Who would have guessed that, after nearly half a season, a little known Blackpool midfielder would have scored more points than Cesc Fabregas and Frank Lampard put together? Or that a Bolton striker who had gone nine months without a goal in 2008-9, would be ahead of Didier Drogba, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Torres in the Fantasy rankings?
While the bandwagons for Charlie Adam and Johan Elmander have been thundering along for many weeks now, there are several undiscovered gems lurking just beneath the surface, waiting to be unearthed. Differentials such as these can help you get a vital edge over rivals, and so every week we will aim to bring you a selection of those less fashionable players, those with less than 3% ownership in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, for you to consider.
Short term form and fixtures are key here, and it’s value for money that we are looking for above all…
Phil Bardsley
While the Sunderland front line of Welbeck, Bent and Gyan have been stealing all the headlines, their back four have been quietly getting on with it, notching 6 clean sheets so far this season, the same number as the expensive United back four. Despite a slight wobble recently (they have let in five goals in their last two), with a kind run of opponents coming up (WHM, ful, BOL), we can expect the Sunderland defence to regain some of that early season form, and clean sheets look a possibility.
With former Fantasy favourite Ahmed Elmohamady struggling to make the first team, many Managers will be scouting for a quick and easy replacement and Phil Bardsley looks like an excellent alternative; his place at left back looks almost guaranteed, and like all good Fantasy defenders, he offers potential at both ends of the pitch. Members will be able to check out the full OPTA stats by gameweek very soon, but a sneaky preview shows that he is up there with Cole, Evra and even Gareth Bale in terms of key passes over the last six games, and he grabbed his first assist of the season in the last outing against Wolves. Priced at just 4.4m and with an ownership of 1.6%, Bardsley looks like an excellent low cost pick, and should score well over the next few Gameweeks.
Raul Meireles
Despite being better known as a box to box midfielder, Meireles has spent much of the season stuck out on the right wing. Since Gerrard’s recent injury however, he has moved into his natural central position and has put in two fantastic performances, bagging an assist and 4 FPL Bonus Points. As pointed out in our recent members article, Meireles saw more of the ball than any other Liverpool player in their last game against Spurs, and he posed a far greater attacking threat than he ever did playing on the wing. With Cole fit again and Gerrard expected to return for next week’s game against Newcastle, his potential may be limited, but at just 6.8m and with a home game against Villa on Monday night, for this week at least, he looks to be one of the best uncovered midfield options around.
Aaron Lennon
With recent reports suggesting Rafael Van Der Vaart could miss at least the next two premier league matches, Aaron Lennon has an excellent opportunity to stake a claim for a first team place on the right of midfield. Before his injury last season, Lennon was in the form of his life and was regularly terrorising defences with his pace and trickery and he looked unstoppable in Tottenham’s 9-1 demolition of Wigan, and again in their 3-0 victory over Man City. He struggled for points earlier this season however, partly due to lack of fitness after a long layoff, but also because a tactical shift to accommodate Van Der Vaart meant he was played out wide in a five man midfield. With Van Der Vaart missing out, Tottenham will most likely revert to a 4-4-2 with Crouch and Defoe up front, and Lennon will have plenty of space in midfield to cut inside and get close to goal so his strike last weekend could be just the start of things to come.
Priced at 7.5m and with ownership of just 2.0%, as a short term punt at least, Lennon looks like a very credible option. Anyone looking to trade in Van Der Vaart, could do much worse than look at his Tottenham team mate, and with similar price tags, it would be easy enough to trade back again when the Dutchman returns.
Mario Balotelli
Balotelli took his goal tally for City to five in six appearances with his two goals against Salzburg on Wednesday. The young striker looks every bit the natural goal scorer, and from a Fantasy perspective his potential is obvious. The 20-year-old’s temperament remains a concern however, and this may impact on whether he can tie down a regular starting role, seeing how Adam Johnson is struggling for starts despite his form on the pitch. There were also reports of a slight hamstring problem in that game, but assuming he shrugs this off, his performance midweek should be enough to at least earn him a start against Bolton. While he looks a risky pick, early adopters could be rewarded with a bumper haul in what promises to be an open, and high scoring match this weekend; City have now scored eight goals in the last three games (since moving to 4-4-2) and Bolton have scored ten.
Long term, much will depend on his starting role in the side but seeing as Mancini appears to have settled on a more attacking 4-4-2 formation in recent games, Balotelli and Tevez are the logical choices up front. Priced at just 8.6m compared to Tevez at 11.2m, many will be watching the Italian very closely indeed. With an ownership at just 0.4%, Balotelli is a true differential but a big performance this weekend would surely see that figure rise dramatically.
Other considerations that almost made the cut this week include Blackburn’s David Dunn, who has managed two consecutive starts for the first time this season, and could see a decent return in their home game against Wolves. Wigan’s Tom Cleverley meanwhile, looked so good in pre-season and looks set for a run of regular starts as an attacking midfielder; Victor Obinna who bagged three assists midweek as West Ham finally seem to have found some form, and pre-season favourite Graham Dorrans who has dropped from 5.5m to 4.7m and will be hoping his performance against Everton will be enough to earn another start this week when Newcastle arrive at the Hawthorns.
