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 fantasy premier league GW8 review. Last year, Joseph finished with an overall rank of 13k.
FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE GW8 REVIEW – PART 1
First up, a quick apology for not being able to provide a write-up after GW7; unfortunately, I get busy during certain periods and it means that I simply just do not have the time to do the detailed summaries. However, I will always ensure that the table get provided and do my best to provide the written analysis as well, like I shall be for this week!
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 take the shot and added to the xA 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.
LIVERPOOL (1.97) 0-0 (0.24) MAN UTD
Another draw for Liverpool which means it’s only 1 win in their last 5 league games and they are suffering from a lack of ruthlessness as of late.
Surprisingly they have only conceded one goal at home this season and they handled the United threat pretty well on Saturday. Gomez started at RB again and put in an impressive display to collect maximum bonus points. There was a great first half chance for Matip but he was denied by some good goalkeeping.
Speaking from personal experience, Salah can be a very frustrating asset to own as he continually gets in great positions but his finishing lets him down. After picking up the rebound from the previously mentioned chance, the Egyptian contrived to send the ball inches past the post. In my opinion, we should keep faith in him, especially with the news that he is now on penalties. Coutinho had a fairly quiet game but is still a good option at a slightly cheaper price.
Firmino showed a bit more than in recent weeks, no teammate had more shots or created more chances. However, Spurs at Wembley next week looks a good fixture to move him on for those that have lost faith in him.
It’s fair to say that Mourinho came to Anfield with a goal and he achieved it.
The performance in this game shows that a United defender is a great investment that you can definitely play in any game. Faith in Mourinho’s bus was rewarded for those managers who started Jones. 5.2mil is such a great price and he’s a popular early transfer, though I’d want to wait until the midweek fixtures are over given his injury record.
It may be the end for Mkhitaryan and I’m expecting his ownership to begin to plummet this week after just one fantasy return in the last five weeks. He has suffered in the absence of Pogba though there are rumours that the Frenchman will be back sooner than expected.
Lukaku didn’t respond particularly well to his critics that say he doesn’t perform in big games. He had a poor game and missed one great chance that he put far too close to the keeper. Given Huddersfield’s performance against Spurs the other week, I would look to hold him still but selling him could be a great way to climb the ranks quickly.
BURNLEY (0.71) 1-1 (0.84) WEST HAM
A decent point in the end for Burnley thanks to late equaliser against 10 men as they stretched their unbeaten run to 6 games.
There were a number of disappointed managers when the West Ham goal went in as we’ve come accustomed to expecting clean sheets at Turf Moor. It was a poor goal to concede but they were solid after the red card and we should keep the faith in their backline.
After some brief hope for Brady, we’re returned to not having much to say about the Burnley midfield. I’ve still got him stuck in my team and it’s time for us that took the punt to accept defeat.
Is Wood becoming the 3rd striker option that we’re looking for? He picked up his 3rd goal in 6 games and is proving to be a great aerial threat which is promising in a side that loves to whip crosses in.
West Ham are in the midst of some good fixtures but were unable to hold on for 3 points after a stupid red card.
I was very surprised to see Hart drop in price on Friday night and I would suggest looking at him for 4.4mil. Just don’t be expecting an assist every week!
It was good to see Lanzini return and he brings an extra level of creativity to West Ham. He became an intriguing option after Payet’s departure last year and potentially has the added benefit of penalties. Antonio is still the primary option after his goal and he had one other shot well saved.
I cannot comprehend what Carroll was thinking when he made his challenge for his second yellow card but we do know that he’ll be missing the next game now. Hernadez failed to take a single shot but could prosper from being positioned in a lone striker role in the next game.
CRYSTAL PALACE (1.48) 2-1 (0.63) CHELSEA
The shock of the season so far and it’s a brilliant result for Roy Hodgson who will be hoping this is the kickstart that their campaign needs.
A start in goal for 4.0mil Speroni is something to keep an eye on after Hennessey failed a late fitness test. It’s 3 wins out of 3 when the veteran has been in goal in all competitions this season so there’s a chance he may keep his place.
The big news was the return of Zaha who is now priced at a favourable 6.7mil. He was positioned up front alongside Townsend as part of a pacey front 2 which caused all sorts of problems for the Chelsea defence. The Ivory Coast international was the one to get the winner and is the talisman within this side but it might be worth looking at the Englishman as well for 1.0mil less.
