FantasyYIRMA – Fantasy Football FPL

Before the recent FA Cup North London derby against Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium, Santi Cazorla (£9.5m) had scored just one goal this season. He’s got six now.

Terrific goalscoring form has seen the Spaniard hit the net five times in his last five matches in all competitions, and with the Gunners suffering plenty of injury setbacks as they continue their challenge at the top of the Premier League, those goals are crucial for a side missing plenty of attacking talents.

After scoring in the 2-2 draw at Southampton in midweek, Cazorla will surely start when Crystal Palace come calling to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon in a match that the Gunners should certainly win.

That Saints game was the only Premier League match in the last six that the Gunners haven’t won, with Cazorla starting all of those matches and completing the 90 minutes in all of them bar going off for the final five minutes at St Mary’s.

The Spanish international’s current goalscoring spurt shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise.

Until that Spurs FA Cup clash his only strike this season came in a 2-0 win over Liverpool in early November, but Cazorla scored 12 times in his first season in English football last year, and so there could well be more goals on the way if he is to keep up his average.

Against Palace he’ll be joined by the likes of Olivier Giroud (£8.7m) and Mesut Ozil (£10.0m), but injuries to the likes of Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey has opened the door for young German Serge Gnabry (£4.2m), who is a more than useful cheap squad addition and has started the Gunners’ last three games.

https://twitter.com/ZOO/statuses/428899474153299968

Elsewhere this weekend, Manchester United’s newfound attacking trio will be backed by many to win at Stoke.

Juan Mata (£9.6m), Robin van Persie (£13.6m) and Wayne Rooney (£11.3m) were all available for the first time in the midweek win over Cardiff at Old Trafford, and as they go to the Britannia Stadium they’ll have plenty of Fantasy bosses cheering them on.

As showcased above though, there are plenty of reasons when Cazorla is the preferred option to his Spanish international teammate Mata right now, but with both players available at a similar price then it is certainly worth monitoring the displays of both over the next few matches.

Everton were embarrassed by neighbours Liverpool at Anfield in midweek, and so they’ll be determined to bounce back when they host Aston Villa at home on Saturday.

Romelu Lukaku was crocked by teammate Gareth Barry in that Liverpool loss and he’ll miss out here, meaning that we could see a debut for giant on-loan forward Lacina Traore (£7.5m), but a shrewder move could be to go for winger Kevin Mirallas (£7.2m), who at least put in plenty of effort at Anfield and scored in his two previous appearances before that.

Everton’s Merseyside conquerors go to West Brom on Sunday, and they’ll be going there with plenty of confidence.

Luis Suarez (£13.4m) will of course be plenty of Fantasy bosses’ pick for the captaincy following his goal and assist against the Blues, but it is Daniel Sturridge (£9.4m) who is catching the eye more for Liverpool at the moment, scoring five goals in four games since returning from injury.

Tottenham will fancy their chances as they go to Hull City, where Emmanuel Adebayor (£7.8m) could shine again and keep up the fine form he’s been displaying recently, whilst the big clash of the Gameweek obviously comes on Monday night when Manchester City host Chelsea.

Often such titanic clashes are ones to avoid from a Fantasy perspective, but you simply can’t ignore City’s stellar home form this season, and in the wake of Sergio Aguero’s injury at Tottenham, a goal for Edin Dzeko (£6.7m) wouldn’t be too surprising.

@Mark_Jones86