Selection
18 November 2016 840 comments
James H James H
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Our final article reviewing the updated Watchlist rankings, having assessed the changes among the goalkeepers, defenders and midfield over the past week, takes a look at the recent rise and falls up front.

For those new to the site, the Watchlist is designed to offer a view on our current mid-term player recommendations, based on the prospects spanning the next four-to-six Gameweeks.

You will find our current Watchlist standings in your right-hand menu on desktop and mobile.

The big news among the forwards sees the return of Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane to the reckoning.

Given he’s owned by just 5.6% of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) bosses, Kane has the potential to shake things up, having scored 25 and 21 goals in his previous two campaigns.

Spurs face four potentially profitable home fixtures (WHM, SWA, HUL, BUR) in the next six, though two tough away trips to Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford, along with the fact he may take some time to build up his match sharpness, leads to him achieve a mid-table position in our rankings for now.

There’s no change at the top, with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero announcing a return to form with three goals and an assist in his last two outings.

While Chelsea’s Diego Costa has been more consistent than the Argentine and is kinder on the budget, the fact that he remains on the Suspension Tightrope, plus he’s competing with the Eden Hazard option in our squads, limits his ability to topple Aguero.

We remain faithful to Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, with the blank against Chelsea almost understandable given the Blues’ current run of clean sheets.

However, the Belgian does face a tough run of fixtures from Gameweek 13 onwards that will test his consistency. While he’s demonstrated the ability to maintain a high scoring rate, he is perhaps the most vulnerable of the heavy-hitting forwards given the turn in Everton’s fixtures and the clamour to fund further investment in midfield.

Elsewhere, Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe and Southampton’s Charlie Austin remain our preferred mid-price choices.

Despite all of Sunderland’s travails, Defoe has continued to deliver and has been involved in 77% of the Black Cats’ goals.

While Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond and Sofiane Boufal may rival Austins’ role in Southampton’s front three, there’s little doubt that the former QPR man is the Saints’ most natural goalscorer.

His predatory instincts mean he’s unlikely to be usurped by Boufal’s eventual installation into the starting XI, and should he score against Liverpool tomorrow, he’d be in line for another climb in our rankings ahead of some improving fixtures.

Another mid-price option on the rise is West Bromwich Albion’s Salomon Rondon. He enjoys four strong fixtures (BUR, hul, WAT, SWA) in the next five to rival both Defoe and Austin, although the fact he has surrendered spot-kick duties to Nacer Chadlis does slightly limit his appeal. Rondon may well be on penalties on Monday night against Burnley should Chadli miss out through injury.

A new face towards the bottom of our standings is Burnley’s Sam Vokes, who looks a viable option for those Fantasy managers who are considering opting for a 3-5-2, but with an active option in attack.

Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic is, almost inevitably, the major faller on the Watchlist. He slips to the lower reaches given he’s suspended for tomorrow’s clash against Arsenal.

With the dominance of the names at the top, and the current trend towards considering a two-man attack, the Swede seems unlikely to recover too much ground upon his return over the coming weeks.

840 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. Totti
    • 9 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Who to bench?
    A) Coutinho
    B) allen
    C) gundogan
    D) austin

    1. Phil Dagger ⭐
      • 9 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Allen 1st sub

  2. ktk_interista
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Evertona and Lukaku's stats have been woeful recently while City and Aguero have very promising stats yet not clinical enough. Maybe City are due a big score as they play a rubbish side defensively. Starting to be worried about captaining Lukaku.

    1. Phil Dagger ⭐
      • 9 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      go with your gut

      1. ktk_interista
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Easy thing to say. Quite honestly I think being consistently good at this game means going with reason. Long term it pays off. Going with the gut is a vague term imo. I think I will go with Kun because it makes more sense.

        1. Phil Dagger ⭐
          • 9 Years
          9 years, 1 month ago

          agreed but sometimes logic fails too and if you are going with reason then you should go for Lukaku as per YMA's article ....
          who has got perfect record so far for captain choices

          1. ktk_interista
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            9 years, 1 month ago

            YMA can't always be right though 🙂

            1. Epic Fail
              • 15 Years
              9 years, 1 month ago

              So he's due to be wrong 😉

            2. Phil Dagger ⭐
              • 9 Years
              9 years, 1 month ago

              that's why I said logic and reason sometimes fails too but as you are saying long term reason is better then Lukaku for captain is a reason big enough to captain him this week over aguero

              simple
              btw I am most likely captaining aguero unless a last minute mind change

    2. ktk_interista
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      City have very similar stats to Liverpool and Chelsea yet have scored far fewer goals over the last4 GWs.

    3. Epic Fail
      • 15 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      No such thing as due unless you're Mrs Wally.

