After each gameweek, Joseph Crilley is going to be writing an article reviewing all the Premier League games from a fantasy perspective. He will be providing some stats and a brief summary on the performances and prospects of a few of the players. This is the second part of the fantasy premier league GW18 review. Last year, Joseph finished with an overall rank of 13k.
FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE GW18 REVIEW – PART 2
For each game, I will be providing a stats table containing the following: Goals (G), Assists (A), Shots (S), On Target (OT), Key Passes (KP), Bonus points (BP) and fantasy points (FP). Any statistic highlighted in yellow signifies that the player leads that category for his team. Blue highlight shows the players that registered a fantasy return (goal, assist or clean sheet) and green shows any player that scored 10+ points.
The tables also include the Expected Goals and Expected Assists for each individual player. This is in addition to the expected goals for each team in brackets within the scoreline. BBC Sport provided a very useful piece to help explain this statistic. Essentially each shot is given a score between 0 and 1 as to how likely it is to go in the net. For example, suppose a shot taken from inside the box is worth 0.56; this will be added to the xG tally of the player who take the shot and added to the xA of the player who passes the ball to him. All underlying stats are from the brilliant website understat.com. References to average position come from the twitter site 11tegen11.
CHELSEA (1.36) 1-0 (0.54) SOUTHAMPTON
Chelsea have quietly won 8 out of their last 10 games and they have the fixture schedule to keep this run going.
They finally picked up a clean sheet after four games without one and it was a fairly comfortable game for their defence. Alonso was the standout FPL performer with 6 shots and it was his free-kick that gave his side the win. He also conveniently picked up a yellow card which means he’ll miss the midweek league cup game.
Another game in the false-9 position for Hazard which resulted in a less productive game for him but at least he picked up an assist after winning the free-kick. Owners will be hoping for a return to his usual attacking midfield position, though he did have a goal disallowed. Willian was the standout performer with 4 shots and 6 key passes.
Morata was only on the bench after missing out in midweek; frustration for those who made the decision to hold onto him such as our own FFG. This may have been due to a great previous performance so perhaps we will see his return to the starting XI next weekend. Keep an eye on the teamsheet for the League cup, if the Spaniard is missing, then it’s very likely that he’ll start against Everton on Saturday.
A better showing from Southampton who were much more resilient after a battering from Leicester in the week.
Interestingly, Van Dijk was benched; could this be the first sign of a January transfer? Meanwhile, Cedric was forced off with another injury which saw a change to a back four.
Not much to say on the Southampton midfield.
Austin was back on the bench and he emerged in the second half, forcing a save with his first touch from a good chance. He looks likely to start the next game; a promising one at home to Huddersfield.
STOKE (1.04) 0-3 (2.59) WEST HAM
Still no sign of improvement at Stoke and it must be said that many other Premier League clubs would have changed manager by now. In many ways that should be commended, but the fans will be desperate for a change in fortune.
An already suffering backline has been further hindered by the loss of Chelsea loanee Zouma who had been one of the better performers. I have noticed Shawcross’s goal threat lately, 4 shots in this game after a goal last weekend, but the lack of clean sheets make investment tough.
Shaqiri is still the star in midfield, posting some good stats in this game with 6 shots and 4 key passes. Choupo-Moting failed to even make it off the bench this time around and it’s time for managers to move on.
Further forward, a change in formation meant that both Crouch and Diouf were positioned up front; they could present a cheap enabler if some form can be found, Crouch especially.
A double gameweek and some form means that suddenly West Ham are the team that everyone is looking at for new players.
Moyes has turned things around at the back and the defence is looking solid. You can pick a cheap asset such as Ogbonna or Masuaku and happily bench them during their blank week and then unleash them during the double in GW22.
There’s also some interest in midfield, though those looking at Lanzini after his three assists should be wary of a 2 match ban for diving which will mean he will just miss GW19 having served 1 match in the EFL Cup. Arnautovic inevitably scored against his former club and had other good chances resulting in a high xG score. Fortunately for managers, the fixtures for West Ham look good after GW22, so it could be a wise move to bring in either of mentioned players.
Hernandez continues to warm the bench and will likely be of little interest despite the upcoming double gameweek.
WEST BROM (0.61) 1-2 (0.51) MAN UTD
Still no win for West Brom, but at least they got their first goal under Alan Pardew.
The assist came from Evans, though it was a fortunate one. The West Brom defence is still one to avoid for managers.
