With the Premier League season coming to a close soon, the top Fantasy Premier League top performers 16/17 have almost been fully established.
Across most fantasy football platforms, these four stand out as top fantasy performers this season, but how did playing – or not playing – in the Champions League influence their rise to such lofty fantasy points totals?
fantasy premier league top performers 16/17 – Did the Champions League affect them?
4. Dele Alli
The Tottenham midfielder has been lethal this season, playing from attacking midfield but often acting as a shadow striker to Harry Kane. His ferocity and bravery in the opposition’s end have earned him a mighty haul of goals and assists this season.
Spurs started the season in the Champions League, and this evidently influenced Alli’s slow start. Before, and while, Tottenham were competing in the Champions League, Alli only scored three goals and two assists, having a goals contribution rate of just 0.38 per Premier League game. But once they left the competition, his tally rocketed, moving up to a rate of 0.90 goal contributions per Premier League game.
3. Eden Hazard
‘Eden Hazard / Эден Азар’ – Aleksandr Osipov via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The lack of Champions League football allowed the new manager, Antonio Conte, to teach his team how to use his 3-4-3 formation in the extra midweek training sessions. Conte has been able to forge a solid six-man defence of three centre backs, two wing backs, and N’Golo Kante in defensive midfield, which has allowed Chelsea’s attacking talents to focus on creating and scoring goals.
The solid back line has greatly helped Eden Hazard bounce back. The crafty Belgian has been allowed to roam with the ball at his feet and try some creative moves without giving defence much thought, thus allowing him to reach his mighty fantasy points haul.
2. Romelu Lukaku
Everton’s big man upfront, Romelu Lukaku, has continued to prove that he is one of the best strikers in the Premier League, and possibly the most complete one.
Lukaku is yet to see Champions League football, but his performances over the last few seasons certainly warrant him a place on such a team. The striker has been rumoured to have the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, and even Real Madrid – who are 3/4 favourites to win the Champions League this season – to be chasing his signature.
However, Everton are set up to feed him the ball, so if he moves to a team less willing to be Lukaku-orientated, he may see his fantasy points total drop.
1. Alexis Sanchez
‘Arsenal Vs Watford’ – joshjdss via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Alexis Sanchez stands as the top Fantasy Premier League performer with just a couple of games left in the season, and yet, he has been disappointing owners of late. With only three goals in his last nine games, the Chilean forward has appeared to hit a wall.
Sanchez’s drop in fantasy production has, quite surprisingly, coincided with Arsenal’s exit from the Champions League. He was in fine form when his team was still in the competition, even amassing five goals and two assists in the eight games directly after Champions League matches, but the exit seems to have drained all of that momentum.
Alexis Sanchez leads fantasy scoring, just, but imagine what he could have tallied if his Champions League-inspired momentum had continued.
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