It’s time to finally draw a line under Gameweek 7 and begin to look ahead as we roll out this week’s Digest.
Spurs’ marauding left-back earns further recognition, while Burnley’s early season form also earns our acclaim.
Meanwhile, injuries and unexpected teamsheets compound our problems up front as we battle through the second international break of the season.
The Player
We’re in danger of repeating ourselves. Again.
After Alvaro Morata appeared in this very section for an unprecedented second time in six Gameweeks last time out, Ben Davies earns a similar accolade thanks to his role in Spurs’ demolition of Huddersfield on Saturday.
The Welshman’s 16-point haul at the John Smith’s Stadium – his third double-figure return in as many road trips – elevated him to the top of the Fantasy Premier League defenders’ standings on 49 points, joint-third with Morata overall.
Davies has wasted no time in announcing himself as a must-have for our five-man defences, with the underlying numbers to back up his ascent.
From his role as a raiding left-back, Davies is number one defender for crosses and key passes and sits second only to Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso for attempts on goal.
He’s also been handed a fair share of dead-ball duties, taking 17 of his side’s 55 corners. That’s already more than his total (14) from the previous campaign as his delivery becomes a key weapon for the north London outfit.
As a result, he’s the top target in defence ahead of a home encounter against Bournemouth, with a further 120,000 managers boarding a bandwagon which now sits at 23.5% ownership.
The fixtures are somewhat mixed for Mauricio Pochettino’s men over the next six Gameweeks.
Visits from the Cherries, Palace and West Brom are coupled with clashes against Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal, yet Davies’ numbers make a compelling case for his inclusion as a “fire and forget” option in our line-ups.
However, the potential return of Danny Rose could yet throw a spanner in the works, with recent reports indicating he was around two weeks away from finally overcoming a knee injury.
Davies was firmly behind his rival in the pecking order last term and started just three of the opening 23 Gameweeks last season before Rose was ruled out long-term. All of those starts arrived when Rose was unavailable through injury.
But his form since then, thanks to that extended run of starts, suggests a place on the teamsheet is surely his to lose. That’s an idea perhaps strengthened by Rose’s attempts to engineer a way out of the club over the summer.
As witnessed as recently as Gameweek 5, when he warmed the bench from start to finish at home to Swansea City, Davies – regardless of whether he’s now first-choice – will on occasion remain subject to Pochettino’s rotational whims. The forthcoming double-header with Real Madrid perhaps heighten’s those concerns.
Based on Davies’ performances so far, though, it’s highly debatable whether Pochettino would risk omitting one of this season’s star performers from his teamsheet.
The Team
For a side that picked up seven points away from home all last season, Burnley’s opening batch of away fixtures looked like the stuff of nightmares for Sean Dyche.
Even the most fervent Clarets fan could have been forgiven for writing off the trips to Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and Everton – four of the top five teams in terms of home points accrued in 2016/17.
But Burnley have emerged unscathed from them all, with Sunday’s 1-0 win at Goodison taking their away tally to eight points – already bettering their haul from last season.
That hands them the platform to take advantage of a schedule that sees them entertain West Ham, Newcastle and Swansea and travel to Southampton in the next five Gameweeks.
Having conceded just two goals in the last five Gameweeks – away to Spurs and Liverpool – investment in Burnley’s backline looks the wisest tactic, with Stephen Ward now the pick of the bunch.
The left-back’s raids forward have served up a goal and assist – equaling his output from 2016/17 and taking him into third spot in the FPL defender rankings. Only the aforementioned Davies has earned more transfers-in (76,000+) in defence this week.
And the statistics also show that Ben Mee and James Tarkowski could also profit from that run. The former is joint-top for efforts in the box among all defenders, while Tarkowski is the number one defender overall for clearances, blocks and interceptions, suggesting that he’s been a little unlucky not to claim bonus to this point.
Further up the field, Robbie Brady (5.5) is second only to Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne for successful crosses and has earned a pair of assists. The Irishman can now emerge as a viable budget midfielder, although his creativity has admittedly dropped since being shifted onto the right flank recently.
Up top, Chris Wood’s three goals in seven outings in all competitions bodes well as he auditions for our third forward role at a cost of 6.6.
Yet it’s the resilience at the back that offers the most appeal as Dyche looks to build on those away days and replicate the form that harvested 33 of their 40 points at Turf Moor last term.
The Talking Point
First Sergio Aguero, now Alvaro Morata.
Just as the early season template up front seemed on the verge of crumbling, our options have been whittled down after a cruel chain of events sent Fantasy managers back to the drawing board.
The number one transfer target for Gameweek 6 on the back of a hat-trick at Watford, Aguero was acquired by 784,000+ FPL bosses for a home clash with Crystal Palace.
The following week, he’d been sent packing by more than 875,000 after sustaining a rib injury in a car crash in Holland.
Morata seemed the ideal replacement in light of a Gameweek 6 hat-trick at Stoke City.
Subject to more transfers-in than any player last week (528,000), he, just like Aguero before him, is the number one for sales (255,000) ahead of Gameweek 8 after limping off with a hamstring problem against Pep Guardiola’s side.
It’s far from ideal at a time when many are looking to wield Wildcards, with the news on both players somewhat muddied.
Neither club has clarified reports that Aguero could be out for six weeks, while Morata may face a month in the treatment room.
Looking at the recent transfers of FPL managers, there’s no stopping the merry-go-round up front.
In Gameweek 6, over 140,000 Harry Kane owners drafted in Aguero after the former failed to score at home to Swansea. In Gameweek 7, over 206,000 Aguero owners then turned to Morata in light of his injury. Now, with ten days left until Gameweek 8 gets underway, a combined 120,000 Morata or Aguero owners have drafted in Kane.
These injuries also come at a time when Roberto Firmino and Wayne Rooney were dropped to the bench for the first time this season. Jamie Vardy – the fifth top scoring forward in FPL – went into each of the last two Gameweeks as a doubt and has been rested from England duties. And Andy Carroll’s return from injury has dented the prospects of Javier Hernandez.
It merely strengthens the claims of Kane and Romelu Lukaku for most managers, with Aguero’s team-mate Gabriel Jesus now earning plenty of new owners ahead of home clashes with Stoke and Burnley.
Yet the return to action of big-hitters such as Alexis Sanchez and Eden Hazard (both owned by under 4%) and Philippe Coutinho (8% ownership) could now persuade some to reinvest their cash in midfield.
Certainly, there is a wealth of budget forwards currently earning pitch-time for those seeking to free up funds.
As many as nine strikers with a price tag of 5.6 or under started in Gameweek 7, and four of those – Shinji Okazaki, Joselu, Tammy Abraham and Oumar Niasse – have scored at least twice in the first seven Gameweeks.
All four have some decent fixtures to follow and, if they continue to guarantee minutes, could offer a short-term solution until the return of Aguero and Morata brings us another selection headache all over again.
