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The heavily congested run of fixtures in the festive period have come to an end. A lot of events that have affected FPL have taken place over the past few weeks.
For starters, the first double gameweek of the season took place albeit it was an underwhelming one, especially for the unlucky 100,000-odd managers who trusted Harry Kane with the triple captain chip. The strenuous bombardment of fixtures saw a lot of players picking up not only knocks and niggles, but also serious injuries. Managers used rotation frequently so as to duly rest their players, which led to unforeseen disappointment among a lot of FPL managers.
The January transfer window opened recently, and a lot has happened already, particularly at Anfield. Coutinho's unavoidable move to Barcelona for £142 million became the second-highest transfer fee of all-time. Liverpool signed Virgil van Dijk from Southampton (no surprises there!) for £75 million, a world record fee for a defender.
There have been some other transfers, most notably including Ross Barkley to Chelsea and Adrien Silva to Leicester, but they shouldn't affect the FPL managers in us too much.
One major update in FPL is that the second wildcard can now be played. Though it can be activated now, it's advisable to hold off from using it until at least the end of the transfer window. However, at the end of the day, the manager knows best! The wildcard should be used now only in case of dire need. If there is no need, the ideal time to use a wildcard will be one week before a double gameweek so as to maximize returns.
With all these things in mind, let's move on to our top picks for the upcoming gameweek:
Goalkeeper: Adrian - West Ham (£4.3)
Taking over from Joe Hart in gameweek 15, Adrian has been really impressive between the sticks for the Hammers. He has managed to pull off seven saves in a game on two separate occasions in the last three Premier League games.
West Ham's next five fixtures read Huddersfield (Away), Bournemouth (Home), Crystal Palace (Home), Brighton (Away) and Watford (Home). There is immense clean sheet potential in all of these fixtures, and at £4.3, Adrian is certainly a bargain.
One to watch: Matthew Ryan - Brighton (£4.5)
Brighton have kept a clean sheet in three of their last five games. Ryan even managed to get the maximum three bonus points against Burnley to register his first double digit FPL return. Brighton face West Brom, Chelsea, Southampton, West Ham, Stoke and Swansea in their next six fixtures.
All of these apart from the home game against Chelsea are promising clean sheet potentials, and with an ownership of only 2.1%, Ryan could be an excellent differential in the upcoming weeks.
Defenders: Marcos Alonso - Chelsea (£7.3)
Players who play wing-back are FPL gems because they offer both clean sheet as well as attacking potential. Having ended last season as FPL's highest scoring defender, he was duly slammed with a hefty £7.0 price tag at the start of the ongoing season. His performances weren't justifying his mammoth price tag over the first 16 gameweeks.
The last six gameweeks have shown that Alonso is a must-have in your fantasy team despite the high price. He has scored three goals and assisted one in his last six games in which he also mustered a total of 6 bonus points. Alonso finds his way to goal-scoring positions very frequently and has taken an atrocious 43 shots so far this season.
On top of this, he takes sumptuous free kicks too. Add to all this the fact that he plays for a sturdy Chelsea defense who face Leicester, Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and West Brom in the next five and it'd be wise to jump on the Alonso bandwagon before his already hefty price shoots up even more.
One to watch: Virgil van Dijk - Liverpool (£5.4)
Though Liverpool face the toughest possible opposition in the following week in the form of league leaders Manchester City, their fixtures become considerably kinder after that. Van Dijk had a dream debut for Liverpool to say the least, as he scored an 84th minute winner in a Merseyside derby in the FA cup.
The defender is a reasonably consistent goal threat and a bonus point magnet. With a decent run of fixtures lined up for his new side Liverpool, he could be an interesting long-term FPL prospect. Watch out for his performances over the coming gameweeks!
Midfielders: Jesse Lingard - Manchester United (£6.2)
Jesse Lingard is turning out to be the value-for-money buy of the season so far. In the last 9 games, he has scored an incredible 7 goals and has also notched up 2 assists. He's added an impressive 10 bonus points against his name in this run which has seen him register four double digit scores.
In these 9 games, Lingard failed to make the starting eleven in only one game, which was at home to Burnley. The Clarets went 2-0 up, and it was inspired substitute Lingard who scored a brace in the second-half to salvage a draw. With his exploits in recent times, his position in the starting eleven should be secure, at least in the foreseeable future.
With his price sky-rocketing rapidly, it would make sense to ship in Lingard to your fantasy teams as soon as possible!
One to watch: Dele Alli - Spurs (£9.0)
Dele Alli took the premier league by storm in the 2015/16 season wherein he scored 10 goals and assisted another 12. He bettered his performance in the following season as he found the back of the net on 18 separate occasions and set up 11 goals. Aged just 21, he has a lot of expectations on his shoulders.
The start of the ongoing season saw him naturally being one of the more popular FPL picks. However, a mediocre season has seen Alli lose trust and his value has cratered from £9.5 to £9.0.
However, the last few games have seen a resurgence of the Dele Alli that we all know. With 4 assists and 2 goals in the last four games, Dele Alli looks set to shine in the second half of the season. It'll be interesting to see how 2018 pans out for the young man.
Forwards: Sergio Aguero - Manchester City (£11.7)
Gabriel Jesus' unfortunate injury could see him out of action for up to six weeks, which means that Aguero is the sole fit forward for the league table toppers. Aguero, who is now at minimal risk of rotation, is an absolute must-have in FPL under the circumstances.
Despite playing under 1400 minutes this season, Aguero has scored 13 goals already. In his most recent match, he added to his impressive FA cup record as he netted a brace against Burnley. An Aguero explosion is imminent and it'll be a sin to not have him in your fantasy team, at least until Jesus is back.
Much like Alonso and Lingard, Aguero's price is on the rise too, so nab him before it's too late!
One to watch: Alexandre Lacazette - Arsenal (£10.3)
With Giroud out with an injury, Lacazette is pretty much nailed on to start up front for the Gunners. The Frenchman hasn't found the back of the net since he did against Manchester United back in gameweek 15. He has, however, been unlucky not to have been on the score-sheet on numerous separate occasions.
With Ozil and Sanchez behind him, Lacazette gets many goal-scoring opportunities and is bound to find the back of the net sooner than later. With Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Swansea and Everton up next, he has the potential to explode. Shipping him in for these fixtures could be a bold short-term punt that could reward handsomely.
