Finally, Hazard (10.4) is demonstrating that he is back to his devastating best this season, after a very indifferent time last year. In both the 13/14 and 14/15 seasons he managed to score 14 goals and 10 assists, offering his manager’s two 200+ point seasons. After managing a measly five goals in the 15/16 season, a tally equalled by left-back Van Aanholt (5.0), he has made up for lost time this year by taking his tally to eight goals with a fine solo effort against Manchester City in gameweek 14. The Belgian is now delivering an attacking return every 1.27 games, an improvement upon those profitable seasons referenced above. In the last six gameweeks the dynamite dribbler has returned five goals and two assists, whilst producing nine shots on target and 15 attempted assists. What’s more impressive is the fact that these numbers were delivered against challenging opposition including Man City, Spurs, Everton, Southampton and Man Utd. Gameweek 15 presents Chelsea with an eye-catching encounter at home to West Brom and while Tony Pulis’ players are in-form at the minute with recent wins against Watford, Burnley and Leicester, their up-turn in form has come at a cost defensively. Defending is an area in which Tony Pulis’s sides are typically resilient in, but whilst West Brom may have scored a healthy 11 goals in their last six games, their attacking exploits have opened the door for their opposition to score nine, keeping just one clean sheet over that period. Queue Hazard, with Costa (10.8) to work off of at the Bridge on Sunday and we can’t help but think that if Everton are capable of shipping in five versus Chelsea away, three goals or more for the hosts in gameweek 15 is a reasonable assumption. If that were to be the case we would expect Hazard to be involved as he so often is when fully on song. Chelsea have a much more favourable schedule over the next five games with home matches against West Brom, Bournemouth and Stoke, as well as away trips to Sunderland and Crystal Palace. So, it’s prime time to shuffle that squad and bring in the imperious Hazard.
When Cédric (5.0) moved to the Premier League from Lisbon he carried with him attacking promise, averaging returns every 6.7 games played for Sporting. Numbers that if transferred would have equated to just below six returns across a full Premier League season. Word spread and the FPL managers that bought in were rewarded with an assist on his debut away at Newcastle. Since then, he hasn’t quite lived up to that early attacking promise. However, he is currently 0.4 cheaper than any other Southampton starting defender, so the Portuguese right-back offers us a discount route into a Saints backline who have been resolute when he has been playing. Cédric has kept clean sheets in four of his last six appearances in the Premier League and therefore doesn’t need to be relied upon so heavily for his goal and assist returns. Nevertheless, the training ground can work wonders and in recent weeks he has once again shown attacking potential, having produced six attempted assists in his last three games, a number which only Patrick Van Aanholt (nine) has bettered. While Southampton were lost at sea when visiting Selhurst Park in gameweek 14, they have actually been reasonably reliable across the back, as they have for much of the last few campaigns. The red and whites have kept five clean sheets since the start of the season and only Spurs (six) and Chelsea (seven) have kept more. Up next for Cédric is a home fixture against Middlesbrough who have been squeezing out the results more off the back of Karanka’s defensive tactics, opposed to their threat in front of goal. They have scored just 13 goals this season and only Burnley (12) and Hull (11) have scored fewer. With his recent forward displays and solid clean sheet record so far this season Soares is our man for defensive points this week.
