Watchlist Update – Fulham options on the rise as Hazard tops midfield charts

We have completed our update of the Watchlist ready for Gameweek 6.

After examining the best goalkeeping and defensive options earlier this week, we have run the rule over the midfielders and forwards.

Read ahead to find out how we’ve ranked each option.

Midfielders

Eden Hazard (£10.8m) has risen to the summit of this section of the Watchlist, displacing the previous leader Mohamed Salah (£13.0m). There is no doubting that the Chelsea man is in better form and his cheaper price-tag is also a deciding factor when differentiating between these two. However, Hazard does lose his Favourable Fixtures factor with Liverpool and Manchester United two of his next four opponents.

Meanwhile, Salah’s fixture difficulty goes in the opposite direction. With Gameweek 5’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur out of the way, he loses the Unfavourable Fixtures factor. Although, back-to-back matches with Chelsea and Manchester City in Gameweeks 7 and 8 stop him from having a favourable factor in this department. We should point out that the fact that Salah has dropped on the Watchlist does not mean we think he won’t do well against Southampton.

Sadio Mané (£10.0m) and Ryan Fraser (£5.7m) are two non-movers in third and fourth place respectively. The only change of factors between the pair is that loss of Unfavourable Fixtures for the Liverpool man. Given their points returns thus far in 2018/19, both players retain an A for form.

David Silva (£8.5m) rises slightly after his Gameweek 5 goal against Fulham and the continuation of appealing fixtures. We suspect he is one of the few Man City options to be favoured within the Pep Guardiola rotation policy, although we feel we need a few more weeks of Champions League football before we can take the Rotation Risk factor.

There is a welcome return to the Watchlist for Richarlison (£6.6m) who looks set to make his comeback from suspension against Arsenal this week. Even though he had scored three goals prior to his sending off in Gameweek 3, we’ve given him a B for his form. That is so we can reflect that negative score at Bournemouth. There is no doubting that the fixtures still favour Richarlison and his Everton team-mates with Arsenal, Fulham, Leicester and Crystal Palace to come in the next four Gameweeks.

The appeal of Hazard and a 10-point haul for Willian in Gameweek 5 have seen Pedro (£6.8m) drop a few places. We believe that he is still at risk of rotation in Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea side. Furthermore, he was taken off with an injury in the Europa League on Thursday night, although the Blues’ manager has described it as “not very serious”. Meanwhile, a swing in the difficulty of Fulham’s fixtures sees potential bargain Andre Schürrle (£5.9m) climb up to eighth place.

Lucas Moura (£7.4m) drops a few places too with some of the cheaper midfield assets demonstrating better value. However, Spurs have now been graced with a Favourable Fixtures factor.

James Maddison (£6.6m) and Paul Pogba (£8.2m) are non-movers while Roberto Pereyra (£6.3m) drops to the bottom of the pile. Watford’s fixtures remain tough but he sticks around for on account of his form and shots in the box statistics.

Aaron Ramsey (£7.4m) drops off the list this week as the Arsenal midfield proves difficult to work out. The Gunners still have favourable fixtures but there is still uncertainty over the best starting XI. Meanwhile, Ramsey himself was poor against Newcastle and is still yet to register any attacking returns.

Forwards

Sergio Aguero (£11.4m) keeps his place at the top of the list for forwards. As we’ve already mentioned, Man City continue to have good fixtures and their talismanic striker is still involved in the goals. Much the same as with David Silva, we think Aguero will start in Gameweek 6 but we’ll need more data before bringing ourselves to remove the Rotation Risk factor.

Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.8m) climbs the Watchlist for the same reason as Fulham colleague Schürrle. The Cottagers’ fixtures look very appealing in the coming weeks, especially for attacking returns. The Serbian still tops the league for shots on target and is behind only Aguero and Salah for total efforts on goal.

Up next is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.9m) as Arsenal’s fine run of fixtures continues. Alexandre Lacazette is certainly pushing to replace him but until the Frenchman has started more matches in succession we’re leaving Aubameyang on.

Callum Wilson (£6.3m) sits in fourth place. While he matches Aubameyang’s factors for a much lower price, we’ve left him below the Arsenal man. This is because Fraser offers a cheaper alternative for Bournemouth attacking returns in midfield whereas no such option exists for the Gunners.

Up next is two options set to feature at Old Trafford in Gameweek 6 in Romelu Lukaku (£11.0m) and Raúl Jiménez (£5.5m). Lukaku is still ranked second for shots on target and in the box among forwards and Man United still have great fixtures to rely on. Meanwhile, Wolves forward Jiménez ranks inside the top five accurate shots and total efforts on goal among forwards, making him a potential bargain given his price.

Wilfried Zaha (£7.0m) is up next as he combines consistent form with promising fixtures. However, we’ve put him below some of the aforementioned options as he is performing below them for underlying statistics thus far. Fantasy Football Scout members can read more about that in the Members’ Area.

Marko Arnautovic (£7.0m) is also in great form with three goals and an assist to his name this season. However, West Ham’s fixtures are still tricky with Chelsea, Man United and Spurs all set to visit the London Stadium in the next four Gameweeks. Furthermore, he still carries the injury tag after going off with a knock at Goodison Park in Gameweek 5.

Harry Kane (£12.5m) sinks down to ninth on the Watchlist, although he does benefit from the Favourable Fixtures tag, as is the case with team-mate Moura. Kane’s fall in stock can be attributed to the wealth of cheaper options all bettering him for underlying statistics over the first five Gameweeks.

Completing the set is Glenn Murray (£6.5m) who now has four goals this season, as many as Mitrovic. He and the Fulham man are the only forwards priced under £7.0m to have reached that tally thus far. The fixtures aren’t particularly favourable or unfavourable for Brighton in the coming weeks. It’s Spurs and Man City up next but then it’s West Ham and Newcastle after that.

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