Welcome to the latest instalment of the Weekly Shop, where we scan the FanDuel player list, scouting for assets to consider for our line-ups ahead of Gameweek 15.
This round presents a number of matches that offer potential targets, with the ties involving the current Premier League top two piquing our interest.
Leaders Chelsea host West Brom, while Arsenal entertain Stoke City: in both cases, form and home advantage appear key factors.
Both visiting sides will arrive with some confidence after improving results. However, West Brom and Stoke are surely set to be on the back-foot, ensuring that their defensive players rank high on our weekend watchlist.
Swansea City have been woeful at the back of late, but struck five goals at the Liberty Stadium last time out. A resurgent Sunderland drop in on south Wales as we consider a number of David Moyes’ attacking assets.
We’re expecting Southampton to bounce back from their rather surprising defeat at Selhurst Park against Middlesbrough, while at the KCOM Stadium, Crystal Palace arrive with a fearsome in-form frontman who would seem likely to carry Alan Pardew’s men to back-to-back victories.
Elsewhere, Liverpool will also be hoping to banish memories of their shock late defeat to Bournemouth, offering up the usual menu of attacking options from midfield. West Ham will arrive on Merseyside fresh from a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Alexis Sanchez and Arsenal: they will nevertheless provide us with some defensive candidates to consider.
Better Buys
We start our player list analysis by first identifying some of the players that will form the foundations of our line-ups. These ‘Better Buys’ may require considerable investment, but they have the numbers to back up our faith.
Clean sheets are perilously difficult to predict this season, but we feel we’ve earmarked a pair of goalkeepers that could provide us with those precious ten points.
Chelsea have conceded in each of their last two, but six straight clean sheets prior to those matches makes Thibaut Courtois (£7.8m) a stand-out option.
The Belgian made nine saves over those recent pair of outings and boasts a 16.3 average over his last four home matches ahead of West Brom’s visit.
We’re putting Southampton’s 3-0 defeat at Selhurst Park down as a blip to consider Fraser Forster (£6.8m). The Saints have kept back-to-back clean sheets at St Mary’s, while only Burnley and Swansea have mustered fewer attempts than Aitor Karanka’s side over the last four Gameweeks.
We always have to consider that defenders fail to benefit from clean sheet points in FanDuel, so it’s defensive actions such as clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI’s) that are the principal source of points.
West Brom’s Gareth McAuley (£7.3m) tallied 15 CBI’s last time out and ranks fourth overall for that metric, registering 51 over his last four Gameweeks. The Baggies centre-back will primarily be occupied with keeping Diego Costa at bay at the Bridge, but also presents an ominous goal threat from set pieces.
That’s also true of our next defender. West Ham’s Winston Reid (£7.9m) has served up three assists and a goal this season, and a trip to a Liverpool side that remain vulnerable in the air should favour the centre-back.
Against Arsenal, Reid’s 11 clearances, four interceptions and three tackles won provided a score of 26.75, while his 23.61 points average in FanDuel is only behind Hull’s Michael Dawson (24.96).
The Hull City centre-back, available for £8m, is now top of the FanDuel defender leaderboard for average points per match.
Dawson has notched a pair of goals in six appearances and registered over ten CBI’s on average. He should have the opportunity to notch up clearances aplenty against Crystal Palace: the Eagles have fired over more crosses this campaign (368) than any other team.
In midfield, we have our eye on a couple of players that regularly flourish on home turf.
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard (£12.6m) has netted six of his eight goals Stamford Bridge this term and is the top midfielder for shots on target (10) at home.
Similarly, Liverpool’s Sadio Mane (£11.7m) is not far behind with nine shots on target over six appearances; he’s hit five strikes at Anfield and picked up a goal and assist at Bournemouth last time out.
Swansea City’s Gylfi Sigurdsson (£11m) may have blanked against Spurs last time out, but a pair of goals and three assists in his preceding four outings ensures that he makes our watchlist.
His dead ball deliveries could be a key factor against Sunderland: only Burnley (68) have conceded more attempts from set plays than the Black Cats (65).
Sigurdsson is also the top midfielder for shots on target (20) this campaign, while his 25 goal attempts at home is joint top for midfielders along with Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (£13.7m)
The Belgian, despite blanking in the damaging defeat to Chelsea, picked up 35.25 FanDuel points to indicate how suited he is the FanDuel scoring system.
Sergio Aguero’s ban could even see De Bruyne’s influence increase over forthcoming matches. Only Dimitri Payet (47) has created more chances from midfield this season, and he’s tallied six assists in seven away matches ahead of City’s visit to the King Power Stadium to take on a suffering Leicester City.
Aguero’s injury also puts Kelechi Iheanacho (£10.3m) on our radar.
The young striker has netted three goals and served up as many assists in nine appearances. Six of those were from the bench and a record of contributing every 50 minutes indicates that the Nigerian is ready to step up in Aguero’s absence.
