Strong form and fixtures for budget differential Mousset ahead of Gameweek 15

Last Gameweek may have seen a high-owned defender in Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) topping the scores for the round but there were many unheralded players also making a mark.

In fact, of the top seven points-scorers, five had single-digit ownership. A shout-out must also go to this column’s picks, with Dele Alli (£8.5m) and Danny Ings (£6.2m) also registering healthy Fantasy returns of 15 and nine respectively.

With the short turnaround between Gameweeks, we go again with some additional low-owned choices at hand.

Here are three differentials that are worth considering for Gameweek 15.

Lys Mousset

• FPL ownership: 5.8%*
• Price: £5.1m
• GW15 fixture: Newcastle United (h)

With four goals and three assists in the last six Gameweeks, it’s becoming hard to ignore Lys Mousset.

The former France under-21 international has been something of a surprise package this season. Prior to this campaign, he had only scored three Premier League goals in 58 games. And yet he seems to have come of age since his club-record switch over the summer.

He’s had direct involvement in 47% of Sheffield United’s goals since August, which is all the more remarkable when considering that he’s only started five league games. In fact, at the moment, he’s averaging a goal every 100 minutes played.

The biggest concern with Mousset is his lack of minutes. He may have cemented his place in the starting line-up of late, but he’s yet to play a full match for the Blades and his fitness is still a slight issue.

Jordan Ayew (£5.1m) is in the same price bracket as him and has played double the number of minutes but has admittedly been involved in fewer goals for Crystal Palace.

Even if Mousset’s minutes are limited, he has demonstrated that he has an eye for goal when it matters and Sheffield United have a good run of games between now and the end of the year. Up next are a Newcastle United team that have conceded 16 goals in seven games on the road this season.

*less than 5% ownership at the time of writing this article.

Dele Alli

• FPL ownership: 3.9%
• Price: £8.5m
• GW15 fixture: Manchester United (a)

It made sense to tip him last time out and he validated his selection with a brace; Alli is still a bona fide differential as things stand and he gets the nod again.

Alli’s minutes were limited last season primarily due to fitness and injury issues. His total of nine attacking returns in 2018/19 was by some distance his worst during his time as a Premier League player and he is already just four off his goals and assists tally from last season.

It’s clear that already under Jose Mourinho he has become more clinical. For now, at least, it seems he doesn’t even need lots of touches in advanced areas to make a mark. As an example, in Gameweek 14, Ilkay Gundogan (£5.2m) and Christian Pulisic (£7.5m) had more touches in the final third than Alli and yet they failed to register any Fantasy returns .

Aside from touches, Alli is a clear and obvious goal threat. Last Gameweek, Kevin De Bruyne (£10.2m) was the only midfielder to have more shots on goal compared to him.

However, Alli had more big chances than any other midfielder listed in FPL.

Some may say that he exceeded his xG, but the fact of the matter is that he took his chances and was probably unlucky not to score a hat-trick. Up next for Tottenham is a visit to Old Trafford, with Mourinho returning to his old club.

United’s backline have struggled to keep clean sheets since his departure and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if this rejuvenated Tottenham team ended up registering numerous goal attempts in this encounter.

James Ward-Prowse

• FPL ownership: 1.4%
• Price: £5.8m
• GW15 fixture: Norwich City (h)

Danny Ings (£6.2m) may have been stealing the headlines as Southampton’s most viable FPL asset. However, there is another player among their ranks that also has made a noticeable impact.

Ward-Prowse has now scored three goals in his last four league games and his 83rd-minute match-winning strike was key on Saturday in lifting the Saints’ fortunes.

He averaged a goal every 277 minutes played last season, which is far from spectacular in the grand scheme of things, but nevertheless reasonable for an unheralded budget midfielder. He is also a regular on set-piece duties, which adds to his value.

In a similar way to Alli, he’s hardly been making a name for himself with touches in the final third. However, over the past four Gameweeks, he is ranked joint-second for goal attempts, joint-first for shots on target and joint-first for big chances among sub-£6.0m midfielders.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that Ward-Prowse is an England international and, if we’re being critical, he’s not truly fulfilled his potential to date. Yet, with a generous fixture run, starting with Norwich at home, it could be the impetus that he needs to continue his recent goalscoring run and perhaps score more than 100 FPL points in a season come May.