With our regular writer @PlanoGooner once again otherwise engaged deep in the bowels of the FF247 HQ we have decided to bring you one of our regular weekly articles instead, we hope you’ll find it helpful.

The wildcard season is well & truly in full flow and there is quite clearly a template team forming. Do you follow the template or do you try something different? Obviously that is up to yourself. Yes if you pick the correct differential you can make up some lost ground and possibly increase the value of your squad, but picking the correct differential is far from easy. A lot is written and said about why you should avoid the template team, but it’s worth remembering that the players who form the core of these templates are typically the inform players. At the end of day the day it’s your decision and it will be dictated by your circumstances, just do what is best for you and your team. So whether you’re on a wildcard or not, we have below outlined a number of players whom we feel can deliver over the coming weeks, some of whom will feature in the templates while some will not.

Goalkeepers

A strategy amongst fantasy managers is to pick a single keeper who you will play every week and hope that they don’t miss a gameweek. When we consider such a strategy we will more often than not look to the likes of Courtois, Hart or de Gea. However, for those of you cogitating such a strategy you really do need to consider Fraser Forster. The Saints boast the best defence in the league and have conceded just 15 goals in their opening 21 games and have conceded just once in their last three games which is even more impressive when you consider that these three games have been against Chelsea, Arsenal & United. Not only are they in great form but their fixtures are also superb, of their remaining 17 games only three of these are against teams in the current top 6. At £5.4m Forster is considerably cheaper than the aforementioned big hitters and has the potential to offer excellent value for money over the remainder of the season.

The much anticipated Tony Pulis revolution kicked off last weekend with surprise surprise, a clean sheet. Granted it was only Hull, but a clean sheets is a clean sheet. The clean sheet was Ben Foster’s 7^th of the season which is quite impressive when you consider that only Fraser Forster (10) and Lukasz Fabianski (8) have more. Pulis has now been in charge for just under two weeks and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the majority of that time has been spent working on defensive drills. West Brom’s next two fixtures are quite tricky as they travel to Everton & host Spurs, although they could quite conceivably pick up clean sheets in both games. Following these two games the Baggies have a great run of fixtures and if Pulis’ magic works there could be clean sheets aplenty.

Two other keepers whom I feel warrant a mention this week are Newcastle’s Tim Krul and Sunderland’s Costel Pantilimon. Newcastle’s recent defensive record hasn’t been great, they’ve conceded 17 in their last seven, but it should be noted that in this period they faced Chelsea twice, Arsenal & United. More importantly, Krul only featured in one of these games. Following this weekend’s visit of Southampton four of their next five games are against Hull, Stoke, Palace & Villa and I won’t be at all surprised should Krul add to his tally of five clean sheets. Sunderland haven’t been quite as leaky at the back of late but they’ve still managed to concede eight in their last six, but like Newcastle they’ve got a number of decent fixtures following this weekend’s trip to Spurs. Much was made at the beginning of the season as to how Newcastle & Sunderland rotate perfectly home & away. Personally I’m not a fan of such rotation as just because a team is at home doesn’t mean they have the easier fixture. I prefer to look at each individual fixture and having done that I found that these two do actually rotate quite well over the remainder of the season and therefore should definitely be considered as a pairing for those on a wildcard.

Defenders

In light of their recent performances maybe jumping off of the Southampton defensive train wasn’t the greatest idea in the world. Isn’t hindsight great?! Although the ownership levels of both Clyne & Bertrand would suggest many of you stayed on the train. If you did jump off their defence prior to their tough run of fixtures, I would strongly advise getting back on, now! The obvious choices are Ryan Bertrand & Nathaniel Clyne, and as I suggested last week there is very little to separate the two. Both are excellent options whom you can field every week, although as I mentioned last week, Bertrand’s underlying stats continue to be slightly more impressive so of the two he would be my choice. With Toby Alderweireld set to miss up to a month due to a hamstring injury and Maya Yoshida away on international duty it would appear that Florin Gardos is set to feature in the next 2-3 games (assuming Japan progress to the later stages of the Asian Cup, and they should). For those of you holding your WC until the last minute the Romanian centre back could prove to be a great short-term investment at just £4.8m.

