Having assessed the latest movements among the Goalkeepers and Defenders and Midfielders on our Watchlist, which offers player recommendations for the next four-to-six Gameweeks, our focus today turns to the forwards. With two plum fixtures over the next two Gameweeks, Christian Benteke moves up a couple of places in our latest update, but having only produced attacking points in one of his five appearances this season, Diego Costa continues to see his stock fall.
While Sergio Aguero again frustrated his owners last week, the strength of Manchester City’s upcoming schedule (WHM, tot, NEW, BOU, mun, NOR) means he keeps his place on top of our ladder. The 13.2-priced forward played seven minutes as a substitute against Juventus following the knee injury he suffered against Crystal Palace, and with Manuel Pellegrini confirming his star striker is 100% fit” ahead of the home clash against West Ham, and is once again top of this week’s Captain Poll, with 29% of the vote.
Swansea’s Bafetimbi Gomis keeps his place in our rankings with the Welsh side facing four home matches (EVE, sot, TOT, STO, avl, ARS) over the next six Gameweeks. While Garry Monk’s men face some difficult opposition, the fact that the France international, available at 7.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), has already scored against Chelsea and Man United means he has to be backed to add to his four-goal tally.
After bagging his second strike of the season against Man United last week, and with very favourable home clashes (NOR, AVL) over the next two Gameweeks, Christian Benteke looks a great short-term option. His prospects should also be boosted by the return of Reds playmaker Philippe Coutinho, although with the schedule turning much tougher from Gameweek 8 onwards (eve, tot, SOT, che), the 8.5-valued forward really needs to produce the goods over the next two weeks.
Despite blanking at Norwich last weekend, Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson keeps his spot towards the top of our ladder. The 5.9-rated forward has, slightly worryingly, only managed three goal attempts over his last two outings, with the long-term injury suffered to Max Gradel perhaps leaving Eddie Howe’s side slightly short of creativity. Nonetheless, with the fixtures (SUN, sto, WAT) still favourable in the short-term, he still remains the primary budget option for the time being.
Hot on the heels of the Bournemouth man, however, is Leicester’s Jamie Vardy. The England international, who sets us back 6.2 in FPL, only has an ownership of 8.5%, compared to 26.3% for Wilson, and has only registered five less points over the first five Gameweeks. The pacey attacker has a fairly reasonable set of fixtures (sto, ARS, nor, sot, CPL, wba) coming up, although the Foxes do only face two matches in front of their own fans.
With such favourable fixtures (LEI, BOU, avl, swa, WAT, new) on the horizon, Mame Biram Diouf keeps his spot around halfway up our ladder. Given that Stoke are tied with Sunderland as the second worst team in terms of shots from inside the box (24), there are concerns over the Potters’ goal scoring potential, while the Senegal international also started wide on the right against Arsenal last week. Diouf (priced at 6.6) is expected to return to the lone striker role this time around, and having scored twice already this season, should be at the forefront of the Stoke attack.
The side with the most favourable upcoming fixtures (avl, EVE, cpl, SUN, nor, LEI) according to our Season Ticker is West Brom, so with that in mind, Salomon Rondon remains firmly in our thoughts. The Baggies, like Stoke, have only scored three times so far this season, though, which does limit the appeal of their attacking options, particularly with Rondon setting us back 7.0 in FPL. With an ownership of just 1.0%, he could certainly be worth a punt as a differential given the strength of the upcoming schedule.
While he has managed a goal and an assist so far this season, there is a feeling that Diafra Sakho has not quite provided the attacking points expected from him at the start of the season. The 6.5-valued forward has been outshone by his team-mate Dimitri Payet, and with the fit-again Andy Carroll and Nikica Jelavic also available to Slaven Bilic up front, the former Marseille midfielder looks the stronger option right now. There’s no doubt the fixtures (NOR, sun, cpl, CHE, wat) after this weekend’s trip to the Etihad are favourable for the Senegal international.
The big faller this week is Chelsea’s Diego Costa, who has only managed to register eight shots from inside the box this season. His 12.6% ownership in FPL will hope his crisp finish against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Champions League will have boosted his confidence, but with a mixed fixture list (ARS, new, SOT, AVL, whm, LIV) over the coming weeks, it may be difficult for the 11.1-rated forward to live up to his hefty price tag unless Jose Mourinho’s side can quickly find their form.
With Everton continuing to surprise against tougher opposition, we’ve inserted Romelu Lukaku (8.2) near the bottom of our rankings. The Belgian international still faces a difficult stretch (swa, wba, LIV, MUN, ars, SUN) of fixtures but with confidence high at Goodison Park, he could well add to the two goals and assist he’s already registered this season.
After picking up his second assist of the season against Swansea, and with penalty duties in the locker, we’re still just favouring Troy Deeney over his team-mate Odion Ighalo as our preferred Watford forward option. The Hornets have a pretty favourable run of fixtures (new, CPL, bou, ARS, sto, WHM) on the horizon, so the 5.3-valued Deeney should get off the mark sooner rather than later, and as the club captain, looks slightly more nailed on than Ighalo, with Victor Ibarbo and Mamadou Oulare likely to be competing for the forward positions over the next few weeks.
Graziano Pelle leads all forwards for shots inside the box (20), and with Southampton facing four home match-ups (MUN, SWA, che, LEI, liv, BOU) over the coming period, the 7.9-rated Italian still looks a decent option for our three-man frontlines. The former Feyenoord striker has amassed a decent 19 points so far this season, and while he’s up against some strong defences over the next month or so, the fact he’s at the heart of all of the Saints’ attacks does make him an appealing option.