A close-range finish from substitute Barry gave his side some hope in the last 20 mins but it wasn’t meant to be.
Both Rodriguez and Robson-Kanu missed out after starting the other games under Pardew.
In any other season, United would be doing pretty well in the title race, but unfortunately, they are being completely overshadowed by their city rivals.
It’s now a couple of wins since their derby loss, but there was no clean sheet this time. Nonetheless, due to a hamstring injury forcing him off early, Valencia still kept his clean sheet points for his fantasy manager owners. We are yet to hear the seriousness of the injury and his owners will be eagerly awaiting any news. Jones and Smalling appear to be Mourinho’s first choice centre-backs, though there are options which means rests could be around the corner.
Lingard has found some great form lately and he scored for the third successive away game. However, Pogba is back from suspension and will slot straight back into the side; it could well be the Englishman that misses out. If Valencia is ruled out for a period of time that will make Young’s place more secure in the team, albeit at full-back.
Back-to-back games with goals for Lukaku who is finding some timely FPL form given the lack of options in the forward positions. For me, I would like some bigger scores from a 11mi+ asset, though you could easily argue that he has still outperformed other premium strikers over the last couple of games. He could have picked up an assist after a rebound from his shot was sent over the bar.
BOURNEMOUTH (0.54) 0-4 (3.12) LIVERPOOL
A very poor performance from Bournemouth and they failed to show up really; perhaps they were punished for their midweek efforts at Old Trafford.
They were very poor at the back and gave away some easy goals. Daniels was forced off with an injury which will accelerate the sales.
Not much to say on the Bournemouth midfield.
Defoe was the man chosen to lead the line and hit the post with a first half shot. King was another one to go off with an injury and these will need to be monitored in the week.
On the other hand, it was a fantastic day for Liverpool and they can be very happy with their Sunday work.
Successive clean sheets for their defence and there were attacking returns as well. Lovren got on the scoresheet and Robertson picked up an assist; the latter is definitely one to consider during the absence of Moreno. He gets forward well and has a great left foot; a definite recipe for assists from a cheap defender.
Salah got his obligatory goal and had 4 shots in total; you really can’t ever go wrong captaining the Egyptian and yet I’ve only done it once! The star of the show was Coutinho though; 7 shots and 4 key passes which gave him a goal and an assist on his way to another double figure haul away from home. A double up is certainly viable, though I do worry about Klopp’s rotation which could see his players miss a game that you would love to see them playing in.
Firmino also got in on the act with a goal and an assist to make up for his blank during the week after he saw lots of transfer traffic coming his way. Admittedly, his goal was offside, but a striker playing in a team that scores this many should get points when they find form.
EVERTON (2.11) 3-1 (0.76) SWANSEA
The revolution continues under Big Sam as does Everton’s surge up the table which sees them in 9th now.
Allardyce won’t have been happy with the goal conceded though; a poor set-piece gift. Fortunately for managers who have picked up the cheap Kenny, the youngster won the second penalty which was converted to give him an assist.
It’s good to see Sigurdsson returning some form; it’s 3 goals and 2 assists for the Icelander in his last seven games. It’s still asking a lot for him to break through the crowded midfield bracket, especially with some cheaper options from his own side up front.
His form is being overshadowed by Rooney who has 6 goals and 3 assists in his last six games and is rapidly approaching the 20% ownership mark. My only worry is whether he has the fitness to play every game over the busy period, but we shall see. It was a goal, 2 assists and a penalty miss for him on Monday and the rebound from that miss was tucked in by Calvert-Lewin. The cheap striker had 5 shots in the game and looks to have sealed his place top with Niasse not even on the bench.
After taking rare away lead, Swansea couldn’t hold on despite the penalty miss and succumbed to another defeat.
Owners of Fabianski were treated to a rare penalty save which meant the Pole collected a couple of bonus points as well. He is outscoring some goalkeepers from big teams, though the fixture is really starting to turn for the Swans.
An assist for the early season 4.5mil favourite Carroll after his corner found Fer at the backpost.
It took just 47 seconds for Bony to pick up an injury, so he was withdrawn minutes later and appears to be out for at least a couple of weeks. That opens the door for Abraham as an opportunity to claim the striker role.
That concludes part 2 of the GW18 review. Part 1 can be found here. Feel free to post any questions or feedback in the comments section or you can find me on Twitter.
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