A heavyweight forward line of pricey strikers is all the rage these days in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) universe. With previously in vogue, cheaper, options such as Andy Carroll and Johan Elmander suffering with injury and form respectively and the titans of the league firing on all cylinders, Fantasy Managers are looking for ways to accommodate three of the following luxurious big guns into their teams: Robin Van Persie (9.8), Carlos Tevez (11.5), Dimitar Berbatov (9.6) and Fernando Torres (11.9).
One obvious solution to this dilemma is to look for cheaper midfield options that still have plenty of points scoring potential. This would most likely mean that Fantasy Managers will have to drop a midfielder but, with Samir Nasri and Rafael Van der Vaart both having a barren couple of FPL points-scoring weeks, letting somebody go shouldn’t prove to be too much of a heartbreaker.
With an FPL valuation of 5.6 and a proven ability to supply assists, West Brom’s Chris Brunt fits this economically practical role like a glove. A quick look at his current Opta Stats, which are available in the Members Area, show that in the last 4 Gameweeks where he has made just 4 appearances Brunt has provided 17 Key Passes, the most in the Premier League. He certainly has the talent to find that killer pass too as he has been awarded 10 FPL assists this season, assisting over a third of the Baggies 29 goals.
Although only finding the back of the net on two occasions so far this season Brunt is not afraid to have a pop at goal and, again looking over the last 4 Gameweeks, he has managed 10 attempts. He is also West Brom’s principle direct free kick and corner taker, providing extra goal and assist potential. Brunt has scored 87 FPL points this season, second to just Charlie Adam and Yaya Toure in his price-bracket and he holds a much lower ownership of 4.1% compared with his Blackpool and Manchester City counterparts, who are owned by 23.7% and 14.8% of teams respectively.
Reflecting on their 2-0 defeat to Blackburn last Sunday, Brunt, who is standing in as captain for the dropped Scott Carson, warned of a repeat of their last Premier League relegation:
“It’s sounding like two years ago all over again. We shot ourselves in the foot just before half-time and that’s a poor time to concede goals.”
But with just Manchester City away proving to be the only eyesore in an otherwise attractive run of fixtures (WIG, mcy, WHM & WOL, stk, bir) which includies two homes clashes in a standout double Gameweek, West Brom look like they could be on course to change their luck which has seen them win just once in their last seven Premier League games, and Chris ‘the Magician’ Brunt will certainly be amongst much of their attacking play.
