In fantasy premier league we’ve all got Walcott, Mata Michu Bale and Fellaini or 4 of them depending on funds. 2013 has seen the emergence of this player whether you call them the advanced midfielder or the support striker or the player in the “hole”. So who are the players who are less known but who exhibit similar characteristics. Were going to look at some players who show an advanced central average position and see if how they compare to the Walcott and whether they have potential for a position in our teams. The players mentioned above will not be assessed. They’re a little bit left field and not in the “ones to watch.” I’ll be looking at a number of players comparing them to Walcott over the last 4 gameweeks comparing actual stats, average position, shooting stats and pen box touches. Firstly lets see what were comparing him too.
Walcott £9.5m. 24% owned
last 6 gameweeks: 6 starts 3 goals and 3 assists
Oscar £7.8m 1% owned
last 6 gameweeks: 5 starts 0 goals and 1 assist
average position: No where near as consistently advanced as Walcott
pen box touches: well behind Walcott
shooting stats: miles off
verdict: not an option
Hazard £9.3m 18% owned
last 6 gameweeks: 4 starts 3 goals and 1 assist
average position: last couple of games have shown quite an advanced central position
pen box touches: Comparable to Walcott
shooting stats: Well behind Walcott
verdict: has potential but just hasnt shown the shooting stats to really be an option. Also hard to look past Mata at the moment for your Chelsea coverage
Maloney £4.8m 2% owned
last 6 gameweeks: 6 starts 2 goals and 2 assists
average position: Central but not comparable in terms of high up the pitch
pen box touches: Good but not that close to Walcott
shooting stats: Well behind Walcott
verdict: Remember this isn’t a fair comparison as he’s only £4.8m but a good cheap option definitely for your 5th midfielder if you don’t have the funds
Sissoko £6.1m 6% owned
last 6 gameweeks: 3 starts 2 goals and 2 assists
average position: Advanced and central but he’s not that close to Walcott
pen box touches: Good but not that close to Walcott
shooting stats: Good, quite close to Walcott
verdict: Not a huge amount of data with only 3 games but definitely has the potential. He’s no Walcott but not in the same price bracket and the stats are good
NZogbia £5.8m 0.5% owned
last 6 gameweeks: 5 starts 1 goal and 4 assists
average position: A bit mixed but has potential
pen box touches: quite a distance off Walcott
shooting stats: Miles off Walcott
verdict: More of a assist based player and there’s only Benteke to pass to.
Sessegnon £6.9m 1% owned
last 6 gameweeks: 6 starts 0 goal and 1 assist
average position: Only really showed an advanced position in GW26
pen box touches: Hopeless
shooting stats: Hopeless
verdict: Hopeless
Summary
Sissoko looks the best other option in the advanced midfielder stakes at the moment and with good fixtures he’s definitely worth a gamble. Hazard interestingly also has potential but is limited by Mata being essential to everyones fantasy premier league team. None of the others look like viable options to me at the moment.
I hope that gives you some food for thought
