Premier Punt Focus – Gameweek 20

Next up this New Year’s Day, we continue with a look at Premier Punt’s competitions and catch-up on my progress in my ongoing quest for Fantasy Football profit.

This Week’s Games

The next round of fixtures arrives fast on the back of the final matches of 2015. Premier Punt have two big pots this Gameweek, the largest contest being the regular £350 pot with a £5 entry fee, whilst there’s also a £150 pot for a £10 fee – it’s possible to enter three line-ups into both games.

They also offer a unique single-game format for each fixture; these contests are quick to enter as there’s no budget and only five picks are needed with at least one player from each team.

My Team

As usual I start with the keeper, this week Wayne Hennessey (5.4m) gets the nod – with such a low price tag, the Crystal Palace shot-stopper offers superb value after picking up three clean sheets in four. The Eagles now welcome a Chelsea side that have scored just once in four away trips and are still finding their feet under Guus Hiddink.

Chris Smalling (9.2m) is the next pick. Granted, the central defender is a steep investment, but opponents Swansea have only scored in three of their last nine outings, while United have an excellent record at Old Trafford, with seven shut-outs in nine.

The rest of the team is dominated by assets from the current top two clubs, both of whom have home ties against bottom five sides. The ubiquitous Leicester duo of Jamie Vardy (8.2m) and Riyad Mahrez (9.8m) are joined by the centre-back Wes Morgan (7.2m) as they welcome a recently toothless Bournemouth side after keeping Manchester City quiet at the King Power.

I’ve also gone with a trio of Arsenal options. Laurent Koscielny (8.7m) slots in at the back – the Frenchman was rested against Bournemouth so should start against the Magpies and could be a major goal threat, with Steve McClaren’s side having conceded the joint-worst number of attempts (79) from set plays this season. Mesut Ozil (12.8m) is undroppable on current form and, for the final Gunners berth, I’ve opted for a differential in Theo Walcott (11.8m), who’s classed as a forward in PremierPunt and is cheaper than Aaron Ramsey (12.1m) and Olivier Giroud (12.9m).

Stoke’s convincing win at Goodison saw Xherdhan Shaqiri (7.9m) pick up his first two goals in the league. Although Marko Arnautovic (8.6m) has been more consistent, he is classified as a forward here so I’ve gone with the Swiss midfielder for the trip to West Brom. Juan Mata (12m) is level on league goals with Anthony Martial (8.4m) on four apiece and is leading the assists table for United but has blanked for seven successive weeks. A home tie with Swansea provides a chance for Louis Van Gaal to kick-start the New Year with a much-needed victory and it’s unusual for the Spanish midfielder to not contribute for such a long period.

Shane Long (6.6m) completes the side. The budget frontman has scored three goals in four starts for the Saints and, with Graziano Pelle set to miss out on the trip to Norwich, offers a cheap route into a rather erratic Southampton attack that – as evidenced by their four-goal demolition of Arsenal – should have the quality to produce a win over the promoted side.

The Bottom Line

On Boxing day, I once again narrowly lost out on the top spot in the weekly big pot – a final score of 71 points was not enough to overtake Denville Tyrell’s 74 points, with my selection of the rested Sergio Aguero proving a costly mistake. My captain Harry Kane (20 points) was outscored by his Kevin De Bruyne pick (26 points), leaving him in first place with £122.50, while the £52.50 I received still meant a good week and left me on £256.93, a very much positive first-half of the season total.

This Week’s Stake

There’s not a lot of action for this slate with the relentless nature of the festive period clearly impacting on entries. This helps with over-lay, though, so I continue with the strategy of entering two teams into the big £350 pot and will consider an entry into the £150 pot.

Stake – £10
Current Balance – £246.93

If you would like to take me on in that £2 challenge a pundit game or try out PremierPunt’s unique single fixtures game sign up here.