Forward Thinking

By Lawdogg (@PlanoGooner)

Welcome back and thanks for returning. We hope last week brought you pints of points and green, upward-trending arrows.

With an unprecedented number of viable forward options across all price levels, we thought this week we would take a look at this most-important of positions and present you with what we feel are the best options in each price range.

Bargain Bin: Strikers less than £5.9m

In past seasons you would only shop in this category if you were looking for a third striker to sit on the bench while you ran out a 3-5-2 formation. Usually the province of the part-timers and Zamora’s of the world, this season you can find a number of viable third striker options in this category. At a minimum, these forwards can pair with a fifth midfielder to form a nice rotation based on form or fixtures.

Leicester’s Leonardo Ulloa (£5.8m, 20% ownership) was an FPL favourite after his sizzling start (5 goals in 5 games).  Since then, he’s returned to planet earth and gone without a goal in his last three fixtures, rewarding his owners with a miserly total of five points over his last three games. There’s reason for hope, though: Leicester have a relatively easy schedule through GW13: Swansea (A), West Brom (H), Southampton (A), Sunderland (H) and QPR (A). If you’re looking for a budget striker, Ulloa could be your man for the next five weeks.

Everton’s Steven Naismith (£5.2m, 26.3% ownership) was another FPL favourite after starting the season as Everton’s main attacking focus while Romelu Lukaku played himself back into form.  The Everton man has bagged four goals in eight games while collecting a very handy eight bonus points for his efforts. With a relatively bland schedule as far as the eye can see, there’s no reason to believe he won’t continue to produce, however we’re unsure how the return of Ross Barkley will impact on his returns.

We Recommend: the Westies.

West Brom’s Saido Berahino (£5.7m, 6g, 7 bps) is the most in-form striker in this category and one of the hottest in the Premier League. With four goals in his last three matches the Burundi native may soon force himself into the sides of budget-minded FPL managers.

West Ham’s Diafra Sakho (£5.7m, 4g, 2a, 9bps) has found the back of the net in each of his side’s last 4 fixtures and shows no signs of slowing down. This weekend’s match-up with City aside, West Ham don’t face back-to-back fixtures against top teams until GW 18-19 (Chelsea, Arsenal). With an ownership of less than 5%, Sakho can be a solid third striker for your team and a great differential.

Honourable Mention: Newcastle’s Pappis Demba Cisse(£5.9m, 4g, 1a, 6bps).

Avoid: Stoke forwards (two words that don’t go together), Samuel Eto’o (old), fur knickers.

The Working Class: Strikers costing £6m-£10m

These players represent the backbone of the Premier League: they aren’t going to put up the numbers the premium forwards will, but they don’t require a major squad overhaul to bring one of them into your team. Bring one of these strikers into your side and he will consistently put up numbers you’ll be happy with.

Arsenal fans’ clamour for a striker signing saw Arsene Wenger sign Danny Welbeck (£7.3m) on deadline day. The out-of-favour United striker has produced some monster results this season in the Champions League and for England but has yet to see that form carry over to his Premier League campaign. As Arsenal’s only real choice for the striker role Wenger favours, Welbeck should start up top for the Gunners every week until Giroud returns from injury in January and we think he’ll bag his share of goals before then. 

Former Rupel Boom strikerRomelu Lukaku (£9.0m) is another to consider from this category. His World Cup participation meant a slow start to his season but Everton’s record-signing seems to be back in form. With a kind schedule going forward, look for Lukaku to easily match the 16 goals he’s averaged over the last two seasons. While he’s the most expensive striker in this category, his history suggests he’s worth the investment.

We Recommend: Southampton’s Graziano Pelle (£8.1m). The former Italian national champion in the Latin American dance discipline (we’re not kidding: google it!) has rumba’d his way to a salsa start to his Premier League career. Sorry. Prior to last week’s fixtures he was a slight differential, but his role in the Sunderland Slaughter has forced the FPL community to finally sit up and take notice.  He scores goals (6), provides the occasional assist (2) and rakes in bonus points (9) to boot. If you can afford him, the Italian Stallion (so nicknamed by Feyenoord fans) is our pick to click in this category.

Honourable Mention: Hull’s Abel Hernandez (£6.9m, 3g, 1bps). With Nikica Jelavic out for up to four weeks Hernandez should see an increase in touches and scoring opportunities.

Avoid: Emmanuel Adebayor (sh*t), Mario Balotelli (temper and sh*t), giving clocks or umbrellas as gifts.

Triple-Platinum, Solid-Gold Strikers

If you’re going to spend this kind of money on a striker (or any player) they should be fixture-proof and have a long history of producing the goods. There are two players that justify such a financial investment this season and they hardly need an introduction (to the physio room!).

In last week’s column we discussed Diego Costa and slapped the “must have” tag on him, so it was no surprise when he rewarded our praise by banjaxing his hamstring while away on international duty. While you can’t trust a word Mourinho says, well, about anything, reports indicate Costa won’t be out long, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t make an immediate return to the form that’s seen him score a league best nine goals.

City’s Sergio Kun Aguero needs no introduction to anyone who has played FPL over the past three seasons. After starting the season slow with a series of injuries, Aguero rewarded his owners with a four goal effort against Spurs, who spent the afternoon reminding everyone how not to spend £91 million. Those brave enough to captain him this past week saw a massive rankings jump and those without him are trying to work out how to get him into their team. He’s averaged 17 goals a season since arriving to the Premier League and if he keeps up this pace (and stays healthy) he could well best his personal best of 23 goals in the 2011/12 campaign.

We Recommend: Aguero, but not by much. The injury history and injury potential of each makes recommending one over the other almost impossible to do. We think the complete disregard for player health shown by the Spanish national team means Costa will continue to be over-used during international breaks, meaning an increased chance for injury and the likelihood Costa will need to rest a game after international breaks. That being said, we think both will likely end the season on a comparable amount of points.

Honourable Mention: United’s Radamel Falcao (£10.9, 1g, 2a, 1bps).

Avoid: Wayne Rooney (bad hair plugs), Robin Van Persie (he still plays?), leaving your wife alone with John Terry.

Buy, Sell, Bench, Watch

Buy: Everton defence. Last week’s performance against Villa showcased just how involved Everton’s defence are involved in the team’s attack. I can’t remember the last time we saw three defenders from the same team all score double-digit fantasy points but Baines (15pts), Jagielka (14) and Coleman (13) accomplished just that. While you shouldn’t expect that sort of production every week, Everton’s fixtures going forward suggest you could well reap the rewards of having Toffee defensive coverage in your team.

Sell: Mario Balotelli. The ex-Inter, ex-City, ex-Milan and soon to be ex-Liverpool striker spent last weekend auditioning for a job as a punter in the NFL. With his form in the toilet, it’s only a matter of time until he’s benched or sees red after a Mad Mario episode on the pitch.

Bench: Vito Mannone. After surrendering eight goals to Sunderland, Mannone faces Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea, City and Liverpool in his next seven fixtures.

Watch: Hull’s Mohamed Diame. The midfielder has scored four times in his last five matches and, priced at only £5.5m, he could be a great punt for your fourth midfielder if you’re tight on funds.

Thanks again for reading. For Arsenal-flavoured rants, fantasy football thoughts and the occasional witty comment, follow @PlanoGooner on Twitter. For all the non-price related information you need to field your best XI, visit us at Fantasyfootball247.co.uk and follow @FantasyFooty247 on Twitter.