Welcome to AM’s Perfect XI - Week 12 player picks. This column focuses on Togga’s Perfect XI game, which you can play via their IOS and Android app. Find the apps here and make sure you update regularly to take advantage of the constant enhancements: https://www.playtogga.com
In case you missed it we’ve set up a Rotoworld PL Private League where you can challenge myself and the rest of the RW PL team over the course of the season. To join it download the app and then click the below link from your device, or find us from the Featured Leagues tab:
Each week I provide a Perfect XI of my own for the upcoming gameweek, recommending 11 players to consider along with some honourable mentions. The players listed won’t necessarily be the exact 11 selected for my own Perfect XI fantasy side. The point of this column isn’t to tell you exactly who to pick; it’s to present some ideas and get your brain whirring. I’ll be listing a combination of the must-haves and slightly riskier options, alongside the odd hunch. Hopefully you’ll find this useful whether you’re playing Togga’s game or looking at potential transfers for your official Fantasy Premier League team.
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It seems a very long time ago, but I can reveal that Week 11 was an absolute shocker for my Perfect XI side. In fact it was so bad that I don’t want to talk about it. All I will say is that I’ve now dropped well outside the top 100 in the overall standing and face an uphill battle to recover that early season promise. And it hurts.
Anyway, Week 12 begins with a standard Saturday 12:30 BST (British Summer Time) kick off and it’s an absolute cracker, as Manchester United host Arsenal. It’s important to have your fantasy team locked in ready for this match, but remember in Perfect XI you can swap out a player right up to one minute before their match kicks off and bring in an alternative player whose match is also yet to kick off. This flexibility will allow you to prevent the pain of a surprise benching or unreported last minute injury and a big fat zero. Ensure you keep your eyes on the RW PL Twitter account for for line-ups one hour prior to matches.
Here are your fixtures ...
SATURDAY
Manchester United v Arsenal
Crystal Palace v Manchester City
Everton v Swansea City
Southampton v Liverpool
Stoke City v Bournemouth
Sunderland v Hull City
Watford v Leicester City
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United
SUNDAY
Middlesbrough v Chelsea
MONDAY
West Bromwich Albion v Burnley
And the picks ...
KEEPERS
Jordan Pickford - Pickford has been one of the few bright spots for Sunderland this season, performing well - both in real life and in fantasy - despite his side living at the bottom of the table the first 3 months. The simple reason? The Black Cats defence allow a lot of shots and young Jordan makes a lot of very good saves. A visit from Hull actually presents the Black Cats an opportunity for a rare win and an even rarer clean sheet if Mr Pickford does his thing. I’ll probably toss a coin to decide between him and Courtois.
Honourable Mention: Thibaut Courtois away at Middlesbrough, Claudio Bravo away at Crystal Palace
DEFENDERS
Marco Alonso - The way Chelsea are playing you’d be a fool not to have Marco Alonso in your Perfect XI side every week. The Spaniard has been a revelation in his left wing back role since joining in the summer, spending the majority of his time in and around the opposition’s box, creating chances and even scoring the odd goal. Not to mention the fact Chelsea have kept five Premier League clean sheets in a row.
Danny Rose - As we know, Spurs width comes from their full-backs. We also know West Ham are struggling badly with injuries, with midfielders playing in central defence and no available right back. I’ve done the math and this makes Rose an outstanding pick for the weekend, provided he’s recovered from his sore foot.
Gareth McAuley - The Hawthorns is suddenly a happy place again. Tony Pulis has settled his differences with the owners and looks set to sign a new deal, while on the pitch there seems to have been an improvement in the style of football, summed up by the Baggies fine win at Leicester. They’ll fancy their chances of picking up three points at home to Burnley, possibly winning to nil, and McAuley will be a constant goal threat from set pieces.
Seamus Coleman - Everton’s right-back has featured heavily in this column over the course of the season but unfortunately he’s repeatedly let us down. However, this is Swansea at home, and the Toffees owe their fans a performance after the embarrassing hammering by Chelsea in Week 11. A clean sheet and plenty of attacking points should be the order of the day for Coleman.
Honourable Mentions: Christian Fuchs away at Watford, Patrick van Aanholt at home to Hull, Nicolas Otamendi away at Palace, Daley Blind at home to Arsenal
MIDFIELDERS
Eden Hazard - I took a -4 hit in FPL last week to bring Hazard in so you can imagine my concern when injury reports surfaced suggesting the wing wizard had suffered a knee injury on international duty. But fear not, it was just a knock, and so he should feature against Boro on Sunday. On current form he’s a no-brainer.
Christian Eriksen - There is no doubt that Eriksen has had a disappointing season for Tottenham, chipping in with just three assists and no goals so far. However, he put in a wonderful performance for Denmark last week - scoring a brace which included a stunning solo effort - and I’ve got a hunch that he could be the difference maker in a fiery London derby against West Ham.
Ross Barkley - Ronald Koeman has been pretty blunt about Ross Barkley since taking over the reins at Goodison, criticising the midfielder for numerous things including his fitness, decision making and ball retention. But there have been signs that the “tough love” has been working, with a clear upturn in performances from Barkley in the past few weeks, including an outstanding show against West Ham in Week 10. Swansea at home seems a sensible match to give him a run out in your perfect XI side.
Kevin De Bruyne - Because he’s the bloody brilliant Kevin De Bruyne, against a Crystal Palace that haven’t been able to keep a clean sheet for 17 Premier League matches. Get involved.
Honourable Mentions: Philippe Coutinho away at Southampton, Robert Snodgrass away at Sunderland, Riyad Mahrez away at Watford, Dimitri Payet away at Spurs
STRIKERS
Romelu Lukaku - Seven goals and three assists in his last eight appearances gives us permission to proclaim that Romelu Lukaku is on fire. As mentioned, Koeman will be expecting his troops to bounce back from Week 11’s debacle and the Belgian could have a field day as Everton host rock-bottom Swansea. Buy, buy, buy.
Diego Costa - A dislike of Diego Costa the person has blinded me from picking him all season, but the Chelsea man is likely to take a spot in my forward line for Week 12. He’s cut out a lot of the unnecessary nasty stuff under Antonio Conte and has got his fitness, pace and sharpness back, creating and scoring goals for fun over the past few months. A match up against Middlesbrough should allow a continuation of this fine form, and gives him the nod over Sergio Aguero.
Honourable Mentions: Sergio Aguero at away at Crystal Palace, Jermain Defoe at home to Hull, Alexis Sanchez away at Man Utd, Harry Kane at home to West Ham
That’s it for Week 12. Check out the Rotoworld Features page to see a whole bunch of great content to get you ready for the weekend ahead. Feel free to comment below to us know how you’re getting on so far. And of course, good luck to all managers this week.