It’s difficult to ignore Alexis Sanchez (£15.4m) after his hat-trick collected him 88.5 points against West Ham.
The Chilean now has five goals and an assist over his last two outings from ten chances created and six shots on target. It’s difficult to imagine the Stoke defence being able to shackle Sanchez in his current form.
Equally, Diego Costa (£14.6m) will be a popular pick this week if he overcomes a knock picked up at the Etihad.
Three goals and three assists over four matches grant the Blues frontman a 36.3 average over that period. He demonstrated his influence for Chelsea against City by picking up points from eight different FanDuel actions.
Poundstretchers
Next, we evaluate some budget options that will allow us to fit those big-hitters above into our line-ups.
These ‘Poundstretchers’ may not be the strongest candidates, but should offer value provided the price is right.
Crystal Palace kept a first clean sheet of the campaign against Southampton, which makes Wayne Hennessey, available for £6.4m, an option for the Eagles trip to Hull. Steve Bruce’s side have had the least amount of goal attempts at home: a woeful 61 in seven matches in front of their own fans.
Stoke’s defenders look good value for their encounter at the Emirates.
Bruno Martins Indi (£6.7m) is our preferred choice here, a 19 point average over last four includes 25 clearances, 10 of those in previous away match. We’ll have to check the team-sheets, though, with the centre-defender sustaining a cheekbone injury against Burnley.
Elsewhere in the Potters rearguard, Glen Johnson (£6.2m) and Marc Muniesa (£6.1m) both have bargain price tags. The latter scored against the Clarets but it’s his 14 CBI’s and four tackles that attract our attention ahead of the clash with the Gunners.
Manchester United’s Eric Bailly (£7.2m) may return for the visit of Spurs to Old Trafford and has a healthy 17.8-point average this season in FanDuel.
If he remains on the bench, then Marcos Rojo (£6.4m) has proved to be an effective stand-in. The Argentine has recorded a consistent 22.6 average over his last four Gameweeks, with 52 CBI’s placing him third on for defenders over that period.
Spurs’ Toby Alderweireld (£7m) looks set for a starting role for the Old Trafford trip. The centre-back appears to prosper in the tougher matches: he recorded over 22 points against both Liverpool and Manchester City prior to being sidelined and always offers a potent threat from set-pieces.
If your budget fails to stretch to Winston Reid, then Arthur Masuaku provides a budget alternative. Available for £6.6m, the full-back scored 20.5 points against Arsenal last weekend and has averaged over 20 points per match ahead of his battle with Sadio Mane at Anfield.
Moving to midfield, we’re looking to Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser, available for just £4.2m, as a possible enabler following his superb cameo from the bench against Liverpool. The Cherries will likely be missing Junior Stanislas, which improves Fraser’s chances to face Burnley.
Similarly, Duncan Watmore’s absence for Sunderland could see Adnan Januzaj get the nod against Swansea. The Manchester United loanee can be acquired for just £5.4m for the visit to the Liberty Stadium and, given the Black Cats’ encouraging attacking form, could prove a bargain.
Despite Southampton’s defeat to Palace, Sofiane Boufal (£7.1m) surprisingly scored 27.25 points at Selhurst Park, which included four chances created, four tackles, two fouls drawn and a shot on target. The winger could provide returns based on those numbers if, as expected, he starts against Middlesbrough at St Mary’s.
Emre Can (£8.5m) remains the cheapest route into a Liverpool midfield that have been full of goals this season. The German scored and assisted at the Vitality Stadium to pick up 44.75 FanDuel points; he looks outstanding value ahead of West Ham’s Anfield visit.
Team-mate Divock Origi (£7.8m) should keep his spot for that encounter having scored in three consecutive matches (including the EPL cup) for the Reds, offering us a cheaper alternative in the striker slots.
A trip to Hull City looks to be an ideal fixture for Christian Benteke (£8.1m) to extend an impressive run of form away from home.
The Belgian has netted four goals in as many outings following the brace against Southampton and has blanked in just one of six away matches for the Eagles.
Significantly, the Tigers’ defence are joint worst with Alan Pardew’s side for headed attempts conceded (37), suggesting that Benteke will be in his element: he leads the way for headers on goal this season (22).
Sunderland’s growing momentum can, in no small part, be attributed to a burgeoning partnership between Jermain Defoe (£8.1m) and Victor Anichebe (£7.1m).
Defoe has now struck a trio of goals and two assists in four outings to average 26.3 points in FanDuel. Meanwhile, Anichebe has averaged 27.9 points over that period having also scored three goals. Both look fine prospects against a Swansea City defence that has conceded 16 over their previous six matches.
I will be back on Friday with our FanDuel Focus article, revealing which players made the cut and earned a spot in my line-up, along with a review of the available FanDuel contests ahead of the weekend.
