Moving Up

This will be an weekly article that entails the top differentials for the week. Specific game week punts to move you up the ranks, if you’re willing to take the jump. Here's my set of punts for Game week 8: 

Papiss Cisse - Newcastle - FWD

Cisse was ruled out for several months after undergoing surgery for an injury he sustained last season against Swansea. Upon recovery, the forward made his first appearance of the season in game week 4 and is currently Newcastle’s top goalscorer & FPL point scorer, this is very impressive considering he has only been involved in the last 3 matches, playing a combined total of 162 minutes out of a possible 270 minutes. Since his return, the forward has netted four times, picking up 6 bonus points along the way. The Senegal international has already doubled his goals total from last season, where he scored a meagre 2 goals in 24 appearances. It now seems Cisse has rediscovered the excellent form he showed in his first 2 seasons at Newcastle, with 4 goals in his last 3 games. This is the highest number of goals scored by anyone in the league over the last 3 weeks, an incredible feat considering his lack of pitch time in this period. He seems to be the perfect solution to Newcastle’s woes this season, with now a proper forward to lead the line and finish the scores of chances their creating this season - The Magpies have created the 5th highest number of chances this season, 3 ahead of Manchester United and just 4 behind Arsenal. 

This week, Cisse faces a leaky Leicester defence at St. James’ Park. Leicester have conceded 13 goals so far this season, and have performed a lot better at home, with dire performances when playing away from the King Power Stadium. The Foxes have conceded the most Goal attempts in the league away from home, and are 2nd for goal attempts conceded in the box. Their porous defence has also conceded the most chances on travels away from home, all pointing towards their lack of defensive resolve this season and particularly in away games. This looks bright for Cisse’s prospects, with a pervious defence and excellent form on his side. I believe the Newcastle forward is one of the top options for a punt this game week.

Saido Mane - Southampton - MID

Saido Mane came so close to finishing a glaring opportunity created by Bertrand last week, and was inches away from getting his first goal for the Saints. Since his arrival in gameweek 6, the speedy winger has looked quite the player, and has been very direct in his play. He has looked quite the goal threat and looks like a great pacey outlet for Tadic’s creativity. The Senegal International has already picked up an assist in his first two games and has a fantastic goalscoring record albeit being in the A.Bundesliga, he scored 23 goals and managed 18 assists in 50 games for Red Bull Salzburg last season. With him looking like he’s capable of jostling with the big boys in the premier league, Saido Mane could prove to be an excellent differential and punt if he can recreate anything close to his past goalscoring record. This week, Saido Mane faces Sunderland at home, and Southampton will be looking to continue their remarkable streak and if they are to do so, Mane will definitely be one of their main men in attack. 

Santi Cazorla - Arsenal - MID

Arsenal’s no. 10, Mesut Ozil sustained an injury last week against Chelsea that has ruled him out for a few months. So who will replace the former Real Madrid star? Step up Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard who flourished int he no. 10 role for Arsenal prior to Ozil’s arrival has now been presented the opportunity to do his thing once again. The former Malaga man managed a remarkable 12 goals and 13 assists in his debut season, but was knocked out of the first team set up when Ozil arrived. Owners will be hopeful that he can recreate the fantastic form he once had in his first season. Cazorla has been impressive coming off the bench for Arsenal this season, managing an assist and recording quite a number of impressive stats in terms of shots in the box and chances created. The Arsenal man now looks like a great option with a more assured spot in the starting line up.

With two new excellent attacking additions to the Arsenal squad in Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez, Cazorla now has better outlets for his bursting creativity, and also players around him who can create chances for him to have a pop at goal. I believe a Santi Cazorla in the No. 10 role he loves so much, is a top FPL option for this game week for their home fixture against Hull, and also for the coming weeks for their favourable run of fixtures.

Budget Alternatives

With many looking to free up cash to afford premium options that are cropping up, I’ve decided to write an article on same-team budget alternatives. These alternatives are not necessarily better prospects than their premium counterparts, but they definitely provide excellent value for their difference in price

Raheem Sterling & Jordan Henderson

Team: Liverpool

Points Difference: 6 ( 40 - RS, and 34 - JH )

Price difference: 3.9m ( 8.9m - RS, and 6.0m - JH ) 

Ownership Difference: 40.5% (53% - RS, and 12.5% - JH )

Both Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson have performed very well so far this season, presenting them as viable FPL options. Although, Sterling has attracted far more owners than Henderson with Sterling sitting on a colossal ownership of 53%, while his national and club teammate has a significantly lower ownership of 12.5%. With a vast difference in their popularity, Henderson remains very much a differential and a possible under-the-radar alternative to Sterling. 

