James Maddison is quickly becoming a reliable value asset for Fantasy Premier League managers, and his returns are growing less fortunate with each week.
Meanwhile Wolves demonstrated their credentials in another impressive draw with Manchester opposition.
The newly-promoted side are certainly full of value assets with enticing fixtures still to come.
Leicester City 3-1 Huddersfield Town
Goals: Kelechi Iheanacho (£5.9m), James Maddison (£6.7m), Jamie Vardy (£8.9m) | Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jørgensen (£4.5m)
Assists: Vardy, Nampalys Mendy, Iheanacho | Laurent Depoitre (5.3m)
James Maddison (£6.7m) was the Man of the Match for Leicester City as they beat Huddersfield Town 3-1. The former Norwich City man is slowly growing into an option worth considering for Fantasy inclusion. While there have been elements of fortune about his attacking returns so far this season, he earned his goal on Saturday. Maddison has been practising his direct free-kicks meticulously in training recently, and that paid off when he netted a wonderful strike in the second half.
“He works all the time. He often practices with Demarai Gray and Jamie Vardy, and Harry Maguire tries also. He’s not bad [Maguire]. They have a competition between themselves during training sessions, but of course, it’s important to continue to develop this possibility because set pieces are a good opportunity to score and give them good feelings.” – Claude Puel
Crucially, Maddison’s underlying numbers continue to improve to match his output too. Initially, it looked as if his attacking returns were not sustainable, but in the last four Gameweeks, he has created more chances than Eden Hazard (£10.9m) only one fewer than Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) and David Silva (£8.6m). He was deployed on the attacking left-flank of a 4-2-3-1 system against Huddersfield, having been previously used in the number 10 role. He adjusted to the transition seamlessly. It neither improved nor restricted his underlying numbers compared to previous appearances, but it got the best out of his attacking colleagues.
“Maddison improves game after game and he scored a fantastic free-kick. We didn’t know what he could give at the beginning of the season, he had only played in the Championship, but he has the quality to improve with us. He [Maddison] needs maturity, of course, he needs to correct some things. He needs to participate in all defensive aspects and offensive moves with a good understanding with his team-mates.” – Claude Puel
“You can see from his confidence today when the ball came across, and he did that Neymar thing with his leg behind the back of his other leg. I just started laughing in the game because I think that’s great. I’ve played at Manchester United and grown up with people expressing themselves. Sir Alex [Ferguson], at the time, always encouraged young players to express themselves and entertain the crowd. It’s great that he can do that.” – Jonny Evans
Maddison’s move to the left meant Demarai Gray (£5.5m) dropped to the bench for the first time this season. However, he was brought on at half-time for Rachid Ghezzal (£5.3m), who was ineffective and received a yellow card for a poor tackle too. The Algerian wide-man is still held in regard by manager Claude Puel though.
“We also have another player in Rachid Ghezzal who also has those good attributes, who can give good services with disguised passes. It’s important to have these players in the squad because they can change games and find solutions like today.” – Claude Puel
Kelechi Iheancho (£5.9m) was also handed a new role as the central figure in attacking midfield, just behind Jamie Vardy (£8.9m). His performance was a good one too, and it yielded a goal and an assist. The Nigerian now has four attacking returns in the last four Gameweeks, but just two starts. If he can nail down his place in Leicester’s first team, he could become yet another budget forward capable of offering FPL value.
Vardy lived up to his pre-match billing, also registering a goal and an assist. He also topped the match charts for shots with seven, five more than any other player at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Ricardo Pereira (£5.1m) dropped to the bench, remaining an unused substitute after his dismal display at Bournemouth. Ryan Fraser caught the Portuguese wing-back out of position all too often at the Vitality Stadium in Gameweek 5. Despite having a good relationship with former Nice colleague Pereira, Puel was strong enough to bench him. Daniel Amartey (£4.5m) replaced him at right-back and had one of his best games for Leicester. Only Ndidi made more successful tackles than him in the match. On the opposite flank, Ben Chilwell (£5.0m) was joint-top in the game for aerial duels won. There were still some defensive issues for Leicester evidenced by Huddersfield scoring early on, but it was a much better display than the previous week.
However, it is difficult to say whether or not the changes Puel made to Leicester’s personnel and Vardy’s return to home action helped bring about this much-needed win against Huddersfield. Despite often playing five at the back, the Terriers have one of the worst defensive records in the league. Only Cardiff allowed more shots on target than Huddersfield in Gameweek 6, and they were playing defending champions Manchester City.
