With Christmas just around the corner and the players having to play matches within 48 hours, the Premier League fixtures have been made such that GW16 begins on the day right after GW15 ends. So we have decided to cover both game weeks at once to avoid missing out on covering GW16.
Contradictory to GW13, GW14 was the most profitable ever with each match giving significant returns to the top managers. The most picked captain choices of Mohamed Salah, Bruno Fernandes, and Jack Grealish didn’t disappoint us as the three of them returned double-digit hauls from their thrashing of Crystal Palace, Leeds United, and West Bromwich Albion. Perhaps the most disappointing news came from Tottenham and Chelsea. Spurs have won only one match in their last five league games, with the victory coming against a shattered Arsenal. Interestingly, their dismal form coincided with Harry Kane and Heung-min Son blanking in the same match, which seems worrying for the majority of their matches. On the other hand, although Chelsea battered West Ham with a 3 goal win and a clean sheet, it did not reflect in their full-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell’s scorecard since the former was declared injured before the match and the latter sidelined 10 minutes into the game after an injury
Player selection tips for GW15&16:
As mentioned last week, before making any transfers and setting up your team, it is important to note that the FA has modified some fixtures in the EPL. This means that GW18 will be a blank gameweek and GW19 will be a double gameweek. Therefore it is important to consider this fact, plan your team accordingly and save the chips for the second half of the season.
Since the start of the season, some players have shown an amazing flair for securing big hauls. Therefore it is becoming seemingly impossible to avoid them and it’s becoming even more difficult to shape the rest of the squad centering them. But, the points are flowing well at the moment and they don’t seem to stop. So, it’s important to retain those key players even as we head into a blank gameweek. Therefore, Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes, and Jack Grealish are our usual top picks for the upcoming gameweek. Kevin De Bruyne has lately been a little off of his returns only giving an assist per week. His ‘points per million’ value dropping off drastically, might not be a very good indication to keep in a team. But, he is one of the in-form players who are playing in GW18, and considering how he ups his game every week, we’re going to stick with him for now. Salah and Grealish have lucrative fixtures in the next two weeks and we can expect a lot from them.
Let’s now try and shape the squad by starting with Liverpool. They face West Brom at home and Newcastle away in the next 2 GWs, teams which can be held down by a strong defence. Therefore we would go with Andrew Robertson. The Scot has impressed everyone lately with 3 goal contributions and 3 clean sheets in the last 6 games. Other options we would be looking forward to would be Joel Matip, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Sadio Mane. Ever since Matip started regularly on the team sheet, Liverpool’s defensive record has been good enough to keep the points coming. Mane too is another viable option having had a goal and an assist against Crystal Palace. If he continues this form, he could very well replace KDB on our playing XI.
Next on is Spurs and Man City. Spurs haven’t been in a good form as mentioned earlier and they face a drilled Wolves next week. We don’t expect them to turn things around as they have spent most of their firepower against a 3–1 victory against Brentford in the Carabao cup. Therefore, it’s only wise to have one Spurs player, and considering the team's budget with the inclusion of the in-form players, that player has to be Harry Kane. On the other hand, we do not recommend settling with Man City’s forwards or midfielders due to Pep’s rotation agenda- one that only KDB seems to escape from. However, in defence, we would suggest going with Ruben Dias. His 6 clean sheets are one of the highest this season. John Stones is another cheap option.
Next up is Leeds United. The whites face Burnley and West Brom in the next 2 weeks, offering them a lot of potential to score goals and be back into the top half of the table after a mediocre run of form. As always forward Patrick Bamford and Stuart Dallas are our suggestions, but Helder Costa and Raphinha are also good options and can be considered if your budget says so.
Last up is Southampton and Chelsea. The Saints face Fulham and West Ham in the next 2 weeks. Defensively, we do not expect anything from them as the opponents have seemed to up their attacking form over the past few weeks. With Danny Ings injured a bit and not sure of starting the games, it is up to players like Che Adams and James Ward-Prowse to do the job for them. Chelsea on the other hand, have both their primary full-backs injured, leaving them with low chances of securing a clean sheet. On the front, Tammy Abraham has been in fine form recently and we can hope that he’ll continue filling his books.
With all the offensive suggestions being given out, it is now time to fill the defence. In goal, Emi Martinez has continued his impressive run of form and is sure to continue doing so against Crystal Palace next week. For GW16 though, all the fixtures seem to be tight. So it is safe to go with Nick Pope, who faces Sheffield United. Apart from them Alex McCarthy and Hugo Lloris remain good options. The same goes for the defensive line-up with Matt Targett, Tyrone Mings, and Charlie Taylor being good options for the successive game weeks. Burnley is a team that everyone needs to have a secret eye on, and we hope that they can find their winning ways sooner.
Captain Choices:
For both the game weeks, the pick is an obvious Mo Salah. Liverpool possibly plays the easiest fixtures of their campaign in the next 2 weeks and there is no doubt that the Egyptian king will deliver his best performance. The fact that he was rested for the majority of the time against Brighton just makes the impending haul so sure. Other possible candidates for the armband would be Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne.
The armband is secure with the Egyptian
Ones to watch out for:
Sebastien Haller- Faces Brighton and Southampton, 3 goals so far
James Maddison- 3 goal contributions in the last 4 games. Faces Manchester United and Palace
Marcus Rashford- 4 GCs in the last 5 matches, faces Leicester and Wolves
Daniel Podence- 2 goals against the big 6 in five matches, faces Manchester United and Spurs
Apologies for not being able to cover GW16. Good luck to all the FPL managers out there and we’ll catch you in the next preview.
