Spot the Differential – Gameweek 33

Our Saturday morning search for overlooked alternatives is served up once again today. All of our trio have benefitted from a change in manager and are bracing themselves for some kind remaining matches to boost their chances of picking up the points for the run-in:

Emmanuel Adebayor

Frozen out of the first-team by former manager Andre Villas-Boas, the forward made an immediate impact upon Tim Sherwood’s installation at the White Hart Lane helm. In his first 10 league starts for the new Tottenham boss, Adebayor racked up eight goals, four assists and 13 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) bonus points – picking up 77 points – before injuries started to hamper his performances.

Calf and hamstring problems plagued the Togo international’s displays and saw him muster just a single assist in his last four appearances before a heel injury – sustained in the Gameweek 30 loss to former club Arsenal – forced him onto the sidelines. Having missed the last couple of matches, Adebayor has been passed fit ahead of Monday’s home meeting with struggling Sunderland and, down to just 7.6 in FPL (7.6 in the Sky Sports game and 3.5 in the Sun Dream Team) and with an ownership under 5%, he’s back on our Fantasy radars ahead of a very favourable run-un.

With games against West Brom, Fulham, Stoke, West Ham and Villa following on from the Black Cats clash, Adebayor could well be set to continue a series of displays that have earned him 5.9 points per game in FPL – an average bettered only by Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero, Daniel Sturridge and Wayne Rooney thus far.

Ashkan Dejagah

Five points from safety and with the games quickly running out, Fulham haven’t fully benefited from the arrival of Felix Magath. The German has delivered just four points from his six matches in charge of the Craven Cottage outfit, though his installation has, at least, reignited the Fantasy prospects of midfielder Ashkan Dejagah.

The Iran international seemed a peripheral figure under previous boss Rene Meulensteen but, having worked under the German at Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg, was immediately re-installed to the Fulham starting line-up for the Gameweek 27 trip to West Brom. Since then, Dejagah has notched three of Fulham’s five goals over his subsequent five appearances, returning from injury last weekend to fire a second-half strike against Everton.

Available for 4.9 in FPL (4.7 in the Sky Sports game and 1.5 in the Sun Dream Team), Dejagah travels to Aston Villa this weekend, with Paul Lambert’s side looking to improve their defensive displays after conceding four in each of their last two fixtures. With home matches against Norwich, Hull and Palace in the final five Gameweeks, Dejagah’s prospects of points remain positive as Magath attempts to valiantly conjure up the displays which would somewhat unexpectedly lift his side to safety.

Fraizer Campbell

The Cardiff striker started the season with a bang, racking up a 16-point return in his first home match in a shock 3-2 win over Man City. A single goal in his subsequent 16 appearances – against former club United – saw the bandwagon grind to a halt as Campbell struggled for any semblance of consistency.

Since then, Malky Mackay has departed and Campbell has struck just three more times, but with new boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer going on the offensive over the last few matches, his prospects could be on the rise. With the Bluebirds looking incapable of keeping out opponents, the Norwegian’s somewhat gung-ho tactics have seen his side score three times in the last four league outings, and with some kind fixtures still remaining, more goals look on the menu.

First up is a home clash with fellow strugglers Palace later today before Solskjaer’s side square up to Stoke, Sunderland and Newcastle between now and Gameweek 37 – for those on the hunt for a cut-price forward, Campbell (6.3 in the Sky Sports game and 1.5 in the Sun Dream Team), may be worth a gamble.