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 GW6 review. Last year, Joseph finished with an overall rank of 13k.
FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE GW6 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.
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.
STOKE (0.60) 0-4 (1.60) CHELSEA
Injuries and suspensions meant it was always going to be a tough day for Stoke and so it proved.
They were left with only one available centre back but Zouma will be back next week after he was ineligible for this game.
There wasn’t too much in this game for former bandwagons Jese and Choupo-Moting but the latter continues to show some decent underlying stats.
Despite playing RWB again, Diouf had chances again. The fixture list is turning positive for Stoke from next week so their assets are now worth considering.
A good performance from the champions which showed improvement from last week’s display against Arsenal.
Is Azpilicueta becoming the Chelsea defender to own? He picked up his 3rd and 4th assists of the campaign which is double the total of any other defender. Meanwhile, Alonso very nearly got himself sent off, was substituted before the hour mark and returned zero points. Cahill was surprisingly benched, suggesting his place in the team may no longer be secure.
Pedro was fit to start after going off at half-time last week. He scored an opportunistic goal after pouncing on a mistake by the opposition. Fabregas was resigned to a place on the bench alongside Hazard who is yet to start in the league this season. They face Man City next week so his first start in the league could well come on Saturday evening.
A great day for Morata who got his first PL hat-trick without even using his head to score. His first goal came after just 83 seconds, his second was a great solo effort and he could have had more after netting his third. He seems to have formed a great relationship with Azpilicueta who has set up 4 of his goals, the best combination in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
SWANSEA (1.97) 1-2 (1.28) WATFORD
Swansea are struggling at home to start the season and Paul Clement was not pleased with their performance.
They only had themselves to blame for the goals that they conceded, giving the ball away for the first and a weak tackle from Mawson resulted in the late winner. Fabianski could only return 1 point after last week’s big haul.
Carroll had a decent xA score after continuing to monopolise set-pieces and he should pick up a few assists over the season. Furthermore, he was positioned much higher up the pitch in this game which is promising to see, especially given their upcoming fixtures.
Abraham came off the bench to score the equaliser. The assist went to Bony after his shot was saved during his first start since resigning for the club. I was surprised to not see them both start in a partnership that looks good on paper, perhaps we will see this in their next game.
Another away win under Marco Silva for Watford who recovered well after last week’s 6-0 loss with victory in the 90th minute.
Kiko was favoured at RB and played well. He created one chance when he got to the by-line and cut the ball back into a good area. Their fixtures improve from GW10 onwards and he looks a good option.
4.5mil Chalobah was missing with a knock but should be back soon. There was a goal for Richarlison who delivered on his impressive stats and looks an enticing prospect at 6.0mil.
There was a 1st PL goal at Watford for Gray and he had a couple of other chances to add to his tally. This Watford team is looking very exciting, particularly away from home with their pace and there are options for our FPL teams within their attack.
LEICESTER (3.04) 2-3 (1.94) LIVERPOOL
As you can see from the expected goals tallies, Leicester were unlucky to walk away with no points from this game.
It was a shaky game from Maguire at the back but he still picked up a fortunate assist after the ball hit him from a corner.
Mahrez was quiet after missing an early chance and was taken off early which is unusual for him. He was replaced by Gray and the youngster registered an assist after his volley was well saved. 4.4mil King continues to start in midfield and played the lovely through ball when his side won a penalty that they couldn’t convert.
Okazaki scored which means he has already matched last season’s tally. There was another goal for Vardy against Liverpool but it could have been so much more. He missed the penalty but we will have to see if he keeps the responsibility. He was a threat throughout with his pace and could break into our striking line ups with Leicester’s upcoming fixtures.
It’s always entertaining watching Liverpool and this game was no exception.
The defence was poor again as is to be somewhat expected these days. Alexander-Arnold failed to start but fellow cheapie Moreno took the LB spot and claimed an assist.
