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 first part of the GW6 review. Last year, Joseph finished with an overall rank of 13k.
FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE GW6 REVIEW – PART 1
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.
The tables also include the Expected Goals and Expected Assists for each individual player. This is in addition to the expected goals for each team in brackets within the scoreline. BBC Sport provided a very useful piece to help explain this statistic. Essentially each shot is given a score between 0 and 1 as to how likely it is to go in the net. For example, suppose a shot taken from inside the box is worth 0.56; this will be added to the xG tally of the player who takes the shot and added to the xA tally of the player who passes the ball to him. All underlying stats are from the brilliant website understat.com. References to average position come from the twitter site 11tegen11.
WEST HAM (0.67) 2-3 (1.52) TOTTENHAM
The Hammers almost completed an impressive second half comeback but they left themselves too much to do after earlier defensive lapses.
The defence was on hand to provide both assists during the West Ham response. Fonte flicked on a corner for the first goal and a cracking cross delivered by sub Masauku set up the grandstand finish. The next four fixtures look promising for their defenders so they could be worth looking at.
A groin injury to key man Antonio changed the course of the first half and he will have a scan on Monday to assess the extent of the injury. He will join £4.5mil cheapie Obiang on the treatment table who missed this match with a knock. Kouyate scored late on with a bullet header to give supporters hope of an unlikely point.
Carroll returned to the bench but was introduced to the game after the injury to Antonio and caused a lot of problems for the Tottenham defence with his aerial power. The first goal was a classic poacher’s finish from Hernandez and he had one other good chance which he put straight at the keeper.
A 3rd successive away win for Spurs who made the game unnecessarily tense but did well to hold on in the end.
The red card for Aurier was the catalyst for the tricky ending after a needless second booking in his first PL start. Davies also returned to the starting XI after missing last week’s match at Wembley. He and his defensive colleagues were fairly comfortable for an hour until a set-piece goal and the red card changed the game.
It was a surprisingly poor game from Alli but he still managed to pick up 2 assists. Eriksen played great again and orchestrated the Tottenham attack beautifully. He got his deserved goal with a well-placed low shot but continues to be positioned a little deeper than Dele.
There was reward for those who kept faith in Kane as he continued his London derby form with a Saturday lunchtime brace. Both goals were simple but well-taken finishes and he’s carried over his impressive away form from the end of last season. Furthermore, he hit the post twice and had 7 shots in total which suggests further goals are coming.
BURNLEY (0.47) 0-0 (0.31) HUDDERSFIELD
A scrappy game at Turf Moor resulted in a rather predictable goalless draw which Sean Dyche will consider a point closer to safety.
Another home clean sheet for Burnley highlights the strength of their defenders as rotation options. A good xA score for Ward helped him to pick up a couple of bonus points.
There was not much from Brady and it is becoming difficult to predict which games his fantasy returns are going to come in.
Wood had the best chance for the Clarets but couldn’t direct his header on target.
An away point for Huddersfield helped to further cement their place within the top half of the table.
It was a 4th clean sheet in 6 games for Wagner’s men and there was further evidence of Schindler’s bonus point potential. He was considerably ahead of everyone during this game and picked up his 2nd maximum bps haul.
There were a further 4 key passes for Mooy but his xA tally was rather low. Ince had a lower shot count than we usually see but also created a good chance.
No Mounie in the starting line-up again due to injury so Depoitre filled in once more and had one good opportunity.
EVERTON (2.38) 2-1 (0.38) BOURNEMOUTH
A much-needed win for Everton to help relieve some of the pressure on their manager which will hopefully kickstart their season.
Injuries in their defence resulted in starts for Martina and Holgate who, if they can cement their places, look good options with price tags of 4.3mil and 4.4mil. The latter had a header which the goal decision system confirmed was cleared just before it crossed the line.
Davies came off the bench to provide the assists to turn the game on its head. There wasn’t much else to note in the Toffee’s midfield apart from that Sigurdsson is taking the majority of set-pieces.
