Following the mayhem of Christmas, the FA cup break came as a welcome relief to the majority of FPL managers. Rather than being forced to sit through the mind numbing FPL sabbatical that is the international break, we were afforded the luxury of watching the stars battling it out on sub standard pitches resembling the leftovers of the Christmas cake.
The vast majority of FPL favourites (thankfully) came through unscathed while owners of Liverpool’s prize assets will have been as delighted as fans from Manchester to see them crashing out of the FA cup as they focus on claiming the Premier League title.
Here’s your ranks.
Goalkeepers
It looks like the old Burnley are back. And so is Tom Heaton. Their favourable, must-win match up sees the old Togga favourite from two seasons ago top the goalkeepers list this week.
Kepa Arizabalaga, Neil Etheridge and Kasper Schmeichel should also fancy their clean sheet chances. Should Arsenal fail to score this week, 10th placed Lukasz Fabianski could easily top the ‘keeper ranks. Either way, he should be busy.
Defenders
If Everton are facing a beatable team at home, expect Lucas Digne to top these ranks every time.
Marcos Alonso returned to FPL form in GW21, scoring 17.5 points in Fantrax scoring. With rumours of his starting place being under threat seemingly on the back burner for now, he could be in for another big haul against Newcaslt United this week.
This week could be a good week for the aerial winners with Sean Morrison, James Tarkowki and Sol Bamba enjoying good fixtures. Coming up against Steve Mounie, Morrison should be the pick of the bunch as plenty of aerial battles can be expected. He’s due a goal too…
Midfielders
KDB is back. Again. And so are Manchester City.
City’s form is the equivalent of changing the difficulty on FIFA to amateur after a couple of poor results. Consecutive losses have been followed by 16 goals in three games with only once conceded. Wolves are their next victims and Kevin De Bruyne will be in the mood to continue his latest impressive comeback.
Elsewhere, James Maddison has just one assist to show for since December the 5th. He has scored well in Fantrax so a long overdue attacking return against Southampton should mean a big haul for him GW22.
If a differential is what you’re after, keep an eye out for Victor Camarasa, Samir Nasri (yes, him) and James Ward Prowse.
Forwards
Once again, there’s an embarrassment of riches in the forwards pool. Any of the 20 listed above are set to score well in GW22.
Eden Hazard tops the bill for me but I’m yet to discover whether his false nine position leads to a better FPL output.
Ashley Barnes could be a sneaky pick going into this week. After three attacking returns in his last four appearances for a revitalised Burnley, the visit of Fulham should signal a good chance to keep his form going. His xG stat is also very good if you’re into that sort of thing. Over the last four games he is 3rd behind Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Roberto Firmino. So there you go.
Fantasy Football 92 