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Gameweek 10 finally saw some return to normalcy as Raheem Sterling rewarded his backers with a goal, clean sheet and maximum bonus points but without a doubt, the headlines were deservedly dedicated to Leicester City’s nine-goal thrashing of Southampton. It is difficult to tell how much of the scoreline was exaggerated due to Bertrand’s early sending off, but the Foxes definitely made a statement to the rest of the league and can genuinely be considered contenders for the top four this season.
None of their players feature in the picks this week due to the difficult fixture away to Crystal Palace but you should definitely be making plans to incorporate their players, especially Jamie Vardy, in your squad after that game.
3 Players to Pick this Gameweek
1) Raheem Sterling (SOU) –
I must sound like a broken record picking Sterling every week but I genuinely believe the winger is now Manchester City’s talisman, more so than Sergio Aguero. He notched his seventh goal of the season against Aston Villa in game week 10 and the visit of a bruised Southampton side offers further opportunity for points.
He is top for ‘big chances’ amongst midfielders with 12 and no midfielder has registered more shots than Sterling’s 33 this season. Only John McGinn (14) and Mohamed Salah (16) have landed more shots on target (SoT) than his 12. As has been the case all season, City top all the attacking metrics – goals (32), shots (214), shots in the box (SiB) (155), SoT (79), ‘big chances’ (48) and expected goals (xG) (28.09).
The Saints nine-goal mauling at the hands of Leicester means that they are now bottom of the table for goals conceded (25). They are also third-worst for ‘big chances’ conceded with 28, only West Ham United (30) and Norwich City (32) have been more obliging. By far the standout captain pick this week.
2) Neal Maupay (NOR) –
Brighton and Hove Albion are a far cry from the pragmatic defensive outfit of last year under Chris Hughton and the visit of a leaky Norwich side to the Amex Stadium offers an opportunity to invest in their budget striker Neal Maupay.
He scored his fourth goal of the season by converting his penalty against Everton and only Sergio Aguero (30), Tammy Abraham (31) and Roberto Firmino (32) have taken more shots than his 29 amongst forwards and these have not been merely speculative shots from distance. 25 of the 29 shots were SiB and only Abraham, Aguero (both 26) and Firmino (27)have taken more.
The Seagulls have scored eight goals in their five home games this season and only Arsenal (54), Chelsea (55), Liverpool (76) and Manchester City (82) have taken more SiB in home matches than their 48. They are also fifth for ‘big chances’ on home turf with 11. Norwich City have kept just one clean sheet this season and only Southampton (25) have conceded more goals than their 24.
They are bottom of the league for SoT conceded (68) and ‘big chances’ conceded (32). At just 6.0m, a great budget option.
3) Anthony Martial (BOU) –
Anthony Martial scored on his first league start since his return from injury and the Frenchman was very unlucky not to score more than one. Playing as a striker despite being classified as a midfielder in FPL, he took four shots against the Canaries, all of which were in the box and on target. All of these were considered ‘big chances’ by Opta as well and he had an xG figure of 2.23, the highest of any player last game week.
His presence completely transformed the Manchester United attack as Marcus Rashford was able to play off the Frenchman in his favoured wide position and it is no coincidence that the Red Devils scored more than one goal for this first time since game week one. They play Bournemouth, Brighton, Sheffield and Aston Villa in their next five matches, a great run of fixtures to get the momentum back into their campaign.
Priced at just £7.6m and owned by under 5% of teams at the time of writing, jumping early on Martial could power you up the overall standings.
3 players to drop
1) Callum Wilson (MUN) –
Callum Wilson’s ownership stood at nearly a million at the start of gameweek 10, with approximately 200,000 managers bringing in the Bournemouth man ahead of their fixtures against bottom-placed Norwich and Watford. Not only did the Cherries fail to score in both games, Wilson registered only two shots in total across both the games with neither testing the opposition goalkeeper.
He has now failed to register FPL returns in three matches after seven weeks of consecutive returns. Bournemouth’s attacking numbers have dropped off a cliff as well, they took only 11 SiB in the last two games against teams placed 19th and 20th in the table. Only Newcastle (10), Norwich (9) and Watford (7) took fewer.
Their fixtures stiffen now with games against Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Chelsea in the next seven gameweeks and the fire sale is well and truly under way with over 100,000 managers selling Wilson already. Price drops are imminent.
2) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (WOL) –
Like Callum Wilson, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has now blanked in three successive games after registering consecutive attacking returns in the first seven. I wouldn’t usually suggest selling an Arsenal attacker ahead of a home game but there are multiple reasonsfor the Gabonese international's inclusion.
Firstly, is the return of Alexandre Lacazette to fitness which has seen him occupy the central striking role, with Aubameyang pushed wide. The former Borussia Dortmund man registered just ONE penalty box touch in the entire match against Palace, and took two shots, neither of which were in the box.
Secondly, the reaction of club captain Granit Xhaka to the home fans booing has grabbed headlines and surely would have shaken up squad equilibrium.
An early goal for Wolves or Arsenal failing to score for an extended period would surely cause a toxic atmosphere at the Emirates with many fans already calling for Emery to be sacked. There are simply much better options elsewhere for the money and Aubameyang is not justifying his price tag at the moment.
3) Todd Cantwell (BHA) –
Todd Cantwell is currently owned by over 1.2 million managers at the time of writing and was a popular budget option after two goals and two assists in the first five gameweeks. However, he has failed to register any attacking returns in the last five matches and was substituted at half-time for Onel Hernandez in their gameweek 10 fixture against Manchester United.
He was at fault for the second penalty which Norwich conceded due to handball and the fact that his replacement got on the scoresheet does not help his chances. He has taken only seven SiB in the last five gameweeks with an xG of just 0.81. While still useful as an eighth attacker, he simply cannot be relied on to play every week going forward.