      1. ktk_interista
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Disagree with you there. A very attacking team like City will eventually start to convert the chances they are creating with the quality they have. Its not like saying Negredo is due a goal when nothing suggests it for example.

        1. Epic Fail
          • 15 Years
          9 years, 1 month ago

          Yeah Man City will start converting chances, but nothing suggests it will suddenly happen in the next game. It might, but that's nothing to do with being due.

          If Man City were firing every game we would also expect them to be converting chances in the following games. So basically we always expect them to do it regardless.

          1. ktk_interista
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            9 years, 1 month ago

            They have a very good opportunity though against a very poor side defensively which doesn't have a single CS, doesn't like to defend and like to play an open game and who also don't have a good keeper.

            1. Epic Fail
              • 15 Years
              9 years, 1 month ago

              I 100% agree with you there. I guess the only thing we differ on is our definition of due, which is fair enough.

              1. bassline1234
                • 16 Years
                9 years, 1 month ago

                Due - expected to happen, arrive, etc. at a particular time

  3. Lateriser 12
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Ladies, pick 1. On a wildcard. Have Cout too.

    a) Go with Theo now
    b) Go with Pedro now and get Theo next week
    c) Go with Arnie/Bolasie/Barkley now and get Theo later

    1. Phil Dagger ⭐
      • 9 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      B

    2. Parm
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Fire taek but i'd go with Pogba...

      1. Jazz!
        • 10 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Love that 😀

        1. Parm
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 14 Years
          9 years, 1 month ago

          Check his home/away stats and he now has 3/4 at home, the Pogba tilt is coming.

    3. Debauchy
      • 12 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      a, Theo to hurt doubters , push.....

  4. @ocprodigy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    SCOUT PICKS CHALLENGE - GAMEWEEK 11 RESULTS

    Don't be that person who comments their team on the results...

    ***** GAMEWEEK RESULTS *****

    Scores on the doors;

    1st - Pochecinno, Pirlo's Pen (71pts) [3pts]
    Top 4% - Too Many Tacos, FFS Scout (70pts) [2pts]
    Top 10% - Krul Runnings (69pts), Flaming Flamingo, AA33 (68pts), Mark Rogers is for Kinnear (66pts) [1pt]

    with Tinkerman missing out on 64pts!

    As you can see from the scores on the doors, the FFS Scout unfortunately finally managed to bag some more points on the board - and additionally made sure no one else got any bonus points. Not acceptable now is it?!

    ***** THE STANDINGS *****

    And so the race continues! The top 3;

    1st - Too Many Tacos (14pts)
    2nd - Slippin' Jimmy (10pts)
    3rd - IanP1970 (9pts)

    Spreadsheet: https://www.dropbox.com/s/oyuz31n7ppeccuu/Scout%20Picks%20Challenge.xlsm?dl

    1. Pochecinno
      • 10 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      😎

  5. Lallana_
    • 11 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Start Pickford or Heaton?

    1. Squires FC
      • 12 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      I'm going pickford over heaton

  6. Scotty B
    • 13 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Who's got more points potential this week?

    Clyne or Capoue

  7. internal error
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Im captaining Kun purely because of the hot topic

    1. Phil Dagger ⭐
      • 9 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      lots of managers will captain him anyway

    2. ktk_interista
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      His away returns one?

  8. Big Col
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Which is best?

    A) Play AOA with Aguero & Coutinho and no bench

    B) switch Amat to Dawson -4 (sort out non playing defender & keep AOA)

    1. Epic Fail
      • 15 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      A

    2. WoofWoofGrrrr
      • 15 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      B, Coutinho won't start this GW in all likelihood. He's beenn rested before post international without the addition of a hammy scare.

  9. Teddy Brewski
    • 11 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Lallana to Firmino worth a -4?

    1. Epic Fail
      • 15 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Quite possibly.

      1. Debauchy
        • 12 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Agree

    2. Squires FC
      • 12 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Yea

      1. Teddy Brewski
        • 11 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Cheers all. Trigger pulled

  10. MGD
    • 9 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Adam Smith and Bellerin out for??
    0.1 ITB

    Bellerin -> Alonso
    Smith -> ?? 5.4 price

  11. Debauchy
    • 12 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Go gut Lads ,was considering Freddie Mercury,but Luka the deal

  12. Sideways Backwards
    • 10 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Am I blind, where is the captain's vote on the new mobile site?

    1. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 16 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Hit the desktop icon in the bottom left corner. May need to turn your phone also.

      1. Sideways Backwards
        • 10 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Ah cheers, shame it's gone from mobile view

        1. Mark
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 18 Years
          9 years, 1 month ago

          It will be back next week - it was an oversight on our part.

