PlayON Picks – Gameweek 9 – £1,000 Guaranteed Pot

As always on a Friday lunchtime, we analyse the PlayON player price list ahead of tomorrow’s 10.45am deadline. Below we offer a couple of picks per position: one essential weekend target and a left-field alternative for your consideration.

This week PlayON has a £1,000 Guaranteed Pot on offer in the weekly game. You can also enter daily games by clicking into the daily periods above “Pick Teams”.

PlayON have been doing a lot of work on their player pricing algorithm over the past few months and this week is the first weekly the new prices are live. If you have any thoughts on their new pricing structure, let them know on their Facebook Page or their Twitter page .

Goalkeeper – Lukas Fabianski
Priced at just 7.1m, the Swansea stopper looks excellent value at home to Leicester this weekend. Fabianski has already earned two clean sheets in front of his own fans and bearing in mind the visitors have scored just one away goal all season, a third shut-out could well be on the cards. Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris will also fancy his chances as Newcastle roll up to White Hart Lane. Available for 7.8m, the Frenchman faces a Magpies side that has failed to score in three of their four road trips to date.

Defender – Steven Caulker
QPR’s defence have been anything but resilient this season but, at home to a Villa side that have failed to score in each of their last four, there may never be a more opportune time to register a shut-out. Caulker’s threat in the opposition box has already came to fruition this year and bearing in mind a goal is worth 1000 points in PlayON, a price of 6.5m may prove to be a bargain. Southampton defenders have been transformed from left-field picks to essential in the last few weeks. The Saints full-backs were strangely quiet in terms of goals and assists against Sunderland but a home tie against Stoke is a promising fixture – we’ve gone for Ryan Bertrand, who, at 7.2m, is a little cheaper than Nathaniel Clyne at 7.6m.

Midfielder – Nacer Chadli
The Belgian has outscored team-mates Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela, both 10.8m, this season yet is priced considerably cheaper in PlayON, at 8.9m. Chadli’s four goals and an assist this campaign underlines his flourishing form under Mauricio Pochettino as Newcastle’s dodgy defence pay visit. Our essential midfield pick this week is Gylfi Sigurdsson, who faces a Leicester side that have shipped eight goals in the last four matches. The Icelander is integral to the Swans attacking play and has assisted five of their six goals at home this season – if the hosts are to prevail, their 9.7m-priced playmaker is likely to be involved.

Forward – Saido Berahino
The top scoring English forward in the Premier League is an absolute bargain this week at only 8.2m. West Brom host a Crystal Palace side that’s yet to keep a clean sheet away from home and bearing in mind Berahino has scored five times in four appearances in front of his own supporters, he’ll be confident of breaching the Eagles’ dodgy backline. Graziano Pelle has settled well after his move from the Dutch Eredivisie, with a remarkable six goals and two assists in eight appearances. Southampton welcome Stoke to St Mary’s on the back of last week’s 8-0 rout of Sunderland and with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez priced at 15m and 14m respectively, Pelle’s 11m price tag looks far better value for money this weekend.

Head over to PlayON.co and get your teams in for the £1,000 game ahead of the 10.45am deadline on Sat morning.