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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 11:
Robin van Persie
Robin van Persie didn’t start the season off with a bang, like most expected he would under Louis van Gaal. Instead, the Dutchman only managed to find the back of the net two times in his first five games and has only added another to his tally since then. A disappointing outcome for Fantasy managers who decided to invest in the 12.4 million man, prior to gameweek one. But, worry not! In the past couple of weeks we’ve seen glimpses of the RvP of old, and it seems the forward is starting to hit his stride this season. Scoring a crucial last minute equaliser against Chelsea in gameweek nine – with confidence a high and with a kind fixture schedule in the next few, owners could be set for a rise up the ranks, thanks to the player owned by a meagre 2% of managers. That is, of course, provided I can inspire you to make the pick with the rest of this article!
This week, Manchester United face a Crystal Palace side that are still wincing from their 2-1 loss at home to Sunderland. Palace have conceded the most goals from big chances allowed away from home this season (7) while van Persie has had the most big chances from the United ranks at Old Trafford (4), admittedly wasting them so far – three big chances missed – but with his pedigree this is surely a blip rather than a trend. With a fortune of world class players in the United side to create chances for him, the Dutch maestro will surely profit from the creativity of the likes of Angel di Maria and the returning Wayne Rooney. To back this up on paper, United have averaged 2.5 big chances created in their last two home games, which includes hosting Chelsea, up from a paltry season average of 1.6 along with RvP himself sitting third in the shots inside the box standings with 12 in the last four gameweeks – behind only Aguero and Pelle – despite facing Chelsea, Everton and Manchester City in this period. To add to his prospects this week, Crystal Palace’s crucial defensive midfielder, Mile Jedinak, is suspended for the game at Old Trafford. With the Australian midfielder being a key cog in their midfield, Palace relying greatly upon him for his defensive reliability, his absence could be a big problem for Palace this weekend and one that Manchester United will surely exploit with RvP at the spearhead of their attacks.
United’s next four involve three home games against Crystal Palace, Hull City, and Stoke as pointed out in this weeks edition of the Favourables on AllthingsFPL.com . Admittedly, one of the four being against Arsenal away, but Arsenal have been far from solid at the back this season and the fixture shouldn’t be too difficult to find goals in. The Red Devils have one of the best runs of fixtures in the next four and if the once flying Dutchman can regain the fantastic form he’s shown in past seasons, he could be a very interesting option for fantasy managers willing to pay the premium for him up front.
Enner Valencia
West Ham have been in blistering attacking form this season, scoring the 4th highest number of goals this term (19), and much of that has to be attributed to their fantastic work in the transfer market with the signings of Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho. The two forwards have scored a combined total of 10 goals this season, an astounding 52% of their team’s goals. This is even more impressive considering the pair’s first start came in gameweek four! Although, Sakho’s six consecutive goals thrust him into the Fantasy limelight, whilst Enner Valencia’s slightly higher price tag ensured Fantasy managers always opted for his strike partner over him, with the forward remaining at an incredibly low ownership of 1.5%. Now here’s why you should give the Ecuador international some love instead.
Interestingly enough, despite the difference in goals this season, the pair have had fairly similar underlying statistics. Enner is the more creative player with seven key passes to five, and the forward has also been involved in more goal attempts(31 to Sakho’s 28). So surely it’s only a matter of time before Valencia’s goals catch up especially considering the Ecuadorian has managed 22 goal attempts in the last six gameweeks – fourth best in the Premier League. With Sakho due back from injury in gameweek 11, the forward might have lost some of the momentum he had in his fantastic run earlier in the season. It also usually takes a player some time to adjust coming back from injury, with that, more responsibility could be shifted onto Enner’s shoulders (Let’s hope that doesn’t injure them like Sakho) and the forward could be expected to become their main attacking outlet in terms of goals. He’s already shown he’s more than capable of doing so after scoring a fantastic diving header last gameweek, in Sakho’s absence. This should continue in the coming weeks and a favourable run of fixtures can only help his case. West Ham face AVL, NEW, wba, SWA, and sun in the next six, with all their defences being far from solid apart from West Brom, Valencia is one of the best options for a 3rd forward.
West Ham face a struggling Aston Villa side at home this weekend, and it would be shrewd to invest in a West Ham attack facing the side that has conceded the joint most goals(15) in the past six gameweeks. Conversely, West Ham have scored the joint highest number of goals in the same time frame (13), and this looks like a prime opportunity for Enner Valencia to turn heads his way. The Villains have also conceded the the most amount of big chances per game (2.5), and with West Ham’s own Fabregas – Stewart Downing. Hold on…What?! Did I just compare Stewart Downing to Cesc Fabregas?! Oh yes I did, Downing matches Fabregas for Key Passes in the last six gameweeks with a highly impressive 15 key passes, and is only three key passes behind Fabregas for the whole season, the former Liverpool man has been simply sublime this season. So with a creator like that behind him to create all those big chances, I’m confident the 6.9 million priced forward will put them in the back of the net against a leaky Villa side.
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