IT’S BACK TO the bread and butter following the international break and with that, a return to Fantasy Premier League.
The transfer window was closed in the real world with Jim White, Sky Sports and the usual trimmings, but that’s never an issue in Fantasy land. Here’s some of the burning questions ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.
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1 – What to do with Sergio?
WITH SOME 24 points in the bag already this season, Sergio Aguero has been a popular pick. That means his value has already leaped to £13.3 million from £13 million.
However, the Argetine striker has been cited for an elbow on West Ham United’s Winston Reid and not only will be miss tomorrow’s Manchester derby, but will also sit out City’s fixture against Bournemouth.
One option being touted as a replacement is Romelu Lukaku of Everton. Their upcoming fixtures are: Sunderland (a), Middlesbrough (h), Bournemouth (a), Crystal Palace (h), Manchester City (a) and West Ham (h).
2 – Stoke up the fire
ON THE TOPIC of fixtures that mightn’t seem the worst, there’s Stoke City.
Mark Hughes’s team, from all the sides in the top flight, might be the ones to make something of a run in the coming weeks. Spurs at home tomorrow and Manchester United away on October 2 are the only glaring difficult appointments in the coming weeks – otherwise there’s Crystal Palace (a), West Brom (h), Sunderland (h), Hull City (a) and Swansea City (h).
Hughes brought in Wilfried Bony just as the transfer window was about to shut and although to Ivorian wasn’t a roaring success at Manchester City with just four goals last season, he did score 17 times for Swansea City three years ago.
[adrotate group=”80″]3 – Time for a Pay-et rise?
WEST HAM’S Dimitri Payet (pictured above) has had a slow enough start to the 2016/17 season with only one point to his name. That’s because he’s only played 24 minutes because of a niggling thigh injury.
However, the French international is unlikely to be kept down for long and is expected to start for the first time in the Premier League this weekend against Watford in Stratford. Last season, he was fantastic, with his dead ball specialties going a long way towards his nine goals and 13 assists – some 171 points in total.
West Ham’s fixtures add to the sense that this is the right time to start the midfielder in your team – Watford (h), West Brom (a), Southampton (h), Middlesbrough (h), Palace (a) and Sunderland (h).
4 – Captain’s Choice?
SOUTHAMPTON’S START TO life has been uncertain under Claude Puel so it’s hard to see the side from the sotuh coast picking up anything at Arsenal, who have been a little uncertain themselves.
However, Arsene Wenger’s team produced a fine first half last time out against Watford, going in 3-0 up at the break before winning 3-1 with Alexis Sanchez in particular enjoying a fine game.
Otherwise, Zlatan Ibrahimović is likely to be centre-stage come the Manchester derby, with the former Barcelona striker relishing the prospect of facing off against his former manager at the Camp Nou, Pep Guardiola as United take on City.
Two goals against Liechtenstein mightn’t make many headlines for Spain international Diego Costa, but he’s started the season well for a Chelsea team that will play Swansea.
Fixtures
Saturday, September 10, 12:45pm
Manchester United vs Manchester City
Saturday, September 10, 3pm
Arsenal vs Southampton
Bournemouth vs West Brom
Burnley vs Hull
Middlesbrough vs Crystal Palace
Stoke vs Tottenham
West Ham vs Watford
Saturday, September 10, 5:30pm
Liverpool vs Leicester City
Sunday, September 11, 4pm
Swansea City vs Chelsea
Monday, September 12, 8pm
Sunderland vs Everton (Mon 20:00)
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