Latest Fantasy Premier League – Is it time we look past Kane? By

In Fantasy Premier League, £12.8m rated Harry Kane is a player that has divided opinion throughout the season. Is it again time that we look for alternatives?

Perhaps there is no player that has polarized opinion more so than Kane. The Englishman has shifted back and forth between essential status and expensive waste of money faster than Robbie Keane went from Spurs to Liverpool to back to Spurs. Two weeks ago, he was seemingly unstoppable. 6 goals in 4, two braces in succession – along with 5 goals in 2 in the Champions League. However, the fickle mistress Fantasy Premier League is – one blank later, the most expensive player in the game is seeming expendable once again. Since the turn of the Gameweek, as many as 83,529 managers have taken him out.

The Harsh Reality?

Despite Kane’s undoubted pedigree, of 29 goals last season, and 25 goals the season before, and despite the air of sentimentality that surrounds him amongst old timers, some numbers have to be considered. He has only scored in 3 games, out of 8. He is yet to score at home. Amongst strikers above £10.0m, he has only outperformed Alexander Lacazette – Lukaku has outscored him. So have Aguero and Morata, despite injury woes for both. Jesus, with his limited minutes, has matched Kane. Amongst all players, Kane has been outscored by David de Gea – a goalkeeper. He has been outscored by Phil Jones, a measly £5.3m defender, who hasn’t even scored or assisted a goal yet. He is tied on points with Leroy Sane, a player who has started only half the games this season.

Then of course, there’s the Wembley curse. His stats at Wembley are still up there – he takes more shots, on target and in the box at home. But the bitter truth is that he has blanked against an injury and suspension ravaged Chelsea, followed by Burnley, Swansea and Bournemouth. Those are 3 fixtures most captained him for, and expected big hauls in, but were let down. Personally, I didn’t buy the Wembley curse till last week. I thought it was all mere happenstance. But I thought the same for the August curse, and look how that turned out. It seems like there’s just a mental block that somehow kicks into his mind at Wembley in the league – and each game it goes on, the bigger it gets, and it has gone on for too long already.

Right from the start of the season, there has been a feeling that there’s something big coming from Kane soon. But is it?

Turning Fixtures

There is an obvious obstacle to prevent that something big coming – the fixtures. Indeed, Spurs face 3 of last season’s top 6 in the next 4. Last season, Kane was indeed a bit of a flat track bully. Despite scoring 29 goals in 30 games, only 3 of them came against the top 6, in 9 games. 2 of them came against Arsenal – a side that seem to have reinvented their ways in such fixtures, as shown in their 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

Here’s his next 4 fixtures compared against the other premium forwards.

The stand-out fixture, and perhaps the only one worth having him for, is against Crystal Palace in GW11. But can you really trust him at home again after the shenanigans of 2,2,2 points against Burnley, Swansea and Bournemouth?

The Massive Price Tag – Alternatives?

Perhaps the thing that distorts our expectations of Kane, and weighs him down the most, is his massive price tag. At £12.8m, he’s the most expensive player in the game – by £1.0m. If you won’t captain him a lot in the next 4 weeks – and probably not in GW13 for West Brom (H) either, if he is still goalless at Wembley – is he really worth the price tag?

A move to someone like a fit-again Alvaro Morata for the next 4 weeks could be worth a thought. The extra £2.6m, or £2.4m for most managers, could definitely come in handy elsewhere. It could allow you to upgrade your £5.5m midfielder to a Sterling. It could help upgrade your £6.5m-£7.0m midfielder to a Coutinho or a Salah for Liverpool’s kind fixtures after this week. And with 3 easier fixtures compared to Kane’s 1 in the next 4, Morata could very well outscore Kane himself, over the course of the next 4 fixtures.

Penny, meet thoughts?

Final Thoughts – Bringing Him Back Later?

There’s no doubt even if you get rid of him now, you’ll revisit Kane at a later point of time. If you’re to bring him back in at a later time, it might indeed cost you a bit. For those who bought him at £12.4m or £12.5m, it will cost £0.2m extra to bring him back in. But if he blanks successively, there’s no doubt he’ll fall in price himself, with the second highest ownership in the game at 41.7%. If your replacement does well, there’s a chance of a price rise there as well. For Jesus owners, it might be even easier – by the time you want Kane back, Aguero will be fully fit again and City’s great run of fixtures will be over. You’ll want to get rid of Jesus anyway, so there’s the fall guy for later.

Points over pounds anyway, eh?