After each gameweek, Joseph Crilley is going to be writing an article reviewing all the Premier League games from a fantasy perspective. He will be providing some stats and a brief summary on the performances and prospects of a few of the players. This is the second part of the GW4 review. Last year, Joseph finished with an overall rank of 13k.
FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE GW4 REVIEW – PART 2
For each game, I will be providing a stats table containing the following: Goals (G), Assists (A), Shots (S), On Target (OT), Key Passes (KP), Bonus points (BP) and fantasy points (FP). Any statistic highlighted in yellow signifies that the player leads that category for his team. Blue highlight shows the players that registered a fantasy return (goal, assist or clean sheet) and green shows any player that scored 10+ points. All underlying stats are from whoscored.com.
In each scoreline, I’ve put the expected goals for each team in brackets which are taken from the excellent Twitter page 11tegen11. BBC Sport provided a very useful piece to help explain this statistic.
SOUTHAMPTON (0.26) 0-2 (0.71) WATFORD
It was another toothless performance from Southampton and they have failed to score in 3 of their 4 games this season.
Summer signing Hoedt made his debut in place of Yoshida. The Saints managed to keep hold of Van Dijk and he has returned to training so we’d expect him to come into the starting XI soon. Cedric had the only shot on target for his team which came in the 91st minute from 30 yards, highlighting their lack of threat.
Ward-Prowse started but was subsequently removed at half-time. There was some hope for the Southampton midfielders to start the season, but that seems to have evaporated now.
Gabbiadini was taken off early again having not registered a single shot during his time on the pitch. It’s evident that the Southampton attack needs to be avoided at this time. They just cannot be trusted to score the goals required.
Marco Silva is doing wonders again as he has transformed Watford into a potent attacking force.
They are also a clean sheet machine as they returned their third in as many games. Femenia also picked up a very fortunate assist off his back but he may lose his place in the team. Janmaat is back from injury and scored after coming off the bench.
Doucoure picked up another goal with a fine strike from distance and is high on the transfers in list for next week. Bandwagon Richarlison was quieter than in previous weeks and didn’t have any chances of note.
There were no shots from Gray and the midfield looks the place to go if managers want to invest into the Watford attack.
STOKE (1.42) 2-2 (2.45) MAN UTD
Another good result at home for Stoke who have made a reasonable start to the season given the fixture difficulty.
4.4mil cheapie Wimmer made his debut as part of the back 3 and is one to keep an eye on. Butland made some smart saves and his defence looks a good bet from GW7 onwards.
This game was all about budget midfielder Choupo-Moting who bagged a brace and was a constant threat throughout. The question is whether he can continue this form or if he’s just a flash in the pan. He certainly posted the underlying stats on Saturday to suggest that he can keep it up. Shaqiri also had a good game as he picked up an assist and a couple of bonus points. Jese was the man to start up top and is still worth consideration.
It was a first dropped points of the season for Mourinho’s side who didn’t put in their best performance.
They were not as sturdy at the back this week as they conceded their first goals of the campaign. Bailly was poor for the first goal and Jones was at fault for the second. There was also a simply wonderful save from De Gea before the corner for the second goal.
Pogba was positioned further forward and really should’ve scored instead of the assist that he picked up. He’s a real threat from set-pieces which adds another weapon to his armoury. Mkhitaryan was very unfortunate to not have registered an assist as well after his striker missed the one-on-one chance before tucking away the rebound.
Lukaku was that striker as he continued his scoring form. He missed a golden opportunity to provide the winner late on as well to the frustration of those who captained him. Rashford also scored after Pogba’s header hit his back before heading into the net.
BURNLEY (0.43) 1-0 (1.86) CRYSTAL PALACE
A good win for Burnley who are always tough to beat at Turf Moor.
The only negative was an injury for Heaton which look to be rather serious and could keep him out for a sustained period of time. Pope was the man to take the gloves but unfortunately for FPL managers is priced at 4.5mil.
Brady controlled all of the set-pieces but rarely got into the opposition box. He was rather quiet today and only really got involved when picking up a yellow card.
The opportunistic Wood scored for the second successive game from an awful Palace error. Him and Vokes were kept reasonably quiet for most of the game though.