          1. Big Col
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 13 Years
            9 years, 1 month ago

            Mark, I use an IPad, now every time I stretch the page the green title bar drops down and covers half the page, is that by design or error?

          2. Debauchy
            • 12 Years
            9 years, 1 month ago

            Probs been asked before Mark, trying to figure yr height.

            6.25 ft close ?

            1. Epic Fail
              • 15 Years
              9 years, 1 month ago

              This.
              Also Date of birth and mother's maiden name?

              1. Debauchy
                • 12 Years
                9 years, 1 month ago

                First dog's name

  13. Squires FC
    • 12 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    What's going on with aguero?

    1. ktk_interista
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      What do you mean?

    2. KingNidge
      • 10 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Hot topic

    3. Pochecinno
      • 10 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Normally I'd say 'See Hot Topic' but that would be misleading in this case.

      tl;dr: nothing. He's fine.

    4. Squires FC
      • 12 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Cheers

  14. John t penguin
    • 11 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Any word on suggestion Walcott will be missing due to training ground pics?

    1. TLF
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      He trained but in London, wait until tomorrow for news on whether or not he travels up to Manchester

  15. Richd
    • 13 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Is Coutinho ok ? 🙁

    My bench doesn't exist. Amat and Holebas ..

    1. Richd
      • 13 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      I have George Friend too. Kill me now rude boi.

  16. Gooner97
    • 12 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Play Allen(BOU) or Snodgrass(sun)?

  17. andy85wsm
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 15 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Arsenal from Boxing day onward:

    WBA (h), Palace (h), Bournemouth (a), Swansea (a), Burnley (h), Watford (h), Chelsea (a), Hull (h)

    Not bad, not bad at all!

    1. Parm
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Forget Kane, this looks like a Giroud stretch to me...

      1. andy85wsm
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 15 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Just as Kane's great fixtures come to an end 🙂

    2. KingNidge
      • 10 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Will reassess my Sanchez stance for that beautiful little run fo sho

  18. Garfield1001
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Is there any updates on Coutinho? Isnt there somebody on here that gets inside knowledger updates? Berbinho?

    1. Epic Fail
      • 15 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Berbinho.

  19. ZakAFC_
    • 12 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Start Grant or Pickford?

    1. WE ARE RANGERS
      • 9 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      I have same, I am going Grant

  20. Kun Tozser
    • 10 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Pick TWO to play!

    1. Allen(BOU)
    2. Snodgrass(sun)
    3. Austin (liv)

  21. TorresMagic™
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 16 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Down to captain pick as team picks itself due to bench 😆

    1. Jazz!
      • 10 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      aguerooooooooooooooooooo

  22. Cilly Bonnolly
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Play Foster at home to Burnley or Grant at home to Bournemouth?

  23. Lateriser 12
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    a) Mannone Pickford
    b) Pickford Grant

    ?

  24. New Post
  25. Van der Faart
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    On WC with Coutinho a doubt

    A) Austin and Coutinho out for Kane and 4.7m mid(probably Routledge/Gosling)

    B) Lukaku and Coutinho to Kane and 7.4m mid(Tadic/Redmond)

    C) Kun to Kane

    1. LucasD
      • 14 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Why not just Cout to Firmino?

      1. Van der Faart
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Already have Firmino as well

    2. WoofWoofGrrrr
      • 15 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      just take Mane instead of coutinho maybe?

  26. LucasD
    • 14 Years
    9 years, 1 month ago

    Pickford / Jaku
    Williams / Evans / Amat / Holebas / Pieters
    Haz / Alexis / Firmino / Gundogan / Fletcher
    Kun / Lukaku / Austin

    1 F/T and 1.6 ITB
    Williams > Alonso a no brainier?

    Or any suggestions on what to do?

    1. JohnnyMagrinho
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Alonso is surely an essential high value defender.

        Ideally you'd want either Brunt or McAuley (if want to keep with WBA) to Evans and Kingsley is probably going to play more than Amat (both same value)

        Holebas is good low value but alternatives include Friend and Barragan.

        I would rather have KDB than Sanchez and Costa over Kun (we're talking millions saved) and not much between points returned.

    2. Jinkys Oars
      • 12 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Lukaku or Kane in for Ibra?

    3. Debauchy
      • 12 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Is Harry going to find form soon ?
      Nice fixtures but has looked a shadow of the Arry of last season.
      A week is a long time though , on the radar

    4. Leaf
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      9 years, 1 month ago

      Can see my gameweek coming down to Foster, Mcauley & Rondon at home to Burnley on MNF

      1. Leaf
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 15 Years
        9 years, 1 month ago

        Pinning hopes on West Brom isn't that great