FanDuel Focus – Gameweek 19

The final FanDuel focus of 2016 provides a guide to Saturday’s contests, including our strongest XI ahead of the seven scheduled kick-offs.

All of those matches make the day’s slate, including the evening’s big clash between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield.

There are also Sunday contests available. With a pair of fixtures scheduled, this presents a 1.30pm deadline, as Watford welcome Spurs to Vicarage Road with Crystal Palace dropping in at the Emirates to take on Arsenal later that day.

FanDuel are again running another offer over the weekend.

Sign up and make a deposit of £10 and FanDuel will give you an extra £20 free credit to play with.

You’ll get £5 free credit in your account to use each week for four weeks.

Use promo code FFS30 when registering to claim the offer

Having settled your Fantasy Premier League lineup for the Gameweek, this is a good opportunity to get involved and squeeze more from the weekend fixtures.

If you’re building your first FanDuel lineup, have a glance at our strategy guide that examines which players to target in the various positions, and read on for our Saturday selection.

My Strongest XI

Vito Mannone £5.4m
Glen Johnson £6.3m
Ryan Shawcross £7.2m
Ragnar Klavan £6.4m
Junior Stanislas £6.5m
Cesc Fabregas £9.1m
Henrikh Mkhitaryan £9.8m
Gylfi Sigurdsson £11.9
Eden Hazard £13.3
Andy Carroll £9.1m
Zlatan Ibrahimovic £14.6m

The Key Picks

We’ve again opted for a budget pick in goal and, with Jordan Pickford’s injury derailing his season for Sunderland, this has presented us with the option of Vito Mannone (£5.4m), who is set to make a third appearance of the campaign at Burnley.

At the other end of the pitch at Turf Moor, Tom Heaton (£8.1m) has been gaining plaudits for his outstanding displays but the Premier League’s top shot-stopper comes accompanied with a prohibitive price-tag.

In contrast, Mannone appears underpriced and, like Pickford, is normally a reliable source of save points. The Italian could certainly be kept busy: only Burnley (104) have conceded more shots in the box away from home than the Black Cats (103).

Stoke City’ s Glen Johnson (£6.3m) earns the first spot in our defence. He has scored 20+ FanDuel points in each of his last two outings, while also being the cheapest route into a Potters rearguard that looks set to be stretched by a daunting trip to Stamford Bridge.

Deployed as part of a back three, Johnson has recorded eight tackles and 22 clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI’s) over his last four outings.

Those actions are key metrics in FanDuel, with no clean sheet points on offer for defenders. So, in anticipation of a rearguard effort in West London, we’ve also looked to the Potters to provide the second member of our back-three.

Ryan Shawcross (£7.2m) will be looking to lead by example against the league leaders. He tops the Stoke ranks for CBI and boasts a 15.5 FanDuel average, delivering 27.25 in the defeat to Liverpool in midweek. He could well surpass that tally as he looks to repel the waves of attacks from Antonio Conte’s side.

Our next selection has started three consecutive matches for Liverpool, but remains keenly priced.

Ragnar Klavan (£6.4m) has recorded 21 CBI’s over those trio of appearances. If, as expected, he makes the starting line-up once again, the Estonian should be in for a busy evening in today’s late kick-off. Manchester City visit Anfield having tallied the third most crosses (99) over the last four rounds of matches, with Sergio Aguero’s expected return likely to further revive their at attacking instincts.

When assessing midfielders and forwards, it is difficult to overlook both Chelsea and Manchester United given their favourable home fixtures.

The Blues provide us with two in-form midfielders.

Against Bournemouth, Cesc Fabregas (£9.1m) served up a third assist in five matches, with the Spaniard also scoring at Sunderland during this spell.

He’s averaged over 30 FanDuel points in his three recent starts and we’re expecting him to play a part in Antonio Conte’s plans again for the visit of Stoke, with Nemanja Matic teetering on the suspension tightrope ahead of the forthcoming meeting with Spurs.

While we were tempted to select a returning Diego Costa (£14.7m) in attack, we just couldn’t ignore the home form of Eden Hazard (£13.3m) as an option in midfield.

The Belgian looks indispensable on home turf, with seven of his nine goals this campaign having arrived at the Bridge, while his 25.96 average ranks third among FanDuel midfielders. Opponents Stoke have also conceded seven goals over their last two away outings, arriving off the back of a 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on Tuesday.

Manchester United provide us with an enticing Fantasy prospect in Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£9.8m).

The Armenian has scored in back-to-back outings, including that goal against Sunderland on Boxing Day. He gathered 30 FanDuel points from the bench against the Black Cats and we’re expecting him to start against Middlesborough today.

Elsewhere, we’re predicting goals at the Liberty Stadium, with 21 scored in Swansea City’s last four home outings. That finds us claiming an asset from both the home side, and from visitors Bournemouth.

While Gylfi Sigurdsson (£11.9m) may have blanked for three successive matches, he has still registered a 20-point average over that spell, creating ten chances and hitting four shots on target.

With five goals and as many assists this season, we’re confident enough to hand the Icelander another chance – particularly when he’s facing a Cherries outfit that have conceded three goals in each of their last three road trips.

In the same match, Bournemouth provide our cheap midfield “enabler”.

Junior Stanislas (£6.5m) returned from the sidelines on Boxing Day with a second half cameo appearance. The winger should offer value if he makes Eddie Howe’s XI at Swansea City: three goals and four assists in seven appearances before his injury lay-off certainly bodes well. He should also get the opportunity to impress: the Swans have conceded 22 goals in their previous six matches.

Up front, the aforementioned Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£14.6m) scored and provided two assists against the Black Cats on Boxing Day. Five chances created in that convincing victory, in addition to three shots on target, contributed to an impressive haul of 66.5 FanDuel points.

With eight goals in seven outings, we just couldn’t overlook the United striker for the visit of Middlesbrough, particularly with the Swede chasing the record as the top 2016 goalscorer across European Leagues today.

We round-off our final line-up of 2016 with West Ham United’s Andy Carroll (£9.1m).

The Hammers target man has turned in some robust performances ahead of a trip to the King Power Stadium. Carroll produced a score of 28.75 at Swansea City last time out and, over the last three Gameweeks, has recorded more goal attempts than any other FanDuel forward (11), while also chipping in with 15 CBI at the back.

Leicester City host have conceded two goals in each of their last four matches at home, while West Ham turn up seeking a fourth successive victory.

This Week’s Contests

Today’s FanDuel contests provide the biggest prize pot of the weekend, with the £4,000 Fan Favourite paying out £750 to the winner, for a £5 entry fee.

There’s also a £1000 guaranteed game on Saturday, this contest has a £20 entry fee and offers £250 to the top placed participant from a possible 58 entries.

The Sunday Special provides a £1400 pot, with £280 available to top spot; it has a £7 buy-in and 235 entry places.

Remember that, whatever games you choose to enter, the FanDuel late-swap function means it’s possible to scan the teamsheets and change any non-starters in your squad right up until kick-off.

You can register for a free account at FanDuel via this link. Use the promo code FFS30 when signing up to claim your offer.