After the highs of last Gameweek, where it seemed everyone hauled large, it was a more subdued FPL scoring week, with differentials being key. The talk in the FPL community in the run up to kick-off centred on the usual big hitters: Harry Kane (£10.9m), Son Heung-min (£9.5m), Mohamed Salah (£12.4m), etc. Other players who were expected to perform – i.e. Jack Grealish (£7.3m), James Rodriguez (£8.0m), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.7m), Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) etc. – all blanked.
In this article, I’d like to highlight some of the players who did perform and bagged points but who fell under the radar – call them the “Fantasy Forgotten.”
A “Fantasy Forgotten” is different from a differential in that the particular player may be heavily owned but was not covered or forgotten by the “experts” in the FPL community “bubble.” I am not denigrating anyone or any FPL site in this article as I have been guilty of forgetting or dismissing many of the players below myself. Please do leave your comments below. Alternatively you can reach me on Twitter @FPL_Fetish. Without further ado, here is the list:
Patrick Bamford (£5.9m)
This list could not have been made without mentioning the Leeds United number nine. He blanked in two of his last games against Man City and Wolves, but came back in Gameweek 6 with a vengeance – Bruce Willis style. A hat-trick and three bonus points meant a total of 17 points and while he is owned by over a quarter of FPL managers, many of them had benched him in the expectation that a hitherto impressive Aston Villa would get the better of Bielsa’s boys. It’s now six goals in six games all told for the former Middlesbrough man.
Michy Batshuayi (£5.8m)
I could have easily made this about the 24.2%-owned Wilfred Zaha (£7.3m), but in fairness Palace are top of Fantasy Football Scout “Fixture Ticker” for all to see and the Ivorian had been getting a lot of noise as Palace’s main source of points for a while now. It is Michy Batshuayi (£5.8m) who has fallen under the radar and could be a punt worth considering as Palace’s good fixtures continue in the short term. Batshuayi got his second attacking return in a row and the Belgian is currently owned by only 0.8% of managers. Shout out to fellow FPL community contributor Thepuntmaster for spotting this one before nearly entire human race did!
Oliver McBurnie (£5.7m)
The football Gods must truly be against the 35.6% of FPL managers who own Trent Alexander Arnold (£7.4m) expecting a clean sheet against a Sheffield United side that has well documented goal scoring problems this season. Cue the Sander Berge (£5.0m) penalty scored from a foul drawn by forgotten man Oliver McBurnie (£5.7m), who, though probably the most wasteful striker in the Premiership, still outscored the much more hyped-up Rhian Brewster (£4.5m). Time will tell if Sheffield United’s newly found goal scoring prowess will continue and if McBurnie will get any of them.
Diogo Jota (£6.3m)
Much of the pre-Gameweek talk centred around the Sadio Mane (£12.0m) vs Mohamed Salah (£12.4m) conundrum when perhaps the correct answer is not option A or B but rather option C: Diogo Jota (£6.3m). The Portuguese is attractively priced and is Liverpool’s biggest attacking signing of the summer. He’s seemingly gotten his manager’s approval and is getting a run in the team of late – being involved in the last four Gameweeks, though admittedly mostly as a substitute. His goal against the Blades was his second of the season and he is owned by only 2% of FPL managers.
Che Adams (£5.8m)
Pre-season favourite and Saints number 10 Che Adams (£5.8m) has finally begun to deliver the sort of returns that made him such an attractive talking point before a ball was kicked. It has taken time for Adams to find the back of the net but his goal versus a heavily fancied Everton side takes his tally to two goals in as many games. Astute managers will note that Adams also grabbed an assist way back in Gameweek 3 vs Burnley. Adams is posting similar stats to his strike partner Danny Ings (£8.5m) but is a cool £2.5m cheaper and owned by only 1.9% of FPL managers (as opposed to Ings at 18.5%).
Jamie Vardy (£10.0m)
Owned by 17.3% of managers, Jamie Vardy (£10.0m) isn’t exactly “forgotten,” however stats-reliant FPL pundits largely ignored Vardy precisely because his poor numbers obscure him from all sorts of excel sheets. Lest we forget the Leicester City man has hauled twice already (Gameweeks 1 and 3) and he only scored a zero in Gameweek 5 due to injury (would the Aston Villa game have ended 1-0 to Villa if Vardy had been playing?). Vardy is also on penalties for the Foxes and that cannot be discounted. Though expensive, Vardy is an asset that can still compete with the likes of Harry Kane (£10.9m) and Sergio Aguero (£10.4m) for a place in our starting XIs. Do you remember a time in recent memory when Vardy wasn’t in the running for the golden boot?
Jacob Murphy (£4.9m)
I have been guilty of dismissing Newcastle FC to Allan Saint-Maximin (£5.3m) and Callum Wilson (£6.5m) and poo-pooing the rest of the Newcastle squad as FPL non-entities. Step-up Jacob Murphy (£4.9m) for a last minute free-kick against Wolves and now I am eating my own words. In fairness to the FPL community (and myself) Murphy had only one previous appearance before his heroics at Molineux (Gameweek 3 vs Spurs), but with him priced at £4.9m and seemingly on free-kicks for the Magpies going forward, perhaps a struggling FPL manager could go for this unlikeliest of FPL punts?
Cullum Robinson (£5.5m)
Labelled with the tag of whipping boys at the very onset of the season, few FPL managers gave West Brom and their players a second glance when deciding their transfers – Matheus Pereira (£6.0m) aside. In a season with so many striker options I do not expect anyone to punt on a Baggies striker but Cullum Robinson (£5.5m) did get himself an assist – fair play to the lad – and West Brom’s late equalising goal at Brighton will certainly boost confidence in the dressing room. Need I remind readers that it was Robinson who bagged a brace in an amazing 13-point haul against Chelsea in Gameweek 3?
3 years, 5 months ago
How can I forget Che Adams when he's got goals in the two weeks after I transferred him out?!
I gave him four weeks - what's the number of weeks that other FPL players give to a player before transferring them out?