Welcome to our latest visit to the Weekly Shop, where we will help guide your selections for daily and weekly Fantasy Football squad building, scanning FanDuel’s player list with the full slate of Gameweek 13 match-ups in mind.
This weekend’s fixture list hands us a number of ties which leap out as a potential source of points.
For starters, the clash at the Liberty Stadium looks set to be an open affair, with both Swansea City and Crystal Palace leaking goals, immediately putting us on alert to the assets on show.
Meanwhile, at the Emirates, the visit of Bournemouth gives Arsenal an opportunity to get back on track following the disappointing display at Old Trafford: at least one of the Gunners’ attacking players looks on course for our squads.
West Brom’s back-to-back victories promote a pair of goal-getting options as they travel to a struggling Hull City side, while we’ve also got our eye on the teamsheets at Stamford Bridge, as Spurs visit the in-form league leaders in what will surely be a stormy London derby.
The Better Buys
Our review of FanDuel’s player list begins at the very top end of the market.
These “Better Buy” options will cost a pretty penny but will be the mainstays of all line-ups – the assets we will depend on for the bulk of our points.
Starting in goal, we’ve narrowed our search to two standout options.
Arsenal host a Bournemouth side that have scored only twice in four matches and blanked in three of six on the road. That makes Petr Cech (£7.5m) our prime keeper candidate this week.
The Czech shot-stopper has shipped just three goals in four outings, which included encounters with Manchester United and Spurs; a fifth clean sheet of the season looks to be on the cards for the visit of the Cherries.
West Brom travel to a Hull City side that have failed to net in three of their last four.
Ben Foster (£7.6m) has averaged 3.25 saves per match (worth three points apiece), so the Baggies asset could even outscore his Arsenal counterpart.
The shut-out against Burnley on Monday night hints that West Brom are finally in the mood to return clean sheets, having suffered a drought over the previous eight Premier League outings.
Clean sheets are not a factor for defenders in FanDuel. Instead, we have to look to clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI’s), plus tackles won, as a principal source of points.
While the Gunners are set for a shut-out, Bournemouth defenders will surely be kept busy repelling waves of Arsenal attacks.
That should see Eddie Howe’s back-line prosper in FanDuel, and after deliberation, we’ve settled on Steve Cook (£7.6m) as our weapon of choice.
His 138 CBI’s over 12 outings ranks fifth amongst defenders this term. The centre-back has also registered 11 tackles and nine attempts on goal, scoring once so far in this campaign.
Southampton’s Virgil Van Dijk (£8.4m) has also registered nine goal attempts but, despite returning in the Europa League, is yet to notch a first domestic strike.
The Dutchman is, however, joint seventh in the league for CBI’s ahead of Everton’s visit to St Mary’s. Van Dijk has also won 28 tackles this term and should hit or exceed his average of 18.5 FanDuel points courtesy of his key battle with Romelu Lukaku.
Liverpool have fired four or more goals at Anfield on three occasions already this season.
While Philippe Coutinho (£14.8m) is the obvious target from their midfield, we’re also considering Sadio Mane (£10.8m) due to his exceptional form on Merseyside.
The Senegalese has recorded five of his six goals and two assists at Anfield, providing a 37.25 FanDuel average.
Lining up on the right of Jurgen Klopp’s front three, Mane looks to be a key weapon this weekend: opponents Sunderland that have conceded 55 chances down their left flank, only Hull City have allowed their opponents more.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (£10.3m) remains Swansea City’s main attacking threat, recording two goals and as many assists over their last five matches.
He’s now recorded 18 shots on target (worth five points each), more than any other midfielder this season, to help reach a 22.8 average in FanDuel.
The Icelander has been involved in 60% of the Swans goals this term, so we’re expecting returns against visitors Crystal Palace, who have conceded 12 times in their last four outings.
Spurs arrive at Stamford Bridge without a clean sheet in six matches across all competitions and missing Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose in their defence.
An on-fire Eden Hazard (£12.9m) will surely be relishing the opportunity to exploit a makeshift Spurs backline. Four goals and an assist over his last three home outings has given the Belgian a 36.3 FanDuel average over that spell.
