Pro Pundits

The best teams to target for a hectic FPL schedule

Double Gameweek fever will often take hold of even the best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers. Once it hits you it’s hard to think about anything else, and we often forget to plan for the future.

The Gameweek 20 deadline begins on January 26 and we’ll have the Gameweek 23 deadline on February 6. That’s four Gameweek deadlines in just 12 days.

In this article I want to look at which players and teams we should be targeting over the coming weeks, given that we’re not going to have a huge amount of time to react to between deadlines.

Leicester City

The Fixtures: Everton (a) | Leeds United (h) | Fulham (a) | Wolves (a)

With all the talk of the Premier League title race being between Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City, we have Leicester casually lying in 3rd place, ahead of Liverpool. Not that it matters much I suppose, Leicester couldn’t possibly win the league could they?

In terms of the upcoming fixtures there’s a lot to like for targeting Leicester attackers.

Wolves, Leeds and Fulham are all in the bottom six for expected goals conceded (xGC) over the last four matches, although it is worth noting that Fulham have played Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in that time.

In terms of players to target, Jamie Vardy (£10.1m) is always an obvious pick, with 10 shots in the box over the last four Gameweeks, you’d expect him to cause these defences problems.

He’s also a great option to swap to Harry Kane (£11.1m) in Gameweek 23 when Spurs play West Brom as well.

Vardy does have this hip impingement which has caused him problems so we should expect his minutes to be managed where possible, and we should be careful between the Leeds and Fulham game where there is about 48 hours between kick-offs.

Harvey Barnes (£6.8m) and James Maddison (£7.1m) are the other considerations in attack.

Barnes isn’t far behind Vardy in terms of shots in the box with eight in his last four, however Maddison comes in at just three, and it’s always his lower goal threat that puts me off.

He’s creative as we know, but if I’m going to take up a valuable midfield spot with someone right now, I want them to be someone who’s regularly threatening the goal.

My only issue with backing their defence right now is trying to find value.

James Justin (£5.0m) is the standout but if you don’t already own him it feels like a big investment when you can get the likes of John Stones (£5.1m).

Now that Ricardo Pereira (£5.9m) has made an appearance in the league, it’s difficult to know exactly how they’ll set up going forward.

It feels like Justin has done enough to keep his place, but whether that’s at right-back, left-back or even a right centre-back in a back three, it’s difficult to know.

Until we see another game I wouldn’t read too much into Pereira playing right-wing as a substitute, I think that might have been to provide a bit more defensive stability to see the game out with Christian Pulisic (£8.2m) and Timo Werner (£9.2m) both playing down Chelsea’s left side.

Manchester City

Stones produces season-high haul as City keep another clean sheet

The Fixtures: West Brom (a) | Sheffield United (h) | Burnley (a) | Liverpool (a)

If you don’t already own a double or triple up with Manchester City players then you’re probably sick of hearing about them. However the fixtures shouldn’t be ignored, and it’s not too late to jump on.

In West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United and Burnley they face the three lowest scoring teams in the league so far this season.

This is on top of an already impressive defensive record which has seen them keep seven clean sheets in their last nine league games.

With an xGC of just 13.41 so far this season, the number of clean sheets is no fluke for City.

If you want absolute safety in starts (or at least as close as you can get with Pep Guardiola in charge) then Rúben Dias (£5.8m) is the one to target.

John Stones has formed a formidable partnership with the Portuguese centre-back, and looks to be nearly as nailed on.

It would be difficult for Guardiola to break this partnership even if the other centre-backs at the club were fully fit.

There’s always a chance of rotation but for £5.1m Stones is looking like a bargain.

It’s worth noting that he’s only had three shots in the box since Gameweek 10, so don’t expect double-digit hauls too often.

João Cancelo (£5.8m) feels a bit like the forgotten man right now, but in that same time period he’s had eight shots, four of them in the box and created 10 chances as well.

When you watch Manchester City in attack he’s often found in midfield and it feels like a big haul isn’t too far away, but you have to expect him to miss more minutes than the other two defenders mentioned.

In attack, I’m finding it hard to back anyone apart from Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) at the moment.

He not only has the most shots out of all the City attackers over the last four Gameweeks, but he’s also created the most chances too. He’s about as nailed on as it gets and the next three fixtures look appealing.

Elsewhere, you’re trying to bank on minutes and it’s difficult.

Even when playing, the likes of Gabriel Jesus (£9.1m) haven’t impressed.

I thought we might see a resurgence from Raheem Sterling (£11.4m) as well but he hasn’t quite been at it recently. Just four shots in the box over the last four Gameweeks, and two chances created. It’s not a lot of potential with such a high price to pay, at a time where we’re already struggling to fit premium players into our squads.