Arsenal have to date kept just six clean sheets from their opening 21 matches have conceded 25 goals. These aren’t great stats for a team harbouring top 4 ambitions, but there is one mitigating factor and this is that Laurent Koscielny has started just 11 games. I’ll let you go and dig up the stats on how Arsenal fare with & without the Frenchman, but suffice to say they’re a better defensive unit when he plays. Granted Arsenal face City this weekend but for those of you on a wildcard you need to be looking at the bigger picture and following the City game the Gunners have a run a fixtures from which they could easily garner a number of clean sheets particularly with Kos back in the line-up. Should you be reluctant to shell out £5.9m on an Arsenal defender you could always consider Calum Chambers (£4.9m) who is likely to return to the starting XI as a result of the shoulder injury sustained by Mathieu Debuchy. There is of course the chance that Arsene could go with Hector Bellerin at right full, so I would recommend paying close attention to Wenger’s press conference to see if he gives anything away.

Our next tip is very much a short term punt for those of you holding onto your wildcards and it’s Chelsea’s Filipe Luis. With the news that regular right back Cesar Azpilicueta is likely to be side-lined for a minimum of 10 days Luis looks guaranteed to start this weekend away to Swansea. There is then a break due to the 4^th round of the FA Cup meaning that Chelsea don’t play again until January 31^st, by which time Azpi should be fit. Will he regain his place? Who knows, but Luis is likely to have four games (Swansea, league cup semi & FA Cup) in which to impress Jose. As I said, this is very much a tip for the short term, but it could turn into something more!!

A number of other defenders who I feel deserve a mention this week are West Brom’s Andre Wisdom, Crystal Palace’s Martin Kelly, Burnley’s Kieran Trippier and Marcin Wasilewski of Leicester. Wisdom has proved to be quite popular this week and at the time of writing he has been transferred in by over 30k managers. This is hardly surprising given the interest in the Baggies rear guard since the arrival of Pulis. He has been an ever present in the side this season and offers great value for money at £4.5m. Interestingly Chris Baird started at left full and should Pulis continue with him he is likely to become even more popular than Wisdom as he is priced at just £3.9m. Alan Pardew’s reign at Crystal Palace got off to a great start last weekend with a 2-1 win over Spurs and they will hope to build upon that over the coming weeks. They have a number of fixtures from which they could pick up clean sheets and at just £4.4m attacking full back Kelly could very well be in the points. If you’re going to invest in the Burnley defence now is the time to do it, they’re next three fixture are quite appealing but they then turn horrid. More was probably expected of Trippier this season from an attacking point of view, but I suspect he could very well deliver over the next three games. Fantasy managers are always on the lookout for cheap players who play regularly and Leicester’s Wasilewski now fits the bill. He’s only £3.9m and has started the last 12 games, while he has actually picked up two clean sheets & two bonus points in his last three games. The Foxes have some tough fixtures on the horizon but at £3.9m you’ll happily bench him every week!

Midfielders

Alexis Sanchez now features in 42.5% of teams and I suspect that by the time the January wildcard window has closed this figure could very well be above 50%. Having picked up just four points from two away games many were starting to wonder if the returning Theo Walcott would offer better value for money than Sanchez, but the Chilean international dispelled such thoughts with two goals & an assist as Arsenal turned in an impressive performance in beating Stoke 3-0. Six times this season he has hit a double figure score, making him the highest scorer to date in FPL. Following this weekend’s trip to the reigning champions, a game in which he could easily find the back of the net, the gunners have a decent run of fixtures and for those of you on a wildcard, Sanchez will surely be one of the first names included in your squad. The aforementioned Theo Walcott has appeared from the bench in the last two games and while he could yet prove to be an excellent differential I feel it best to give him another few games in which to work on his match fitness and sharpness before considering him for your squad.

Anyone who witnessed the United v Southampton game last Sunday will probably be surprised to see any of United’s attack minded players included this week, such was the languid nature of their performance. However, I’m expecting LvG to set things right over the coming weeks, starting with Angel Di Maria’s positioning, after all he is the world’s greatest manager! The Argentine international was wasted playing so high up the pitch where he was forced to take the ball with his back to goal, he is far more effective picking the ball up in midfield and running at the opposition. Should LvG see the error of his ways and drop Di Maria into a deeper position I fully expect him to deliver over the coming games as United face into a run of seven fixtures from which they will hope to garner an absolute minimum of 15 points and should this happen I suspect Di Maria will be one of the keys to it.

Spurs’ Nacer Chadli continued his return to form in last weekend’s defeat to Crystal Palace as he picked up his 5^th assist in his last five games and he has surely cemented his place in the side for the foreseeable future. He has forged an excellent understanding with the inform Harry Kane over recent weeks and given their respective prices doubling up on the Spurs attack no longer seems like such a bad idea. Given the Belgians current form and upcoming fixtures he is probably the most likely mid-priced midfielder to deliver over the coming gameweeks and for those of you looking to pair Costa & Aguero up top I would suggest you consider Chadli for a spot in your midfield.