Sigurdsson (7.4) forced his way into our “Top Five Key Players” in gameweek 13 as our “differential” pick. That week he picked up a solid 10 points in the 5-4 spectacle versus Crystal Palace at home. Surprisingly he is still only owned by 7.6% of teams at the time of writing and therefore could still be classed as a differential pick. Perfect once again then for managers wanting to make up ground in their mini-leagues. While Bob Bradley’s side are languishing at the bottom of the league Gylfi is still picking up the points, averaging 4.93 points per 90 minutes this season. The ever-reliable Icelander has returned attacking points every 2.5 games during his six seasons in the top flight, consistency that further emphasises why he should always be a consideration irrespective of his club’s form. The Nordic star is pivotal to the Swan’s attacks and his two goals and one assist over the last three gameweeks have certainly helped Swansea pick up vital points against Everton and Crystal Palace. Swansea have a great set of games before we welcome New Year celebrations, with home games against West Ham and Bournemouth as well as away trips to West Brom and Middlesbrough. But for now, all attention is on gameweek 15, when Gylfi and co. will host a Sunderland side that are also at the foot of the table. With both teams marooned in the relegation zone what better opportunity for one to prosper, in a “six pointer”. With neither team boasting resolute defences we expect another high scoring game and with Sigurdsson’s goal involvement at 62.5% over the last six gameweeks we’re placing our faith in him. Our confidence is high, after all his 10 shots on target in the last six gameweeks can only be beaten by Alexis Sánchez (11) and Sergio Aguëro (14). Good company then.
Benteke (7.6) is another Premier League conundrum much like Gylfi Sigurdsson. Both possess bundles of talent and can be relied upon from a fantasy football perspective, but both have had their chances at bigger clubs and for one reason or another it hasn’t worked out for them. Personally we put that down to tactics and systems over ability. Similarly to Gylfi, Benteke has shown that he can deliver consistently in English football’s elite division. 58 goals across 130 games, or more impressively a goal every 170 minutes (when you consider bench appearances). The Crystal Palace lone-striker was one of the main contributors to securing Alan Pardew’s first win in eight Premier League games when he bagged a brace against a strong Southampton side in gameweek 14. In the last four gameweeks Benteke has returned an impressive four goals and one assist, comfortably outscoring similarly priced alternatives such as Rondon (6.6); one goal, one assist, and Austin (6.9); two goals. His six shots on target in that period matches Alexis Sánchez, and only Austin 7, Kane (11.1) 10 and Aguëro (12) have managed more amongst strikers. Crystal Palace face a struggling Hull City side in gameweek 15, presenting Christian with ample opportunity to add to his season tally of seven goals, which currently places him joint seventh in the top goal-scorer charts. The last road trip ended sourly for the Eagles when they were dramatically outdone by the Swans and they will be fired up to kick on off the back of a morale boosting home win in gameweek 14. Hull have won just one of their last five Premier League games and sit 19th in the league table, having conceded a total of 29 goals which only Swansea can rival with an awful 31. For a natural striker like Benteke, who has notched up 22 points in his last two gameweeks, Hull are a real invitation.
This week was one of the hardest differential decisions yet. A straight toss up between Iheanacho (6.6) and our eventual winner, Origi (6.6). Just like Iheanacho, Origi has looked lively and produced some good returns whenever he has lined up for his team. So, in the end it had to come down to minutes on the pitch in recent games and gameweek 15’s opposition. Origi has played 147 minutes over the last two gameweeks scoring two goals in the process, while Iheanacho has played 13 minutes, so you can hardly blame him for not scoring. But, Divock is also benefitting from playing a West Ham side that are drastically low on confidence having lost 5-1 to Arsenal last weekend. The Hammers have failed to win any of their last five games, losing three as well as conceding 12 goals across those games. Then there’s Liverpool’s commanding home form which places them at the top of the goals scored chart, averaging an unbelievable 3.16 goals per game at Anfield. Injuries to Philippe Coutinho (8.4) and Daniel Sturridge (9.8) paved way for the 21-year-old striker to deputise in their absence against Bournemouth away in gameweek 14. Klopp was rewarded during the first half when the Belgian youngster scored from a near impossible angle and despite losing the game as spectacularly as Crystal Palace did in the same week, Liverpool and Origi played some good attacking football. Origi’s promise is clear to see, so it’s hardly a surprise that he is already averaging a goal every 132 minutes since launching his Premier League career last year. With opportunities hard to come by as a result of Coutinho’s, Mane’s (9.3) and Firmino’s (8.8) good form, this is now his chance. Divock won’t be short of quality service even without the stricken Coutinho, so could a player owned by just 3% of managers be the final nail in the coffin for Bilic? We believe he could.
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