The only other attacker I think I’d look at right now is Ilkay Gündogan (£5.5m). At his price he doesn’t pose much of a risk, although he does take up a potentially valuable Man City slot. He’s had the same number of shots in the box as De Bruyne for less than half the price, and has created a few chances as well. We should forget thinking about him as a deep lying player, he’s getting into the box as much as anyone else right now. It’s just whether you want to take the risk over him being guaranteed minutes, but right now he seems to be.

Aston Villa

andys-gw17-article 7

The Fixtures: Burnley (a) | Southampton (a) | West Ham (h) | Arsenal (h)

It’s quite easy to forget about Aston Villa right now considering they haven’t played in the league since New Year’s Day where they lost to Manchester United 2-1.

They’re a bit of an unknown right now, not in terms of how good they’ve been, but how good they’ll continue to be.

This whole season is setting new precedents and giving us new challenges. Seeing how a team copes with forced lockdown and training ground closures has still only happened a handful of times.

Luckily we’ll get to see their fitness against Manchester City and then how good of a performance they can put in against Newcastle before we have to start buying their players again ahead of a fairly good fixture run in Gameweek 20.

It’s also worth noting that like Manchester City, they have fixtures they still need to rearrange, so at some point they’ll have more Double Gameweeks, although we can’t say exactly when yet.

In terms of value I think they still offer lots. At the back their defensive numbers are some of the best in the league. Their average expected xGC per match is 1.14. To put that into perspective, Manchester City have 0.79 and Chelsea have 0.94.

Matt Targett (£4.6m) is the cheapest way into the defence, however he’s only created two chances in his last four matches, compared to Matt Cash (£5.0m) who’s created six. If you want to back the clean sheets though and save some money you could do worse than Targett.

In attack Jack Grealish (£7.7m) is still the standout. Even after missing Gameweek 18 he’s still the fourth highest scoring midfield by both total points and points per match this season.

No player has created more chances so far this season (55), nor has higher expected assists (xA) at 5.02. This includes De Bruyne who has played just one minute less than Grealish. Even for shots in the box, he stacks up with 31 so far. That’s 11th out of all FPL players.

Anwar El Ghazi (£5.8m) is another player that was popular before the enforced break for Villa, but I do worry about what might happen once Ross Barkley (£5.9m) is back.

Barkley was a mainstay in the team until injury and if he comes back into the side it could be El Ghazi who misses out.

We will likely get some kind of indication of this in the Manchester City or Newcastle games. If El Ghazi did miss out, Villa will be looking for another penalty taker and unless Watkins has found some confidence from somewhere they could fall to Barkley, although this is only speculation on my part.

Up front I still think Ollie Watkins (£6.1m) provides lots of value. With some doubts over Dominic CalvertLewin’s (£7.6m) fitness we are perhaps starting to run a little low on cheap forwards, with Patrick Bamford (£6.7m) and Michail Antonio (£6.3m) being some of the other popular ones.

Watkins has provided plenty of frustration to owners after missing some decent chances, but his movement is key, being able to get into great positions so consistently and having Grealish behind creating those chances. In fact, Watkins’ expected goals (xG) per 90 is 0.51 so far this season, that’s the same as Kane and higher than Danny Ings (£8.3m) and Timo Werner (£9.2m) who are 0.41 and 0.40 respectively.

Who Else?

Mitchell benefits from Palace's first clean sheet since Gameweek 1

Crystal Palace face West Ham (h), Wolves (h), Newcastle (a) and Leeds (a) over the next four weeks. With Tyrick Mitchell (£3.9m) looking to have won the left-back spot back, he provides great value for our squads and potential good cover when needed to be called upon.

While a lot of FPL managers are likely loathe to invest in the Chelsea attack, we shouldn’t ignore their defence. As mentioned above they have some of the best defensive numbers in the league.

They’re not going through a great period right now but they do have some fixtures which should see defensive returns. They play Wolves (h), Burnley (h), Spurs (a) and Sheffield United (a) over the next four. Apart from Spurs, the other sides are all in the bottom seven for xG this season.

If Reece James (£5.1m) can prove his fitness he still looks to be a bargain, although right now Ben Chilwell (£6.1m) possibly provides a more reliable option, especially with the risk that Kurt Zouma (£5.8m) may have now lost his regular centre-back spot.

With fixtures to rearrange we shouldn’t completely forget about Fulham. They face Brighton (a), West Brom (a), Leicester (h) and West Ham (h) in the next four.

We have seen some signs of defensive improvement from Scott Parker’s team, although given the difficulty of fixtures over the last four, we will have to wait and see exactly how that plays out in the next few weeks.

Alphonse Areola (£4.5m) offers a cheap back-up goalkeeper opportunity and Ademola Lookman (£5.0m) offers a very cheap midfield option as a 4th midfielder or more likely a bench option.