For those of you who are maybe looking for a cheaper differential to play as your 4^th midfielder you might want to consider West Brom’s Stephane Sessegnon or Crystal Palace’s Jason Puncheon, both of whom will be wanting to impress their new gaffers. While much is made of how Pulis can improve a sides defence he will need to get the Baggies scoring more, they’ve only scored 20 to date. Sessegnon has had a relatively quiet season but has shown some glimpses of form recently with four assists in his last six games and if Pulis can get the best out of him he could offer great value for money at £5.7m. Jason Puncheon typically goes through at least one purple patch every season and is performance in the 2^nd half against Spurs indicated that this seasons patch may be about to start! Following the game, our good friend Alan Pardew spoke about how you need ‘mavericks’ to win games and he will be hoping that Puncheon can become one of those mavericks.

Forwards

Guess who’s back, back again, Aguero’s back, tell a friend…Ok, so Sergio Aguero probably doesn’t need to be introduced by Eminem, I don’t even like Eminem! Enough about Eminem. At the time of writing Aguero has been transferred in by over 100k managers this week, that’s 50k more than any other player. This after a 24 minute cameo from the bench against Everton in which in all honesty he looked a little sluggish. Can you imagine the hysteria if he’d actually scored? So you’re probably wondering why he’s included this week, especially when you consider that City face Arsenal this week and their next game is against Chelsea? It’s simple really, a 75% fit Aguero is capable of scoring against anyone, and he only needs half a chance. He’s already increased by 0.1m this week and in all likelihood he will increase by another 0.1m before Saturday’s deadline, so if money is tight you need to ask yourself whether you can afford to wait. Despite missing five games as well as starting a number of games from the bench, only Diego Costa has scored more than him this season. So do you have the nerve to wait until GW24 to bring him in?!!

Diego Costa, is he value for money? I’m not going to delve into stats now to answer this question. What I will say is that he’s scored six in his last 10 to give him a total of 15 for the season. Yes the budget strikers continue to impress this season, but it’s a matter on being on the right budget striker at the right time. Costa may not hit the big numbers but he certainly offers a steady supply of goals. With the January wildcard active many are going for John Terry and Eden Hazard meaning that they are faced with a choice between Cesc Fabregas and Costa. Which of them you go for is entirely up to you, all I’ll say is that I would expect Costa to score another 10 before the end of the season, how many other strikers will manage that?!

As I have just mentioned, you need to be on the right budget striker at the right time and in recent weeks Harry Kane has most certainly been the one to be on. Kane differs from the likes of Austin, Ings & Berahino in that he’s playing for a top side and is surrounded by good players who will create chances for him. Six goals and three assists in his last seven games make the youngster impossible to ignore and the fact that he’s only £5.8m pushes him close to ‘mast have’ status. He now features in nearly 34% of teams so he is no longer a differential, but given his form & price, if he’s not in your squad you need ask yourself some questions.

For those of you who are holding the wildcard until the last possible moment and are on the hunt for a short term punt you could consider United’s Radamel Falcao or West Ham’s Andy Carroll. While Falcao failed to feature in United’s match day squad for the Southampton squad he will surely make a return this week with Robin van Persie likely to miss out through injury. The Colombian hasn’t settled since his arrival in Manchester but with United’s next two games against QPR & Leicester you suspect it’s now or never. West Ham host a Hull team who have conceded nine in their last six away games and then travel to Anfield to face Liverpool and neither team will feel comfortable facing up to the big man.

My final tip this week is Southampton’s Graziano Pelle. The Italian is far from prolific yet he has still managed eight goals and five assists to date making him the 4^th highest scoring forward in FPL, admittedly six of these goals came in the opening eight gameweeks. So if you decide to go for Pelle you are likely to do so as a result of Southampton’s form and fixtures. They’ve won four and drawn one of their last six and as I’ve mentioned above they’ve only got three games remaining against teams in the current top six. So while his own form of late hasn’t been great I suspect that at the very least Southampton will create the chances for him.

Actually I’ve got one more name for you and he’s the ultimate differential and his name is Sam Vokes. Why is the ultimate differential? Because he currently features in 0.0%, yes 0.0%. Obviously he’s yet to start a league game this season but he did start against Spurs in the cup replay on Wednesday night meaning that a start this weekend at home to Palace is not out of the question.

Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 22. This article was written by @KenLyons79. For this and other similar articles visit us at FantasyFootball247.co.uk and follow @FantasyFooty247 on Twitter.