The week in Fantasy Premier League: What to do with Sergio Aguero, doubling down on goalscorers and the clean sheet comeback
Whispers of discontent, blanks in all but three out of nine gameweeks and that hefty price tag have seen many simply lose patience with the Man City marksman, resulting in a Ā£0.1m price drop.
Data shows Sergio Aguero to be an indulgent expense - are you keeping the faith? #FPL pic.twitter.com/8AOGczuk5a
— Fantasy Football Secrets š¤« (@FPLSecrets) October 27, 2016
Throwing Aguero out of my fpl. He's mad.
— Nux (@neosvy) October 27, 2016
But before you hit that transfer button, think twice.
As the most expensive player in the game, he has no natural replacement. Youāre not going to just watch that cash sit uselessly in your bank, youāll spread around your team, meaning that if/when you want to get him back, youāll need to use two, probably three, transfers to do it.
But are his points returns likely to improve? The stats suggest they will - heās taken 12 shots (8 on target) during the last three barren Gameweeks, compared to 13 shots (five on target) in the three weeks when he scored four goals.
So should you be concerned about Aguero? Yes, of course.
Concerned enough to get rid? Probably not.
If you need more convincing, just picture this: Itās Saturday afternoon and youāve sold Sergio. You hear on the radio that Man City have scored an early goal against West Brom, and the commentator is confidently predicting a rout. How do you feel? Pretty nervous, right?
Exactly. If City score, itās pretty likely that Kun is involved, and he could go on to score three, and thereās a certain reassuring comfort in that.
Of course, thatās not the case with many other teams - and for many managers this season it seems like we always have the right player at the wrong time. Is ādoubling upā on attacking players from some of the big teams the only sure-fire way of never missing out? Letās take a look at the prime candidatesā¦
Liverpool
The Reds have been our tormentors in chief in this area, and the bad news is weāre just going to have to get used to it.
Given Jurgen Kloppās breezy outlook on fluid attacking formations, Liverpool will be spreading the goals around a lot this season.
IĀ never thought Iād think of as a better attacking FPL option than , but these at new and exciting times at Anfield.
Even with , and out of the picture too, there remains a bewildering array of options for a Liverpool double-up.
Sure @fplghostā¦ pic.twitter.com/tod3ILZey8
— Fantasy Football Fix (@FantasyFootyFix) October 24, 2016
The stats would suggest and as the preferred options, and Iād have to agree.
Others may have the edge on price, and Mane offering more potential for a two-goal return, but Coutinho in particular is showing the kind of form and new-found consistency that has apparently turned heads at Barcelona.
Southampton aside, Liverpoolās next seven fixtures could be absolute goal-fests.
Constantly picking the wrong pair and chasing your tail for the season.
CHELSEA
Did we all dump too soon? In short, no - he was abject from GW4 until GW8 - but now could be the time to reassess.
Antonio Conte has handed the Belgian more attacking responsibility as part of Chelseaās new 3-4-3 system, and it seems to be paying off.
"@eniola_opeyemi: @Gidi_Traffic: Eden Hazard slots in a beauty - Chelsea's third! Chelsea 3 - 0 Man. United #CHEMUN pic.twitter.com/VVPc9x39Zh
— GIDI (@Gidi_Traffic) October 23, 2016
has been making a mockery of FPL veteransā insistence on never buying a player on the āsuspension tightropeā, showing a remarkable restraint and scoring another two goals in that time.
Heās now the joint-second highest points scorer in FPL, proving that sometimes you can be a bit too cute for your own good in this game.
#Chelsea 3-0 #Leicester
— TontÄ Igbikialabo (@Realtonte) October 16, 2016
All the goals ā½ Diego Costa, Hazard & Victor Moses š pic.twitter.com/TalGRe3VMq"
You could buy now and steal a march on your rivals - but bear in mind that Chelseaās easier fixtures are bunched together from GW 15-19 and 25-30, so a bit of patience and forward planning could see you get the maximum return out of these players.
Chelseaās recent league form has been devastating, and when this pair are at their best, theyāre almost unplayable.
That Costa suspension has to come some time, they donāt come cheap, and the Blues have a somewhat tricky run of fixtures coming up.
ARSENAL
Last weekās display aside, is already looking like the standout value player of the season so far - heās currently the top scorer in FPL on 58.
Just one point behind we find teammate , who looks to have made that centre-forward berth his own
With āgoal involvementā stats (either assisting or scoring a goal) of 41.2% and 38.9% respectively, you wonāt be missing out on much of Arsenalās attacking points by owning these two.
But whatās this? A familiar name has started to make a case for inclusion in the last few weeks.
has racked up two goals and five bonus points since GW6 and has proven to be one of the most reassuringly consistent, if unspectacular, FPL points-scorers of recent years.
51 - Mesut Ćzil has had a hand in 51 goals in 90 league games for Arsenal, the same total he managed for Real Madrid after 90 games. Balance pic.twitter.com/zJER0yP8iU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 18, 2016
Heās a great option for managers who want to bank some Sanchez cash and/or suffer from high blood pressure.
Arsenal play Sunderland this week. Enough said.
Champions League rotation looms, and even if you go for Ozil, thatās still a fair chunk of change tied up in one team.
Is it time to invest in defenders again?
An unprecedented drought of defensive returns has been a constant gripe among FPL managers so far, but a season-high nine clean sheets last week has forced a rethink.
Tottenham (5), Ā Arsenal and Chelsea (both 4) are the only teams who have been keeping clean sheets with any kind of regularity, and youāll be paying a premium to get them in.
Stoke have been a Godsend for me these past two Gameweeks, and you can still grab for Ā£4.4m if youāre quick.
Thereās some other sub-Ā£5m prospects like and on the rise too.
Other than that, we all love an attacking defender, right? Hereās how the best compare at the moment.
could be a must-have as the season wears on, and for those who think canāt keep a clean sheet - Liverpool have conceded the least amount of shots inside the box (14) of any team these last four weeks.
Just donāt mention a certain Man City centre-back to meā¦
QUICK TIP
isnāt the only emerging option for that not-so-important (yet!) fifth midfielder spot.
has inexplicably picked up five assists so far, and should collect his fair share of clean sheets and bonus points over the season.
And if itās cold, hard cash youāre after, look no further than this bargain basement tip from fellow Cork tipster FPL Stag.
De Roon is 4.3 fodder so long as things go to plan. pic.twitter.com/4JTZIOpSb6
— FPL Stag (@FPLStag) October 27, 2016
BUY
The Brazilian magician is looking like the man most likely to score for Liverpool, who have a mouthwatering set of fixtures coming up.
TRY
The former Bayern Munich man looked like an absolute world-beater last week, netting a brace and landing 40-yard cross-field passes on the toes of his grateful teammates.
He seems to me like the kind of player who only turns it on in a winning side, but with the Pottersā kind run of fixtures, whoās to say they wonāt be for the next few weeks?
Comparing attacking stats of the top 5 Midfielders in GW9https://t.co/b56MrVw0fW pic.twitter.com/Fxvztxwgoy
— Fantasy Football Fix (@FantasyFootyFix) October 24, 2016
GOODBYE
A salutary lesson in āchasing pointsā, the returns have started to drop off for the South Korean.
'sĀ suspension may have Son back in that coveted central attacking position this week, but with the return of a certain on the horizon, donāt expect that to last long.
Top of the League
We have a new name at the top of . is now top on 533 points with courtesy of a previously unimaginable total of three clean sheets. Last weekās table-topper became another victim of GW9 with 38 points, but thereās a long season ahead yet.
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