He does have some competition from Bukayo Saka (£5.3m), Tomas Soucek (£5.3m) and Raphinha (£5.5m), but with Double Gameweeks at some point in his future he may be the one to opt for, especially with West Brom to play soon.

1,029 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Amey
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    You will always walk alone !

    1. Eat my goal!
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Come on Burnley!

      1. Amey
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Yessssss

  2. Gobigorgohome
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    1. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Thisssssss

  3. Differentiator
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Absolute disaster

    1. Groot the Leveller
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      i have no reason to watch the game now....

  4. BenDavies
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    With Salah benched I am relying on Chris Wood to get 6 points to push me into the 100 club

  5. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    salah massive fail

  6. OPTA FPL
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Taylor!!!

  7. Hazz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    The Zambian Witch Doctor is so close to being the greatest comment in FFS History.

    https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2020/12/27/new-dad-coufal-starts-alongside-soucek-and-cresswell-as-lamptey-misses-out-for-brighton/?hc_page=14&hc_sort_by=comment_date#hc_comment_23058865

    Shame my denial is directly below it 😀

    1. Begbie.
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Genius

    2. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Do you believe in voodoo now?

      1. Hazz
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        I'm a believer.

    3. Qaiss
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yeah that is to be honest... sheesh

    4. Baines on Toast...
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Unbelievable. Who will he curse next?

      1. JONALDINHO
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Son he said

      2. aleksaa2
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Son

    5. Cake by the pound
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      This

    6. JONALDINHO
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      What were the actual chances of it happening?

      1. diesel001
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Salah generally has percentage change of minimum 50% to get some sort of return in PL games (assist or goal). So to blank for 5 PL games straight the percentage chance = 0.5^5 = 0.03125 = 3.125%

    7. OverTinker
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      wow 😀 😀

    8. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Are you lot ignoring the fact he did actually score in game 3 😆

      Makes all this a load of BS

      1. OverTinker
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        what??

      2. ClassiX
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        The "curse" was on 27 Dec - GW15. Salah's scores since then 2, 3, 2, 3

        1. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          He scored in the cup game didn't he ?

          1. ClassiX
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 2 months ago

            Don't spoil a good story! 😉

  8. faux_C
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    MELTDOWN

  9. AIRMILES
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    I was worried this might happen, with the FA Cup match this weekend.

  10. DGW Sane TC Fail....
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    It's petty funny how this Zambian Witch Doctor story has panned out. i think it will be referenced for a few years on here lol

    1. DGW Sane TC Fail....
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      pretty

  11. Rainer
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Henderson muscle strain.

    Sell all Liverpool assets ASAP!

  12. DycheDycheBaby
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    I quit.

    1. Werkself
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      See you next week.

  13. tuturututu
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Fck off Jurgen!

  14. BeWater
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    No Justin, no Stones, no Dias, Son, Vardy, Salah (c). WTF.

  15. Digital-Real
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Henderson injured.
    Liverpool FC in tatters

  16. FPL price manipulators are …
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Burn the witch!!!

  17. Nightcrawler
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    All HAIL ZAMVIAN WITCH DOCOTR

    you love to see it

  18. Steve The Spud
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Salah owners in a state of sheer bewilderment

    1. Pukki Party
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Captainers*

    2. Danno - Emre Canada
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      So everyone bar one of my big cash ML rivals

  19. Party time
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Zambian Witch Doctor just cashed out

    • Pukki Party
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Matip back is great for CS potential

    • Big Hippo
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Well that's the season definitely over now

    • Trippier Hazard
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Salah Firmino benched!

    • Gobigorgohome
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      WOW ZAMBIAN WITCH DOCTOR GETT INNNN

    • Baron Penguin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Salah as an impact sub against Palace - 16 points.
      Salah as a starter since - 2,3,2,3.
      Salah (c) for the win!

      1. JONALDINHO
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        The Zambian witch doctor says hi

        1. Baron Penguin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Curses!

    • Cantona's Kung Fu Kick
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      If I didn't have Robbo and need the cleanie, I'd want a Burnley 7-0 thrashing

      1. Bees4Lyf
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Need a Lowton hattrick please

    • Bees4Lyf
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      LOL salah...

    • IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Salah coming on minute 63 and manage to score a brace. Make that happen, FPL gods.

    • 2EyedTurk
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Salah captain, so stuck on 146. Oh well

      1. Milk, 1 Šuker
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Link to team?

        1. 2EyedTurk
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          How do I do that?

          1. Milk, 1 Šuker
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 2 months ago

            Go to your profile and there should be a field called Website. Copy and paste the web address/link from your Gameweek history page on FPL.

            1. 2EyedTurk
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 2 months ago

              Try it now, has it worked?

    • JabbaWookiee
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Stay positive. Remember what happened last time he was benched...

    • A. PRISE
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Bet the house on Mane scoring