David Wagner’s Huddersfield are having a tough time in the Premier League this season. This defeat at Leicester was their fifth of the campaign, and they now sit bottom of the table, still without a win. Also, the quotes coming out of their camp are perhaps too optimistic. Chris Löwe (£4.4m) insisted the Terriers created plenty of chances at the King Power Stadium while Wagner thought they played well…
“The players performed to a decent level, but we made so many big individual mistakes – and especially before the three goals. The opposition didn’t have to invest enough to score against us. For me, it’s very clear the gap between ourselves and the opponents is not as big as it was maybe last season. This is clear and obvious, the talent is there, but on the other hand, we have to say we can’t make mistakes like we have done in the Premier League if we like to get points out of it.” – David Wagner
It would be easy to believe claims that the defeat was caused by individual errors, or that Huddersfield have been creating chances, but this doesn’t quite ring true statistically. Leicester created the same number of chances against them that Man City did against Cardiff, while only two sides fashioned fewer opportunities than the Terriers in Gameweek 6.
Not surprisingly, the Terriers are still yet to score from open play in 2018/19. They did manage to add their third from set plays though, specifically from another Philip Billing (£4.5m) long-throw. This time it was flicked on by Laurent Depoitre (£5.3m) and tucked in by Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jørgensen (£4.5m). Löwe believes they need to keep focusing on their strengths in this department.
“We worked a lot on set pieces this pre-season and the first few games and I think Phil’s long throw worked quite well this season. We are always looking dangerous in these situations with set pieces so hopefully, we can keep this going and score more goals from a throw-in or set piece because that could help us over the next few games.” – Chris Löwe
There was an interesting change of personnel up front for Huddersfield. Steve Mounié (£6.0m) dropped out of the starting XI for the first time this season and remained an unused substitute. Depoitre came in for his first start of the campaign and got the assist for Zanka’s goal. In fact, he finished the meeting joint-top for aerial duels won, alongside Chilwell.
“Depoitre, too, played well but he didn’t score. We have said this about our No9 more often because Steve Mounie has played well, but he didn’t score either.” – David Wagner
While the absence of Mounié came as something of a surprise, it is unlikely Wagner will make many changes for Gameweek 7. He still maintains he was impressed with large numbers of his players.
“Performance-wise, this was a good performance and we had individual performances which were very good – Phil Billing, Chris Lowe, Aaron Mooy, and I think the centre-backs have done a good job.” – David Wagner
Leicester City XI (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Chilwell, Maguire, Evans, Amartey; Mendy, Ndidi; Maddison (Okazaki 85′), Iheanacho (Albrighton 77′), Ghezzal (Gray 45′); Vardy.
Huddersfield Town XI (5-4-1): Lössl; Löwe, Kongolo (Pritchard 72′), Schindler, Zanka, Durm; van La Parra, Billing, Mooy, Kachunga (Diakhaby 57′); Depoitre.
Manchester United 1-1 Wolves
Goals: Fred (£5.7m) | Joao Moutinho (£5.4m)
Assists: Paul Pogba (£8.2m) | Raúl Jiménez (£5.5m)
The draw between Manchester United and Wolves at Old Trafford was another Gameweek 6 result which did not accurately reflect the game. The newly-promoted visitors had more shots on target than their illustrious hosts and registered a higher expected goals score too.
That meant that Jose Mourinho’s side is still in search of its second clean sheet of the season. United’s defence has been a strong-suit in years gone by, but it has been an area of struggle in 2018/19.
Accordingly, David de Gea (£5.9m) continues to lose support although he still sits in 21.5% of teams. Interestingly, he still managed a five-point haul in this particular match from playing 90 minutes, making seven saves and earning one bonus. The number of stops he made was actually more triple his average per match prior to Gameweek 6. It is certainly telling that the Spanish international was busier than his opposite number Rui Patrício (£4.5m), who made just five stops.
Wolves’ domination of the fixture has led to further unrest in the Man United camp. Both Mourinho and Paul Pogba (£8.2m) have criticised the performance at Old Trafford. Interestingly, the Frenchman’s comments were reportedly cut short in the mixed zone, with him being ushered away by club staff.
