Michail Antonio’s incredible rise in status has been a gift to Fantasy Premier League managers.
Modestly priced at 7.0 in the initial price list, we wondered if he could possibly maintain last season’s form and truly provide an alternative to a pricey Dimitri Payet in the West Ham ranks.
Yesterday’s 4-2 reverse to Watford perfectly captured the current relationship between the pair.
Payet’s quality and craft was in evidence but, as we’d previously highlighted in Saturday’s members article, it was Antonio ultimately providing the end product and bigger returns.
For all his talent, Antonio’s form is nullifying Payet’s appeal given the difference in output and price.
With the Hammers defence looking fragile, ensuring that Slaven Bilic’s side must chase goals, Antonio’s stock remains buoyant despite West Ham’s indifferent form.
The fixture list also offers reassurance that he can go on delivering.
Antonio duly climbs to second spot in our midfield Watchlist rankings – only Chelsea’s Eden Hazard sits above him in our current reckoning.
Elsewhere in midfield, Roberto Firmino’s two-goal haul in Liverpool’s emphatic win over Leicester has him climb the Watchlist ranks and into the top three.
We had previously stuck by the Brazilian, overlooking his compatriot Philippe Coutinho and the mounting claims of Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana.
There’s little doubt that Jurgen Klopp’s midfield will continue to share the points but Firmino appears to be the most likely to come out on top. A creator as well as an executor of goals, he remains pivotal to Klopp’s attacking gameplan.
Again, the fixture list is kind enough to suggest that further returns will flow.
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling holds his rank despite an anonymous display at Old Trafford.
Kevin De Bruyne makes a strong case to supersede the winger but, like the Alexis Sanchez vs Santi Cazorla battle at Arsenal, price is a factor here.
Sterling appeared to be charged with pinning Luke Shaw back against United, which limited his attacking impact. That won’t be the case against Bournemouth at the Etihad in Gameweek 5 – we will re-assess his stock following that.
As mentioned, Cazorla is now edging Sanchez in our thinking, purely because, with Sergio Aguero’s return looming, the funds for the Chilean look too big an obstacle.
Arsenal have the fixtures to produce profit in the coming weeks so midfield cover looks wise – Cazorla can offer that for a price of 7.6 – a 3.4 saving compared to the outlay on Sanchez.
Whilst we have little doubt that Sanchez will dominate and potentially blitz Hull City in Gameweek 5, in the mid-term, Cazorla is the more realistic cover of Wenger’s attack.
That has also seen Mesut Ozil drop out of our thinking.
Ozil has surrendered some set-piece duties to Cazorla and the Spaniard is keeping pace in terms of chance creation. Having claimed consecutive goals from the spot, it’s penalty duties that provide the deciding factor.