There were two options at 5.0mil that emerged from this match which could help those playing 3-5-2. Young Englishman Calvert-Lewin started and had one great chance towards the end which he couldn’t quite convert. The story of the match was the re-emergence of Niasse, a player who didn’t even have a locker at the club a year ago, and now scored a brace to potentially save the job of the man who dismissed him. He wasn’t even registered in the FPL game as he was hitting the back of net but has now been added.
Bournemouth remain in the relegation zone and they really need to get their season going soon.
Another attacking return for Daniels who picked up an assist and a couple of bonus points to keep his 11.2% ownership happy.
It was good to see Stanislas starting again and, at 5.9mil, he could become a good option after his impressive points per minute seen last season. Ibe started after his standout performance from the bench in the game against Brighton last Friday.
King got his first league goal of the season with a lovely run and finish but his strike partner, Defoe, missed a good opportunity when presented to him.
MAN CITY (5.67) 5-0 (0.61) CRYSTAL PALACE
It’s all looking good for Guardiola’s team at the moment as they became the first side in PL history to score 5+ goals in three successive games. Their high xG total showed that this game was no fluke.
Captain Kompany missed out again due to injury. Mendy picked up a knock to his knee during the first half which forced him off but the club are hopeful that it’s not too serious. Their teammates managed to pick up a clean sheet without them and they only allowed 5 shots on their goal.
There were two great performances from bit-part players who started this match. Sane was the star of the show with 2 goals and an assist. He displayed some beautiful skill for the first goal and he should have converted a glorious chance for his hat-trick. My differential pick Sterling also bagged a brace and arguably could have had more after an impressive xG score. Silva was brilliant once again and picked a further 2 assists to lead the assists chart. More disappointment for De Bruyne owners as he picked up no fantasy returns in game where even Delph managed to get on the scoresheet with a fine curling finish.
Jesus failed to start as he was reduced to a place on the bench for the duration of the game. The lone striker role was filled by the most transferred player in this week, Aguero, and he didn’t let his new owners down. He made them sweat as he missed chances in both halves before eventually getting an assist and finally getting on the scoresheet. As shown by his xA tally, he has added assists to his FPL armour this year which has helped him to the top of the FPL scoring charts.
The tough start continues for Hodgson as his side succumbed to another defeat without scoring.
They actually put in an improved display for 40 mins but once the first goal went in, they began to crumble. Hodgson changed to a system with 4 at the back and it’s becoming clear who he favours in defence. Sakho made his first start since signing permanently for Palace and he should help improve their clean sheet prospects.
Their fixtures improve from GW9 onwards and managers should be keeping an eye on Loftus-Cheek. He moved into the no.10 role for this game and was his side’s biggest threat; hitting the post after a driving run and missing another chance.
There are issues up front as the Eagles’ only senior striker, Benteke, picked up an injury which is certain to keep him out of at least the next game.
SOUTHAMPTON (0.82) 0-1 (1.15) MAN UTD
It’s of little surprise recently to see that Southampton haven’t scored but they did put in a better display during the second half here.
Van Dijk remained on the bench but I’d imagine that it’s only a matter of time before he makes his first start of the season. The Saints actually did OK defensively in this game and the next 5 games are looking promising for clean sheets.
Despite the fixtures, managers shouldn’t be looking to invest in their midfield. Redmond continues to display good underlying stats but it’s worth noting his low xG score despite the shot count which demonstrates the lack of quality chances that he is presented.
The bench was reserved for Gabbiadini again, so it remains best to sell and keep clear.
A tough win for Mourinho’s men who was sent to the stands in the latter stages of the match.
I highlighted Jones’ bps potential in last week’s article and it came to fruition on Saturday. He comfortably claimed the maximum bonus points and is great value at 5.2mil for a side that has already kept 5 clean sheets.
Mkhitaryan created 2 more chances in this game but had a relatively quiet game in spite of lining up in the no.10 position again.
The goals keep flowing for Lukaku and his owners. The goal was similar to last week as he missed the initial chance before tucking away the rebound. He also set up a chance that should have been converted but it was only meant to be the one fantasy return for the Belgian this week.
That concludes part 1 of the GW6 review. Part 2 will be coming shortly. Feel free to post any questions or feedback in the comments section or you can find me on Twitter.
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