FPL Season 2019/2020 – Gameweek 15 Preview

“Is Jamie Vardy making it 7 Premier League games with at least one goal in a row in gameweek 15?”
(CC by 4.0). Image by Sisto Micheli.

With gameweek 14 behind us, we have now officially entered FPL’s December period, one of the season’s busiest periods as Premier League games come flying in thick and fast now. Including gameweek 14, England’s elite clubs are turning up no less than seven times before the 1st of January, 2020, and that’s not including cup games and European football. Just take this week: by the end of it, we will have two more gameweeks behind us. As if the season wasn’t unpredictable enough yet, squad depth and good planning are going to be especially important keywords for Fantasy Premier League managers over the coming weeks. In that light, also check out our lineup prediction articles in the build-up to each gameweek.

Ine gameweek 15, we see Manchester City visit Burnley, Chelsea host new boys Aston Villa, and, of course, José Mourinho’s Spurs roll up to Old Trafford (will he know which dug-out to sit in?), just to name a few games. Oh, and there is a Merseyside Derby at 20h15 (GMT+0) on Wednesday night. Plenty to look forward to, so here are our fantasy picks for gameweek 15.

Finally, don’t forget that the deadline for FPL gameweek 15 is set at 18h30 (GMT+0) on Tuesday, December 3rd.

How did our fantasy picks for the previous gameweek fare?

PICK PLAYER OPPONENT POINTS
Premium Jamie Vardy Everton (H) 6
Premium P-E Aubameyang Norwich (a) 13
Non-premium Marcus Rashford Aston Villa (H) 5
Non-premium Tammy Abraham West Ham (H) 0 (injured)
Differential Danny Ings Watford (H) 9
Differential Dwight McNeil Crystal Palace (H) 1
Captain P-E Aubameyang Norwich (a) 26

Premium picks

If you read our preview for gameweek 14, you might remember that one of our two premium fantasy picks for that round was Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.9m), for whom the Away game against Norwich was the very last chance he got from us to show that he is still worth consideration as a premium asset. Well, a brace and 13 FPL points later we can say that the Gunners striker took that chance and with Brighton at the Emirates up next, he’s faced with the perfect opportunity to really put himself back into the fold. Only Norwich have fared worse than Brighton in Away games this season, as the Seagulls have just taken four points from seven games away from Home. Over that run, they conceded 13 goals, which equals to an average of just under two goals per game. Aubameyang, on the other hand, seems to have found back some of his earlier-season form with 3 goals and an assist in the last four gameweeks. Despite Arsenal’s issues, the Gabonese forward has still manage to score 10 goals and provide 2 assists for a total of 87 FPL points. With Brighton up next and West Ham away next, we can see him building on those tallies in the very near future.

They say the sweet spot for FPL player picks is located right there where form meets fixtures. That’s why we can’t ignore Jamie Vardy (£9.9m) for the third time in the last four gameweeks. The Leicester forward has scored an incredible 11 goals in his last eight Premier League games, a run that includes at least one goal in each of the last six games. He was the first player to reach 100 FPL points this season last weekend and he’s currently still the only player to have crossed that milestone. As a result of all this, Vardy has also become the most-owned player in the official game (ownership of 46%). With the rest of the Foxes, he is welcoming bottom-of-the-table Watford to the King Power on Wednesday. The Hornets have fired manager Sanchez Flores last weekend after just three months in charge, so it remains to be seen how they turn up against Leicester, both tactically and mentally, but what’s certain is that Vardy will most likely be causing them all kinds problems. Only Newcastle have conceded more goals in away games (16) than Watford’s 15 in seven games, so don’t be surprised if the English attacker makes it seven FPL returns in a row.

Non-premium picks

After four gameweeks with consecutive returns and with a home game against West Ham coming up next, this feels like as good a time as any to recommend Raul Jimenez (£7.7m). The Mexican striker has scored 3 goals and provided 1 assist in his last four Premier League games for Wolves, helping him to a current FPL points total of 73. As a matter of fact, when looking back further, Jimenez has returned 4 goals and 3 assists over the last seven games, and he returned 49 FPL points in that time. The only forward to do better over that same period is Leicester’s Jamie Vardy. We will see soon enough if West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has found a permanent solution to his team’s troubles or if the 0-1 victory over Chelsea last Saturday was just an accident, but Wolves will be hoping to meet the Hammers side that lost 2-3 at home to goal-shy Newcastle in gameweek 12, lost 3-0 at Turf Moor in gameweek 13 and lost 2-3 at home to Spurs last weekend. We’re betting on Jimenez making it five consecutive gameweeks with attacking returns in gameweek 15.

