Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 20 Preview – Captain picks, “Who’s Hot” form guide, Heung-Min Son replacements and Ones To Watch

The Premier League offers a full line-up of festive fixtures this weekend, with team deadlines at 11.30am on Saturday 28th December. Since there is such a short gap between games, (44 hours for Man City, Leicester and Crystal Palace), player rotation will be rife.

John Mount (@Gameweek38 on Twitter), aims to guide you through these tough two gameweeks.

Captain PicksGameweek 20 – Mo Salah or Sadio Mane (both £12.2m) vs Wolves (H)Both Salah and Mane are in great form and are therefore both great captaincy picks for Gameweek 20’s game vs Wolves. Over their last two league games they have scored 29 and 21 points respectively, which shows why the duo are so valuable in this game format. Although Salah has the better form coming into the game, Mane scored both goals in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.

Gameweek 20 – Gabriel Jesus (£9.6m) or Sergio Aguero (£11.7m) vs Sheffield United (H)With only 44 hours between games against Wolves and Sheffield United, expect a lot of changes in Man City’s line up, especially up front where City only have two recognisable strikers in Jesus and Aguero. My spidey-senses tell me whichever of the two starts on the bench in Gameweek 19 will be the most likely to start for the league’s top scoring team against Sheffield United. Keep your eyes peeled and hand them the armband if you dare!

The Form Guide - Who’s Hot?Nicolas Otamendi (Man City, £5.0m)Although rotation is heavily expected between Gameweeks 19 and 20, one player I expect to retain a place in the starting 11 is Otamendi as he is Man City’s only fit senior centre back since both Stones and Laporte remain injured until the new year. The Sky Blues play Wolves, Sheffield United, Everton, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace next, and after conceding the second fewest shots in the league over the last four gameweeks, back to back clean sheets don’t look too far out of reach.

Jack Grealish (Aston Villa, £6.3m)Three goals in his last five games means the Villa starlet is on course for a ten goal season, which begs the question ‘Why is Jack Grealish not in the England team?’. After falling into the relegation zone vs Southampton and with influential Villa midfielder John McGinn fracturing his ankle, responsibility will rest on Grealish to steer his team to victories in vital games against Norwich, Watford and Burnley.

Joe Gomez (Liverpool, £5.1m)Similar to Otamendi, Gomez has a lack of competition for his spot at centre back since Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren remain sidelined. With home games vs Wolves and Sheffield United after visiting Leicester, Gomez is by far the cheapest way into the Liverpool backline and could prove to beexcellent value for money.

Heung-Min Son ReplacementsSon sneakily booked Christmas and New Year off work via a Beckham vs Argentina in 1998-esque red card vs Chelsea over the weekend. He’ll therefore miss Tottenham’s next three games, against Brighton, Norwich and Southampton. With that, here are two alternative players within a similar price range, who would make a fantastic second or third midfielder. As he’s the third most owned player in the game, I’ll discount Kevin De Bruyne from the discussion.

Riyad Mahrez (Man City, £8.3m)The world’s 10 th best player has scored two goals and provided one assist in the last four gameweeks and has taken the third most shots over the same timeframe. More recently, he has had the most shots (11) and shots in the box (7) in the league over the last two gameweeks, proving he’s got his shooting boots back on. Next games: Wolves, Sheffield United, Everton, Aston Villa.

Paul Pogba (Man United, £8.4m)Although he only played 26 minutes vs Watford on Sunday, Pogba still managed to register two shots including one which he probably should have scored from. If the Frenchman can find the form which earned him thirteen goals and ten assists last season, he will prove to be a bargain at £8.4m, especially when his next games are against Newcastle and Burnley.

Ones to Watch (Less than 5% ownership)If Duncan Ferguson’s faith in Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton, 1.4%, £5.7m) is shared with the new Everton manager, Carlo Ancelotti will have high expectations for the England u20 World Cup winner. With a recent brace against Chelsea and five goals already this season, the Yorkshireman is showing signs of progressing to the next level in becoming a prolific Premier League goalscorer. Next two games: Burnley and Newcastle.

Coupled with the appointment of a new manager, it’s no coincidence that Watford’s upturn in form has happened in parallel to Troy Deeney’s (Watford, 0.6%, £6.2m) return from injury. ‘Mr Watford’ scored his first goal of the season via a cool penalty vs Man United on Sunday and with games vs Sheffield United, Aston Villa and Wolves next, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to add to that tally over the busy Christmas schedule.

The ExplainerTransfersAfter 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 ScoringDuring the season, your fantasy football players will be allocated points based on their performancein the Premier League. Remember, every week your captain scores double points, so pick themwisely!Points Action1 For playing up to 60 minutes2 For playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time)6 For each goal scored by a goalkeeper or defender5 For each goal scored by a midfielder4 For each goal scored by a forward3 For each goal assist4 For a clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender1 For a clean sheet by a midfielder1 For every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper5 For each penalty save-2 For each penalty miss1 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 goalFor more information on the rules of the game, visit https://fantasy.premierleague.com/help/rules