Gameweek 19 Preview: Fantasy Premier League #FPL

Written by John Wallin @FantasyGaffer

Defender – Ahmed Hegazi, WBA

The easy choice here is Dave. Azpilicueta had an assist in the reverse fixture against Everton and been nails all year. But without Morata (susp.) in the lineup, tactics may shift for Conte’s side. This is not the easy choice, but Ahmed El-Sayed Hegazi was a bandwagon differential after his 15pt GW1 and 8pt GW2. Since he’s topped 5pts just three time, but twice in the last three weeks. WBA are playing better defense and its providing a value boost for the 18% owned defender. If you own him, this is one of the weeks he must be in your starting XI.

Midfielder – Paul Pogba, Manchester United

Bournemouth at Man City is going to be a difficult game to pick only because Pep has so many options. While City suffered another long League Cup clash, he didn’t start anyone you care about for FPL purposes (except maybe Jesus). David Silva was sidelined against Spurs with a ‘personal issue’ and could return for this one, further complicating the picture. In the red-half of Manchester there is no question that a returning Paul Pogba will be playing in the attack for Mourinho’s United and this Leicester side just proved their vulnerability in a 0-3 home loss to Crystal Palace. This is the week to get Pogba back in your side. He’s rested and will play heavy minutes over the congested holiday period.

Forward – Sergio Aguero

There is no reason not to sell your assets up to and including your soul to get Kun Aguero into your XI this weekend. It’s supremely unlikely Gabrial Jesus makes the starting XI after the League Cup and Aguero is generally good value against terrible defenses. He scored a hattrick at Watford GW5 and recorded strikes at Brighton, Huddersfield and Swansea. He’s not more highly rated here because his record of late is poor – just once goal since GW13 and just five shots on target in that span. The Cherries allow the second-most shots per away game (14.94) and are somewhat lucky to have conceded a league-average 1.33 goals per away match. City beat them 1-2 at the Vitality; this weekend it won’t be so close.

Captain – Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City

This pick won’t surprise many as the 24.9% of managers invested in KDB and are aware of his recent form – three goals, two assists and 39pts over his last five matches. The Belgian now has five double-figure outings since GM7 and leads all midfielders with 16BPS for the season. These picks aren’t always the fun upstart pick (Rooney GW18; Richarlson GW12) and sometimes you’ve got to take the lumps and blank from a popular choice…but enough about Kane’s owners.

Outsider – Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace

Zaha is owned by just 5.8% of OFPL sides. His £6.9m pricetag is in line with Willian (£6.7m, 7.2% selected) and they both have a goal and two assists over their last two match. The key difference is that Palace run through Zaha while Willian is a hit or miss player. While the Eagles have a tough home-home set upcoming with Arsenal and Man City, they travel to Swansea this weekend to face a Swans side which just sacked Paul Clement. Swansea are not a highly-talented side just in need of a tactical shake up. This roster has significant deficiencies – notably lacking anyone who could limit Zaha’s explosive wing play. He’ll be a huge play in Togga’s draft format and is a great shout as an outsider in the OFPL.

Draft – Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea

In the OFPL, Cesc is every bit as bad as I pretend he is every week on Talkin Togga. There he’s priced £6.9m and has played 1158′ but scored more than 3pts in a match just three times all season. His lone goal and 3BPS came back in GW3. How much more valuable is he in Togga? He’s the 26th top scorer overall. His 182pts trail Azpilicueta (192.75) and Morata (194.5), but not by much. Back in GW3 he scored 21 against this weekend’s opponent, Everton, when he notched a goal, three key passes and two shots on target. Little has changed in his game since then and he had five double-digit returns between GW11-16, giving him nine from 16 appearances.

John (aka FantasyGaffer) has been playing fantasy sports for more than a decade.

An avid supporter of Liverpool since the days of the Spice Boys, he has earnestly worn a white suit on multiple occasions. You’ll find his work on fantasy draft site PlayTogga.

Prior to joining Togga, he wrote for EPLIndex, MLB.com/fantasy, BackPageFootball and his own site, FantasyGaffer.