Price fall Pretenders Poised to Step into Spotlight

Monday night saw the curtain come down on the fifth Fantasy Premier League gameweek of the season, and for most, it was a curtain they couldn’t wait to see drop.

As the masses peeled themselves off the floor in the wake of Manchester City’s Carrow Road crumbling and yet another faceplant for the double Liverpool defence, those that will have found solace Saturday through Monday will have been those who have followed the hype in the opening weeks of the season.

Correlation between jumping on board the likes of Teemu Pukki (£7.1m) and Norwich teammate Todd Cantwell (£4.9m) who have seen price rises of £0.6m and £0.4m respectively or the likes of the half a mil dearer Mason Mount (£6.5m) at Chelsea, accumulating team value and enjoying end of season success may be relatively weak, but owners are reaping the benefits presently. The ability to maintain rocketing team value throughout the season certainly makes life that bit easier, but the bottom line for the moment is that these guys are scoring points.

Any manager worth their fantasy salt should also be carefully scrutinising cut-price assets at the other end of the spectrum, however.

Inauspicious starts to the season for previously fancied players and their teams will naturally cause managers to outcast impotent individuals, and like any market, when demand is low, prices are driven downward. Spotting where true value lies, however, is a little less straight forward.

LEICESTER CITY

Ayoze Perez (£6.1m) holds the unenvious title of falling furthest – a £0.4m drop from his original tag of £6.5m. Managers flocked to the Spaniard as the start of the season drew ever closer, a result of the oft-time second striker’s reclassification as a midfielder and what looked a blissful Fantasy hookup with Brendan Rodger’s at Leicester City.

It hasn’t quite panned out as what many would have expected for the former Newcastle United frontman. Owned by just shy of a million managers in Gameweek 1, gaffers have bid Ayoze “adios” in the convening weeks, and having not featured at all in the Gamweek 4 victory at home to Bournemouth, he was equally as ineffectual when taking to the field for the last half hour in Leicester’s loss to Manchester United over the weekend.

Perez may well be the most discounted giveaway in the bargain bin at present, but Rodgers’ favouring of Harvey Barnes (£5.9m) over the past two gameweeks may mean the 26-year-old will have to bide his time on the bench for the foreseeable.

Barnes himself has suffered a price drop of £0.1m from his start of season sticker, as have teammates Youri Tielemans (£6.4m) and Ben Chilwell (£5.4m).

Each has provided attacking returns, midfielder Barnes grabbing what proved the winner against Sheffield United in Gameweek 3 with Tielemans grabbing an assist and a goal in the Gameweek 4 tie against the aforementioned Cherries. Marauding left-back Chilwell also laid one on for Jamie Vardy (£8.9m) on that day, another that has seen the minimum price drop applied.

With all three having ownership sub 5%, each falls into the potential pile as far as differentials go, but perhaps holding fire until the Foxes negotiate an away trip to Liverpool in Gameweek 8 is advisable.

EVERTON

Owning Everton assets was pretty much an essential play for managers in time for things getting underway last month. A home match with City aside in Gamweek 7, the Toffees looked on paper to have been handed a dreamboat of a start by the fixture machine all the way to Gameweek 10.

Halfway through those ten fixtures and it’s safe to say we’ve all been pretty much underwhelmed by Marco Silva’s charges thus far, despite two home wins against Watford and Wolves.

What looked like early season defensive stability – two clean sheets in the first two games – has given way to nervous fragility in the corresponding three weeks, conceding two in the loss to Aston Villa, two in the win against Wolves and most recently three in the loss to Bournemouth at the weekend.

And whilst players like Lucas Digne (£6.2m), Jordan Pickford (£5.6m) and Yerry Mina (£5.6m) have enjoyed price rises of the back of the quickly fading memory that was the double shutout, a return of only five goals in attack has seen some of their more offensive teammates tumble.

Perhaps most eye-catching is the £0.3m fall of perennial fantasy stalwart Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.7m). The Icelandic provider has been eerily quiet, registering only a single assist thus far this season, and has been withdrawn in each of the Merseysiders away games to date.

Despite involvement in three of the five goals scored by his side this season, Brazilian powerhouse Richarlison (£7.9m) hasn’t quite avoided a slashing from the priceman’s sword, his own tag shaved by £0.1m.

But arguably most intriguing from a value perspective is the case of Moise Kean (£6.7m).

The Italian wunderkind has only managed to spearhead the attack from the start on one occasion over the opening salvos, as he adjusts to the cut and thrust of Premier League football following his much-heralded arrival from Juventus. The 162 minutes of on-field time the teenager has amassed is more-or-less half that of teammate Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m) who has been preferred in the main striker role.

But, as Silva’s side continue to misfire, one has to think that Kean’s opportunity is imminent. The argument for his inclusion is fuelled further by the fact that, despite spending half as much time on the pitch as Calvert-Lewin, the Italian international has registered the same amount of penalty box touches as the Englishman – 12 – and looks capable of playing with substantially more dynamism, having managed to receive more passes in the final third and successfully attempted more dribbles and more take ons than his counterpart.

With four of their next five fixtures carrying a fixture difficulty rating of two, one can be fairly certain that things will improve, starting at home to Sheffield United in Gameweek 6. Can’t they?

