Here’s regular contributor to the site Joseph Crilley with his article on fantasy premier league differentials who, with their low ownership, have the potential to quickly improve your FPL rank. Joseph finished with an overall rank of 13k last season
fantasy premier league differentials – Joseph Crilley outlines 3
Throughout the season I’m planning on writing an article prior to each gameweek outlining some good differential picks for your teams to help boost your rank. I thought that I’d get started with some pre-season picks in the format that I will be using for the articles. I will be giving three choices of varying ownership; 5-10%, 1-5% and <1%.
Matty Phillips, midfield, West Brom (5.3%)
During an early period of last season, Matty Phillips became very highly owned thanks to a run of form which saw him score 4 goals and register 7 assists in just 10 gameweeks. I’m sure we will see a sharp increase on his current low ownership if he displays similar form to start this season. Unfortunately a hamstring injury limited his returns in the second half of last season.
Last season he scored 115 points in just 27 appearances giving him a higher points per game return than the likes of Pogba, Redmond and Zaha who currently boast much greater ownership. Although it can be difficult to trust a Tony Pulis attack, he had a 40% goal involvement last season and averaged an attempt every 46.7mins. His crossing ability was key in racking up FPL points as he delivered an impressive 144 crosses resulting in 33 chances created including 8 big chances.
From what we have seen in pre-season, Phillips will be lining up in the right-wing position of a 4-3-3 formation and he should have some set-piece responsibility. He comes in at the reasonable price of £6.0m. He also has a good run of fixtures to start the season which could make him a great addition to your GW1 squad. Rob Reid (aka the FPL vet) certainly agrees as he has Phillips lining up in his latest draft which can be found using this link.
West Brom opening fixtures:
Bournemouth (H)
Burnley (A)
Stoke (H)
Brighton (A)
West Ham (H)
Charlie Austin, forward, Southampton (2.4%)
Many fantasy football fans will recall Austin’s first season in the Premier League with QPR when he returned an impressive 18 goals and 8 assists. I fondly remember his hat-trick that season against West Brom and many enjoyed his strong returns in a double gamweek later in the season. He was a great budget option for our teams that season and I’m hopeful that this could happen again. At £6.5m, he could be the man to fill that troublesome 3rd striker slot in our teams.
Unfortunately, fitness concerns have restricted him to just 19 appearances since joining Southampton in January 2016. However, he is fit again for the start of the 17/18 campaign and posted some decent stats in his limited minutes last year. He scored 6 goals in 15 appearances at a good rate of 156 mins per goal which resulted in a 78% goal involvement. Moreover, he averaged an attempt every 25.4mins which was faster than premium strikers Diego Costa, Romelu Lukaku and Gabriel Jesus.
Southampton have good opening fixtures facing only one of last year’s top 7 during the first 11 gameweeks. The main issue for Austin is that we are not sure that he will be a guaranteed starter with Manolo Gabbiadini and Shane Long providing competition for the striker position. It is thought that the new manager, Mauricio Pellegrino, will use one striker up front and there have been suggestions that his system requires a more mobile player. However, Austin has shown some good pre-season form with a brace in a recent friendly. I think his Premier League pedigree could see him being the number one choice as Southampton’s forward man. Assuming he can cement his place in the team, he can be a great option for FPL squads and as such, appears in my latest draft, seen in my formation analysis article.
Southampton’s opening fixtures:
Swansea (H)
West Ham (H)
Huddersfield (A)
Watford (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Pascal Groß, midfield, Brighton (0.3%)
Finding a good pick with less than 1% ownership is going to provide me with a real test each week and my choice for this article is a new signing for a promoted team. Hence it comes with some risk. Pascal Groß signed for Brighton for an undisclosed fee from German side FC Ingolstadt 04 and should slot straight into the Brighton lineup. It seemed like star man of their Championship campaign, Anthony Knockaert, was going to be the man to choose from the Seagulls. However, in light of Knockaert’s recent injury, it could mean that Groß is the option to go for.
Groß scored 5 goals last season and recorded 4 assists in a side that ended up being relegated. His underlying stats though suggested stronger returns could be around the corner. He created more chances than any other player in the Bundesliga last campaign, 98 in total, which resulted in him averaging 27.9mins per key pass. This was faster than Eriksen and De Bruyne who recorded the highest number of assists in the Premier League last season. It’s also worth noting that in the 14/15 season, Groß produced 7 goals and 23 assists which highlights his ability to produce higher returns.
It looks like Groß could take up the no. 10 role behind the striker and will have significant set-piece responsibility. This is especially so if Knockaert isn’t fit to start the season. He also took and scored 3 penalties last year so there is a chance that he will be trusted with spot-kick duty as well. Brighton have some decent fixtures after playing Man City on the opening weekend and with a price tag of just £5.5m, it may be worth looking to squeeze Groß into your teams.
Brighton opening fixtures:
Man City (H)
Leicester (A)
Watford (A)
West Brom (H)
Bournemouth (A)
I hoped that you enjoyed this differentials article and, with this hopefully becoming a regular feature, I would appreciate any feedback.
If you like Josephs writing then you can read his other articles through these links:
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