Gameweek 32 Preview of Fantasy Premier League, courtesy of Bet365.
The international break is over and we can look forward to Premier League action again this weekend. There’ll be plenty of Fantasy Football managers with gripes about the outcome of the internationals though, particularly those of you who have the likes of Jack Butland or Rob Elliott. Both of these goalkeepers picked up pretty major injuries during the international friendlies and will miss the remainder of the season. Changes are needed to your Fantasy Football squad if they’re in there to help to ensure you have the full complement of players to choose from.
This week’s matches start with two teams who could hardly have more contrasting form as Chelsea visit Aston Villa; the hosts have lost 6 successive games while Chelsea are unbeaten in 14 in the league. A win could lift the Blues as high as seventh in the table and within 3 points of the Europa League spots, and after their disastrous start to the season that’s a position that they’d be pretty happy with going into their final 7 games. Villa have the worst defensive and attacking records in the league this season, and their relegation is almost certain to be confirmed within the next couple of weeks. The sacking of Remi Garde in midweek is unlikely to arrest their slump, and Chelsea have a great record in this fixture (winning 7 of the last 8 meetings). Everything points to an away win here, and for this reason Cesc Fàbregas (£8.4m), fresh from his 2-goal match-saving performance against West Ham, could be a good pick in your midfield.
Arsenal got back to winning ways just before the international break with a 2-0 win away at Everton, and will be hoping to build on that when they welcome Watford to the Emirates. Saturday’s visitors have lost 4 of their last 5 away games in the league, and failed to score in any of those defeats, so Arsenal defenders could provide a good source of points this weekend. Héctor Bellerín (£6.3m) would be the obvious choice – the Spaniard has played the full 90 minutes in all but 2 of the Gunners’ league games this season, and provides an attacking threat having picked up 3 assists from his last 2 appearances. Up front Olivier Giroud (£8.8m) is out of form having fired blanks in his last 9 league appearances, so Danny Welbeck (£7.3m) can provide real value for money. The England man will surely be their main striker for the remainder of the season, and since returning from injury he’s scored 3 league goals and assisted 1, in just 275 minutes of football.
There should also be a routine home victory at Upton Park, with West Ham facing Crystal Palace. The Hammers have won 5 of their last 6 league games at home, and haven’t lost there in any competition since August. Palace meanwhile are in horrendous form, having not won a league game since before Christmas (drawing 4 and losing 9 of their 13 matches from Boxing Day onwards). Dimitri Payet (£8.3m) is the man to look to here, with the French midfielder in superb form. He’s bagged 3 goals and 5 assists in his last 10 games, and has been West Ham’s most creative force all season.
The late kick-off on Saturday should be a cracker, with Liverpool facing Tottenham at Anfield. Spurs have lost just one of their last fourteen away games in the league, while Liverpool have lost only one of their last seven at home. Both teams have real quality in attack, and this fixture promises goals at both ends. Adam Lallana (£7.3m) could be a good selection from the home team here. He put in an excellent display for England in midweek, and has 3 goals and 3 assists from this last 6 league games. Daniel Sturridge (£9.9m) is the only fully fit senior striker available to Jürgen Klopp, and having scored in his last 2 league games he’ll be a threat to the Spurs defence too. For the away side Harry Kane (£10.4m) is in excellent form, scoring 10 goals in his last 10 league appearances. He’s now up to 21 league goals for the season, matching last year’s total with 7 games still to play, and he’ll be eager to impress over the remainder of the season to fire Tottenham to league glory and confirm his place in England’s starting line-up at Euro 2016.
On Sunday Jamie Vardy (£7.9m) will be hoping to replicate his international goalscoring form at club level. The striker has gone 5 games without a goal in the league, but scored for England against both Germany and the Netherlands during the international break. He’ll fancy his chances of getting back amongst the goals against a Southampton side who’ve not kept a clean sheet in their last 5, despite going 7 games without conceding before that.
Saturday
Aston Villa v Chelsea
(12.45pm BT Sport 1)
Bournemouth v Man City
Norwich v Newcastle
Stoke v Swansea
Sunderland v West Brom
West Ham v Crystal Palace
Arsenal v Watford
Liverpool v Tottenham
(5.30pm Sky Sports 1)
Sunday
Leicester v Southampton
(1.30pm Sky Sports 1)
Man Utd v Everton
(4.00pm Sky Sports 1)