BOURNEMOUTH

In the history of FPL dovetailing, has there ever been a more likeable duo than the 2018/19 edition of Ryan Fraser (£7.3m) and Callum Wilson (£7.8m)?

The diminutive Scotsman had a breakout season last year, registering seven goals and an-only-Eden-Hazard-bettered fourteen assists from his left-wing spot, whilst the robust English striker earned his first senior international caps for his country in a season where he bagged himself fourteen goals as well as laying on nine assists in the process.

Perhaps most heart-warming was the understanding the two developed with each other, combining on no less than twelve occasions for goals in the Premier League – one of the great double acts in recent Fantasy history.

It took all of 24 minutes for the pair to combine on the opening day of last season, as Fraser fired the Cherries into the lead against Cardiff City thanks to a Wilson pass. This time around we were forced to wait until Gameweek 4 for the Bang Brothers to produce, Fraser laying on for Wilson in the 3-1 defeat at Leicester.

With Gameweek 6 on the horizon, each has suffered a £0.2m hit to their initial listing, something which, particularly in the case of Wilson, seems rather unfair on paper, but understandable given the options available at their price points.

The 27-year-old bagged his second and third goals of the campaign in the weekend taming of Everton, with Fraser introduced from the bench to wallop in a freekick for good measure.

Leaky themselves in defence, the dynamic duo will surely fancy their chances over the next five gameweeks with porous peers Arsenal, Norwich and Watford all coming after this week’s trip to Southampton and the following weekend’s home fixture against West Ham.

Tried and tested and certainly now with scope to generate points in the short term, doubling up on the two for a saving of a combined £0.4m on the initial price points must be at the very least filed under “Consideration” for managers.

SPURS

A strange unease has enveloped White Hart Lane from the very start of the 2019/20 crusade.

The tardy closing of the European club transfer window made for strife-filled few weeks for Mauricio Pochettino, who anxiously waited for the immediate futures of some of his most prized assets to be settled – Christian Eriksen (£8.8m) and Jan Vertonghen (£5.3m) amongst them.

First-team regulars in the main for most of the Argentinian’s tenure at in Tottenham, the former Ajax duo each saw their onfield minutes curtailed in the opening three gameweeks as speculation intensified as to whether or not they would up sticks for pastures new and their FPL prices certainly suffered as a result – each experiencing a drop of £0.2m. In Vertonghen’s case, the use of the word “limited” may be somewhat of an understatement. The experienced Belgian did not feature until the London Derby in Gameweek 4.

A well-earned draw at the home of their fierce rivals was followed by a comprehensive 4-0 drubbing of Crystal Palace at the Lane over the weekend, two games in which both players played the full 90 minutes in each.

With the early season malaise seemingly lifted and tricky away days against Arsenal and Man City already behind them, Spurs will certainly look to build on Saturday’s win over the coming weeks.

Their next four look far more inviting than their last four – trips to Leicester and Brighton with a home tie against Southampton sandwiched between and again playing host to Watford before two successive away days in Merseyside in as many weeks as October turns to November.

The Dane is undoubtedly a player of sublime quality and the pivotal link man to traditional goal-getters Heung-Min Son (£9.6m) and talisman Harry Kane (£11.0m) in attack. The only player to have registered more than his 37 assists since the start of the 2016/17 has been Kevin De Bruyne (£9.8m) with 39.

Given the fact the Belgian playmaker is £1.0m dearer and, as we bore witness to over the weekend, one of the most afflicted victims when Guardiola spins the Pep Roulette, Eriksen becomes a viable alternative for anyone looking out of that particularly high-risk rotational game. That despite not yet registering an assist so far this season.

A question remains as to whether Vertonghen has done enough over the past two gameweeks to win back his place alongside compatriot Toby Alderweireld (£5.5m) at the heart of the defence as Colombian Davison Sanchez (£5.5m) continues to recover from an ankle injury. Certainly, it was the preferred pairing last season, so at a discounted price Jan could very well be your man.

QUICKFIRE HONOURABLE MENTIONS (at least £0.2m drop)

Marcos Alonso (£6.2m) – We all know what the Spaniard can do from that left-back-come-left-forward position. Could well be a punt as doubts linger over Emerson (£5.5m) and his hamstring.

Ross Barkley (£5.7m) – The injury to Mason Mount in last night’s Champions League defeat to Valencia could give the England international a clear route back into the Chelsea team. Demanding to take penalties and then skying them may prove a hindrance, however.

Mesut Ozil (£7.3m) – The German’s ordeals off the football pitch this season have been well publicised, a factor that played a part in his total absence from play until 70 mins in the draw to Watford at the weekend. Will have to jockey for places with other creative influences like Dani Ceballos (£5.7m) and Reiss Nelson (£5.4m) and doesn’t look 100% nailed down at the best of times. Good fixtures though.

Joshua King (£6.3m) – The Norwegian is a cheaper option to Bournemouth teammates Fraser and Wilson. Designated penalty taker also. Cheap, and now cheaper.

Wilfried Zaha (£6.8m) – Undoubted ability but has been totally off the boil since his protracted moves away from Palace broke down prior to the season starting. If he can regain composure and form, would most certainly bag points.