My recommendation would be to monitor Palace assets over the next 3 games and then look at them as options to bring in after their away fixture against Spurs in GW11.
Antonio Conte will not be happy with this performance despite the injuries that his team has suffered recently.
They struggled to contain the Palace attack and perhaps were feeling the effects of not having the injured Kante offering the protective shield in front of them. Alonso posted the highest xG for his side with 1 of his 3 shots being cleared off the line. Moses was forced off with an injury and Zappacosta could become an option for our sides at 5.9mil with Chelsea’s good fixtures.
During Kante’s absence, Fabregas is worth consideration after he picked up the assist today and also hit the bar after a strike from distance. Hazard was a popular wildcard differential for some experienced managers but was pretty quiet and had some disappointing Expected stats.
Batshuayi couldn’t take his chance on a rare start and, judging by this performance, he shouldn’t pose much of a threat to Morata on his return. The Spaniard is back in training before Chelsea’s Champions League fixture so I’m sure that there will be a lot of managers watching that one with a view to bringing him before GW9.
MAN CITY (4.45) 7-2 (0.68) STOKE
Brilliant, simply brilliant. This is an incredible attacking unit and it’s the time for a least a double-up in their attack.
Still no sign of Kompany which should keep the places of Stones and Otamendi secure for now. Walker picked up an assist but let’s move on to the attack.
Where to start? Every midfielder picked up at least one fantasy return and are worthy of consideration. De Bruyne was the best player on the pitch, playing some ridiculous through balls on his way to two assists. However, he still looks a little overpriced compared to his teammates from a fantasy perspective. Sterling and Sané both returned 10+ points hauls and it’s tough to split them. I personally prefer the Englishman who seems to be favoured in the league and plays closer to the striker so poses more of a threat in the box. There was a first goal of the season for Silva who posed a greater goal threat than we have previously seen and is arguably still the best secure option in midfield.
A brace for Jesus who is showing enough quality to warrant place in our teams despite only playing 60 odd minutes again. However, everything that I’ve mentioned so far could all change with the return of Aguero. He is back in training and had an amazing session on Monday so could be in line to start at the weekend. It’s really tough to say who will miss out but we’ve seen enough to pick our 2 or 3 City options and not worry about rotation anymore.
You can’t help but feel sorry for Stoke after coming against a rampant City side and it’s tough to take much from this game from an FPL point of view.
The defence was pulled all over the place but it was interesting to see Wimmer start while Martins Indi was on the bench which could suggest his place is secure at 4.4mil.
Allen unsurprisingly missed out and there wasn’t much on show from his budget-priced teammates.
A goal and an assist for Diouf thanks to two deflected attempts but it was definitely not a day to judge this Stoke side.
SWANSEA (2.06) 2-0 (0.33) HUDDERSFIELD
An important first home win of the season for the Swans which propelled them up the table and gave us some budget options to look.
The bonus point king continues to be Fernandez and he looks the best outfield option in his side’s defence, though I’m still a fan of Fabianski’s save potential in goal.
We finally got to see an assist from Carroll after pouncing on a defensive mistake and I imagine that there are a fair few managers who are grateful to see his points coming off the bench. It’s down to managers to decide whether he’s worth starting in the upcoming promising home games.
Abraham caused problems throughout and deserved his brace. It’s a tough season for the budget strikers as there are so many good premium options but 5.7mil is a very attractive price looking at their next few fixtures.
Not the best day at the office for Wagner’s men and they will need to up their game if they want to stay in the division.
Lowe was dropped from the starting XI and I would avoid their defenders for the time being because the form and fixtures just aren’t there at the moment.
Mooy was rested after his significant game time for Australia during the international break and Huddersfield missed their key man. Ince blazed a half-volley over and continues to under-perform against his underlying stats.
Still no Mounie which means Huddersfield are generally a team to avoid right now.
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.
Play fantasy football the new way:
Follow us on twitter and facebook and instagram for article updates and news.
Geek Leagues
Fantasy Premier League: 5379-1967
Sun: FantasyFootballGeek SGDKX9Y3
TFF: FantasyFootballGeek PIN 8000919 Passcode 1159
Sky: FFGeek 8310511
UCL: 18664FKG
TFF UCL: FantasyFootballGeek PIN 8137738 Passcode 1210
