The Weekly Shop – Gameweek 3

Our new mid-week regular arrives for your perusal this evening, as we take an early look at those players currently under consideration for our squads across weekly and daily Fantasy Football games.

We’ve divided this early scouting into two sections. The “Better Buys” will look at the key players for the week ahead, generally assessing those in-form assets who are braced for a promising fixture. The “Poundstretchers”, on the other hand, are the Gameweek prospects that should offer excellent value – often one-week punts, whose lower price tags enable funds to be spent on the big-hitters elsewhere in our lineups.

In this week’s article, we take a look at what’s on offer in this week’s two featured games Fantasy Bet and PlayON…

Better Buys

Manchester United’s Sergio Romero has kept back-to-back clean sheets in David de Gea’s absence and is the highest scoring goalkeeper in Fantasy Bet, with 18 points so far. The player prices in Fantasy Bet are not influenced by the value changes in the official Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game until later in the season, so the Argentine is still available for 5.0m and is also reasonably priced at 7.1m in PlayON.

Investment in Crystal Palace’s backline looks a viable tactic as Aston Villa visit Selhurst Park. The Eagles are yet to keep a clean sheet but Tim Sherwood’s visitors, alongside Stoke, have recorded the joint fewest attempts on goal so far. For 4.5m in Fantasy Bet, assets such as Joel Ward, Damien Delaney and Pape Souare have all registered attacking returns in the opening two weeks – the latter is even a cut-price option in PlayON at 6.4m.

Further up the pitch, Alan Pardew’s side look to have carried on their attacking threat from the end of last season. Yohan Cabaye promptly reminded us of his quality with a goal in the opening match at Norwich and could prosper against Villa – the midfielder is available for 6.5m in Fantasy Bet and 8.3m in PlayON.

We’re also eyeing up Manchester United’s midfield as they host Newcastle, with the misfiring Wayne Rooney overlooked. Memphis Depay’s (Fantasy Bet 9.5m, PlayON 10.4m) mid-week brace against Club Brugge has put him on our radar for the weekend, while Juan Mata’s nine points in Fantasy Bet against Aston Villa, including all three bonus points, makes the Spaniard another viable option for 8.5m and 11m in PlayON.

Swansea and West Ham are both in our thoughts with at least one option from each of their attacks likely to make our weekend squads. Andre Ayew and Dimitri Payet both scored last Gameweek and should offer plenty of support again to Bafetimbi Gomis and Diafra Sakho. The Swans travel to a struggling Sunderland side that conceded three to newly promoted Norwich and, ominously for the Black Cats, the in-form Gomis (available for 7m in Fantasy Bet and 9.9m in PlayON) is looking for a third goal in three matches. Although Sakho is yet to get off the mark for the Hammers, visitors Bournemouth offer the Senegalese striker a chance to open his account for the season – he is a cheaper alternative to Gomis, with price tags of 6.5m in Fantasy Bet and 9.0m in PlayON.

Poundstretchers

We return to West Ham for this week’s stand-out budget keeper. Darren Randolph is likely to make his league debut for the Hammers and take the suspended Adrian’s place between the posts as the Cherries visit Upton Park. The Irish international is available for a cut-price 4.5m in Fantasy Bet and 5.5m in PlayON.

Norwich’s Russell Martin’s 1800-point haul was only outscored by Vincent Kompany in PlayON last week. The centre-half netted in the 3-1 victory at the Stadium of Light and, as mentioned, with opponents Stoke recording the joint fewest attempts so far this term, Martin looks a solid budget option at 4.5m in Fantasy Bet and 6.3m in PlayON as the Potters visit Carrow Road. Nathan Redmond (Fantasy Bet 5.5m, PlayON 7.8m) has also caught the eye with back-to-back goals from the wing and looks to be the main threat for the Canaries, with striker Cameron Jerome yet to find the net.

We’re also looking at Swansea’s assets again in the budget midfield bracket and there are a couple of alternatives to Ayew and Gomis for those squads where funds are tight. Jefferson Montero (Fantasy Bet 6.0m, PlayON 7.6m) and Jonjo Shelvey (Fantasy Bet 5.5m, PlayON 7.9m) both recorded an assist in the 2-0 win against Newcastle and could make the difference again at Sunderland, also enabling the likes of Sergio Aguero to find a place in our teams this week.

Last week we backed Troy Deeney (Fantasy Bet 5.5m, PlayON 8m) to bag a first Premier League goal. The Watford forward was frustrated again by West Brom but being in the top four forwards for attempts over the opening couple of Gameweeks keeps the striker in our thinking as the Hornets welcome a Southampton side that have conceded five in two matches.

These are the players on my radar ahead of this weekend’s weekly contests. On Friday, I’ll be back with a further look at both this week’s partner games – Fantasy Bet and PlayON – as I continue my quest for profit in the 2015/16 campaign.