Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 23 Preview – Manchester United make the headlines but are West Ham and Leeds United players going under the radar?

Premier League football returns tomorrow with our fourth gameweek in two weeks as Aston Villa kick off the schedule in the early Saturday game with Arsenal.

Gameweek 23 transfer deadline: Saturday 6th February at 11am.

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

Captain Picks

Bruno Fernandes (£11.4m) vs Everton (H)

Integral to Man United’s 9-0 victory over Southampton via a goal and two assists, no player in the league took more shots or created more chances than the Portuguese midfielder in the last round of games.

Everton have failed to keep a clean sheet in either of their last five league games, signalling that more Man United goals should be expected this weekend. Fernandes has been directly involved in half of Man United’s league goals this season, so if you think the Red Devils will score, the chances are that he’ll be involved.

Patrick Bamford (£6.6m) vs Crystal Palace (H)

After scoring once and three assists against Leicester and Everton, Bamford’s rediscovered form is perfectly timed to warrant the armband this weekend.

He scored against Crystal Palace earlier this season and over the last six gameweeks has averaged two shots in the box per game. Palace are also without Tomkins and Sakho through injury – arguably their best centre-backs.

Michail Antonio (£6.7m) vs Fulham (A)

Two goals and three assists in five games is captain material by anyone’s standard, but couple that with a game against Fulham and you have a real prospect.

Since returning to the West Ham starting line-up in gameweek 19, across the league only Bruno Fernandes has taken more shots and Ollie Watkins has taken more shots in the box but no player has had more xG or big chances from open play.

Across the same timeframe, only Southampton have conceded more big chances than Fulham, which bodes well for the West Ham striker.

The Form Guide - Who’s Hot?

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Man Utd, £5.5m)

Instrumental in Tuesday’s Southampton demolition, Wan-Bissaka racked up 17 points by adding a clean sheet and two bonus points to his two attacking returns.

Only two defenders have created more chances than AWB in the last four gameweeks and with a kind fixture schedule against Everton, West Brom and Newcastle next, fantasy managers will be hopeful for more of the same.

Edouard Mendy (Chelsea, £5.1m)

Although Thomas Tuchel has made wholesale changes over recent weeks, Edouard Mendy’s spot as Chelsea’s no. 1 looks safe.

Under Tuchel, Chelsea are yet to concede a goal and have kept three consecutive clean sheets as a result. Up against Sheffield United, Newcastle and Southampton next, I see no reason why Chelsea can’t make it six clean sheets out of six.

Luke Ayling (Leeds, £4.4m)

Although Stuart Dallas has been doing well for Leeds in recent weeks, Luke Ayling looks set to add more attacking output to his game.

Over their last six games, no Leeds defender has taken more shots inside the box than Ayling and his chance creation is above his peers. Over these last six games, he’s created five chances; two more than the second best Leeds defender (Dallas) who’s created three.

Confirmed out this weekend through injury, Wilfried Zaha’s omission from the Crystal Palace side is a huge boost for Leeds’ search for clean sheet too.

The Form Guide - Who’s Not?

Andrew Robertson (Liverpool, £7.4m)

Eight points from four games is poor reading, especially if you’re the game’s most expensive defender. With just one clean sheet since gameweek 17 and with Man City and Leicester before a Merseyside Derby later this month, now seems like the best time to sell Robertson if you haven’t already as Liverpool seem out of sorts and more importantly seem out of ideas.

Ben Chilwell (Chelsea, £6.0m)

Competing for a spot at left wing-back against Marcos Alonso, Chilwell is currently losing his head-to-head battle.

Playing in Chelsea’s last two games, Alonso has scored once and kept two clean sheets in a defence which is becoming more stable every week.

Unfortunately for Chilwell, I see no reason why Tuchel should bring the Englishman back into the side which is doing so well without him.

Phil Foden (Man City, £6.1m)

Although you never know what team Guardiola is going to field, since Foden was benched against Burnley in Man City’s midweek game, you’d half expect Foden to start against Liverpool this weekend in a ‘play one, miss one’ kind of pattern.

That said, Foden hasn’t been delivering the goods even when he’s been on the pitch. Across his last three starts, he’s neither contributed a goal nor an assist, even though City have scored eight goals in these three games.

Ones to Watch (Less than 5% ownership)

Raphinha (Leeds, £5.3m 1.6%)

Over the last six gameweeks, Patrick Bamford is the only Leeds player to have taken more shots in the box and shots on target than the Brazilian, however no Leeds player has created more chances than him in the same timeframe.

With two goals and two assists across his last three league games and nice fixtures to look forward to, I can’t believe more fantasy managers don’t have him.

Jesse Lingard (West Ham, £6.0m, 2.2%)

Thrown into the starting line-up against Aston Villa on Wednesday, Lingard repaid David Moyes’ faith in him with two goals in his West Ham debut, which surely makes him nailed on to start against Fulham this weekend. No player took more shots than him in the league last gameweek.

Lewis Dunk (Brighton, £4.8m, 2.9%)

Brighton have picked up four consecutive clean sheets out of absolutely nowhere, with their most recent being against Tottenham and Liverpool.

Not many saw this coming but with games against Burnley, Villa, Crystal Palace and West Brom during the rest of February, you’d fancy their chances for more.

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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