Double Gameweek 34 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is almost upon us, which gives us an opportunity to have a look at some more differential options.
This time, we’ve selected low-owned picks at Liverpool, Burnley and Leicester City who we think have the potential to make an impact.
As always, to qualify, the player must have an ownership of 5% or less at the time of writing.
SADIO MANE
- FPL ownership: 3.5%
- Price: £11.7m
- GW34-38 fixtures: EVE | new | TOT + avl | – (sou should fall into GW37) | WOL
Sadio Mane (£11.7m) has racked up six goals and two assists in his last eight Premier League appearances, which has coincided with him regularly being deployed as a centre-forward.
Having operated on the left of the front three for the majority of his Liverpool career, the Senegalese is now thriving through the middle.
Against Manchester United in Gameweek 33, Mane once again spearheaded the Reds’ rampant attack and was instrumental in all four of his side’s goals, ending the match with 13 points, courtesy of a goal, assist and bonus.
From Gameweek 26 onwards, he ranks second for non-penalty expected goals (non-pen xG) and joint-seventh for big chances among all players. Both of those totals are behind Mohamed Salah (£13.2m), of course, but as a differential tactic, there could be an argument to pair him up with the Egyptian, and double up on Liverpool’s premium midfielders.
“Playing the centre obviously suits Sadio (Mane) very well as well. He played for us and scored some incredible goals and some important goals from the left-wing, but he can play the centre as well. And we saw that again.
Sadio as well had some physical struggles since he came back (from AFCON). The boy didn’t feel it but we could see it. He cannot use his immense physicality just like this week in, week out, every three days. That was the problem.
But I really felt before the game against City, ‘okay that looks like Sadio physically’. And that’s why he could play the game he played. Very important, he was super difficult to defend and very helpful and incredibly important in our defending. His first goal, you can only score if you try to get there and he did that. You only do this run if you feel fresh enough to do it, it all works together.” – Jurgen Klopp on Sadio Mane
And the impact of him playing centrally has had a positive impact on both an individual and team level: Liverpool have won 12 of their last 13 Premier League matches, drawing the other against Manchester City.
Roberto Firmino (£8.7m) and Diogo Jota (£8.3m) are clearly going to see playing time during the run-in, which suggests Mane may see the odd benching, but his form may leave Jurgen Klopp with little choice but to continue starting him.
JAY RODRIGUEZ
- FPL ownership: 2.2%
- Price: £5.2m
- GW34-38 fixtures: WOL | wat | AVL | tot + avl | NEW
Jay Rodriguez (£5.2m) has produced a goal and assist in his last four Premier League outings, but has still underperformed his expected goal involvement (xGI) by -1.65 in that time.
The Burnley-born forward has formed a decent partnership with Wout Weghorst (£6.4m) under interim boss Mike Jackson, and is clearly benefitting from Maxwel Cornet (£5.9m) spending more time higher up the pitch.
This importantly stretches the opposition’s backline, which in turn, creates space for Rodriguez, whose best attribute is his clever movement and ability to drop off the front and link play.
It’s an altogether more proactive/attacking approach under Jackson, ahead of an appealing run of fixtures that sees the Clarets take on Wolverhampton Wanderers, Watford and Aston Villa in the next three Gameweeks. They also have a double-header in Gameweek 37, before ending the season at home to Newcastle United.
Thursday’s win over Southampton gives Burnley real hope of survival, and if they can now earn at least a point against Wolves at home on Sunday, Everton will head into the Merseyside derby against Liverpool later that afternoon sitting inside the bottom three.
Rodriguez – who may be on penalties following Cornet’s recent miss – has an opportunity to finish 2021/22 strongly, and could be a nice budget differential, especially for those planning a late-season Bench Boost.
KIERNAN DEWSBURY-HALL
- FPL ownership: 1.3%
- Price: £4.4m
- GW34-38 fixtures: AVL | tot | EVE + NOR | wat + che | SOU
With numerous premium options vying for our attention, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£4.4m) is an appealing budget differential in midfield.
The 23-year-old has now started each of Leicester City’s last 17 Premier League matches and is seemingly immune to Brendan Rodgers’ rotation, which has seen the Europa Conference League campaign take priority.
It’s been an extremely quick rise for Dewsbury-Hall since he made his first Premier League start five months ago, but he is already one of the Foxes’ star men playing on the left of a three-man midfield.
“Since he has come in to the side Kiernan (Dewsbury-Hall) has represented everything I want in my teams. He is honest and works hard, and then he has quality. As a number eight, his job is to create and score. There is no question he has become a very important player for us.” – Brendan Rodgers on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
On the stats front, an average of one shot in the box every 267.2 minutes suggests he’s not about to go on a run of big scores but he’s a decent ‘fifth’ midfielder who could step up on a late-season Bench Boost, given that Leicester ‘double’ in Gameweeks 36 and 37.
It’s also worth noting that his influence has increased in the last six matches. In that time, he is now averaging a shot in the box every 132 minutes, while his 1.22 expected assists (xA) tally ranks 10th among all midfielders in that time.
Dewsbury-Hall is one of the Premier League’s brightest young stars, and with an ownership of just 1.3%, is a tempting budget differential.
