The first fully packed midweek fixture list fast approaches. Deadline for week 13 is Tuesday 15th at 16:30pm GMT, so don’t forget to set your teams. Here are some quick tips to note with this Prime Video streamed set of fixtures that are soon on the horizon. Midweek madness can lead to late transfers or missed opportunities for your team in the long run. Ready yourself for players not starting, as two games in one week might be too much for some to keep their full fitness.
At Anfield, Liverpool haven’t lost a game at home since 2017. Last time it happened was a defeat to Crystal Palace, which ended 2-1, since then they have been unbeaten in 64 games. Could now be the time it suddenly ends? No doubt any player primed for selection in this match up will certainly play. The top two fight it out to regain the lead at the top end of the table. From the start of last season only two matches have had less than two goals scored at Anfield by the hosts. Casting your minds back ever so recently, Fulham put in a brave performance against the reds, taking points away from the current title champions in a 1-1 draw. Not much was shown going forward, even for Mane or Salah. Luckily scoring through a penalty was nothing short of the only way they would.
For Spurs, going up against a make shift back four, with Liverpool’s holding midfielder now in central defence, it looks likely the Tottenham duo upfront will get chances to score. Placing the armband on Kane (10.9M) might not be first choice for most but be sure he will play the full game. His partner in crime Son Heung-Min (9.6M) has pace to burn and playing up against possibly inexperienced youth he might just haul in one, if not the biggest game Tottenham have this year.
Over to the mid country now, Aston Villa have had a strong defence set up. Short term defenders can help you with inevitable rotation in your fifteen man squads. The big one to me is Konsa (4.7M) vs Mings (5.3M), for the next three games. Both play at centre half and both play with similar styles. One transfer for me this week, with two in the bank, is for the injured Masuaku (4.5M) to Konsa. At 0.6M cheaper than his compatriot the stats don’t have much difference between the two Villa members. Clean sheets can easily be totted up in the next three with both players scoring two headers so far in this campaign is a major factor.
Overall stats in BPS is roughly the same, however Mings tends to push the ball forward more with 4 out of 4 take ons being successful. Leading to more dribbles on the ball and helping his team push in attack. Aerial duals are important as a defender with Konsa he tends to win more, which instantly resulted way back in Villas first game by scoring. Money can become important and since not much is different, in the long run go for Konsa but taking a chance with Mings to get more in the next three is possible. A double game week soon, along with West Ham, opting now will save a hit in the near future. This double is likely to come in either gameweek 18 or 19.
Moving further up north the country and looking at the ever so entertaining Leeds. Marcelo Bielsa has more tactics than you could imagine. Although, playing with such pace throughout games is fearless, it opens up the pitch for whoever they face. Allowing yet another header from set play has been conceded, as well as their overall record is not something to gloat about in the defending department. Leeds’ record when playing at home defensively is awful, goals scored against them occurs often. Does the fact of Elland Road being one to not allow fans back lead to a decrease in performance? Only the team knows the answer.
The buzz of being back in the Premier league again after over a decade out of it clearly shines through the team. A nice run of fixtures is on the horizon. It’s case of momentum now to start to push for points put on the board. Midfield selection for Leeds totals many different nationalities, as well as set up as a whole. Value for money fills this area of the team. The likes of Raphinha (5.4M) has chalked up solid minutes in his last four games, added with a wonder goal scored against Everton. Whereas Hélder Costa (5.3M) can show quality given game time again. My thoughts are with penalty taker Mateusz Kilch (5.5M) and winger Jack Harrison (5.4M) although their manager has opted for subbing players off early, these two seem well cemented in the formation.
Bookings come at a cost, a one point loss in fantasy. Accumulating a total of five yellows in the rule book results in a one match ban. If a player does get five before gameweek 19 then it will result in a ban for the following week. Transferring for a player always check the ‘YC’ column to show if they’ve been naughty or nice this year. Since no one wants to suddenly buy a player to then find out once booked they won’t play in the next one. By all means take a chance but if they get booked you’ve only got yourself to blame. After the 19th week of fixtures all bookings will be wiped clear and reset for it all to tally up again.
Moving more onto resetting situations, a second Wildcard chip will be active in gameweek 16. Meaning this is the half way stage of matches that have been played in the league. It’s statically known, if used early it can benefit more if you instead choose to use this powerful chip later in the season. This accounts for getting ahead on the template team that everyone is eventually accustomed to getting. Additionally, if you haven’t used your first Wildcard chip you only have until gameweek 16 to use it! Only logical time to use this chip is if your squad is way off the pace or you need to catch up before it’s too late. Maybe even just too many injuries or lacking playing players which are unavailable. Make the most of being able to move around players at no cost.
Most Transferred in -
Wilfred Zaha
Kevin De Bruyne
Jack Grealish
Most Transferred out -
Diogo Jota
James Rodriguez
Hector Bellerin
One week punts are nothing but complete luck with a slight hint of skill. Say you have two free transfers and need a new impact sub some of these could take your fancy. Lucky numbers to opt for if you so wish this week to make your team more interesting; Manchester City have a very easy fixture as they struggle for goals low costing players such as Phil Foden (6.4M) & Ferran Torres (6.9M) could prove why they should start games under Pep this week.
Leicester showed quality going forward in such direct pace, Ayoze Perez (6.0M) is a shout to score next playing a shoddy Everton back line now given a starting place. Finally, as Arsenal look woefully bad at the moment the set piece king called James Ward-Prowse (6.3M) is a very valid option to getting points at home again. A nice curling free kick to keep Southampton positive might come round again.