Why I expect Aubameyang to reward loyal FPL bosses

One of the most beautiful things that I like about playing FPL is that it gives us the opportunity to act like real football managers in the terms of studying the opponent teams to find their weaknesses, thereby planning to take the advantage over them.

From my very first season of playing FPL I have been trying to do this homework assignment every single Gameweek to select some overlooked premium players that can exploit the opponent weaknesses, and this strategy worked well for me more often than not.

The case for the Royal Gunner No 14

As one of the 13.9% of FPL managers that still have faith in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.7m), I opted to wait for Arsenal’s upcoming fixtures, when matters should be easier, rather than get rid of their last two seasons’ talisman.

I believe that they clearly have had tough matches so far, even against the struggling Sheffield United who are well-known for their solid defence, the only exception in my opinion was Fulham, against which Arsenal recorded their most comfortable win so far this season (3-0).

Although they managed these tough matches very well defensively, as they conceded the fewest goals so far (despite of facing Manchester City, Liverpool, Leicester city and Manchester United) they still need some improvement in terms of clear chances created and goal attempts.

But I think that it is just a matter of time until Mikel Arteta finds a way to solve that issue – he spent three years working under a perfect attack-minded manager like Pep Guardiola.

It is worth mentioning that since the appointment of Arteta at Arsenal in Gameweek 19 of the last season, Aubameyang was the top goal scorer among all FPL forwards by the end of the campaign (11 goals). In fact this is bettered only by Anthony Martial (13) in all, and I expect him to recover that form as soon as the fixtures get easier for Arsenal.

Some Good news for Auba ahead of the Villains clash

In Gameweek 8 Arsenal will face the struggling defensive backline of Aston Villa, against which I reasonably expect that Aubameyang could finally find his missing double-digit outcome.

By examining the “goal attempts conceded heat map” of the Villains so far, which is available on the Team Profiles page on the FFSCOUT premium members area, it is so clear that the right side of their penalty box have the most red areas – which is the same area that Aubameyang had his shots on target this season so far compared to other areas.

Also, the Villains are among the worst teams to concede shots in the box so far (67%), which is even worst than West Brom (62%), that is good news to Arsenal’s attackers, specially for Aubameyang.

Moreover, by delving into the defensive performance of the Villains against teams like Liverpool and Leeds, we find out that the Villains have conceded more chances compared to the other matches due to the lack of a good high defensive line, and before you know it, most of these chances were from their right flank.

Also, it is worth noting that Aubameyang would have the chance against the Villains to convert from the spot, as they used to make fouls around/in their penalty area (10 fouls conceded in total in these danger areas so far).

One more advice to Auba’s owners:

How many times did you shout “Mercy of Heavens!! He scored a brace/ hat-trick. I’ve just transferred him out ahead of this Gameweek!!! Why this always happens to me?!!!!” Well, most of us FPL bosses, spend all the Summer time planning which premium players to pick, whilst it usually takes less time to decide to get rid of them (actually it takes a time of few finger touches!!!!), This is not fair….

My advice here is that “Luck comes from hard work”, so believe in the players you have picked based on your early plans, even after a run of poor returns, cause premium players will always be in the mix sooner rather than later. It is just a matter of time.

Many thanks for reading, wishing you all the best of luck.