After back-to-back draws, the visit of Bournemouth gives Arsenal a chance to rediscover the form that saw them tally 15 goals over the preceding six outings.
Forwards Alexis Sanchez (£14.5m) and Theo Walcott (£11.2m) were the protagonists over that free-scoring run, netting four goals and serving up a pair of assists apiece.
But Mesut Ozil (£13.1m) could also make our line-ups: the midfielder has scored four and provided as many assists in his last six league and European outings.
While Sergio Aguero (£15.3m) may have blanked last time out at Crystal Palace, a trip to Turf Moor should offer the Argentine the opportunity to add to his six goals in five away matches this season.
The Manchester City forward has registered 4.8 attempts per appearance this campaign, compared to Diego Costa’s 3.3 and Romelu Lukaku’s 2.9 who, arguably, both face tougher opposition.
The Poundstretchers
Now we turn our attention to the FanDuel bargains – the players who look keenly priced but offer strong potential, allowing us to find the funds to splash on the aforementioned “Better Buys”.
Sadly, budget options appear to be thin on the ground when it comes to the goalkeeper position.
Our favoured cut-price pick is Leicester City’s Ron-Robert Zieler, who is available for £6.0m. The champions welcome Middlesbrough to the King Power Stadium, with Aitor Karanka’s men mustering just three goals in their last five away encounters. ‘Boro are ranked second bottom for goal attempts on the road, with just 47 efforts registered to date.
If you fancy targeting save points rather than a clean sheet, then West Ham’s Darren Randolph (£5.7m) fits the bill.
Having ousted Adrian in the 3-2 defeat to Spurs, we could see Randolph retain his start and present an able barrier to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and company – we’ve memories of Tom Heaton’s Burnley performance in mind.
In truth, we’re far more likely to settle on a Hammers defender for Sunday’s clash.
James Collins (£6.5m) seems set to replace the suspended Winston Reid for the United trip and, with a 20.6 average in his seven appearances this term, offers obvious potential.
Injuries to the Spurs defence could see Mauricio Pochettino handing Kevin Wimmer (£4.8m) a first start of the season.
The inclusion of the budget centre-back would likely see Jan Vertonghen (£6.8m) move to left-back to provide us with a pair of options for the Stamford Bridge clash; the Belgian boasts a 17.6 average over his last four matches.
After successive victories, Sunderland face the sternest of tests as they travel to Merseyside to face Liverpool.
Right-back Billy Jones (£5.3m) has impressed recently.
The right-back has scored 22.75 then 23.5 in FanDuel over his last two appearances and will surely accrue plenty of points from defensive actions against the relentless Liverpool attack.
Yaya Toure’s unexpected first run-out of the campaign saw the Ivorian bring in a 46.5 points haul. We’d expect Toure to start at Turf Moor having missed out in Europe in midweek.
A £7.8m outlay for a City midfielder against a Burnley defence that have conceded six goals in their last two is now an enticing prospect.
An impressive run of form has seen Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha (£7.9m) secure a 28.8 point average in FanDuel over four outings. He has served up an assist in all of those matches, while seven attempts, including three on target, hints that a goal could arrive against the Swans.
We backed Matt Phillips (£6.7m) to continue his run of form on Monday night, and he duly delivered, repeating the goal and assist combination he registered at Leicester against Burnley. The winger has clearly benefited from switching flanks for those two matches, and he’s on our shortlist again for the visit to the KCOM Stadium.
That fixture also singles out striker Salomon Rondon (£7.8m) as a factor.
He also scored and assisted on Monday night and is joint fourth for goal attempts by FanDuel forwards this term: his 34 efforts putting him level with Alexis Sanchez.
Christian Benteke (£7.3m) has scored all four of his goals for Palace in five away outings.
Fifteen attempts over the last four puts him on our radar as a differential pick for the visit to Wales. Swansea have been shipping two goals a match on average since their opening day victory over Burnley.
I will return on Friday with our FanDuel Focus article, revealing just how many of this list made the final cut to take their place amongst my preferred line-up, along with a review of the available contests ahead of the weekend.