Many people questioned Liverpool’s decision to keep Coutinho but this performance showed the quality that they were desperate to keep. A wonderful cross and an exquisite free kick helped him to a 13-point haul which placed him back on our radars. He’s still got some way to go to trump Salah as the primary Liverpool asset as he scored another goal to take him 1 point off the FPL points summit for midfielders. Typically, he missed another glorious chance which hindered his chance of bonus points. There was a rare goal for Henderson who stay composed to tuck the ball into the net after a fast breakaway.
It was a quiet game for Firmino who was withdrawn early. He is the most sold player so far for GW7 but it’s worth remembering for sellers that Mane is back next week and the Brazilian’s returns are much improved when playing with him. Sturridge came off the bench to pick up an assist and is looking sharper as each game goes by.
BRIGHTON (0.51) 1-0 (1.37) NEWCASTLE
Home form is going to be crucial during Brighton’s fight against relegation so this was a welcome three points.
There had been suggestions that Ryan’s place was under threat but he put in a good performance to help his team to a clean sheet.
A popular GW6 transfer, Gross, somehow didn’t score early on when his close-range shot hit his own teammate. There wasn’t much else from him as March was the star on show for the Seagulls in this game.
Hemed got the winner and has a great record in front of his own fans recently. He has scored 15 and assisted 5 goals during his last 23 appearances at the Amex Stadium. However, he appeared to stamp on Yedlin late in the game and could be facing a suspension as he’s now been charged.
There was a lot of transfers in for Newcastle players this week and they rather let down their new owners.
They failed to deal with a set-piece routine and before you knew it, their clean sheet was gone. Mbemba was in the starting line-up again and showed some twinkling feet in the opposing penalty box to create a chance which was sent over the bar.
It’s fair to say that Ritchie is the key man for Newcastle as he had more shots and more chances created than any of his teammates. He loves to cut in on his favoured left foot and whip in crosses to the back stick. He also dominates set-pieces but I would worry that they could be shared out if Shelvey begins to start again.
The king of the underlying stats failed again and continued to frustrate his owners. Joselu missed another wonderful opportunity after pouncing on a loose ball and seems unable to capitalise on the chances that he receives.
ARSENAL (2.44) 2-0 (0.78) WEST BROM
A good win for Arsenal on Monday night and they seem to have recovered from their poor start to the season.
This was their third clean sheet in a row and Monreal has picked up bonus points in each of those. He added another from this game after a brilliant goal line clearance during a man of the match performance. It seems that Kolasinac’s attacking output was reduced by the return of a certain Chilean which is something to watch out for.
Sanchez returned to the midfield and put in a lively display, showing some of his quality. This was particularly evident from a free-kick that well saved before the rebound was tucked away to give the Chilean an assist. It was interesting to see Ramsay positioned further forward and he continually got into good positions without much reward, though he did win a penalty for his assist. It’s difficult to believe that he will keep playing in this position though as surely Ozil will come in now that he’s fit again.
It certainly has been the weekend for premium strikers and Lazacazette continued this trend as he bagged a brace. A rebounded effort and a penalty helped him to 13 points which puts him into the thoughts of managers with Arsenal hosting Brighton this weekend.
West Brom will feel rather hard done by in this game after being denied a blatant penalty in the first half at 0-0 and then conceding a soft one in their box.
There wasn’t too much hope for a clean sheet in this game and so it proved as a change in system couldn’t keep the Gunners out. Hegazi started again but was this only due to playing 5 at the back? We will have to wait and see.
Not too much to comment on in the Baggies’ midfield as Pulis lined up with three defensive midfielders in an attempt to stifle Arsenal. I’m sure that we will see the likes of Phillips starting next game.
Rodriguez was the man felled in the opposition penalty area but supposedly his honesty denied his team being given the stonewall penalty. After falling down, he returned to his feet to fire a shot at goal that was well saved. It sums up the Englishman’s season as he has been unlucky not to have more fantasy returns.
That concludes part 2 of the GW6 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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