Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 14 Preview – Captain pick, “Who’s hot, Who’s not?” and Ones To Watch

Follow John Mount on Twitter (@Gameweek38). Here are John's selections for Week 14.

Gameweek 14

Popular fantasy picks, Jamie Vardy and Sadio Mane continued their rich vein of goalscoring form over the weekend. Many of us willl be hoping for more ahead of Gameweek 14, however, with Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham revival gathering momentum, and a Sergio Aguero-shaped hole to fill up-front at Man City, are there emerging transfer options elsewhere this week?

Captain Picks

Harry Kane vs Bournemouth (H) (£10.8m, FWD)

Three Kane goals in two Jose Mourinho games makes happy reading for Spurs and England fans. His form may well continue as Harry averages a goal a game when playing Bournemouth at home. Captain Kane with caution though as Tottenham’s frailties are still there to be seen after switching off in the last ten minutes vs West Ham and for the majority of the first half vs Olympiakos. Although Tottenham may be experiencing the short term effects of ‘new-manager bounce’, do bear in mind that Kane had only scored in one of the last five gameweeks before Mourinho’s arrival.

Sadio Mane vs Brighton (H) (£12.2m, MID)

As predicted, Sadio Mane successfully led the Liverpool line and scored another goal last week, taking his tally to eight Premier League goals so far this season. This week, he plays against a Brighton side who have conceded seven goals in their last three away games and have lost every Premier League game they’ve played at Anfield. Although this game only finished 1-0 to Liverpool last season, it was against a defensively minded Chris Hughton side who were notoriously hard to beat. Under Graham Potter, Brighton seem to focus more on their attack. Could this lead to more space for Mane to exploit?

Jamie Vardy vs Everton (H) (£9.7m, FWD)

Once again, we’ll be hoping for more of the same from the league’s top goal scorer. Vardy’s second- placed Leicester have five wins in a row and host an out of form Everton who sit 16th in the league. Vardy has six goals and three assists over the last four gameweeks as well as taking the second most shots in the box in the league over the same timeframe. Beware though, although Everton are out of form, the stats say that their defence is not as bad as it seems as they have conceded the least goal attempts in the league over the last four gameweeks. Everton won this fixture 2-1 last season.

The Form Guide - Who’s Hot?

Roberto Firmino (FWD, Liverpool, £9.4m)

Having ended his mini goal drought with an overdue winning goal vs Crystal Palace last week, I see no reason why Firmino won’t score again soon. He plays against bottom half opposition in each of his next four games (Brighton, Everton, Bournemouth and Watford) and only Aguero has taken more shots and shots in the box than him this season.

Heung-Min Son (MID, Tottenham, £9.7m)

He might not be in the papers as much as Dele Alli and Harry Kane, but Heung-Min Son has been Tottenham’s unrivalled main attacking threat over the last 4 gameweeks. On top of his two goals and three assists, Son has had had more shots (6), shots in the box (9), penalty area touches (18) and created more chances (6) than any other Spurs player in that timeframe. Next four games: Bournemouth, Man United, Burnley and Wolves.

Caglar Soyuncu (DEF, Leicester, £5.0m)

For whatever reason, 83.4% of Fantasy Football managers don’t own this guy! The Turk is a threat from set-pieces and is the cheapest way into Leicester’s water-tight defence. The Foxes have conceded the fewest goals in the league and are on a run of four clean sheets in a row. Up next are Everton, Watford, Aston Villa and Norwich so you wouldn’t put it past them making it to eight!

The Form Guide - Who’s Not?

Sergio Aguero (FWD, Man City, £11.9m)

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Aguero’s injury will force him out of action for “a few weeks” and is therefore out of contention to play against Newcastle, Burnley and Man United. The Argentine had only scored one goal in the last six gameweeks anyway, so if you weren’t planning on taking him out of your team already, you definitely should be now.

John McGinn (MID, Aston Villa, £5.9m)

Although the Scot is Villa’s top scoring player, McGinn has only provided one assist in his last six league games in a time when his team have scored eleven goals. He’s simply not been involved enough. You would not expect his form to pick up anytime soon as he next plays Man United and Chelsea away before hosting Leicester.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DEF, Man United, £5.4m)

Wan-Bissaka was bought by Man United to sure up their dodgy defence and to provide an attacking threat down their right hand side, but so far this season, the Red Devils have only managed to keep two clean sheets in 13 games and AWB has had no attacking input. He is one yellow card away from a suspension, too.

Ones to Watch (Less than 5% ownership)

There is at least one thing Arsenal fans can be happy about and that’s the return of Alexandre Lacazette (2.1% ownership, FWD, £9.3m), who has scored two goals and provided two assists over his last four league games since returning from injury. Norwich, Brighton and West Ham are up next for the Gunners.

On the cheaper end of the spectrum, I will bang the Danny Ings (4.0%, FWD, £6.0m) drum once again. After bagging his sixth goal of the season vs Arsenal last week, Ings faces Watford, Norwich and Newcastle over his next three games. He has the form and the favourable fixtures to warrant a place in your team.

In midfield, Sheffield United’s John Fleck (0.7%. MID, £4.8m) could be an option for your fourth or fifth midfield spot. He has scored two goals and provided one assist over his last three games and there is no cheaper midfielder in better form.

Finally, for the same price as Fleck, Spurs defender Serge Aurier (3.1%. DEF, £4.9m) could tempt you. With one goal and two assists in his first two games under Mourinho, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him contribute with an attacking return vs Bournemouth on Saturday.

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