fantasy premier league team focus – whats going on with Watford?

Fantasy Premier League

Watford have started the season very positively in the premier league under new manager Marco Silva.  They drew with Liverpool and beat Bournemouth away and lie 4th in the table scoring 5 goals in the process and collecting a clean sheet at Bournemouth.  In our fantasy premier league team focus article, we take an in depth look at them as a team and focus on some individuals as potential targets for our fantasy premier league teams

fantasy premier league team focus – whats going on with Watford?

Background

Watford are managed by former Hull manager Marco Silva who took Hull from the dead last season and very nearly saved them from relegation.  Silva has a strong managerial history in Portugal and Greece and was known for his attention to detail and defensive organisation.

We’re only 2 games into the season but Watford have drawn 3-3 with Liverpool and beaten Bournemouth 2-0 away.  They lie 4th in the premier league table.

Whats more you can see in our  underlying stats article that their start is no fluke .  In the expected goals table Watford are currently 3rd for attack.  They only lie behind Man Utd and Arsenal.  Watford are ahead of Liverpool who 4th.  They also sit a respectable 8th for defence.  The 8th is very impressive for defence when you consider they met Liverpool’s potent attack in GW1.

We’re only 2 games in, that should be remembered, but it’s already an impressive start.  Watford also lost on Tuesday in the EFL Cup to Bristol City with a pretty strong, but not full,  team which does put a minor shadow over things.

What’s more their next match is a home game Brighton .  A team bottom of the expected goals attacking tables and 2nd bottom in defence.  Yes Brighton played Man City in their first game but they still look a great entry point for Watford players either in attack or defence.

The one negative is that according to our fixture ease article Watford’s fixtures after that aren’t great.  It shows them with the 11th best fixtures from GW3 from an attacking point of view.  However they have shown their ability to score goals  and with £4.5m defensive options they are cheap enough to be rotated if required.

Here’s their next 6 fixtures

Brighton (H)
Southampton (A)
Man City (H)
Swansea (A)
West Brom (A)
Arsenal (H)

Player Options 

Firstly lets look at their lineup and pass position map from the Bournemouth win in GW2

FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM FOCUS

Lets also look at their shots in the box and key pass stats from whoscored.com

FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM FOCUS

FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM FOCUS




Defence and GK

2 choices for me here.  Either GK Gomes at £4.5m or £4.5m CB/LB Britos.  They have both played the 2 opening games and look secure starters.  Watford rotate reasonably well with Burnley so if you’ve started with Ben Mee of Burnley it’s a good rotation.  I would have also said the more attacking option of  £5.0m LWB Holebas but he was sent off in the EFL cup and is suspended until GW4.  The one bright spot from that  is that Britos  could play LB/LWB for the Brighton game.

Midfield

With Peryeya out injured the main option for me is new acquisition £6.0m LW Richarlison.  You can see he leads the shots in the box stats and is 2nd in key passes for Watford.  Also, from the pass map he’s also the most advanced midfielder by some distance.  In our underlying stats summary article only Lukaku and Kane have had more shots in the box than Richarlison in the first 2 game weeks.  He’s returned in both the opening games with a goal in GW2 and an assist in GW1.

He is only 20 and has played all his football in Brazil.  He came from Fluminese in the Brazilian top League where he scored 5 goals and 3 assists in 14 starts at a rate of a goal or assist every 154 minutes.  He’s also played 10 times for the Brazil under 20 side scoring 3 times.  His young age and inexperience in the league plus only 2 games of data is the cautionary aspect.

Nathan Chalobah is also a reasonable prospect for a £4.5m bench warming mid although I would probably rate Tom Carroll of Swansea as a better choice

Attack

Watford have a number of options in Okaka, Gray and Deeney.  £6.5m Gray having started in GW2 and Deeney having played in the EFL cup makes me think that Gray is going to get the nod going forward but it can’t be guaranteed at this stage.  Silva is a counter attacking coach and Gray and Richarlison have great pace which definitely helps Gray’s cause.

Last season Gray scored 9 goals and 3 assists in the Burnley team at a rate of a goal or assist every 188 minutes.  He earned an FPL point every 20.9 minutes.  Neither are particularly encouraging and in the 117 minutes played so far for Watford he’s got 1 assist.

Gray has potential and with the Brighton fixture next it’s a good time to get him if you’re willing to throw the dice.  The cautionary aspects though are the competition for places, his record to date plus the ongoing fixtures




Summary

It is early days but manager Marco Silva has demonstrated with Hull and other sides how he can transform a team.  Their start has been impressive and with Brighton at home next it is a solid entry point although the fixtures after that aren’t great at all.

The improvement in defence has been good and £4.5m GK Gomes and £4.5m CB/LB Britos are the best options and rotate well with Burnley.

In midfield £6.0m LW Richarlison has been the star starter.  In attack there’s competition but Gray started against Bournemouth and his pace has to help Silva’s counter attacking approach.  £4.5m Mid Chalobah looks a reasonable bench warming option

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