With three strong fixtures on the horizon for Aston Villa, Gabby Agbonlahor makes a leap up the updated Watchlist rankings.
This season has seen the Villa player reinvigorated under new boss Alex McLeish and at present, heβs the third-top scoring forward in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game- only Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero have returned more points after eight Gameweeks.
Already, heβs netted 4 times and contributed 3 assists- significantly, this has surpassed last seasonβs totals of 3 and 1 respectively and Agbonlahor is also proving himself to be something of a bonus magnet. To date, heβs picked up 9 points- last season he failed to register a single bonus point in comparison. Clearly, his game is more suited to the new scoring system, with only Aguero βwith 10- returning more thus far. His sideβs increased solidity under Alex McLeish and a role through the centre are also contributing factors in this upturn in Fantasy fortunes.
A run of fixtures that reads (WBA, sun, NOR) is promising, then. The Baggies have conceded 2 or more goals in all but one of their away games so far and with Agbonlahor scoring in three of his four home matches, youβd expect him to be amongst the points.
A trip to Sunderland should hold no fear, either- the Black Cats have shipped at least 2 goals in four of their last five fixtures and despite scoring just once on his travels, Agbonlahor has only failed to either score, assist or return bonus in just one match so far- Villaβs 4-1 defeat at Man City last weekend. Norwichβs failure to record a clean sheet this season only furthers his short-term potential.
Agbonlahor has risen 0.7 already but a lowly starting price of just 6.5 means he’s available for 7.2 right now and is a real mid-price bargain on the top of his form. Owned by 17% of Fantasy managers, heβs firmly put Darren Bent in the shade this season with consistent Fantasy returns and looks likely to continue in the same vein before Villaβs fixture list toughens up considerably from Gameweek twelve onwards.

