With all the underlying stats around that I have in my articles I thought I would make a table to rank and summarise the underlying shooting stats I do. Remember though the “0nes to watch” is my primary ranking of players as underlying stats are a major factor but not the only ones. Factors such as fixture ease, game time security, assist potential, consistency and actual returns, advanced position and ownership by other successful fantasy premier league managers also play a part in that overall “ones to watch” ranking which I will come to later this or next week before gameweek 27 So here’s the underlying shooting stats ranking for midfielders and forwards taking in to account the different stats I present. i hope its clear but send a comment if its not:
Midfield ranking
| Midfielders underlying shooting stats ranking | ||||
| fantasy premier league player ranking | overall stats rank | last 6 GW stats rank | last 3 GW stats rank | times in last 3 current GW ranking |
| 1 Bale | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 Michu | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 Walcott | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 Nolan | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 Fellaini | 1 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
| 6 Lampard | – | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| 7 Puncheon | 9 | 9 | 9 | 1 |
| 8 Silva | 7 | 8 | – | – |
| 9 Cazorla | 9 | 9 | 9 | 1 |
| 10 Holtby | – | – | 6 | 1 |
Commentary on midfield ranking
The most striking thing here is the absence of Mata, while you can rationalise that for the last 3 when he only played 14 minutes of the last game week it doesn’t explain how he isn’t in the last 6 or the overall shooting stats. He is 6th highest goal scoring midfielder scoring 10 goals (Bale has scored 13) but has returned 12 assists compared to Bales 4 (not 2 sorry) even though they have created a relatively similar amount of chances for team mates. These assists has meant he has more fantasy premier league points than Bale although as you can see its difficult to correlate assists to chances created. I am a little wary of whether Mata is overperforming his shooting stats but the fact is you cant ignore someone who’s returned a goal or assist in virtually every game he’s started underlying stats or not. As I have said these are a major factor but not the only one.
The top 5 of Bale, Michu, Walcott, Nolan and Fellaini standout. All are popular choices except for Nolan who is improving and has Carroll back but unfortunately has difficult fixtures.
There’s risk with Lampard and Holtby due to the returning Mikel, Moses and Hazard for Lampard plus Benitez rotation and there’s risk with Holtby due to Adebayor returning and whether he or Dempsey will play. Holtby didn’t start against Lyon and I expect that to continue
Forwards
| Forwards underlying stats | ||||
| fantasy premier league player ranking | overall stats rank | last 6 GW stats rank | last 3 GW stats rank | times in last 3 current GW ranking |
| 1 Suarez | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 Giroud | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 Benteke | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 RVP | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| 5 Di Santo | – | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| 6 Dzeko | 10 | 4 | – | – |
| 7 Lukaku | 9 | 5 | – | – |
| 8 Aguero | 7 | 9 | – | – |
| 9 Rooney | – | – | 7 | 2 |
| 10 Carroll | – | – | 4 | 1 |
Commentary on forward ranking
What’s striking here is how Suarez in underlying stats terms is head and shoulers above everybody. Remember he’s also the top creator of chances. He just has nights like last night in the Europa league when he cant seem to scorescore. RVP in 4 th is a surprise but he’s such a deadly finisher that he can be trusted to finish a higher percentage of chances. Its worth noting that he has the highest on target % of shots. He’s always in my team.
There’s a clear gap between the top 5 and the rest. I’ve ranked the next 5 on overall and last 6 rather than the last 3 but its not an easy distinction
Di Santo is interesting but as I’ve said before I expect Kone to dilute Di Santos stats now he’s returned from ACON
Rooney and Carroll are the main ones to keep an eye on with very recent form. Carrol unfortunately has difficult fixtures and Rooney has risk on doubling up with RVP
That’s it in my “ones to watch” I will rank them on overall factors and not just underlying stats
