Welcome to the latest instalment of the Weekly Shop which finds us scanning the player list from partner game FanDuel in a bid to pin-point some of the leading prospects for our weekend line-ups.
To begin, we consider the upcoming fixtures and isolate the matches that we believe will provide the key targets.
Manchester United’s win in the EFL Cup Final on Sunday was a sixth straight victory – that form forces us to consider Jose Mourinho’s side. Their Opponents Bournemouth have been fighting to reverse a severe slump in form, ensuring that their defence should provide some battling centre-backs for consideration.
Elsewhere, White Hart Lane has been a fruitful hunting ground for Spurs of late – especially for their lone striker. Visitors Everton should provide a compelling clash, and Ronald Koeman’s side have some combative options to ponder.
Finally, a convincing victory over Liverpool puts Leicester City assets back in the frame. The Foxes host a Hull side that is much improved under head coach Marco Silva and continue to present value across several positions.
The Better Buys
In this first section of our player list analysis, we consider the players that carry weighty price-tags but have the form and a promising enough fixture to warrant inclusion. They will be the foundation for our line-ups and could be key to reaching the prize spots across FanDuel’s contests.
We start by contemplating a pair of goalkeepers that have every opportunity of collecting the ten FanDuel points on offer for a clean sheet.
Our stand-out candidate this weekend is Manchester United’s David De Gea (£7.1m), on the back of three consecutive Premier League shut-outs. The Spanish stopper looks kindly priced for the visit of Bournemouth having conceded only two goals over the last six Gameweeks.
Elsewhere, Stoke City’s recent resilience at the bet365 Stadium provides another possible contender for our goalkeeper jersey.
Lee Grant (£7.2m) has secured four clean sheets over his last seven matches at home, making 24 saves. Goal-shy Middlesbrough are his weekend opponents, with Aitor Karanka’s side boasting just two goals from their previous seven matches.
For our back-line in FanDuel, we focus on defenders that return steady numbers for clearances, block and interceptions (CBI’s), alongside tackles won. It’s therefore defences that encounter dominant attacks that should elicit the big points.
Hull City’s Andrea Rannochia is available for a reasonable £7.9m and boasts an average of 22.69 points in FanDuel over four outings. The Italian’s 46 CBI’s and 12 tackles over this spell compares favourably to team-mate Harry Maguire’s 51 CBI’s and 6 tackles – especially considering the latter costs £8.8m this time out.
The Tigers travel to the King Power Stadium to face a newly-confident Leicester City outfit who are likely to be buoyed by their win over Liverpool.
Ashley Williams (£8m) is our next pick – the Everton centre-back is in the top five for CBI’s over the last six Gameweeks with 64. He will be up against Harry Kane and a Spurs side that are third for crosses over last four (95), which should see the Toffees rearguard stretched.
We’re expecting Williams to meet or exceed the 18.86 points he’s accrued per match on average this campaign.
Weekly Shop regular Steve Cook (£8.6m) is again in our thoughts ahead of a daunting trip to Old Trafford. The Bournemouth centre-back continues to return solid numbers, sitting in the top three for CBI’s over the last four (49).
Our midfield targets begin with an in-form Manchester City winger, making the trip to basement dwellers Sunderland.
The Black Cats have conceded more shots in the box (48) than any other side over the last four. That porous defending suggests that coverage of the City is almost essential. While Sergio Aguero (£14.5m) is the obvious selection up front, Raheem Sterling provides a viable alternative for £12.1m. The midfielder has been incredibly consistent of late, contributing a pair of goals and eight assists over his last ten league outings.
Swansea City’s Gylfi Sigurdsson (£12.7m) should be a popular selection this week with travel-sick Burnley turning up at the Liberty Stadium. The Icelander has provided returns in each of his last five outings – producing three goals and as many assists and now has a 25.49 FanDuel average.
The midfielder’s 14 goal attempts over the last four Gameweeks ranks him first alongside Liverpool’s Phillipe Coutinho; seven of those efforts found the target.
While Manchester United’s Paul Pogba (£13.2m) has not scored, or assisted in six matches, he’s still produced impressive underlying numbers. A 29.5 point average over the last four Gameweeks highlights that the Frenchman is well suited to the FanDuel scoring matrix. The midfielder picked up points from seven different actions to score 35 points against Watford and could secure a major haul if he can align his sights against the Cherries.
Moving to attack and Southampton’s January signing Manolo Gabbiadini (£9.2m) is the first to pique our interest.
