We take our regular pre-Gameweek look at the PlayON Player Price List once again as the minutes tick down until today’s 12.45 deadline. As always, we offer a couple of picks per position: one essential weekend target and a left-field alternative for your consideration.
With the deadline for picking teams on PlayON now the first kick-off, you can tinker with your starting XI right up to 12.45 today with the benefit of seeing the Chelsea and West Ham teamsheets. PlayON has 2x £100 FREEROLL games and a £1,000 Guaranteed Pot game on offer today at www.playon.co .
Goalkeepers -Lukasz Fabianski
Having served up a seventh clean sheet of the season against Hull in their previous fixture, Swansea welcome Aston Villa to the Liberty Stadium in excellent defensive form. With the visitors scoring just twice in their last five trips away, Fabianski, who is available for 7.5m in PlayON, looks a solid value option between the sticks; he’s averaged 600 save points per match in in his last six as he attempts to keep Christian Benteke and co. at bay. Costel Pantilimon is our essential pick for Sunderland’s home encounter with Hull. Coming in an enticing price of 6.8m, he’s delivered four clean sheets in his last six matches and comes up against a lacklustre attack that have mustered a mere two goals in the last nine league outings.
Defenders – Mathieu Debuchy
The Arsenal right-back has missed much of the season with an ankle injury but announced his return in style with a goal against Liverpool last Sunday. A home clash with QPR on Boxing Day suggests Debuchy could be in the points again – despite their impressive home form, Harry Redknapp’s side have netted three times on their travels this term and lost all of their eight away matches so far. The Gunners have two clean sheets in their last four and the Frenchman’s capabilities at both ends of the pitch suggests a price of 7.2m looks generous. Vincent Kompany’s injury problems have provided Eliaquim Mangala the opportunity to start in all but one of Man City’s last five fixtures. Impressively, all of those matches have resulted in clean sheets and, for a price of 8.1m, the Frenchman looks a safe route into the champions’ rearguard for a trip to West Brom.
Midfielders – Adam Johnson
As evidenced in last Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby, the Sunderland midfielder has a habit of scoring important goals. Very much a confidence player, there’s no doubt that, when on form, Johnson is often the Black Cats’ most potent attacking threat. Certainly, at 8.7m, he’ s not exactly a cut-price option but a home fixture against Hull could warrant the wide man’s inclusion – given that Steve Bruce’s side have conceded seven in their last four away matches, Johnson will be optimistic of bringing home the points again. David Silva is our essential midfield pick this week. Handed an advanced role in Manchester City’s false nine system, the Spaniard’s brace in last week’s win over Crystal Palace highlights his form as the champions pay visit to the Hawthorns – at 12.7m, Silva is also a budget-friendly choice, when compared to team-mate Yaya Toure’s hefty £14.4m price tag.
Forwards – Harry Kane
The Tottenham forward has firmly established himself in Mauricio Pochettino’s side over the past couple of months. Kane is thriving as the focal point of Spurs’ attack and has now notched in back-to-back league matches for the first time this term – with a trip to basement-dwellers Leicester up next, his price of 7.3m is too good to ignore. Olivier Giroud is our essential striker this week. Coming in at 10.8m, the Frenchman takes up much less of your budget than Alexis Sanchez (14.5m) and is very much in form, having bagged three goals in the last two Gameweeks. At home to a travel-sick QPR side that has conceded 20 goals in eight away matches, Giroud looks poised to fill his boots once again.
Head over to www.playon.co and get your teams in for the Freerolls and £1,000 Guaranteed Pot.