Henderson has scored 1 goal and managed 3 assists this season, along with 5 bonus points. His younger counterpart has scored on 3 different occasions so far and has picked up 2 assists along the way with 6 bonus points. As pointed out above, as it stands, the difference in their points totals is a meagre 6 points, this is not very significant in my eyes. On the other hand, a vast difference between the two options is their price. Jordan Henderson is much more dearly priced with a price tag 3.9m cheaper than that of Sterling. With such a massive difference in price and a current points output that isn’t far behind Sterling, could Henderson provide a solution to those on a tight budget? I believe he could, 

I expect Sterling to outscore him but I think that Henderson provides excellent value and has been a lot more attacking this season. ( Rodgers has also said that he aims to develop Henderson into a Ramsey-esqe player this season, with him getting forward a lot more ) Henderson has only created 3 chances less than Sterling, and with him showing that he can produce FPL points at a level that almost matches his more expensive team mate, Henderson could very well be an excellent way for one to free up cash in order to afford other big names that are popular at the moment like Aguero and Baines. I think he is one of the top budget alternatives in the game and is definitely being overlooked by many. 

David Silva & James Milner

Team: Manchester City 

Points Difference: 8 ( 28 - DS, 20 - JM )

Price Difference: 3.8m ( 9.1m - DS, 5.3m - JM )

Ownership Difference: 10.8% ( 11.6% - DS, 0.8% - JM )

Nasri’s long-term injury gave James Milner a spot in City’s starting 11, and the englishman has returned Pellegrini’s faith with fantastic performances in each of the last 4 games he’s started. Milner has racked up 19 points in his last 4 games, whilst Silva has only managed 15 in the same amount of time, a fairer comparison considering Milner didn’t start the first 3 games. Even without Milner starting the first 3, and only playing a part in 1, the Englishman is only 8 points behind the silk passer that is David Silva, a fairly insignificant difference even before considering the difference in minutes played.

To reinforce the impressive FPL performances from Milner, his underlying stats are excellent. In City’s last game against Aston Villa, Milner created 8 chances, the highest of the game week and 5 more than the popular David Silva. Since the Englishman’s reinstatement to the starting 11, he has created 2 more chances than Silva. This shows just how much value Milner provides, being able to surpass the Spaniard for creativity & assist potential whilst maintaining a respectable goal threat. He would also be an excellent differential at 0.8% ownership. At a price that’s 3.8m cheaper than Silva, I think Milner presents himself as a fantastic budget alternative to the favoured Silva. 

Tadic & Mane

Team: Southampton

Points Difference: 19 ( 25 - DT, 6 - SM )

Price Difference: 0.6m ( 7.5m - DT, 6.9m - SM )

Ownership Difference: 2.8% ( 2.9% - DT, 0.1% - SM )

Both Dusan Tadic and Saido Mane are new Saints’ recruits this season. Mane arriving a lot later due to work permit issues, and has only been involved in the last 2 Gameweeks. Over the past 2 Gameweeks, the Senegalese international has matched Tadic’s points total for 0.6m less, an amount that could be very valuable to those on a tight budget that just need that 0.1 or 0.2m more for a certain Baines or Aguero. Showing that Mane is more than capable of keeping up pace with his premium priced counterpart.

Saido Mane was very unlucky not to get his name on the sheet against Spurs, coming very close to finishing a glaring opportunity created by Bertrand. He seems to be quite the goal threat and has so far looked a better option for goals than his Serbian teammate. His record is also quite astonishing albeit being in the A.Bundesliga with 23 goals and 18 assists in 50 games for Red Bull Salzburg last season. He’s also managed to perform quite impressively in the Premier league as well with his stats looking very good over the past 2 game weeks. Despite having less minutes than Tadic, Mane has managed to come across more big chances, and has had the same number of touches in the penalty area. Interestingly enough, Mane has also created two more chances than his more expensive teammate since his arrival. 

