Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil remains at the top of our Watchlist, with the playmaker’s fantastic run of form showing no signs of slowing. Philippe Coutinho is the big riser this week on the back of three consecutive double-digit scores, though our faith in the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Kevin De Bruyne and Sadio Mane slips a little after their recent domestic droughts.
On the back of his 11th assist of the campaign in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to West Brom, Mesut Ozil maintains his place on top of our ladder. The German international still leads all midfielders for chances created over the last four Gameweeks with 19, while after scoring in the 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday, Arsene Wenger was keen to stress how the former Real Madrid man has been getting himself in the box more this season. With four favourable fixtures (nor, SUN, avl, BOU) in the next six, Ozil, who now sets us back 9.1 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), looks set to see his 29% ownership continue to rise.
One midfielder who has added goals to his game in recent weeks is Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho. The 8.4-priced schemer has scored four goals in his last three appearances, having managed just one goal in his previous nine outings. A criticism of the Brazilian in the past had been that many of his goal attempts had come from outside the box, but over the last four Gameweeks he’s actually registered more shots from inside the box (eight) than Alexis Sanchez (six) and Kevin De Bruyne (one) combined. Furthering his appeal is the Reds’ very favourable upcoming schedule (SWA, new, WBA, wat, LEI, sun), with the only worry the hamstring problem he picked up against Man City. At this stage he does look to have a reasonable chance of facing the Swans on Sunday, though.
With Sergio Aguero immediately finding the back of the net on his comeback for City, the stock of Kevin De Bruyne takes a slight dent this week. The Argentine carries a hefty 13.1 price tag, and with City’s next six matches (SOT, sto, SWA, ars, SUN, lei) not overly favourable, the need to carry both doesn’t look particularly justified. Add to the fact De Bruyne has blanked in three of his last four appearances, and there are suddenly question marks as to whether he is worth retaining, given his 10.6 price tag in FPL.
Following four consecutive blanks, there are also question marks being raised over another big hitter, Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean also drops a few spots in our latest update, although his two goals and assist against Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday once again highlighted his explosive potential, albeit in a different competition. The former Barcelona attacker is the fourth most transferred out player so far this week, with over 61,000 sales, seeing his price drop to 11.5 in FPL, though the Gunners’ aforementioned fixtures offer plenty of promise. Earlier today, Arsene Wenger admitted that although Sanchez has a “little hamstring problem”, he is unlikely to be rested for the trip to Carrow Road.
Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez remains towards the top of our ladder, having delivered a nine-point haul in the 3-0 win at Newcastle. After collecting full bonus on Saturday, the 6.7-valued midfielder has now bagged 20 bonus points this season, five more than any other player in FPL. The Foxes do face a tough run of matches (MUN, swa, CHE, eve, liv, MCI) over the coming period, though, so it may only take a blank or two for those who own both Mahrez and Jamie Vardy to consider the merits of doubling up on Leicester attackers through such a testing schedule.
The 64,000+ FPL bosses who drafted in Gerard Deulofeu last week may have been cursing their luck when he wasn’t awarded an assist for Ross Barkley’s opening goal in the 4-0 victory over Aston Villa, but the 6.3-rated wide man still sees his stock rise in our latest update. The Toffees remain in the middle of a great run of fixtures (bou, CPL, nor, LEI, new, STO), and with Roberto Martinez’ men scoring 10 goals in their last two home matches, there looks to be a good chance the Spain U21 international will be back among the attacking points sooner rather than later.
Ross Barkley has been restored to this rankings this week on the back of his huge 19-point haul in Gameweek 13; like his team-mate, he looks a strong option in the mid-price bracket at 6.9 in FPL. The pair have posted similar underlying statistics over the last four Gameweeks, with both managing two shots from inside the box, though Barkley has created eight chances to the Spaniard’s seven. Deulofeu does hold a significant edge in terms of penalty box touches though, with 20 compared to four for the England international.
While Ozil has taken many of the plaudits recently as the “assist king”, Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen looks to have similar potential to the Arsenal man. The Dane has moved up a couple of places on our ladder after registering two assists in the 4-1 win against West Ham, and should be able to garner further attacking returns given Spurs’ favourable upcoming schedule (CHE, wba, NEW, sot, NOR, wat). The 8.4-priced midfielder has created 16 chances over the last four Gameweeks, only three fewer than Ozil, and now has six assists to his name this season. The prospects are tempered somewhat by the fact his team-mate Harry Kane only sets us back 1.1 more in FPL, and does look the stronger option of the two.
With no attacking points in four of his last five appearances, Southampton’s Sadio Mane slides down our rankings once again. The Senegal international is expected to earn a recall against Man City on Saturday having only come on as a substitute in the 1-0 home defeat to Stoke after arriving back late from international duty, but given the Saints’ mixed upcoming schedule (mci, AVL, cpl, TOT, ARS, whm), the 8.0-valued attacker isn’t holding much appeal at the moment.
His Southampton team-mate Dusan Tadic clings onto a spot at the bottom of our ladder, given he’s only blanked in three of his last seven matches. The Serbian has also registered 23 touches in the penalty area over the last four Gameweeks, joint-second among midfielders, and is reasonably kind on the budget at 7.1 in FPL.
Swansea’s Andre Ayew provided a reminder of his talents with a goal and assist in the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth, but with the fixtures pretty tough for the Welsh side over the coming period (liv, LEI, mci, WHM, WBA, cpl), the 7.1-rated Ghanaian may still find himself being sold by many Fantasy managers over the next week or two.
Given Newcastle have failed to score in three of their last four matches, it won’t come as a huge surprise to see Georginio Wijnaldum sliding down our rankings. Up against some tough defences over the next three Gameweeks (cpl, LIV, tot), the 7.1-priced Dutch international may struggle to add to his haul of six goals and two assists.
One potential bargain Fantasy bosses could consider for their five-man midfields is West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini. The Argentine registered his fourth goal of the campaign in the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham, and is available at just 5.4 in FPL. The Hammers don’t have the greatest upcoming schedule (WBA, mun, STO, swa, avl, SOT), but having stepped up in the absence of the injured Dimitri Payet against Spurs, we could see Lanzini continue to thrive in a more central role.
Although Crystal Palace’s Yannick Bolasie blanked in the plum home fixture against Sunderland, his potential still looks decent for the upcoming period given the Eagles’ schedule (NEW, eve, SOT, sto, bou, SWA) over the next month or so. The 6.1-valued attacker only has an ownership of 4.3% in FPL, and could offer an alternative to the likes of Deulofeu and Barkley should the idea of doubling up on Everton attacking assets with Romelu Lukaku not appeal.
Chelsea’s Willian is another who stays in our thoughts at the bottom of our rankings despite blanking at home to Norwich. The Blues do have three further plum home fixtures (BOU, SUN, WAT) to come over the next month, though, so the 6.9-rated midfielder is another to bear in mind, should you be on the lookout for a mid-price differential.
