Appealing fixtures could finally unlock Pépé potential

At this early stage of the season, differential options continue to prove their importance to Fantasy Premier League managers.

10 of the 13 highest scorers in Gameweek 5 had ownership of 10% or less, which shows us that there are some still gems flying under the radar or simply being overlooked.

Son Heung-min (£9.6m) did us proud with a brace against Crystal Palace to become the latest differential to graduate from the 5% or below club.

Here are three more under that ownership threshold worth considering for Gameweek 6.

Nicolas Pépé

Price: £9.4m

Ownership: 3.6%

GW6 Opponent: Aston Villa (home)

Nicolas Pépé (£9.4m) may not have hit the ground running since joining Arsenal as their record signing, but he has certainly shown some potential.

Starting from the bench in the first two games of 2019/20, and facing two of last season’s top four was always going to be a difficult start.

However, we know Pépé is a player who possesses quality and it’s only a matter of time before he delivers a match-winning performance. 

During the last four Gameweeks, for players priced at £9.5m or below, the midfielder is top for final third touches (130) and ranks best for successful take-ons (19) too. 

This indicates that he’s certainly been doing the right things on the pitch and in some ways may have been unlucky not to pick up more attacking Fantasy returns.

I think that could change on Sunday. Of course, Aston Villa kept clean sheets in both their last two matches but these were both at Villa Park.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have won two in a row now, and there was an assist for Pépé on Thursday night, so this could be the perfect opportunity for him to make his mark.

Neal Maupay

Price: £6.0m

Ownership: 0.6% 

GW6 Opponent: Newcastle United (away)

Despite only scoring two league goals in their last four games it’s clear that Brighton’s style has taken a more attacking return under Graham Potter. 

Of course, it takes time to transition from one manager to another and it may be why some of Brighton’s results so far have been inconsistent. 

But an early stand out player for them is their newest signing, Neal Maupay (£6.0m).

Starting from the bench he scored a goal on his debut as Brighton overran Watford in Gameweek 1. Since then Maypay has gradually played more minutes, helped by Florin Andone and Jurgen Locadia’s departures, which culminated with him adding another goal to his tally last weekend.

For forwards priced at £6.0m or less, he has registered the most number of goal attempts (10) which is all the more remarkable when considering that he’s only played 273 minutes of football from a maximum of 450. 

It almost feels like he’s a bandwagon waiting to happen. Brighton’s match against Newcastle this weekend could help expose Maupay to the masses.

It would be unfair of us to expect him to score a hat-trick against the Magpies like Pukki, but both players scored over 20 goals in the Championship last season. 

Maupay should get a fourth consecutive start this weekend and if he does he should be more than capable of causing havoc to Newcastle United’s fragile backline.

Emi Buendía 

Price: £6.0m

Ownership: 1.5% 

GW6 Opponent: Burnley (away)

If you’ve scanned over some of the emerging template teams that have come to fore you would have almost certainly seen Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell in most of them. 

But there’s another Norwich City player that needs to be recognised from a Fantasy football perspective and that’s midfielder Emi Buendía (£6.0m).

It’s surprising to think that his percentage ownership has yet to hit double digits. After all, he has quietly amassed four assists in his first five games. 

Also of note, it’s very rare for another Argentinian to score more FPL points than Sergio Aguero in the same match and that’s exactly what he did in Gameweek 5. This is no mean feat. 

Buendia’s attacking involvement has been far from understated in Norwich’s opening matches. 

For midfielders priced at £6.0m or less, he is ranked third for final third touches and first for overall touches in the opponent’s half. 

His lack of goals may be a slight cause for concern, especially compared to Cantwell. But does that even matter if he can be a regular provider of goals for his colleagues? 

The Canaries next game is against Burnley who have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last four matches.