Welcome to the AM’s Players To Watch for Gameweek 14. As long-time readers of my columns will know, my 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, while Togga, sadly, was not able to return for this campaign which put an end to the Perfect XI column I’d been penning for the past two years.
This season I’ll be a bit more general in my advice. Whether you’re playing Official FPL, FPL or 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 five 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 transfers or pick up a free agent in draft.
On to Gameweek 14 ...
Friday 30 November
Cardiff v Wolves
Saturday 01 December
Crystal Palace v Burnley
Huddersfield v Brighton
Leicester v Watford
Man City v Bournemouth
Newcastle v West Ham
Southampton v Man Utd
Sunday 02 December
Chelsea v Fulham
Arsenal v Spurs
Liverpool v Everton
The first thing to note is that we have a Friday night kick off, so make sure the early deadline doesn’t catch you out. The second thing to note is that we’re in for a treat on Sunday with a couple of cracking derbies on the schedule, but for fantasy purposes we should be focusing on the team’s most likely to win with ease. That brings us to Chelsea will surely bounce back with a win over Fulham, while magnificent Manchester City are - quite rightly - massive favourites to beat Bournemouth. I fancy Crystal Palace to finally win at home against Burnley, Leicester to beat Watford and Manchester United to overcome Southampton. With that in mind, here are my players to consider ....
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Eden Hazard (MF - Chelsea v Fulham) - It’s been almost two months since Eden Hazard last scored for Chelsea in the Premier League but you have to expect him to break that goal drought against leaky Fulham. The Belgian is on penalty duty and should benefit from a change of tactics from Maurizio Sarri, who will surely opt for Olivier Giroud in attack after yet another poor performance from Álvaro Morata vs Tottenham. Hazard has made it clear that he prefers the link-up play and support offered by the Frenchman and the two can combine here to heap more misery on the Cottagers’ defence.
Jamie Vardy (FW - Leicester v Watford) - Pretty much everyone has been surprised to see Jamie Vardy on the Leicester bench recently after falling out of favour with his boss Claude Puel but the tide seems to be turning after the striker rescued a point for 10-man Foxes in Gameweek 13. “I’m happy about the last three games of Jamie because he finally gave us this intensity in the play, this fighting spirit and he has had a good reward today to score with his penalty,” said Puel. These comments suggest a return to the starting XI this weekend against Watford, and Vardy will want to ensure that return is permanent.
Patrick Van Aanholt (DF - Crystal Palace v Burnley) - Crystal Palace are having a difficult season but their players put in a fine performance at Old Trafford last Saturday and delivered their first clean sheet since September. Not only did they look solid at the back but they also created the better chances and Patrick Van Aanholt missed the best of the lost. The left-back has been given licence to roam forward by Roy Hodgson and should thrive against a Burnley side that will allow Palace the majority of possession. I’m tipping The Eagles to make it back-to-back shut outs, with PvA providing risk-takers with attacking returns too.
Leroy Sane (MF - Manchester City v Bournemouth) - Leroy Sane struggled to get in to the Manchester City side at the beginning of the season but the injury to Benjamin Mendy has prompted Pep Guardiola to bring the German international back in to provide the lost width down the left flank. It’s paying dividends. In fact there’s a stat doing the rounds on Twitter that reveals Sane is averaging a goal or assist every 66 minutes in the Premier League this season - simply phenomenal - and he’ll be licking his lips at the prospect of tormenting Bournemouth’s right-back Simon Francis.
Harry Kane (FW - Tottenham @ Arsenal) - Harry Kane certainly loves London derbies. The Spurs and England striker has notched an impressive 25 goals in 39 appearances since breaking in to the first team in 2014 and that record includes seven in eight games against Arsenal. Kane will be desperate to continue that run on Sunday and he’s coming in to the match in a good spell of form with six goals in his last seven games for club and country. I’m backing him to improve those stats in an entertaining draw at the Emirates.
Captain Choice: Sergio Agüero (FW - Manchester City v Bournemouth) - It was sloppy of me not to have realised how poor Sergio Agüero‘s record is on the road. The Argentine striker has not scored a Premier League away goal since November 2017 - and I’ll not be captaining him in an away game again until that record improves significantly - but thankfully it’s a different story at the Etihad. We can expect him to put in a big performance in Gameweek 14 as the Cherries visit the blue half of Manchester. Please don’t let me down Sergio!
Honourable Mentions: Wayne Hennessey, Ben Chilwell, Marcos Alonso, Aymeric Laporte, Sadio Mane, Raheem Sterling, Anthony Martial, Wilfried Zaha, Glenn Murray, Marko Arnautovic
That’s it for Gameweek 14. Check out the Rotoworld Features page to access a host of fantastic content to get you ready for the new season. 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.
