Resident EADF FPL contributor Samson Baretto reviews the 13th FPL gameweek of the Premier League today. Here is part 1 of the analysis –

West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspurs

‘The Special One is back’ chanted the Spurs fans as West Ham faced yet another defeat despite a hard-fought second half. Fantasy managers were delighted to see the likes of Lucas Moura on the team sheet and then on the score sheet eventually as he allows a cheap route into the Spurs attack. However, it was Heung Min Son who stole the show returning a 13 point haul amassing a goal courtesy of an Alli through ball and registering the assist for Moura’s goal. Harry Kane got his mandatory goal in yet another London derby after heading home a Serge Aurier cross.

However, Spurs’ couldn’t capitalize on the early match dominance and Antonio then proved to be the game-changer for the Hammers which resulted in yet another match without a clean sheet for Spurs. Haller was extremely unlucky to not get on the score sheet as the Frenchman had 5 attempts on goal. Snodgrass created 5 chances on the day and it was his corner delivery that was converted by Ogbonna in stoppage time. Son, Alli, Moura, and Kane all had great auditions for a place in Fantasy managers’ teams, however, West ham’s atrocious defending must be taken into consideration. With 2 home games in the next 3 against Bournemouth and Burnley for Spurs, it could be worth jumping on the Tottenham bandwagon.

Bournemouth vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves rose to fifth in the Premier League table, defeating a 10 men Bournemouth side after Simon Francis was sent off early in the first half. Raul Jimenez was the star of the day, scoring a well-worked set-piece right from the training pitches after tapping-in a Traore cross at the near post. The Mexican had a total of six efforts on goal, with four coming inside the box and would be disappointed coming out of that game with just a single goal. On the same lines, Adama Traore continues providing excellent value to Fantasy managers after getting his fifth fantasy return of the season and moving into the festive period he could provide a good bench option at just 5.2m.

Moutinho opened the scoring for Wolves with a well-taken free-kick after Jonny Castro was fouled at the edge of the box. Diogo Jota and Callum Wilson were both yet again anonymous and disappointing in the game and fantasy managers could well find better options elsewhere. Despite going down to 10 men early in the game, Bournemouth showed good resilience as they restricted Wolves to just 2 goals with Steve Cook then getting one goal back for the Cherries through a Fraser corner. For the upcoming fixture run-in, Jimenez looks like a no brainer to have, not only providing excellent value but also looks the most nailed-on player in Nuno’s team.

Watford vs Burnley

Watford stumbled to yet another loss as Burnley registered their first away clean sheet of the season. James Tarkowski starred the show getting a goal, an assist, and a clean sheet, coming out of the game with a 17 point haul as the English defender registered 3 shots in the box and 2 big chances in the game. Chris Wood opened the scoring for the Clarets, scoring his sixth of the campaign after the ball was laid off the opposition defender by Tarkowski following a corner to which Wood was first to react. Ashley Barnes scored the second of the day, courtesy a VAR overruled penalty. No other player had more goal attempts on the day than Barnes, level with Deulofeu. Nick Pope registered a 9 point haul after getting his fifth clean sheet of the campaign, amassing a save point along with 2 bonus points. There were hardly any noticeable performances from the Hornets’ side, but Gerard Deulofeu was the only one who looked like scoring for Watford. No player had more goal attempts or created more chances than the former Barcelona man, registering 4 goal attempts and 5 chances created. However, fixtures ahead don’t look great for both sides and investing elsewhere could prove profitable for Fantasy managers.

Everton vs Norwich

Norwich City registered their first away victory of the season as Everton registered yet another defeat, increasing pressure on the gaffer, Marco Silva. In what looked like an easy victory for the Toffees, Norwich City broke the deadlock with Todd Cantwell, who started the game after being benched for three consecutive games, scoring his third goal of the season.

FPL manager’s thinking of getting rid of the Norwich man will have to rethink their plans with Cantwell having won his place back and could potentially provide exceptional value as bench fodder/fifth midfielder with the busy schedule around the corner now. Teemu Pukki, who registered the assist, returned his first fantasy points since the game week 5 win against the Champions, Manchester City. Everton themselves weren’t goal-shy as the Toffees had a mammoth total of 18 shots on goal with Sigurðsson and Tosun both registering 4 each, while Richarlison managed 2. Everton surely looked liked scoring, but only for the heroics of Tim Krul, making 7 saves and registering a 11 point haul from the game. With the current form of both these teams and with them having a difficult fixture run-in, it won’t be advisable for Fantasy Managers to get them in, although a potential change in management for Everton in the near future could be worth monitoring.

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool

The league leaders Liverpool earned yet another close-fought victory as Firmino scored the winning goal in the 85th minute after a scramble in the penalty box following a TAA corner. Fantasy managers counting on Salah faced disappointment with the Egyptian left on the bench as an unused sub as Klopp tries to get him entirely match fit for the upcoming run. Post-match Klopp quoted “We had to make the decision whether we started [Salah] or not. We didn’t start him, we wanted to bring him on as you probably saw but then we scored. So, we could rest him today, that’s really good and Wednesday he will be back.”

Robertson, who was another injury doubt, started the match and provided the assist for Mane’s goal, yet again outscoring his counter-part Alexander-Arnold. For Crystal Palace, Wilfred Zaha scored a well-worked goal, assisted by Townsend after Jordan Ayew missed a sitter earlier for the Eagles. No player had more goal attempts than the Ivorian on the day with Zaha registering five goal attempts, and he could be a deadly differential for Fantasy managers ahead of a favorable fixture list. Joel Ward also returned back from injury which could only mean more bench time for the likes of Kelly owned as a cheap fodder by majority of the fantasy managers. With easy matchups ahead for both Liverpool and Crystal Palace, managers could find plenty of value with the likes of Zaha, Townsend, a Palace defender and captaincy options with Mane and now Salah back in the radar coupled with the likes of Alexander Arnold and Andrew Robertson in defense.

Written by Samson Baretto

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