Welcome to AM’s Players To Watch for Gameweek 14 of the 2019/2020 Premier League season. As long-time readers of my columns will know, the advice in seasons’ gone by had revolved around games that would allow you to make unlimited transfers each gameweek, selecting an entirely new 11 players if you so wished. Unfortunately Yahoo Fantasy Premier League is a glorious but distant memory, as is Togga’s Perfect XI game which inspired my previous Rotoworld column.
Nowadays I’m mixing things up by generalising the player recommendations given each week. So, whether you’re playing Official FPL, FPL/Fantrax Draft, Fantrax Salary Cap, Sky Sports, The Sun, The Telegraph or any number of other the fantasy games available to fans each season, I’ll be offering my top picks for the week ahead, mixing “must-haves” with hunch picks and players flying under the radar. Hopefully this will offer something for everyone, whether you’re considering captain options, looking to make a transfer or picking up a free agent in draft.
My FPL team has been on a bit of a charge in November thanks in no small part to Jamie Vardy who came in to my squad as part of a Week 11 wildcard. Since this point I’ve seen an overall rank move from outside the top 2 million back in to the top 600k, an upward trend I’m hoping to continue as we move in to December and the hectic festive period. Let’s get in to the Gameweek 14 fixtures.
Saturday 30 November 2019
Newcastle v Man City
Burnley v Crystal Palace
Chelsea v West Ham
Liverpool v Brighton
Spurs v Bournemouth
Southampton v Watford
Sunday 1 December 2019
Norwich v Arsenal
Wolves v Sheffield Utd
Leicester v Everton
Man Utd v Aston Villa
Gameweek 14 brings us back to a regulation 11:30am GMT Saturday FPL deadline as Newcastle host Manchester City in the early kick off. As always our main focus will be on players from the teams that look set for comfortable wins, with goals and potential clean sheet points on the cards. There are plenty of options this week starting with that opening game, as Man City look to keep tabs on Liverpool with victory at St James’ Park. The Reds themselves will be expected notch a comfortable win versus Brighton, while Chelsea at home to West Ham, high-flying Leicester hosting Everton, Spurs at home to Bournemouth and Manchester United hosting Aston Villa could all be worth our attention. With that in mind, here are the guys to keep in your thoughts ahead of the deadline ...[[ad:athena]]
Christian Pulisic (MF - Chelsea v West Ham) - It took a few months but Christian Pulisic is now showing Chelsea and Premier League fans exactly what he’s capable of producing. The US International had been criticised despite arriving new to the country and the league back in August but put the majority of these whispers to rest with a hattrick at Burnley in GW10 and hasn’t looked back since. Another goal in last night’s Champions League draw in Valencia boosted his overall stats to an impressive six goals and three assists in just 12 Chelsea starts and the 21-year old will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing struggling West Ham. Still priced at just £7.5m in FPL, Pulisic remains a genuine bargain.
Gabriel Jesus (FW - Manchester City @ Newcastle) - Gabriel Jesus seems like a grounded young man and so he’ll know this opportunity to lead the line for Manchester City will likely be limited, with Sergio Agüero expected to return from injury in a few weeks’ time. That gives the Brazilian possibly four games to make a real statement to Pep Guardiola proving that he deserves to start more often and he can get things up and running this weekend as City visit inconsistent Newcastle United. If you’re looking to gain ground in the rankings then Jesus could act as a valuable differential at least in to the middle of December with his FPL ownership sitting below 2%.
Serge Aurier (DF - Tottenham v Bournemouth) - As a Tottenham fan I never thought Serge Aurier would feature in this column! While clearly talented the Frenchman has repeatedly let Spurs down through indiscipline and rash decision-making over the past two seasons, and all signs pointed to an exit in January while Mauricio Pochettino was charge. José Mourinho‘s arrival may just change that path, with a new system implemented which clearly allows Aurier to play higher up the pitch when Spurs have the ball, almost as a right-winger. In two games he’s supplied a brilliant assist and an even better goal to surely secure his place in the side for the immediate future, and with Spurs having decent upcoming fixtures he’s a real defensive option for under £5million.
Marcus Rashford (FW - Manchester United v Aston Villa) - Another player in fantastic form, Marcus Rashford has been doing the business for both Manchester United and England over the past six weeks with eight goals and two assists in eight appearances for club and country. The 22-year old has always been a fantastic finisher but he’s becoming a more intelligent team player too, as shown by his increasingly productive partnerships with Anthony Martial, as well with Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling for England. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were lucky to escape with a point at Sheffield United last weekend but will fancy their chances of putting Aston Villa to the sword at Old Trafford, and Rashford should prove the key man.
Vice-Captain: Sadio Mané (MF - Liverpool v Brighton) - Sadio Mané has taken over Mohamed Salah‘s mantel as Liverpool’s attacking talisman this season and looks a shoo-in to get himself amongst the fantasy points this weekend with Brighton visiting Anfield. The Senegalese star has scored in three consecutive Premier League games and will be aiming to move in to double figures for the league season against a Seagulls side that have lost four of their six away games, conceding 11 in the process. It’s enough for the vice-captaincy, but not enough to usurp the division’s in form star.
Captain: Jamie Vardy (FW - Leicester v Everton) - Mane can feel aggrieved to miss out on the captaincy but it’s proving extremely difficult to look past Jamie Vardy in his current form. The Premier League’s top scorer has a phenomenal nine goals in his last seven league appearances to make it 12 in total and he faces an Everton team in real trouble. Marco Silva‘s squad are looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone after a shocking loss at home to Norwich last weekend and they enter a run of games that seems almost cruel - Leicester, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United & Arsenal. With morale already low I expect the Foxes to hand out a heavy defeat to the Toffees with Vardy leading from the front, taking the armband for my own FPL team for the third week running.
That’s it for Gameweek 14’s Players to Watch. Check out the Rotoworld PL homepage to access a host of fantastic content to get you ready for the weekend. If you have any questions about a specific player or your own fantasy team then feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@nikarg) and I will get back to you.
Thanks for reading - good luck to all managers this weekend.
