Apparently Spurs and West Ham Play Twice?? HARRY KANE!!

Dec 31

Gameweek 22 Preview: Fantasy Premier League #FPL

Written by John Wallin @FantasyGaffer

The DOUBLE GAMEWEEK IS HERE. Load up on your West Ham defenders! Triple Captain Eric Dier! Point out that Harry Kane isn’t as efficient at scoring goals as Mo Salah! It’s all joke, except that last one of course. Kane is a great goal-scorer. But my God does he take a lot of shots to finally get one in the back of the net (15.5% efficiency having taken 116 shots with the 18 goals to show for them). That said, that Tottenham are perfectly constructed to be a ‘one man team’ means Kane is in here – but not handed that 3C you might be expecting.

Sorry to kill off Talkin Togga – but subscribe to that feed, there will be a brand new FPL show for you in the New Year!

Defender – Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham

Over the past 20 weeks, Vertonghen has missed just 39′ of action (59′ against WBA in GW13 costing him and his side). Zero goals, 1 assist and only 4BPS aren’t ideal numbers but the better attacking options at Poch’s disposal have been splitting minutes too consistently to be added here. In the reverse of the two GW22 fixtures (Swans and West Ham), Spurs kept one clean sheet, conceded two goals and Vertonghen ended with a combined 8pts. 7.9% selected and priced £6.0, the centreback is a bit overpriced for the production but a good add if you’re ‘free hit’ this week or a quality add for the next four GW with Everton and Southampton taking Spurs to the end of the month.

Midfielder – Marko Arnautovic, West Ham

He’s not a midfielder, should never have been rated a midfielder, but a midfielder he is. Sharko is leading the line for Moyes and been unstoppable – for FPL purposes – over the past five week. 5 goals, 3 CS and 4BPS in that span haven’t done much for his ownership (+60k or so) and he’s still priced under £7.0 at time of writing. 3.2% selected, a more cowardly author would have buried this pick in the ‘Outsider’ section of the column, but I will bravely stand in against all the flailing elbows, late tackles and dead-eyed stares one would expect from a remorseless scoring machine. I said I’d pick him in draft this week (and I would) but his record merits an addition in OFPL and West Ham’s schedule – only two bad match-ups from the next nine – means getting him now will pay dividends for the next three months.

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Forward – Jamie Vardy, Leicester

A rare ‘single’ game player is Jamie Vardy. If you took the advice of this column from GW21 you got in Riyad Mahrez and benefitted from his assist against LFC. The addition of Vardy here isn’t undertaken lightly. He’s not a great ‘every week’ play and his ownership (15.2%) and price (£8.6) are numbers you would rather see for a player who five home goals and just two away tallies since GW1 (he did hit an impressive brace at the Emirates in GW1). Vardy’s next five H fixtures are GW22 (Huddersfield), GW24 (Watford) and GW26 (Swansea) followed by back-to-back home tilts against Stoke and Bournemouth. If you need salary space to justify Kane coming back in, Lukaku -> Vardy will give you all the funds you need.

Captain – Kane, Harry Kane, Tottenham

Look, he’s scored six f**king goals in his last two weeks. This is peak Kane. Vintage ‘arry. He’ll boss the smaller sides, take 10 shots against Swans, pop off for a hattrick and be substituted in the 70′ “because he’s been ill” and just to get a sweat out of the 36.3% of FPL managers who own (and therefore have undoubtedly Captained) Kane for the DGW. Kane is no Mo Salah, but he’s quite good in his own right and certainly worth the armband in this one. Stay tuned to Premier Injuries’ Ben Dinnery to ensure no update that he’s out. If he is, immediately shift the armband to Son Hueng-min. Spurs second-striker is a live wire and capable of massive points. He’d be the ‘Draft’ selection below if he wasn’t ‘must start’ and 94% owned in Togga already.

Outsider – Manual Lanzini, West Ham

1% selected. That is staggering. Lanzini picked up a hattrick of assists (and a ban) just three GW ago. He is the player you will want to own moving forward from a side that will continue to struggle to find consistency. Why? Because he is the explosive answer – the closest thing has West Has to a talisman – in a side sadly lacking in creativity. The best thing that couple happen to Lanzini would be the arrival of a Theo Walcott or Jack Wilshere who could draw some of the attention. In the meantime, Lanzini for £6.8m with a goal and five assists in just 1128′ represents one of the best value plays on a relegation-fight side.

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Draft – Jesse Lingard, Manchester United

The crazy thing about Togga’s draft scoring is that it’s closer to real-life value than anything else. That’s a problem for teams like West Ham where the potential of negative points against Spurs could potentially undo all their West Brom returns. Draft also values more categories and places a premium on certain positions (especially forward) where finding a gem on waivers can give you side a massive boost. Jesse Lingard currently sits at 72% ownership and will be getting increased minutes with the injury to Romelu Lukaku. In 29′ against Everton in GW5 he picked up an assist. In his last four for United he has two goals with two assists. Though he played 90 uneventful minutes, scoring just 5pts. That came after 14pts, 15pts and 25pts against West Brom, Leicester and Burnley. Next up? Everton, Stoke and Burnley. Get him in now if you can.