Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 18 Preview – Captain Picks, “Who’s hot, Who’s not?” and Ones To Watch

After a recent coronavirus breakout in the Aston Villa team, Tottenham vs Aston Villa has been rescheduled to be Tottenham vs Fulham, which makes Fulham, Man City, Man United and Burnley the only teams to have three games over the next two gameweeks. As a result, loading up on players from these teams should be a priority. Transfer deadline – Tuesday 12th January at 4.30pm.

Follow the in-house Yorkshire Post Fantasy Football expert John Mount (@Gameweek38) on Twitter for more FPL hints and tips.

Captain Picks

Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m) vs Brighton (H)

Since scoring 13 points via a goal and an assist from a central striker position against Chelsea last gameweek; De Bruyne hit the post in the League Cup semi-final against Man United and provided an assist in the FA Cup before being taken off at half time to preserve his fitness ahead of Wednesday’s game vs Brighton. As a result of the Belgian’s recent form, no Man City player has taken more shots or created more chances in the last four gameweeks, so he should do well against this struggling Brighton side.

Harry Kane (£11.0m) vs Fulham (H)

Tottenham’s late fixture change means Kane will face Fulham instead of Aston Villa, which bodes well for the England captain. Fulham lie in the relegation zone and have conceded seven more goals than Villa but after looking through the stats, Fulham may have turned a corner in recent weeks and look tighter at the back. No team has conceded fewer goals or shots on target than Fulham over the last four gameweeks. That said, Fulham have only played two games in that timeframe and have failed to keep a clean sheet against Tottenham in over seven years so Kane should be good to go for this week’s captaincy pick.

Bruno Fernandes (£11.3m) v Burnley (A)

Having blanked away from home just once in his Premier League career, you can never rule Fernandes out of the captaincy debate. He’s scored four goals and created three assists across the last four gameweeks, in a stretch where only Anwar El Ghazi has taken more shots and only Jack Grealish has created more chances across the league. On penalties too, coupled with these elite attacking stats, captaining Bruno definitely makes sense.

The Form Guide - Who’s Hot?

Kieran Tierney (Arsenal, £5.4m)

After scoring 18 points via a goal, an assist and a clean sheet vs West Brom last time out, Tierney is one of this week’s most popular players. Having secured back-to-back clean sheets for the first time this season, he has the chance to make it a hat-trick when he faces Crystal Palace on Thursday before facing Newcastle at home this weekend. Going forward, Luke Shaw is the only defender to have created more chances than the Scot over the last four gameweeks which showcases Tierney’s assist potential.

Ilkay Gundogan (Man CIty, £5.4m)

Although he usually takes a back seat in the City attack, Gundogan has stepped up recently and scored three goals and provided three assists across the last four gameweeks, making him one of the most in-form players in the league. He is also one of the few players to have three games across the next two gameweeks.

The Form Guide - Who’s Not?

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton, £7.8m)

Calvert-Lewin is sidelined this week after picking up a hamstring injury in training and at this moment in time there is no timescale for when he’s due to return. Prior to the injury, he had failed to score in his last five league games so was already out of form. With fresh news of an injury, there’s no reason to keep him.

Mo Salah (Liverpool, £12.5m)

Salah has neither the form nor the fixtures required to warrant such a large price tag at the moment. He’s failed to score or assist in his last three games and after having no game this gameweek, he has a tricky run against Man United and Tottenham to navigate. Owners can definitely put the money tied up in Salah to better use in the likes of Rashford or Sterling, who both have three much easier games across the next two gameweeks.

Ones to Watch (Less than 5% ownership)

Emile Smith-Rowe (Arsenal, £4.4m, 3.9%)

Having started Arsenal’s last three league games and picking up three assists in the process, for £4.4m, you won’t find an attacker for better value. He scored the winner in Arsenal’s FA Cup tie vs Newcastle over the weekend and looks set to start this week vs Crystal Palace in a hope of continuing his strong form.

Luke Shaw (Man United, £4.8m, 1.8%)

As mentioned earlier in the article, Luke Shaw has created more chances than any other defender in the league over the last four gameweeks. Although he doesn’t have the points to show for it, this stat indicates that assists will come and with games against Burnley, Fulham and Sheffield United in his next three gameweeks, he has the chance to add clean sheets to his game too.

The Explainer

Transfers

After picking your initial squad, you receive 1 free transfer each Gameweek. Each additional transfer you make in the same Gameweek will deduct 4 points from your score.

If you do not use your free transfer, you are able to make an additional free transfer the following Gameweek. If you do not use this saved free transfer in the following Gameweek, it will be carried over until you do. You can never have more than 1 saved transfer.

For example, since you get 1 free transfer per gameweek, if you make no transfers between gameweeks, you will have 2 free transfers in preparation for the next gameweek. You will incur a 4 point hit per transfer over your free transfer allowance.

Point Scoring

During the season, your fantasy football players will be allocated points based on their performance in the Premier League. Remember, every week your captain scores double points, so pick them wisely!

Points Action

1 For playing up to 60 minutes

2 For playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time)

6 For each goal scored by a goalkeeper or defender

5 For each goal scored by a midfielder

4 For each goal scored by a forward

3 For each goal assist

4 For a clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender

1 For a clean sheet by a midfielder

1 For every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper

5 For each penalty save

-2 For each penalty miss

1 to 3 Bonus points for the best players in a match

-1 For every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender

-1 For each yellow card

-3 For each red card

-2 For each own goal

For more information on the rules of the game, visit https://fantasy.premierleague.com/help/rules

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