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I hope you all enjoyed the festive period! We've got a helping of FPL tips for the nice bunch of fixtures ahead!
Firstly, here are 3 players to push out of your thoughts in the coming weeks. I’ll review their previous performances, and lay out my analysis for you.
Check out the next page for who you may want to consider instead!
Three players to avoid for the coming weeks
#1 Aymeric Laporte - Defender (£6.0m)
Clean sheets: 8
Goals/Assists: 1/0
Season points: 72
Upcoming fixtures: SOU (A), LIV (H), WOL (H)
After those 6 clean sheets in a row from GW5 - 10, it looked like Laporte was an absolute must have. He’s appeared in all except 1 of City’s games this season, and had looked a threat from set pieces with 16 attempts for the season. The reason I’m saying drop him is that City have gone on a run of conceding in the last 6 games!
My advice is to wait until City come back into a bit of form, because they’ve hit a real rocky patch lately. It was my belief a couple of weeks ago that City were sloppy at the back, because they were so heavily focused on attack. This may be the case, and coupled with a lack of form, could mean a reduction in clean sheets for now!
#2 Joe Hart - Goalkeeper (£4.5m)
Clean sheets: 4
Save points: 19
Season points: 69
Upcoming fixtures: WHU (H), HUD (A), FUL (H)
I was always a big Joe Hart fan for a number of years at City. He’s been given a new lease of life at Burnley, and he’s done okay in my opinion, as he has made the most saves in the league so far this year.
But a complete U-turn in Burnley’s defence makes their assets hard to consider. They only conceded 39 goals in the whole of last season as they finished 7th, and they’re now 18th in the league and have conceded 41 goals already – the most in the league this year!
He’s also the joint 2nd lowest goalkeeper in the league for successfully claiming high balls/crosses.
They do have a good run of fixtures coming up, but the value in goalkeepers is better used elsewhere in my opinion. I’m also beginning to wonder how long Hart keeps his place in the league's worst defence.
#3 Roberto Firmino – Attacker (£9.2m)
Goals: 4
Assists: 5
Season points: 77
Upcoming fixtures: ARS (H), CITY (A), BHA (A)
“Sell a striker from the league's top club… are you mad?!?”
I don’t believe I am, but you never know!
I just think the value should be put elsewhere. 14 players (cheaper than Bobby) have scored more points than him in the midfield and forward categories this season, so you can transfer him and push your funds elsewhere. He’s had no attacking returns in his last 3, and has just 2 goals in his last 13 games.
His role under Klopp is clearly to sit much deeper, having made 19 tackles for the season (7th in the league for forwards), and 706 passes (3rd for forwards). Make no mistake in terms of ability and importance, as in footballing terms he’s absolutely crucial to Liverpool’s title push.
Three players to consider for the coming weeks
#1 Jose Holebas – Defender (£4.7m)
Clean Sheets: 2
Goals/Assists: 3/5
Season points: 63
Upcoming fixtures: NEW (H), BOU (A), CRY (A)
The Greek god of FPL loves an attacking return! He’s got a great run of fixtures coming up too, with only 1 top 4 side (Spurs GW24) in his next 8 games. He’s coming off the back of 1 goal, 1 clean sheet, and 1 assist in his last 3 games too, so now could be the right time to jump on the Watford man.
He’s got the 2nd most crosses for a player in the PL this season (140), and with him being on set piece duty, he does have assist potential. You’ll have to suffer the odd yellow card though, with 7 so far this season and already serving a 1-match suspension for 5 yellow cards accumulated!
#2 Paul Pogba – midfielder (£8.0m)
Goals: 5
Assists: 6
Season points: 79
Upcoming fixtures: BOU (H), NEW (A), TOT (A)
Is he back?!
It could well be the return of one of the most high-profile players on the planet. His ability has never been in doubt, and under OGS he looks a totally different player.
With back to back double-digit returns (13 & 15) 2 goals, 3 assists, and 5 bonus points, it could be a great time to sign the United star. He’s joint 8th for assists in the league this year, and after being dropped by Jose for a short period, he’s now regained his mojo & could well become the key to unlocking defences in this great run of fixtures for United that sees them play only 1 of the top 4 teams (Spurs GW22) in the next 7.
#3 Richarlison – Midfielder (£7.0m)
Goals: 9
Assists: 2
Season points: 93
Upcoming fixtures: BHA (A), LEI (H), BOU (H)
It was a shock this week to see Richarlison dropped to the bench, but that yielded 2 bits of good news.
#1 I think that’s his allotted rest for these busy fixtures.
#2 He came on for 19 minutes, took 3 shots, and scored!
He’s the 5th top scorer this season in the Premier League with 9 goals, and has taken the 12th most shots this season (41 – 16 on target).
He’s classed as midfielder, but has often been playing up top with Calvert-Lewin. This makes him more likely to score, and gets you more points as a midfielder than forwards do! He doesn’t face one of the top 4 sides until GW27 (City), so now could be a great time to bring him in before his value rockets.
Pundit tips
“Money, Money, Money”
Keep an eye on player value. Now, value isn’t everything… but you may find you’ll get priced out of moves if you don’t keep an eye on rises/falls in player value.
I know there’s a couple of great tools to use out there, fplstatistics, is the one I use. When a player's ‘target’ reaches over 100, it means they’re likely to rise that night. If you click ‘last’, you’ll see players due to fall in value, which is when the ‘target’ reaches - 100.
Make sure you don’t miss out on transfers due to missing price movement.
You can find me on Twitter @FPL_Jim, where you can send me any questions, send me a direct message if that's your thing, and I'll always get back to you!