You can’t help but feel sorry for Frank De Boer as his Palace team were very unlucky to come away with no points from this game. He has since been sacked which seems a ludicrous decision to me.
Beside the awful back pass for the goal, the defence was fairly comfortably with 4.5mil Fosu-Mensah continuing to start. Dann was a real threat in the opposition box as he had 2 shots cleared off the line and then proceeded to miss an absolute sitter towards the end of the game.
Loftus-Cheek wasn’t fit enough to make the squad as he recovers from a groin injury. The main threats for the Eagles were Cabaye and Townsend as they created plenty of chances which couldn’t be converted.
I imagine that owners of Benteke must get very frustrated watching him as he seems to receive a number of good opportunities but struggles to finish them off. There was more evidence of this on Sunday and he’s not worth the money at the moment.
SWANSEA (1.49) 0-1 (1.13) NEWCASTLE
This was a slightly lacklustre performance from the Welsh side who were certainly second best on the day.
Swansea gave up a lot of chances and Fabianski was kept busy in goal. He made one brilliant save and looks good to pick up a fair few save points over the season. Naughton got forward well despite being move back to RB but only managed to pick up a yellow card.
Portuguese boy wonder Sanches made his first start but was a little disappointing in truth. He will need time to settle and was intriguingly positioned further forward in the second half. Carroll remained on set-pieces and had one good chance from inside the box.
The key moment in the game was when Abraham rounded the keeper but his shot was blocked on the line. Bony made his second debut and it will be interesting to see how he links up with the Chelsea loanee.
Newcastle built on their away form from last season and picked up 3 points despite the absence of manager Benitez.
There were more points for 4.0mil cheapie Elliot and he’s proving to be FPL gold. Captain Lascelles was the match winner as he powered home a header to return a 15-point haul. We may have another 4.0mil startimg defender as Gamez started at LB but there are players returning from injury.
Ritchie delivered the corner to pick up an assist though he may have been a little fortunate to remain on the pitch after a high foot incident. Atsu was dropped to the bench in favour of summer signing Murphy, highlighting the uncertainty of the LW role.
Every time he plays, Joselu poses a real attacking threat and he is the gameweek leader for shots among all players. Perez was a creative force playing behind him and Newcastle could have added further goals had it not been for the form of the Swansea keeper.
WEST HAM (2.08) 2-0 (0.34) HUDDERSFIELD
Another crucial win for a team this weekend as West Ham helped ease the pressure on manager Slaven Bilic.
There was a first clean sheet of the season for Hart and his defence who could be a good good goalkeeper choice at 4.5mil. The Hammers were the latest side to line up with 3 at the back. This makes Zabaleta and Cresswell intriguing options, the latter creating 3 chances in this game. Their fixtures take a turn for the better now so the defence could be worth investment.
The key moment in the game was when a heavily deflected shot from Obiang found it’s way into the back of the net. Antonio was the man of the match as Huddersfield struggled to contain his pace and power. The introduction of Ayew from the bench also helped change the game as he returned a goal and an assist.
Hernandez was the man replaced after playing out wide to accommodate the return of target man Carroll. The Mexican had already been highly transferred out before the game and his performance on Monday will accelerate those sales. He did hit the bar early on but I can understand why people would be looking to move him on. Carroll was a nuisance in the air throughout but it’s difficult to trust him to stay fit.
The Terriers were brought back down to Earth as an average performance resulted in their first Premier League loss.
They also conceded their first goal of the campaign; disappointment for those that have invested in their defence. However, owners of Lowe were quietly pleased with his early withdrawal which meant he kept his clean sheet points.
Mooy continues to be their key man and everything flows through the Australian. He cannot be expected to return big scores regularly but he should be able to pick up points here and there. There were a few shots from Ince and he did hit the bar late on but he’s yet to show the clinical side required to succeed in the top division.
Another quiet game for early season bandwagon Mounie who struggled to get any joy out of the West Ham defence. His side found it hard to create any clear-cut chances for him.
That concludes part 2 of the GW4 review. Part 1 can be found here. Feel free to post any questions or feedback in the comments section or you can find me on Twitter.
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