The Watchlist Updated – Gameweek 24 – The Forwards

Having analysed the latest movements among the defence and midfield over the past few days, we now turn our attentions to the men up front. With four goals and an assist from his last two appearances, Man City’s Sergio Aguero is restored to the top of our rankings, while a couple of January signings, Southampton’s Charlie Austin and Bournemouth’s Benik Afobe, arrive on our radar after making an immediate impact in their new surrounds.

It was always going to be a matter of time before Sergio Aguero returned to his best form, and with the Argentine looking particularly sharp in his past couple of outings, he returns to the summit in our latest update. The Man City striker leads all forwards for shots from inside the box over the last four Gameweeks with 16, while he is ranked second for penalty box touches over the same period with 37, just one behind Jamie Vardy. It’s no surprise to see Aguero leading the way for the Gameweek 24 Captain Poll, then, with 58% of the votes ahead of the visit to lowly Sunderland. The upcoming schedule (sun, LEI, TOT, new, liv, AVL) is pretty favourable for the Citizens, so the now 13.5-rated Aguero looks to have the perfect platform to stay amongst the goals, and provide his 26% ownership in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) with an obvious captain choice for the foreseeable future.

Harry Kane moves back up a spot this week having scored for the second successive match in Spurs’ 3-1 win at Selhurst Park. The England international leads all forwards for shots on target (nine) over the last four Gameweeks, and while the upcoming fixtures (nor, WAT, mci, SWA, whm, ARS) are mixed for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, the 10.0-priced striker continues to provide a reliable source of Fantasy points.

Following a frustrating blank in a plum home fixture against Swansea, Everton’s Romelu Lukaku drops a place in our rankings. The Belgian has now gone four matches without a goal, and over that period has only hit the target with one of his 14 attempts. While the 9.1-valued forward has built up plenty of credit, given he’s scored 15 goals and bagged five assists already this season, another blank at home to Newcastle in Gameweek 24 could see some of his 48% ownership in FPL begin to ponder other options. The Toffees do face a reasonable run of fixtures (NEW, sto, WBA, (blank), avl, WHM) over the coming weeks, though Lukaku owners will need to factor in an upcoming blank in Gameweek 27.

Having served up five goals and two assists in his last five matches, there’s no doubt Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink is getting the best out of Diego Costa. The Spain international zooms up our ladder this week, then, after recovering from a slight knee concern. The Blues do also face a fairly tricky run of fixtures (wat, MUN, NEW, sot, nor, STO) over the next six Gameweeks, but there’s no doubt the fiery striker could provide us with a real differential option over the coming period, with his current ownership standing at just 6% in FPL.

After delivering a 12-point haul in Watford’s 2-1 win over Newcastle, Odion Ighalo manages to maintain his position as the leading budget option among the forwards. Over 80,000 FPL bosses transferred out the Nigerian ahead of last weekend’s match, perhaps making the move a week early given the Hornets do face an unfavourable run of matches (CHE, tot, cpl, BOU, mun, LEI) over the next month or so. Given the 6.4-priced Ighalo still leads all forwards in FPL this season with 145 points, he will still remain a viable option for our three-man frontlines despite the tough upcoming schedule.

Leicester’s Jamie Vardy is also a non-mover around halfway up the Watchlist. The England international may lack that explosive potential, having managed just two double-figure hauls so far this season, but a goal and assist in his last two outings highlights an ability to keep grinding out attacking returns. The Foxes do face a pretty difficult stretch in their schedule over the next few weeks, though, (LIV, mci, ars, NOR, WBA, wat), so the 7.2-valued striker may still see his 39% ownership continue to dwindle.

Olivier Giroud sees his stock fall in our latest refresh, with Arsenal facing the toughest upcoming schedule (SOT, bou, LEI, mun, SWA, tot) in terms of attacking difficulty, according to our Season Ticker. The France international could now also be a slight rotation risk with the return to fitness of Alexis Sanchez allowing Theo Walcott to be considered as a striker once again. He was unfortunate to be substituted once the Gunners were reduced to 10 men against Chelsea last time out, but with all things considered, the 9.2-rated striker looks to hold significantly less appeal than he did just a few weeks ago.

A new entry on the Watchlist following a debut goal in Southampton’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford is Charlie Austin. The former QPR striker proved himself in the top flight with 18 goals last season, and with Ronald Koeman’s men facing a pretty kind run of fixtures following the trip to Arsenal in Gameweek 24 (WHM, swa, CHE, bou, SUN), the 7.0-priced striker could well be worth a gamble as we continue to seek out differentials.

Bournemouth’s Benik Afobe is another big climber this week having grabbed his second Premier League goal in the 1-1 draw against Sunderland. The former Wolves striker has registered a decent six shots from inside the box in just 220 minutes for the Cherries, and looks worthy of some consideration as a cheap third forward, setting us back 6.1 in FPL. Bournemouth’s forthcoming fixtures (cpl, ARS, STO, wat, SOT, new) may put off any potential suitors, though.

Sliding all the way to the bottom of the Watchlist after blanking against Southampton last time out is Man United’s Wayne Rooney. Louis van Gaal’s side continue to look devoid of attacking ideas in front of their own fans, and with home matches against Stoke and Chelsea to come over the next few weeks, the United skipper may continue to frustrate. Coming in at 10.0 in FPL, then, it’s unlikely the England international will be taking up one of our three forward slots for the time being, with so many other more appealing options currently available.