The Italian has averaged 41.38 points over his two league outings ahead of a trip to Watford. Gabbiadini has delivered three goals from 11 attempts as well as creating a trio of chances and drawing four fouls. The brace in the EFL Cup final indicates that the striker now provides a much-needed focal point to improve the previously impotent Saints attack.
A hat-trick against Stoke City on Sunday puts Harry Kane (£12.5m) third among forwards (behind Gabbiadini and Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez) for average FanDuel points (29) per match this term.
Seven goals in his last three at White Hart Lane makes him difficult to overlook, even against a stubborn and much-improved Everton rearguard.
But only Sunderland (14) have conceded more headed attempts than the Toffees (12) over the last four, so the Spurs’ frontman’s aerial prowess could come into play here.
Finally, we just can’t ignore United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£13.9m) in a home tie against struggling Bournemouth.
The Swede is the top forward for chances created over the last four (10), and only Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke (17) has had more attempts than his 12 during that period. A goal and assist over the last two matches in the league, plus a brace in the EFL Cup Final, underlines his importance to United’s attack. To compound matters, Eddie Howe’s men have conceded 14 big chances over the last six rounds, more than any other team.
The Poundstretchers
We now seek to preserve some funds, turning our attentions to the budget end of the FanDuel market. These are the value players that can free up cash for our big-hitters or “Better Buys”, while hopefully delivering their fair share of points.
In goal, there’s a potential bargain on offer in the form of Jordan Pickford at £6.3m. The Sunderland shot-stopper requires considerably less outlay than the other likely starting keepers this round.
Pickford provided 17.75 points on his return, despite conceding twice, making six saves at Goodison Park. A tie with Manchester City should provide more of the same and we’d be content if he reached his average of 16.1 for such a low price.
Daniel Ayala (£5.9m) could make Middlesbrough’s back-line again should Calum Chambers remain on the sidelines. Eight CBI’s and four tackles helped Ayala to a score of 20 points against Crystal Palace last time out, which bodes well for the centre-back’s prospects at Stoke.
Palace newcomer Mamadou Sakho (£6.9m) scored just nine points (from six clearances and one tackle) against Boro on his debut, but we’re banking on an improvement this time around as he faces a potentially busier afternoon at West Brom.
If Steve Cook’s price-tag proves prohibitive, then his Bournemouth team-mate Tyrone Mings could stand-in again for Simon Francis and costs just £7m. The centre-back picked up ten CBI’s and three successful tackles to score 26 points at The Hawthorns last weekend.
Bryan Oviedo (£7.7m) has hit the ground running for new club Sunderland, collecting 14 tackles and 24 CBI’s over just three run-outs. While the full-back costs a bit more than our other budget defenders, an average of 24 over those three matches means we’re expecting strong returns from Manchester City’s visit.
Hull’s Sean Maloney is the epitome of a cheap “enabler”, available for only £4.2m. Tigers head coach Marco Silva may be forced to retain the winger at Leicester City, with his injury list still lengthy.
Elsewhere in the Hull camp, Tom Huddlestone (£6.5m) could offer great value. Spot-kick duties and a stable return of CBI’s (34 over the last four Gameweeks is second only to Liverpool’s Lucas) makes the ex-Spurs man an intriguing prospect. He picked up a 35.5 point haul against Burnley thanks to his converted penalty.
Everton’s Morgan Schneiderlin (£7.2m) has delivered a 21.4 average over the last four rounds. That includes four shots on target and three chances created from the Frenchman. More significantly, he made eight tackles over that period and should again be again be tasked with breaking up play, this time against the fluid Spurs attack.
An instant response to Claudio Ranieri’s departure has us considering a pair of options from Leicester City.
Wilfred Ndidi (£8.4m) has returned eight shots, 13 tackles and 29 CBI’s over the last four Gameweeks. The midfielder could be an influence at both ends of the pitch against Hull.
Up front, Jamie Vardy’s (£8.3m) six chances created over the last four is only behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic among forwards. The Foxes striker has also struck 10 attempts, and the brace against Liverpool could prompt a return to last season’s incredible form. Opponents Hull City are third for shots conceded in the box over the last four (46).
Finally, Swansea’s Fernando Llorente (£8.9m) scored his ninth goal of the season at Chelsea on Saturday. The Spaniard has a 16.25 average this season, and his physicality should be a factor in both boxes against visiting Burnley.
On Friday, I’ll be back with my strongest XI and we look at the FanDuel contests on offer this weekend.
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