“I think the result is fair. They deserved their point and we deserve the punishment of only getting one point. The way we started we were lucky to be the first team to score. Their approach was more for a football match than ours.” – Jose Mourinho
“We are at home and we should play much better against Wolves. When we are at home we should attack, attack, attack. That’s Old Trafford. We are here to attack. I think teams are scared when they see Man United attacking and attacking. That was our mistake today. We should just attack and press as we did against Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal last season. When we play like this it’s easier for us. What’s stopping us? I can’t tell you because I’m a player. It’s not me.” – Paul Pogba
Fred‘s (£5.7m) goal for United arguably came against the run of play and the Brazilian midfielder few expect him to score many more times. Although, he was the joint-highest shooter in the match. More importantly from a Fantasy perspective, Fred’s goal did yield a first attacking return from open play for Pogba. Up until now, he had only been involved from the penalty spot.
There was a return to the team for Alexis Sánchez (£10.1m) following his lack of involvement in the Champions League. However, it was another ineffectual performance from the former Arsenal man who was much maligned afterwards.
Despite impressing over the last four Gameweeks, Romelu Lukaku (£11.1m) was actually fairly disappointing too. He mustered just one shot against Wolves, which was off-target.
Of some encouragement was the fact that Luke Shaw (£5.1m) returned to the side after missing Gameweek 5.
Wolves themselves couldn’t look more promising if they tried. As we already mentioned, they probably the better side on the day and the draw was well-deserved. The fact that it came just a few weeks after they held defending champions Manchester City proves that neither result had elements of fluke about them.
There is a lot to like about Wolves and their Fantasy assets at both ends of the pitch are looking like great options to own in 2018/19.
There was a second successive goal involvement for striker Raúl Jiménez (£5.5m) whose hold-up play was excellent. The Mexican managed more completed passes in the opponent’s half than any of his team-mates on Saturday afternoon. Jiménez’s shot count was lower than his average thus far this season but facing Manchester United was always going to create that sort of anomaly in his statistics. A home match against Southampton in Gameweek 7 is another appealing one for the forward.
Joao Moutinho (£5.4m) was the one to get the goal for Wolves after a nice set-up from Jiménez. It is worth pointing out that a second goal of the season is not expected too soon though. Moutinho’s strike at Old Trafford was his first since netting for PSG in November 2017. However, he is more likely to return again than Rúben Neves (£5.2m) as he is the one responsible for corners and indirect free-kicks.
Also exciting was the fact that Adama Traoré (£5.5m) emerged from the match joint-top for shots, even though he only played 15 minutes. If he eventually nails down a starting position at Wolves, he could be a hugely explosive Fantasy asset to own.
Defensively, Wolves were well-organised too. None of Manchester United’s shots on target were considered to be big chances by Opta and Nuno’s side remains in the top two for that statistic over the last four Gameweeks. Options such as Patricio, Matt Doherty (£4.4m) and Willy Boly (£4.6m) should definitely be considered with Southampton, Crystal Palace, Watford and Brighton among their next four opponents. Doherty especially has terrific value as one of the few remaining wing-backs in the league. This was another match in which Nuno was not afraid to use his favoured 3-4-3 system against ‘bigger club’.
Also of interest to Fantasy managers is the fact that there is clearly more to come from Wolves. There’s a case to be made that they could have beaten Man United on Saturday, and manager Nuno believes his side could have played even better too.
“It was a good game, two teams wanting to win, lots of chances and emotion. I thought it was a point deserved. We draw and we are happy, but know that we have to improve if we want to come to Old Trafford and win one day. We wanted to come here and score because we cannot play any other way.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
Manchester United XI (4-3-3): De Gea; Shaw, Lindelöf, Smalling, Valencia; Fred (Martial 63′), Fellaini, Pogba; Sánchez (Mata 63′), Lukaku, Lingard (A Pereira 75′).
Wolverhampton Wanderers XI (3-4-3): Patrício; Boly, Coady, Bennett; Jonny, Neves, Moutinho (Saïss 80′), Doherty; Jota (Gibbs-White 87′), Jiménez, Costa (Traoré 75′).
Become a Member and access our data
Memberships for the 2018/19 campaign are now available for the price of £15.
Join now to get the following:
- Plot your transfer strategies using the fully interactive Season Ticker.
- Get projections for every Premier League player provided by the Rate My Team statistical model.
- Use Rate My Team throughout the season to guide your selections and transfers.
- Get access to over 130+ exclusive members articles over the season.
- Analyse our OPTA-powered statistic tables specifically tailored for Fantasy Football Managers.
- Use our exclusive tool to build custom stats tables from over 100 OPTA player and team stats.
- View heatmaps and expected goals data for every player.
- Use our powerful comparison tool to analyse players head-to-head.
