead of Gameweek 23’s meeting with City.

Manuel Lanzini, Michail Antonio
Charged with stepping up to provide a creative spark with Dimitri Payet out of the frame, Lanzini has responded and stepped up his Fantasy returns as a result.

A superbly taken goal in the Gameweek 21 win over Crystal Palace was supplemented on Saturday with a brace of assists in the win at the Riverside Stadium.

Priced at 6.3 and with tricky ties with Manchester City and Southampton up next, interest in Lanzini is set to be tempered with Michail Antonio (6.9) still an option, though he may well emerge as a prospect when the Hammers’ schedule improves from Gameweek 25.

Antonio also provided returns on Teesside, supplying his sixth assist of the campaign.

Chris Brunt, Gareth McAuley
The defensive duo both served up double-figure hauls as West Bromwich Albion kick-started a favourable run of opponents with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Sunderland, earning a first clean sheet since Gameweek 12.

McAuley’s assist and maximum bonus underlines just why he’s owned by over 27% of FPL managers, yet Brunt’s thunderous first-half strike served a timely reminder of his popularity around these parts.

Sitting in just 2.4% of FPL squads, the Irishman has now delivered three goals and as many assists in his last five home matches alone.

With Stoke City, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace paying visit over the next five, in addition to trips to Middlesbrough and West Ham, the Baggies appear poised to go on delivering.

Seamus Coleman
Stationed as a right wing-back as Ronald Koeman maintained his 3-4-2-1 formation, Coleman took his tally to four goals by bagging the winner at Palace – joint-top with West Brom’s McAuley among defenders.

In spite of his recent exploits, Coleman has very much remained a differential on just 5% ownership compared to his similarly-priced team-mate Leighton Baines, who now sits in over 10.5% of squads after being drafted in by more than 64,000 ahead of Saturday’s deadline.

Baines’ stock is boosted by spot-kick duties, but we surely cannot continue to overlook Coleman as a route into a defence that’s now served up four clean sheets in five.

The Toffees have home encounters with Bournemouth, Sunderland, West Brom and Hull City over the next seven Gameweeks, in addition to trips to Middlesbrough and Stoke City.

That run paves the way for further investment in Coleman, who enjoyed a price rise to 5.6 overnight.

Tom Davies
Like Carroll at Swansea, Davies is presenting a strong case for selection as a fifth midfielder option, allowing funds to be liberated for spending elsewhere.

The Everton starlet strengthened those claims by supplying the assist for Coleman’s winner at Selhurst Park.

Priced at a mere 4.3, Davies has now started each of the last three and produced points each time, with a goal and two assists gathered over that period.

Granted, the arrival of Morgan Schneiderlin and the current absence of Idrissa Gueye due to the Africa Cup of Nations duties means that we cannot be certain on Davies’ security of starts, yet his energetic displays have certainly given Koeman plenty of food for thought.

Adam Smith
Overshadowed by the claims of Charlie Daniels in recent weeks, Smith made his play to recapture his status as Bournemouth’s backline option of choice with an assist in the 2-2 draw with Watford, his fourth of the campaign.

That represented Smith’s first return in seven starts and, ironically, coincided with a recent return to the right-back role with Simon Francis suspended.

Francis is now eligible for a return for the Gameweek 23 meeting with Crystal Palace, although he will likely slot into central defence, allowing Smith to continue to raid from right-back.

However, we should be mindful that a defensive acquisition for the Cherries prior to the closing of the transfer window on 31 January, could cast doubt over Smith’s security of start.

Kevin de Bruyne
Another asset to enjoy something of a renaissance on Saturday, Manchester City’s playmaker returned his first goal since Gameweek 5.

De Bruyne offered an outstanding performance in the 2-2 draw with Spurs but still has work to do if he is to impact on the current midfield landscape.

Like team-mate Sergio Aguero, the Belgian has been a major disappointment this season, struggling to justify his lofty FPL price tag.

Dele Alli, Kyle Walker
Spurs midfield option took his recent tally to eight goals in his last six Gameweeks with another smart headed effort in the Etihad draw.

While Harry Kane was kept off the scoresheet to provide an assist, it was left to Alli to supply a goal from midfield and spark further debate on the optimum set-up of Spurs assets in our squads.

That debate extends to our choice of full-back. While we currently prefer Danny Rose for his own attacking intent and set-piece potential, Walker provided his sixth assist of the season for Alli’s goal from the opposite flank.

In Decline

Sergio Aguero
While De Bruyne made a bid to revive his stock, Aguero suffered yet another blow as he conspired to draw a blank in the 2-2 stalemate at the Etihad Stadium.

The Argentine has now scored just once in his last five Gameweek appearances and, over that spell, the striker has seen all his key statistical indicators decline markedly.

In those five Gameweeks, Aguero has received fewer touches in the box and generated fewer goal attempts compared with his 12 appearances over the opening 14 Gameweeks.

Even on a day when Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic failed to find the net, Aguero did little to rebalance our thinking in attack.

Jose Holebas
The Greek wing-back picked up his tenth booking of the season, triggering a two-match domestic ban.

That will frustrate his 5.4% ownership, though Holebas will at least serve one of those two matches in Watford’s FA Cup tie with Millwall.

The Hornets defender has returned just one clean sheet and a pair of assists in his last ten Gameweek appearances.

Toby Alderweireld
Forced off with a hamstring injury on 67 minutes against City, any term of absence would be severely damaging for Spurs and our evaluation of both Walker and Rose as Fantasy options.

However, Mauricio Pochettino moved quickly to quell any fears of a spell on the sidelines.

“He felt tight in his hamstring, but I don’t believe it’s a big issue. We’ll know better in a few days, but it doesn’t look bad.”