Welcome to AM’s Players To Watch for Gameweek 22 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.
The festive period was extremely productive for my own FPL side with five green arrows in a row between GW17 and GW21 lifting me from an overall rank of 1.1 million up to 170k. The main catalyst has been keeping things simple, not making panic transfers, plus a little bit of luck with a decent bench helping out on occasions. Here’s hoping 2020 brings a continued upturn and a push towards my initial season target of a top 50k finish. On to Gameweek 22 ...
Friday 10 January 2020
Sheffield Utd v West Ham
Saturday 11 January 2020
Crystal Palace v Arsenal
Chelsea v Burnley
Everton v Brighton
Leicester v Southampton
Man Utd v Norwich
Wolves v Newcastle
Spurs v Liverpool
Sunday 12 January 2020
Bournemouth v Watford
Aston Villa v Man City
Gameweek 22 presents us with another Friday night kick-off as Sheffield United host West Ham, which means your FPL team must be locked in by 7pm GMT this Friday 10th January. As always our main focus will be on players from the teams that look set for comfortable wins, with goals or potential clean sheet points on the cards. Chelsea at home to Burnley, Manchester City at Aston Villa, Wolves at home to Newcastle and Leicester hosting Southampton all meet this criteria, while you could throw in Manchester United (v Norwich) provided the players are able to forget the demoralising midweek defeat to their city rivals. The remaining fixtures should all be tightly contested affairs but we’ll look to pick out a player or two to act as a decent differential. With that in mind, here are the guys to keep in your thoughts ahead of the deadline ...[[ad:athena]]
David Silva (MF - Manchester City @ Aston Villa) - The obvious choice given current form is Kevin De Bruyne, but if you’re looking to do something a little bit different then consider David Silva for Manchester City’s trip to Aston Villa. The Spanish genius is in his final season at the Etihad and at 34 years old his game time is being carefully managed, but he’s certain to start at the weekend having regained fitness after missing most of the festive period due to injury. Silva has 11 attacking returns in 13 Premier League starts this season, is priced at just 7.4million and has less than 5% ownership in FPL. A bargain differential if ever there was one. Get involved.
John Lundstram (DF - Sheffield United v West Ham) - The Lundstram train has slowed in recent weeks with some fantasy managers starting to bench, or even sell(!) Lord John. This seems a tad harsh but when you look at his long-term form it’s perhaps understandable given he’s only had one big return since Gameweek 11 ... IF you got in late and paid £5million+. However, you must remember we’re being treated to something extremely rare; a player listed as a defender, playing in an attacking midfield role and guaranteed to start when fit. Lundstram remains one of the all-time great fantasy bargains and should be in your starting XI to reap further rewards as the Blades host the Hammers.
Raúl Jiménez (FW - Wolves v Newcastle) - Raúl Jiménez had a relatively slow start the season as Wolves struggled to balance Premier League and Europa League commitments but things have really taken off over the past couple of months. Since Gameweek 8 the Mexican has bagged six goals, provided seven assists and remains one of the most consistent forwards in the division, providing genuine value for money to FPL managers at his current £7.5million price-tag. Newcastle visit Molineux this weekend with one clean sheet and one win in their last seven games in all competitions which should have Jiménez licking his lips.
Willian (MF - Chelsea v Burnley) - With his contract due to expire next summer it seems highly likely Willian‘s Chelsea career is drawing to a close, which seems bizarre given the winger has become one of Frank Lampard’s most reliable senior squad members. The 31-year old has started every Premier League match since GW4 and continues to turn in mature, hardworking displays alongside regular moments of attacking brilliance. Four goals and four assists doesn’t sound like much over 18 matches but if you look deeper in to the stats you’ll see that Willian‘s all round contributions are extensive and this is highlighted by his 14 FPL bonus points, ranking him 4th in midfielders behind De Bruyne, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah. Burnley beware.
Vice-Captain: Marcus Rashford (FW - Manchester United v Norwich) - Despite Manchester United’s extreme inconsistency under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Marcus Rashford continues to tick along nicely with three goals in his past four appearances making it 17 goals for the club in all competitions this season. Norwich visit Old Trafford this weekend and while I have zero faith that Phil Jones & Co will be able to keep a clean sheet, I am confident that we’ll see Rashford get himself on the scoresheet given he’s up against a defence that have conceded more chances and more goals than any other in the division.
Captain: Jamie Vardy (FW - Leicester v Southampton) - Back-to-back no-shows in GW20 and 21 due to a new arrival and a minor injury were far from ideal for fantasy managers, but I think we can forgive Jamie Vardy given all the cheer he’s provided us over the first half of the season. The good news is that the Premier League’s top scorer is back to full fitness and returned in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, picking up an assist, so he’ll be certain to start against Southampton this weekend. The rest is sure to have done Vardy some good and I expect him to quickly get back in to the groove, so he takes the captain’s armband once again for GW22.
That’s it for Gameweek 22’s Players to Watch. Check out the Rotoworld Features page 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 post them in the comments below or hit me on Twitter (@nikarg) and I will get back to you.
Thanks for reading - good luck to all managers this weekend.
