Here’s our fantasy premier league team focus DGW34 Middlesborough article. This is the 2nd in our articles on the 3 DGW34 teams. We take a look at gametime issues as well as the players to pick for your FPL team. There’s a load of graphics and stats to help you choose
fantasy premier league team focus DGW34 Middlesborough
As I said for the Crystal Palace team focus article at the end of the post so if stats and graphics bore you go straight there
Last 3 lineups
These are the last 3 lineups from the excellent site football-lineups
Gametime issues
The situation has been complicated by the fact that caretaker manager Steve Agnew has only been in charge since GW29 and is still seemingly trying to find his best 11. Of the attacking players only 2 have played 3 games. Those being Downing and Clayton. Calyton is a defensive midfielder who has got 1 assist in 28 games so he’s of no use. That means Downing is as close to nailed on as you can imagine.
De Roon, Gestede and Negredo have played 2 games.
I’m going to defer to the Arsenal game as a most likely to be his first choice team. To me the attacking options that should be selected are
Negredo fwd £6.2m
Downing mid £4.9m
De Roon £4.4m
I’m also going to add Ramirez £5.2m to this who was injured in the 2 games prior to GW33
I’ll deal with defence in the section below
Injuries
The current injury position from the site physioroom
Additional news as I write this is that Valdes is out for at least the first game of DGW34. Fabio is to be monitored and Leadbitter is out.
Pass Map
Here’s the latest pass and position map from 11tegen11
You can see that Ramirez and Downing are the most advanced midfielders. Clayton to be fair is more advanced than De Roon. However De Roon passes the eye test better as a box to box player
Next fixtures
Bournemouth (A) DGW34
Sunderland (H) DGW34
Man City (H)
Chelsea (A)
Southampton (H)
Liverpool (A)
The fixtures are great for the DGW34 but terrible afterwards. If you’ve used your wildcard you may not want to use a Middlesboro player again to the end of the season so maybe a good idea to go cheap in that instance.
The player options outlined
GK and Defence
The good news are that the clean sheet odds aren’t too bad. The bookies see no chance for Bournemouth away at £4.60 but home to Sunderland is a reasonable £2.45
Regular GK Valdes is out for the Bournemouth game but it doesn’t sound serious enough to rule him out definitely of game 2 so that probably ends that GK option.
In defence Fabio is being assessed for the weekend with the injury not as bad as first thought. That uncertainty effectively rules out Fabio and his replacement Friend at LB. CB/RB Chambers at £4.3m is an option and by all accounts a key part of their defensive strength. Having just come back from injury you have to have some concerns about 2 games. The positive though is that given the remaining fixtures these are must win games and I’m sure both the player and the manager will want him to play 2 games. The fact that Chambers can play RB and CB means cheapie Barragan is also a big risk. This is especially the case as he’s not got the greatest reputation from the limited information I’ve heard.
The only totally safe bet is £5.0m CB Gibson. He’s not cheap. However if you’re like me and wildcarding in GW36 then his price isn’t that relevant depending on what you’re planning for GW35 as you’ll be ditching him in GW36 anyway.
Midfield
Here’s the basic stats on Downing, De Roon and Ramirez
None look great and the bookies aren’t exactly trembling either. Maybe Downing at a push for the gametime, advanced position and some recent form.
Here’s the squawka comparison for underlying stats:
Well that certainly throws the cat among the pigeons. Ramirez looks far superior on the underlying stats front. To give a comparison he’s about 70% of Ross Barkley. That positioned has changed in recent stats and Downing has edged Ramirez. Ramirez only played 38 minutes against Swansea though and none against Burnley and Hull while Downing played 90 minutes in all 3 so Downing has had the benefit of those fixtures to boost his stats. Ramirez only played 67 odd minutes against Arsenal which is a worry. That may have been due to returning from injury though.
Forwards
In the Crystal Palace team focus I compared Negredo to Benteke so I’m going to repeat that here.
Here’s Negredo’s (£6.2m PPM 3.7) stats vs DGW 34’s Benteke (£7.2m PPM 3.7) of Crystal Palace just so there’s something to compare to:
Both quite similar with good form. Benteke over the season is on the edge of being ok for the price
Here’s the squawka underlying stats comparison:
Bentekes are the stronger of the 2.
Summary
If Palace was good form vs bad fixtures then Middlesborough are good fixtures vs poor form
In defence there are 2 reasonably good fixtures and certainly the home game to Sunderland has to be a reasonable prospect of a clean sheet. The only totally safe option mainly due to injuries is £5.0m CB Gibson. He’s expensive though which you maybe able to live with if you still have a wildcard. However otherwise there’s returning from injury CB/RB Chambers at £4.3m. His risk is in just coming back will he play both games. Given the fixtures after I think he will probably have to but there’s no guarantee. Neither of them have much attacking potential so it’s clean sheets or bust.
The midfield pickings are pretty slim. £4.9m RAM Downing is probably the safest gametime wise and has some recent form. He probably just edges the stats of £5.2m Ramirez and £4.4m De Roon. However the underlying stats over the season certainly show Ramirez way ahead. That has changed recently but Ramirez has suffered from missing most of the Swansea game when injured and the Hull and Burnley games. Ramirez hasn’t turned these underlying stats into points though and his 67 minute substitution against Arsenal was either because of returning from injury or a pattern as Agnew substituted him at the same minute in his only other start for the manager. Ramirez and Downing will probably share set pieces.
£6.2m forward Negredo looks the best of the attacking picks though having shown some recent form. He possibly would have pens too
The bookies certainly only favour Negredo.
Lets get one thing straight. The 2 fixtures couldn’t be better. Bournemouth A and Sunderland H. So in the spirit of chancing your arm in a DGW they appeal from that prospect. However form is an issue. Only Negredo comes close to displaying anything.
For me I don’t have any Boro player. I’m considering either Gibson or converting my 5th midfielder to Ramirez as I just have the cash and using the AOA chip.
As I’ll be using my wildcard for GW36 if I go for a defender I will probably go for Gibson. However if I didn’t I may gamble on Chambers.
In midfield I’m not enamoured. As I said I may take the risk on Ramirez based on his underlying stats if I was to pick someone but that would be converting a 5th midfielder and maybe using the AOA chip. The fact that Ramirez hasn’t returned in 6 starts isn’t confidence boosting though.
I think Negredo though is worth a roll of the dice if you’re stuck for other options.
Good luck whatever you choose
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