Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 13 ahead of today’s 16:30 GMT deadline.
A brusque turnaround leaves us very little time to digest information and make decisions for our Fantasy teams. But the best place to start is often with the captaincy.
The week, the contenders for the all-important armband would appear to come down to either Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) or Bruno Fernandes (£11.0m). Jan Sienkiewicz made the case for both candidates in Captain Sensible, with the Belgian the popular choice in the polls:
In the last four Gameweeks, no midfielder has created more big chances (six) than De Bruyne. And his goal threat has also been on show too. In the same period, he ranks top among midfielders for attempts on goal. Considering he is also on penalties, could that be all we need to know for the captaincy this week?
– Jan
However, Jan feels the extra rest for Manchester United – they play on Thursday whereas Manchester City play today – could make Fernandes the better option. Jan and David in his Scout Notes, both noted Bruno’s advanced role last weekend:
Despite coming out of the game with no Fantasy returns, Bruno had the most attempts on goal (four) of any player at Old Trafford and also created two chances – all while pressing from the front as a makeshift false-nine.
– Jan
Scrutinizing the opposition for weaknesses, Jan pointed out that Sheffield United have conceded 23 chances through the centre of the park over the last four Gameweeks, which is a league-high and certainly bodes well for Fernandes’ prospects.
And for those seeking a differential, it’s worth noting that Neale has predicted 3.4 per cent-owned Anthony Martial (£8.7m) to start upfront for the Red Devils.
Pro Pundit Tom Freeman employed a similar technique when picking out his transfer targets. By looking at where teams concede chances, he hopes to identify players who could benefit over the upcoming fixtures.
Top of the list was Aaron Cresswell (£5.2m), who has the joint-most assists of any FPL defender this season. There were encouraging comments from David Moyes following the win over Leeds:
We have got good delivery with Cresswell, players who are good in the air. It is a big part of football. His form has really picked up this year, his delivery has been very good. I think he was excellent again tonight.
– David Moyes
Partick Bamford (£6.3m), another player highlighted by Tom, struggled against the Hammers as the The Whites failed to create a single big chance from open play. Although that was largely down to the effectiveness of Declan Rice (£4.8m) and Tomas Soucek (£5.0m) as deep-lying midfielders. Newcastle, in contrast, have conceded most of their chances through the centre of the pitch.
Soucek has been spoken about as a replacement for the stricken Diogo Jota (£6.9m), who Jurgen Klopp confirmed will be out until the new year.
It’s worse than we first thought and better than we then thought. The potential surgeons had a look at it, no surgery needed but he will be out for a while. We don’t know exactly… one-and-a-half, two months?
– Klopp on Jota
However with Saïd Benrahma (£6.0m) given a free role replacing the injured left wing-back Arthur Masuaku (£4.5m) in the West Ham line-up, Soucek was afforded less opportunities to get forward.
A cheaper alternative who stood out in the stats considered on the Scoutcast and The FPL Wire was Fulham’s out-of-position midfielder Ivan Cavaleiro (£5.3), with Pro Pundit Lateriser considering him a good punt for the next three matches. But while he’s been afforded chances spearheading the attack, his profligacy led him to being described by Neale as “Ivan the terrible finisher”.
Former FPL winner Simon March wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the cheap options, instead talking up James Maddison (£7.1m) and Mason Mount (£6.8m). With fellow Pro Pundit Az picking out Wilfried Zaha (£7.5m).
Meanwhile on The FPL Wire, the returning Big Man Bakar wasn’t to be swayed away from Jack Grealish (£7.8m), he’s also the player Tom Freeman is looking to bring in.
The good news for owners and prospective owners alike is that Dean Smith confirmed the Villa talisman is on penalties – when Anwar El Ghazi (£5.7m) isn’t on the pitch.
(El Ghazi) has good technique. We don’t get too many penalties. He took the last one against Man City and scored. So if he was on the pitch he would have taken it and if not, Jack (Grealish) would have taken it.
– Dean Smith
However, once again it’s worth paying attention to Neale’s predicted line-ups:
Dean Smith said in his pre-match press conference that he has seen a “marked difference” in [El Ghazi’s] desire to get back into the team over the last couple of weeks.
Elsewhere, the highly-owned Tottenham Hotspur duo, Son Heung-min (£9.6m) and Harry Kane (£10.9m) were discussed by the Scout Network. Pro Pundit Sam talked up her favourite forward, who could prosper following the encounter with Liverpool:
Spurs take on Leicester in Gameweek 14 where Kane has scored at least once in four of his last six Premier League matches against the foxes, in fact he has braced twice and scored four in this fixture in 2017.
– Sam, FPL Family
While The FPL Experiment Podcast were feeling nervous after selling him:
De Bruyne, Fernandes and Salah all look like the grass might be greener on the other side… Our rationale for ditching Kane was that De Bruyne, Fernandes and Salah look like better captaincy options over the next three Gameweeks in comparison to Kane. Being without Kane, is giving us separation anxiety though!
– The FPL Experiment Podcast
And Ted produced one of his engaging graphics to reveal the potential of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (£5.6m) to offer better value than cheaper counterparts Alex McCarthy (£4.6m) and Emi Martinez (£4.8m) over the course of the season.
(click on graphic to enlarge)
The number of small chances conceded means that the Spurs stopper is comfortably outperforming the other expensive goalkeepers:
This affords Lloris manageable saves and enhances the impact he’s having on the game and the bonus point system. Lloris has had 31 saves this season, compared with Mendy’s 13 and Ederson’s 19.
– Ted Talks FPL
The 12th Man
As they did at Selhurst Park, Spurs will again be facing opposition fans on their trip to Anfield, the only match that will have supporters in attendance this Gameweek. And the fans seemed to enhance home advantage in Gameweek 12.
David Wardale reported the positive effect on Everton with manager Carlo Ancelotti, who set up with four centre-backs, commenting:
The fans made a lot of difference, it was a totally different atmosphere. Tonight we won for the spirit, not the quality of the play, we didn’t have the ball a lot, but we defended really well.
– Ancelotti
The games at Fulham and Crystal Palace also appeared to benefit, with the home sides achieving positive results.
One attacking defender who stood out from the match at Goodison Park was Reece James (£5.3m):
A crumb of comfort for James owners was that their man was joint-top of the attempts chart with three.
– David Wardale, Scout Notes
The Chelsea full-back was also spoken of in glowing terms by Pro Pundit Zophar, with James performing well for creativity and goal threat among defenders over the last four Gameweeks.
Joining James in this week’s Scout Picks are two defenders from the Manchester clubs. David highlighted the improving form of Pep Guardiola‘s troops when reporting on the stalemate at Old Trafford last weekend.
With their defensive credentials improving week-on-week, City’s meetings with West Brom (home), Southampton (away) and Newcastle (home) are particularly attractive between now and Gameweek 15.
Ruben Dias (£5.6m) remains the key man in terms of outfield defenders, having started each of the last nine Premier League matches, lasting 90 minutes in eight of them.
– David, Scout Notes
Meanwhile Harry Maguire (£5.4m) is tipped to do well against his former club: no team has scored fewer goals this season than Sheffield United and the Manchester United centre-back is top for shots among defenders with 16. Encouragingly, no team has given up more headed attempts than the Blades.
Head-to-Head Fixtures
RedLightning rounded up the Community mini-leagues and tournaments after Gameweek 12. And for those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 13 can be found below:
Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.
Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.
May your arrows be green!
