Last updated on November 5th, 2020
Written by @IamtheMarkus. Follow him on twitter for regular FPL insights!
Another week and another placement of the bands the wrong way around. Salah outperformed Kane in the end but at least he got onto the score sheet to soften the blow.
Those who held faith with Vardy / Grealish were rewarded and those who backed newcomers Bale and Ziyech were similarly handed some handy points. Jota/Podence continue to deliver at a low cost and certainly, Jota may be in line for more starts soon. Particularly after his midweek hat trick. As if midfield wasn’t crowded enough. Those of you savvy enough to own Wilson must be enjoying the under the radar forward who continues to deliver excellent value.
On reflection, this was quite a high scoring week for a number of defenders. Just not any of mine. My long-awaited march up the ranks is indeed that, long-awaited.
TLDR
My © will be Kane. Vice – Son.
Looking forward to GW8…
Friday
- Brighton vs Burnley
- Southampton vs Newcastle
Saturday
- Everton vs Manchester United
- Crystal Palace vs Leeds
- Chelsea vs Sheffield
- West Ham vs Fulham
Sunday
- West Brom vs Spurs
- Leicester vs Wolves
- Man City vs Liverpool
- Arsenal vs Villa
All of these have the potential to be goal fests. An Ings injury may slow Southampton down a bit this week, but I’d be initially looking at Brighton / Chelsea / West Ham / Spurs and Arsenal assets for goalscoring wins/returns. West Ham will be pleased to be through their ‘hard fixtures’ with good points but will they kick on. Manchester United vs Everton could be a must-win for United after two woeful performances. Man City vs Liverpool is an intriguing game, but I will not be picking a captain from either this week as it looks quite close to call.
After all that though, I really will be boring this week as I look to go again with Kane.
Kane – TSB ~ 45%
Got his (penalty) goal against Brighton but didn’t quite hit the heights we would have expected. Yet you get the feeling that there is more to come from the frontman here. Particularly as West Brom did not show any real resilience against Fulham. Fulham played well but defensively WBA were found wanting for yet another game. Spurs have yet another midweek game away in Bulgaria on Thursday with quite a short turnaround but with a rest likely for the star men it’s probably going to be one-way traffic. Likely to be one last throw of the band before the “fixtures turn”.
Son – TSB ~ 60%
Just 60% of us own Son and whilst he conspired to disappoint last week we are sure he will be back amongst the points here for the same reasons as above really. It’s down to your own gut if you own both, but if you only own Son this is where I’d be sticking the armband.
Bruno – TSB ~ 21%
Manchester United have not quite hit the height we saw at the end of last season, the home form seemingly is non-existent. Everton are still without some key players so their formation may still not be balanced so Manchester will have to attack this as they looked woeful yet again.
Question marks about which goalkeeper in the EVE camp as well may be a factor in an unsettled 11 through one means or another. Whilst Rashford shoulders a lot of the impetus to drive the team forward, Bruno will often be the main figurehead and leads in terms of attempts on goal but he gave possession away so much in midweek. I’ll avoid giving him the armband for now.
The Fear
You can’t have them all, but here are a couple of players who are not in my squad and I will be watching from behind the sofa as they look likely to cause serious damage this weekend.
Aubameyang – TSB ~ 15%
After being classed as near essential by most ahead of the season, he has failed to really accumulate the points most would have hoped for and so his ownership is down to a nice handy level. After notching the winning penalty against Manchester United a favourable run is on the cards for the next three. Aubameyang/Arsenal really ought to kick on in the next three, so will be looking for a good result here. The Southampton/Villa game showed that after an initial period of resilience, the Villa defence may not be as strong as we once thought/hoped for and Auba could be in line to capitalize.
Ziyech – TSB ~ 5%
Finally we may have a Chelsea liftoff from the midfield candidates. They looked very sharp against a woefully lacklustre Burnley side who are yet to look like winning a game. Brighton are probably in for a great Friday night. Ziyech really took well to his premier league debut and he could well fire again against fellow early relegation front runners Sheffield United. Hopefully, the midweek game will not be too much of a drain but at such low ownership and price, this is a move you may well be able to make late in the week.
Vardy – TSB ~ 20%
Looked incredibly sharp against Leeds providing a goal and two assists. Wolves have yet to hit the heights but maybe we are in for some consistency from the LEI frontman who despite being 2nd in the forward charts doesn’t quite have the ownership levels you may expect with players like DCL / Wilson and Bamford all within 4 points and being cut price.