This could be great for those on a tight budget, with Mane seemingly more than capable of keeping pace with or even surpassing Tadic as an FPL prospect, and looks like a fantastic punt and budget alternative at 0.1% ownership and 0.6m less. 

Moving Up

This will be an weekly article that entails the top differentials for the week. Specific game week punts to move you up the ranks, if you’re willing to take the jump. Here's my set of punts for Game week 7: 

Jamie Vardy 

Leicester City - FWD - 5.0m - 1.8% Ownership

Fixture: BUR

Jamie Vardy came back from injury with a tremendous performance in his first premier league start for Leicester City. The Leicester forward scored a goal and managed 4 assists in his first start of the season. He picked up a whopping 21 points in Game week 5, after claiming all 3 bonus points against Manchester United. The Englishman has gone under the radar since his GW5 haul, with Ulloa attracting more suitors than him. Vardy’s ownership has remained very low at 1.8%, with Ulloa’s soaring to 19.7% with the most transfers in this week. Vardy seems to be a very creative forward, the forward has created 7 chances in the past 2 weeks, this is the highest amongst forwards and 2nd highest for all positions. He also possesses great goal threat along with his creativity, with him keeping up pace with Ulloa for Shots on target, and maintaining a decent amount of touches in the penalty area. 

This week Leicester face a Burnley side that are still wincing from their 4-0 loss to West Brom. The game will be played at the King Power Stadium, and Leicester have been fantastic at home, having scored 8 goals in 3 games on home ground this season. A home fixture against a side that has just conceded 4 goals in their last away game looks an opportune one for a Leicester forward, and any of them are great picks for game week 7. With Vardy’s ownership remaining so low and Ulloa’s doing the complete opposite, I’ve decided to go for Leicester’s No. 9 who remains a fantastic differential and one who looks to be an excellent alternative to the popular argentinian. I back Vardy to shine alongside Ulloa this game week if not outscore him. He looks like a top option for a punt this week.

Abel Hernandez 

Hull City - FWD - 6.9m - 0.3% Ownership

Fixture: CPL

Abel Hernandez has scored twice in his first 3 games for Hull City. The forward has only managed 206 minutes out of a possible 270 in those 3 games, so 2 goals in that time is a very impressive record. The Uruguay international had a great record at his previous club with 14 goals and 3 assists in 28 appearances in his last season there, whilst also impressing on the international stage with 8 goals in 15 matches for his national side. Hernandez clearly has the ability to score goals and has shown early signs that he’s capable of doing just that in the Premier league for Hull City this season. He is owned by a meagre 0.3% of FPL managers and looks like a nice differential for those willing to take a punt on him. 

Crystal Palace roll up to the KC Stadium this weekend, a whole different side to the Palace team we saw last season. This new Palace side have scored 10 times this season, but have conceded just as many this season. Since Tony Pulis’ departure, Crystal Palace have been anything but solid at the back, especially away from home where they have let in 7 of those 10 goals conceded. This makes Abel Hernandez an excellent prospect this week with the forward in fine form coupled with an opportunistic fixture to score once again for his new club. Hernandez also seems to have been handed spot kick duties, with him stepping up and scoring from the spot against City last weekend. He looks like another great punt for this week, with form, fixture and spot kick duties on his side. 

Diafra Sakho 

West Ham - FWD - 5.5m - 0.7% Ownership

Fixture: QPR

The Senegalese international is looking like an astute signing by West Ham, with 3 goals in his first 3 starts. The forward has provided consistent returns since he was awarded his first start in game week 4, and looks like a bargain at a price of 5.5m. In a new look West Ham side that have notched 10 times already this season, Sakho looks a fantastic short-term punt with them facing QPR and bur in their next two games. 

In game week 7, Sakho faces an incredibly porous QPR defence at Boleyn Ground. The R’s defence have conceded 14 goals so far this season, the 2nd highest in the league. They are also 3rd for Goal Attempts in the Box Conceded, which bodes well for Sakho who is tied 4th for Shots inside the box in the past 3 Game weeks. He is even with Aguero and only one behind Diego Costa. Game week 7 looks like a golden opportunity for Sakho to award his new owners this week and to continue his 3 week goal streak. An in-form forward, in an attacking side, against a hopeless QPR defence at home? Sakho looks like a top punt for this week.