Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 17 Preview – Captain pick, “Who’s hot, Who’s not?” and Ones To Watch

Fantasy football writer John Mount runs through Gameweek 17’s captain picks, ‘Who’s Hot?’ ‘Who’s Not?’ form guide and ‘Ones to Watch’.

By John Mount Thursday, 12th December 2019, 11:45 am

Captain's pick - Tammy Abraham

Follow John Mount on Twitter (@Gameweek38). Here are his selections for Gameweek 17.

Gameweek 17Big wins for Liverpool, Leicester and Tottenham, including goals for Vardy, Salah, Kane and Son meant that gameweek 16 was a high scoring week as the average score of 54 suggested. With fixture swings for Man United, Aston Villa and Sheffield United on the horizon, there are some interesting players coming to the fore as potential options to bring into your team.

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Captain PicksJamie Vardy and Sadio Mane will be popular captain picks this week as they play against Norwich and Watford at home respectively, but could either of these two English strikers tempt you with the armband?

Who's Hot - Sheffield United's George Baldock

Marcus Rashford vs Everton (H) (£8.9m, FWD)His potential has been evident ever since his debut as a teenager in 2016 however over the last few seasons, Rashford’s development to become a prolific striker stalled as he scored 11, 13 and 13, goals in his first three full seasons. Rashford is now in the form of his life, having scored five goals and provided two assists in his last five league games, he is enjoying playing in this attacking United side who have scored two or more goals in their last five games. At this rate, Rashford is on course for a 20-plus goal season and will be a contender for the golden boot.

Tammy Abraham vs Bournemouth (H) (£7.9m, FWD)Chelsea will be clear favourites to win this game as their opponents are the worst form team in the league. Bournemouth have lost their last five league games and are without key first team players through injury (Ake, Cook, Smith, Daniels, Wilson and King are all doubts). Abraham, who scored midweek vs Lille, will be keen to make it three home games in a row in which he’s scored in. Last time Chelsea played in the league at Stamford Bridge, Abraham scored a goal and an assist, securing him a nice 12 points.

The Form Guide - Who’s Hot?Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester, £5.7m, FWD)In gameweek 14, Iheanacho stole the Leicester show as he came off the bench, assisted to Vardy to level the game and scored a last-minute winner. As a result, last weekend he was rewarded with his first start of the season and went on to score and assist again. This week, Leicester have a favourable fixture against Norwich before they travel to Man City and then face Liverpool. If Leicester’s strong start of the season proves to be the start of something special, Iheanacho could have a leading role.

Richarlison (Everton, £7.8m, MID)Interim manager, Duncan Ferguson, opted to play Richarlison up front alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin in a traditional 4-4-2 system as they beat Chelsea last week. Being listed as a midfielder will benefit the Brazilian as he gains an extra point for goals and clean sheets than forwards. With four goals in his last five games, he will get chances to add to that tally especially over his next three games as he plays against Man United, Arsenal then Burnley, who all struggle to keep clean sheets.

Who's Not - John Lundstram

George Baldock (Sheffield United, £4.7m, DEF)One goal and two assists in three games is terrific going for any player, but especially when you’re a right back. Baldock scored a sublime winning goal away to Norwich last week, which helped him bring 14 points home to his fantasy managers. The attacking defender will have a great chance to add clean sheets to his attacking returns as the Blades play Aston Villa, Brighton and Watford next.

The Form Guide - Who’s Not?Nathan Ake (Bournemouth, £5.0m, DEF)After a spell where Ake scored 22 points in three games, His (and Bournemouth’s) form has fallen off a cliff, with no clean sheets or attacking involvements in his last five games. The defensive Dutchman picked up a hamstring injury after half an hour last weekend and is optimistically listed as having a 75% chance of playing against his former club Chelsea, this weekend. Owned by an eighth of fantasy footballers, selling Ake is a no-brainer.

Ayoze Perez (Leiceister, £6.2m, MID)For every ying, there is a yang. You can only have eleven players on the pitch, so with Kelechi Iheanacho’s recent surge into Leicester’s team, Ayoze Perez has found himself increasingly on the sidelines. Since his hat-trick in the famous 9-0 win against Southampton, Perez has only scored one goal in six games. With doubts over his gametime and tricky games against Man City and Liverpool coming up after this week’s Norwich game, it’s looking like a bleak Christmas for the Spaniard.

John Lundstram (Sheffield United, £5.1m, DEF)Readers may hate me for this one but there’s no denying that John Lundstram is not in form when it comes to fantasy football. Although he’s the second top scoring defender and the second most owned player in the game, the scouser has only scored 10 points in his last five games. Although he’s not in form, I wouldn’t sell yet as he plays winnable matches against Aston Villa, Brighton and Watford next. A defensive Sheffield double-up with Baldock could be an exciting pair to own this Christmas.

Out of form - Bournemouth's Nathan Ake

Ones to Watch (Less than 5% ownership)After consecutive games against Man United, Chelsea and Leicester, Aston Villa’s fixtures take an upward turn as they don’t play a so-called ‘top six’ side or Leicester until gameweek 22. Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan a.k.a Trezequet (1.6%, MID, £5.2m) has scored three goals in his last seven games and has had the second most shots in the box for Villa this season, showing that he could be a quality attacking threat.Although Man United have only kept two clean sheets so far this season, upcoming games against Everton, Watford, Newcastle and then Burnley will certainly give the Red Devils and Victor Lindelof (1.2%, DEF, £5.3m) the opportunity to add to that. With a recent goal vs Aston Villa, the Swede showed us that he can be an attacking threat from set-pieces too.

The ExplainerTransfersAfter picking your initial squad, you receive 1 free transfer each Gameweek. Each additional transfer you make in the same Gameweek will deduct 4 points from your score.If you do not use your free transfer, you are able to make an additional free transfer the following Gameweek. If you do not use this saved free transfer in the following Gameweek, it will be carried over until you do. You can never have more than 1 saved transfer.For example, since you get 1 free transfer per gameweek, if you make no transfers between gameweeks, you will have 2 free transfers in preparation for the next gameweek. You will incur a 4 point hit per transfer over your free transfer allowance.Point ScoringDuring the season, your fantasy football players will be allocated points based on their performancein the Premier League. Remember, every week your captain scores double points, so pick themwisely!Points Action1 For playing up to 60 minutes2 For playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time)6 For each goal scored by a goalkeeper or defender5 For each goal scored by a midfielder4 For each goal scored by a forward3 For each goal assist4 For a clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender1 For a clean sheet by a midfielder1 For every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper5 For each penalty save-2 For each penalty miss1 to 3 Bonus points for the best players in a match-1 For every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender-1 For each yellow card-3 For each red card-2 For each own goalFor more information on the rules of the game, visit https://fantasy.premierleague.com/help/rules