The second non-premium fantasy pick for this week is a defender, but not really. John Lundstram (£5.0m) is not a defender, but a box-to-box midfielder with scoring abilities in the form of his life who was classified as a defender by FPL at the start of the 2019-20 campaign. And not just any defender, but the cheapest possible kind, with a starting price tag of £4.0m. Oh, if they had only known… The highest-scoring defender in the official game after 14 gameweeks (Lundstram that is, tied with Ricardo Pereira at 75 FPL points) is facing Newcastle at home in gameweek 15 and returns at both sides of the pitch could be on the cards. No team in the entire league has conceded more goals in away matches than the Magpies (16 in 7 games), while they netted only six times in those games. Only Norwich (3) and Watford (5) have scored less away goals. Sheffield United is not the most prolific team in front of goal either (9 goals in 7 home games), but their 7 conceded goals in seven games do not bode well for Newcastle. We count on a Sheffield United clean sheet and at least a few chances for Lundstram to get some attacking returns. Lundstrum is the 2nd most owned player in FPL just behind Vardy at 45.6%.

A differential pick or two

Our first differential fantasy pick for gameweek 15 is Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse (£5.8m). The young Englishman’s form has been picking up considerably over the past four gameweeks, considering the three goals he scored over that period. His season tallies now stand at 4 goals and no assists, which is a  bit odd considering the fact that JWP is in charge of most set-pieces for the Saints. He hasn’t missed a single minute of Premier League football yet this season and Southampton have one of the kinder fixture schedules out of all clubs for this December month. After Norwich at Saint Mary’s this Wednesday, they are facing Newcastle (away), West Ham home) and Aston Villa (away) before the fixtures turn more difficult. Southampton have so far taken just four points from seven home games and scored just 7 goals during that run, while the Canaries have taken 7 points from seven away games, a run over which they conceded a worrying 18 goals. This bottom-of-the-table clash could go anywhere, but don’t be surprised if JWP finds some FPL returns for the 1.8% of FPL managers who own him in the process.

Our second differential pick and final fantasy pick overall is Chelsea’s Willian (£7.1m). The Blues suffered a disheartening home defeat against West Ham in gameweek 14, but their 66% of possession and 19 attempts on goal (6 of which hit the target) should give them something to hold onto. Last weekend, Willian was somewhat surprisingly omitted from the starting eleven for a Premier League game for the first time since gameweek 5. This probably has to do with the cramped upcoming schedule and the availability of other players who deserve playing time, so we expect the Brazilian winger to return against Aston Villa this Wednesday. His 2 goals and 3 assists are somewhat underwhelming for Willian, but so is his current ownership (2.9%), especially when considering he is a starter and a principal set-piece taker for a team that knows how to find the goal. The likes of Mount, Abraham and Pulisic have overshadowed the Brazilian so far, and perhaps deservedly so when looking at their current tallies, making him a differential to seriously consider against Villa.

For further GW15 transfer ideas look at this fiso FPL forum topic.

Looking at the latest FPL GW Transfers In/out Stats:

Attackers – Managers are mainly selling Abraham (325,000 sold but he could play in GW15) & Aguero (injured) and buying Jimenez ( ownership now 23%), Mousset (5.5%), Vardy (46%), and Ings (8%).

Midfielders – Mount is the big seller then Martial, James & Salah and the money instead is being used on buying Alli (only 3.6% ownership), Zaha, Son, Cantwell & KDB.

Defenders – Digne, AWB & Pieters are being sold (but low numbers) with the proceeds then spent on Lundstram, Soyuncu, TAA & VVD (who had been sold a lot recently).

Goalkeepers – After his red card, Alisson tops the sold list (but it’s just a 1 game ban) next to Pope. Henderson & Schmeichel top the most bought.

The captaincy

After his brace at Carrow Road, which followed his assist in gameweek 13 and his goal in gameweek 11, we feel Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be a good option for the captain’s armband. With Arsenal being who they are, the result against Southampton at the Emirates is far from certain, but PEA seems to be on the way back to some good form again. A third return in three gameweeks could well be on the way for the differential pick amongst the premium assets in FPL.

The FISO Forum Captain poll for GW15 puts the armband firmly on Vardy.

Finally if you like FPL but want to have a go at a weekly Fantasy Premier League type competition for prizes then have a look at FanTeam’s 50,000 euro weekly monster. There are freerolls for new entrants if registered within the last 8 weeks. There’s also a free chance to win an entry into a comp over two gameweeks where the top prize is a guaranteed 30,000 euros.