Welcome to AM’s Perfect XI - Week 13 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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Week 12 brought mild signs of improvements for my own PXI side, which lined up as follows:
Pickford, Coleman, Rose, Alonso, McAuley, Coutinho, De Bruyne, Hazard, Eriksen, Lukaku, Aguero
Switching Costa to Aguero on a Saturday morning whim proved foolish, and Lukaku disappointed, but Pickford, Coleman, McAuley, De Bruyne and Hazard helped pull things up to 125 points for the week. I’m back up to 80th in the overall standings and feeling a little bit happier about things.
Week 13 begins with a standard Saturday 12:30 BST (British Summer Time) kick off and it’s an intriguing clash on Turf Moor, as Burnley host Manchester City. As always 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 line-ups one hour prior to matches.
Here are your fixtures ...
SATURDAY
Burnley v Manchester City
Hull City v West Bromwich Albion
Leicester City v Middlesbrough
Liverpool v Sunderland
Swansea City v Crystal Palace
Chelsea v Tottenham
SUNDAY
Watford v Stoke City
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Manchester United v West Ham
Southampton v Everton
And the picks ...
KEEPERS
Loris Karius - You’ll notice a distinct Liverpool flavour to the column this week, as I (like many people) expect Jurgen Klopp‘s men to absolutely batter Sunderland at Anfield. The Black Cats have improved of late but they’re unlikely be able to deal with the Red machine and so we should see plenty of goals and very possibly a clean sheet. Hence Karius.
Honourable Mention: Petr Cech at home to Bournemouth, Ben Foster away at Hull
DEFENDERS
Laurent Koscielny - Occasionally I get a strong feeling that Laurent Koscielny will pop up with a goal for the Gunners and this hunch has proved correct twice already this season. Bournemouth have been a little bit sloppy when defending set pieces and so I’m tipping it to happen again on Sunday in a comfortable Arsenal home win.
Antonio Valencia - Valencia returned from a broken arm well ahead of schedule to feature against Arsenal last weekend and the winger-turned-full-back was Manchester United’s most potent threat throughout the match. With another week of training behind him he should be tip-top shape to cause West Ham plenty of problems down the right flank, with attacking contributions and a potential clean sheet on the cards.
Dejan Lovren - Looking through the options in Liverpool’s defence I’ve decided to skip past my usual pick of Nathaniel Clyne and go for Mr Lovren, who has a better PPG average in Perfect XI and is due a goal from a set piece. Remember, it’s Sunderland.
Marco Alonso - To borrow from last week, “The way Chelsea are playing you’d be a fool not to have Alonso in your Perfect XI side every week.” Antonio Conte‘s squad have kept six Premier League clean sheets in a row and host a fragile Tottenham side in Week 13. As a Spurs fan, I’m worried.
Honourable Mentions: Christian Fuchs at home to Middlesbrough, Jose Holebas at home to Stoke, Scott Dann away at Swansea, Gareth McAuley away at Hull
MIDFIELDERS
Philippe Coutinho - If you need an explanation as to why Coutinho is top of the midfielder picks this week then I’m afraid your fantasy team may be beyond help. Just pick him, sit back and watch the points roll in.
Gylfi Sigurdsson - Swansea were mightily impressive at Everton in Week 12 and it was yet another important goal from Siggy, his third of the season. The Icelander also has three assists, is a danger from set pieces, takes penalties and faces Crystal Palace this weekend. This is a Palace squad with by far the worst Premier League record this calendar year and they haven’t kept a clean sheet in their past 18 games. Get involved.
Eden Hazard - Not much innovation in this pick, but as mentioned earlier I really do fear for Spurs at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening and so you simply cannot afford to be without Hazard. The Belgian totted up 21 Perfect XI points in Week 13 without a goal or assist thanks to creating six chances for his teammates (the most by any player in the Premier League for two seasons) and he should be on for another bumper weekend in all fantasy formats.
Robert Snodgrass - Hull are coming off the back of a terrible 3-0 defeat at Sunderland, but despite the woeful result Ryan Snodgrass put in a performance that was a cut above his teammates. The Scot has a touch of class about him, delivers a wicked set pieces and is capable of scoring a goal when his side need him most. I’m not convinced Hull will beat West Brom but I am convinced we’ll see solid fantasy returns from The Snod.
Honourable Mentions: Kevin De Bruyne away at Burnley, Mesut Ozil at home to Bournemouth, Riyad Mahrez at home to Middlesbrough, Matt Phillips away at Hull
STRIKERS
Roberto Firmino - Completing the strong Liverpool contingent in my own Perfect XI side this week will be Roberto Firmino, who continues to flourish in the false 9 position at the tip of Klopp’s impressive attacking unit. The Brazilian dovetails perfectly with Coutinho, Mane, Lallana & Co and I just can’t imagine Sunderland’s defence being able to cope with the pace and movement they’ll find themselves up against.
Sergio Aguero - There are plenty of excellent striking options for Week 13. But this is a Burnley defence that just managed to concede four goals to West Brom. This is Pep Guardiola‘s Manchester City, with a rejuvenated Yaya Toure powering the midfielder. This is a match set up for a Sergio Aguero goalfest.
Honourable Mentions: Alexis Sanchez at home to Bournemouth, Diego Costa at home to Tottenham, Salomon Rondon away at Hull, Zlatan Ibrahimovic at home to West Ham
That’s it for Week 13. I’d like to wish all my friends, colleagues and readers based in the US a truly Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the extended holiday weekend ... I’ll be with you in spirit from my desk in rainy London.
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.
