Ahead of Gameweek 7, we take a look at a few talking points prior to Saturday’s 11:30 deadline.
GW7 Fixtures:
Saturday
Sheffield United vs Liverpool
Crystal Palace vs Norwich
Aston Villa vs Burnley
Bournemouth vs West Ham
Wolves vs Watford
Tottenham vs Southampton
Chelsea vs Brighton
Everton vs Manchester City
Sunday
Leicester vs Newcastle
Monday
Manchester United vs Arsenal
CHELSEA ASSETS A SOLID INVESTMENT OVER THE NEXT SIX GAMEWEEKS
Over the next six matches, Chelsea have a streak of fixtures to delight manager Frank Lampard - BHA (H), SOU (A), NEW (H), BUR (A), WAT (A), CRY (H) - with each team acquiring a fixture difficulty rating of two.
With this in mind, we want to take advantage of the potential for big points returns at either end of the field.
Since Lampard’s arrival at Stamford Bridge, the Blues boss has given his youth players many opportunities, among them Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham, all of whom we believe make for good investment.
Combined, the trio cost just £18.6m, with Tomori valued at £4.5m, Mount £6.6m and Abraham £7.5m at the time of writing.
Ahead of Gameweek 7, Abraham is already the most transferred-in player and his numbers speak for themselves with seven goals in his last four games.
Despite drawing a blank against league leaders Liverpool last weekend, the striker did record the most shots during the game. With a friendly mid-range price alongside those attractive fixtures, Abraham is a hard one to dismiss.
At the other end of the Chelsea pitch, we have Fikayo Tomori.
Tomori is currently the cheapest defensive starting option out of the ‘Top Six’ teams, having played 90 minutes in all of Chelsea’s last three league games.
Tomori’s next match-up is against Brighton & Hove Albion and, when you consider that the Seagulls have only scored two goals since Gameweek 2, you’d hope to see Chelsea keep their first clean sheet of the season, especially when considering that Graham Potters’ side haven’t scored in their last two away games.
This isn’t to mention that the Canadian-born centre-back is not shy of scoring a goal, following his sensational strike against Wolves in Gameweek 5.
Given his price tag, Tomori is certainly worth considering.
Finally, we have Mason Mount.
The 20-year-old has broken through the ranks after a successful season under Lampard in the Championship.
At £6.6m, Mount sits as the 7th top points-scoring FPL midfielder with three goals to his name this season, averaging 5.5 points per match.
The creative playmaker is a real threat, recording the third-highest number of shots amongst midfielders in the Premier League and has created more key passes than any other of his teammates.
YARMOLENKO BACK WITH A BANG
Andriy Yarmolenko essentially feels like a new signing for West Ham following an achilles tendon rupture which ruled him out for the majority of last season.
A return to action has seen the Ukranian international displaying plenty of promise and has caught our attention.
The 29-year-old has produced two goals in his last three games and, ever since his goal against Norwich in Gameweek 4, Yarmolenko has averaged 7.3 points per match despite playing just 219 minutes in that time.
Valued at £5.9m, the winger is owned by less than 1% of teams at the time of writing, and makes for a great differential.
In their next fixture the Hammers face Bournemouth, a team who hold the joint-fifth worst defensive record in the league and are yet to maintain a clean sheet - a great opportunity for Yarmolenko to capitalise.
West Ham have a good run of fixtures coming up - BOU (A), CRY (H), EVE (A), SHU (H), NEW (H), BUR (A) - which looks very appealing considering the firepower the East London club has in their attack.
KEEP FAITH WITH RAHEEM STERLING
‘Wounded’ is the word that comes straight to mind after seeing Raheem Sterling’s name written amongst the substitutes during Manchester City’s 8-0 victory over Watford.
After collecting just five points in the last three gameweeks, over 250,000 FPL managers have pulled the plug on the Englishman since Gameweek 6.
‘Pep Roulette’ is a commonly-known factor and given that Sterling played in both matches over the international break, it came as no surprise that he was benched.
Following a well-deserved rest, Razza featured for 73 minutes against Preston North End in the League Cup on Tuesday night, producing a stunning solo goal and an assist.
City face-off against Everton in their upcoming fixture and Marco Silva is under pressure.
The Toffees have taken defeat to Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Sheffield United in three of their last four games, failing to keep a clean sheet since Gameweek 2. They have conceded nine goals in that time.
Thirty of Raheem’s 39 total FPL points have been recorded away from home this campaign and this might be the game the 24-year-old bites back to prove everyone wrong.
Benjamin Mendy returning to full fitness
Despite starting every game under Pep Guardiola this season, Oleksandr Zinchenko was completely dropped from the team sheet in GW6.
Up stepped Benjamin Mendy for a first-half cameo appearance.
The Frenchman is on his way back to full fitness, featuring for 82 minutes across City’s last three games in all competitions.
Selected by 0.5% of teams at the time of writing, Mendy will make for a huge differential over the coming gameweeks if he can nail down more game time.
Last season the 25-year-old produced an incredible five assists in just 10 Premier League appearances from full-back.
Throughout the entire season, only four defenders bettered Mendy’s assist tally and he will be one for FPL managers to look out for if he can recreate that form.
Additionally, with an extra 30 minutes under his belt against Preston North End in midweek, we could potentially see Mendy make a full Premier League appearance for the first time since April.
Although a risk, it could pay off for those willing to take it.
