Sean’s Super Subs showed up in a big way last week. Jeffrey Schlupp had himself a day against Manchester United with an assist and 18.75 fantasy points, the fourth most by a defender in GW3. Leandro Trossard tallied seven key passes, three successful dribbles, and produced 16.5 points. Harry Wilson came on for Charlie Daniels in the first half against Manchester City and scored a Goal of the Year contender, firing a picturesque free-kick over the wall and beyond Ederson at full stretch. As for the rest, John Lundstram came back down to earth after a monster week. Nicolás Otamendi, Dan Burn, and Che Adams underwhelmed, but the latter remains a viable option in deeper leagues given the lack of starting forwards.
This week, I decided to wait and see how the waiver-wire played out before releasing my column. This decision had everything to do with my belief that the top targets could be acquired via adds rather than burning waiver-wire priority.
As always, this column provides a weekly free agent and wavier-wire recommendations for Fantrax leagues, with a heavy focus on those using Togga scoring. Players on this list must be available in over 50 percent of leagues on Fantrax.com. Players will be recommended as adds for 10 or 12 team leagues and be assigned one of the following classifications. These include streaming options, (one-week adds), short-term/long-term adds (worth holding for a specific duration of matches), and must-adds (should be owned in all leagues). Players can also appear on this list for multiple gameweeks. For example, if there’s still value in a player from one gameweek to the next and he’s still available in over 50 percent of leagues, you can expect multiple appearances. Finally, the positional distribution of the players included will fluctuate based on the number of attention-worthy performers on a week-to-week basis.
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Neal | Steve | Andrew | Sean (ME) | Stag | Ben | Nik | Chuck
Defenders
Ashley Young, Manchester United (35%): With reports suggesting Luke Shaw could miss several weeks after suffering a hamstring injury, Young will likely deputize at left-back. The 34-year-old goes to the top of the streaming options list, especial for Shaw owners. Young was defender 41 last season with 179 points, but his numbers were better after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over. The veteran produced double digits in five of his 17 starts and averaged 1.4 key passes per game. If Shaw’s injury timeline holds up, then Young will get starts against Southampton (a), Leicester City (h) and West Ham United (a). Coming off the defeat to Crystal Palace, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Manchester United responded with a clean sheet at Southampton this weekend.
Matthew Lowton, Burnley (11%): Lowton is a useful depth add for managers in deeper leagues. The Burnley right-back has started all three matches this season. He grabbed a clean sheet against Southampton in GW1 and a decent haul of 9.25 against Wolverhampton, a game where his side was an extremely late penalty away from another shutout. Adding him this week isn’t to use him against Liverpool, it’s to equip yourself with someone for after the international break. Clean sheets have been few and far between so far this season, but Burnley has been one of the better defenses. I like their chances of coming away from matches against Brighton (a), Norwich City (h), Aston Villa (a), Everton (h) and Leicester City (a) with at least two clean sheets.
Midfielders
Harvey Barnes, Leicester City (19%): If you drafted Barnes, then you’re about to see returns on your investment sooner than expected. The winger was always going to make some noise this season and, while I assumed it would take longer than three matches, he’s ahead of schedule. Barnes came off the bench and put in a match-winning cameo against Sheffield United, scoring a thunderous volley in the 2-1 win at Bramwell Lane. The goal was an example of his game-changing ability and why, in my opinion, he should be a weekly fixture in Brendan Rodgers’ starting XI. Given his pace, shooting ability and a direct style of play, Barnes has all the weapons to emerge as a sustainable fantasy asset alongside Jamie Vardy and James Maddison. Whether on the right in a direct swap for Ayoze Pérez or on the left wing with Maddison dropped into a deeper position, the 21-year-old should get his first start of the season against Bournemouth this weekend. Bournemouth has been allowing the fifth-most shots per game this season and allowed 22 when they visited Aston Villa two weeks ago, which is essential when you consider that Barnes averaged more shots per game than any of his teammates last season (2.5). I love him as a streaming option in leagues with 10 or more teams, as well as a long-term add in those with 12 or more. He’s poised to offer midfielder three value on a match-to-match basis once he locks down a full-time starting role.
Harvey Barnes. Consider our jaws dropped. pic.twitter.com/hou5jZ33Mw
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 24, 2019
Forwards
Neal Maupay, Brighton (29%): The search for starting forwards will be a recurrent theme throughout the season. That’s why Maupay makes this list despite Brighton having a less than favorable matchup at Manchester City this week. The striker scored off the bench on his debut, got 23 more minutes against West Ham United and made his first start over the weekend in the defeat by Southampton. Although he didn’t extend his goal tally against the Saints, Maupay put in another encouraging shift. He’s currently joint-13th amongst all strikers in shots but his seven shots across 123 minutes of action are first of forwards who have made two or fewer starts. With Florin Andone facing a three-match ban and Glenn Murray looking set to be rotated since he’s now 35 years old, all signs point towards Maupay as the Brighton forward you want to own. He’s someone to add and hold.
Andrii Yarmolenko, West Ham United (27%): I was all about Yarmolenko following his move to West Ham United last season. Yarmo scored two goals in his first five appearances and was trending in the right direction before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in October. The Ukraine international made his first start of the season in the win over Watford, operating on the right side of Manuel Pellegrini’s trio of advanced midfielders alongside Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini. Yarmo didn’t have a massive game, but he did manage to produce double digits. He posted two successful dribbles, one key pass and one shot on target in 55 minutes of action. Michail Antonio and Pablo Fornals present fierce competition for minutes, but the start for Yarmo suggests the battle for a place on the right is still an open competition. If he cracks the starting line up on Saturday against Norwich City, then he would represent a decent streaming third forward. Norwich is allowing 15 shots and 5.6 shots on target per game this season.
Ismaila Sarr, Watford (31%): With no points and just one goal to show from their first three matches, Watford needs to make some changes. The absence of Troy Deeney, who is expected to miss several weeks due to a knee injury, saw Javi García go with a frontline of Gerard Deulofeu and Andre Gray for the visit of West Ham United in GW3. Deulofeu had seven shots, and Gray produced their first goal of the season, but the duo managed to put just three of their 12 shots on target. I expect that Garica will now turn to club-record signing Ismalia Sarr to jumpstart the attack. The Senegal winger scored 12 goals and provided eight assists in 44 appearances across Ligue 1 and Europa League play for Rennes last season. Having marked his first Watford start with a goal in the 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Coventry on Tuesday, Sarr should make the XI against Newcastle United. He’s a long-term add who should provide third forward value in GW4.
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