I’m Kieran (@FPLRatchet) and I’m here again to bring you my lineup for Fanteam’s €50,000 Weekly Monster contest ahead of Premier League Gameweek 8…
What is the Weekly Monster?
The Weekly Monster is a weekly competition held on Fanteam.com where players choose a starting XI (no subs) from the teams playing that Gameweek from a budget of 100.0M, with the objective of scoring as many points as possible. Players score points using the same system as in the €1M season-long game – a scoring system that will feel very familiar to those who have played FPL.
Players are priced in accordance with the match odds for each given fixture. This means that the price list will differ every week, and will often read very differently to the season-long game, as prices are brought up or down depending on the quality of the fixture, and the form of the player.
Goalkeeper
My starting GK for this week is Emiliano Martinez (5.3M) away at Arsenal.
I’ve explained in previous weeks’ articles my reasons for preferring budget players in the goalkeeper slot – primarily the significantly increased potential for save points. This, for me, is a good example of the type of fixture I like to target for this slot – despite a poor defensive showing against Southampton last weekend, Villa’s defence started the season looking like one of the strongest in the league, and I have hope this form can return this weekend.
Furthermore – Arsenal don’t look to be as potent a threat going forward as Southampton this season, having scored just 9 league goals compared to the Saints’ 14, leading me to believe that Arsenal’s attack may be being somewhat overrated in this Matchup.
Defenders
This week continues with relatively inexpensive defenders in my lineup, however it does contain an extra defender than I would usually select, lining up with four at the back. This is more a result of a lack of affordable attacking picks that took my fancy, instead of a conscious switch to a more defense-heavy lineup.
My first defender is Stuart Dallas (7.9M), facing Crystal Palace away.
Despite only scoring for the first time in the Premier League last weekend, Stuart Dallas is emerging as a fantasy pick with incredible potential. The versatile Leeds man ranks top amongst all defenders for expected goals with a total of 1.51, and has the potential for clean sheets as well, with Liam Cooper returning to the back line following an injury.
Leeds also face Crystal Palace – with an attack that are joint 16th in the league for goals scored with just 8, despite an impressive start to the season for talisman Wilfried Zaha.
My next defender is Arthur Masuaku (7.8M), up against Fulham at home.
Apart from the allure of having a home fixture against a team in the relegation zone – there’s plenty to like about Arthur Masuaku. West Ham have continued their defensive form they showed in project restart under David Moyes, despite some exceptions. The club sit at 7th in the league for expected goals conceded – above the likes of Liverpool, Spurs, and Man United – so there is a lot of potential for a clean sheet in this fixture.
Masuaku also offers plenty of attacking threat, though, coming in at 6th for xA amongst all defenders in the league with 1.03. The significant potential for both an assist and clean sheet here make Masuaku a very attractive pick to me for 7.8M.
My third defender this week is Rayan Ait Nouri (6.1M), facing Leicester away.
A risky pick here with Leicester’s attack looking sharp with Jamie Vardy recovering from injury, however, Ait Nouri is a really exciting pick in my opinion, and someone I will likely continue to select if he manages to hold down a place in the team. He scored last weekend in his first league start, and looked to be a real threat going forward. If Ait Nouri can come close to matching the attacking output Matt Doherty managed on the right side of this defence for the past few seasons, then I believe he could arise as FPL gold, due to the quality of Wolves’ defence, and the attacking licence given to their wing-backs.
Finally, my fourth defender this week is Ezri Konsa (5.1M), playing Arsenal away.
Yes, that’s right, a Villa defensive double-up against Arsenal. To be honest, I needed a cheap defender to allow my budget to fit in the attacking assets I wanted, and I do believe that Arsenal’s attack is being overestimated in this Matchup as discussed earlier. The double up allows for the potential for a big differential points boost if the clean sheet does come in, but if it doesn’t, they are priced so cheap that the team would still have potential to finish in those profit positions.
Midfielders
Here’s how my four-man midfield lines up for this Gameweek 8…
My first midfielder is Heung-Min Son (14.4M), facing West Brom away from home.
No beating around the bush here – Son and Kane were the first two names on my team sheet when I started building my side for this week’s Monster contest. Spurs look like a completely different side to last season, and my fantasy sides are reflecting it. The pair are FPL gold dust right now, and facing West Brom is a combination of form and fixture far too perfect to ignore in my opinion – even if they are the obvious picks.
My next midfielder for this week is Jarrod Bowen (10.9M), against Fulham at home.
I like to select an attacker with the best home fixture in any given Gameweek, and so with Michael Antonio out injured, it’s Bowen who will be my West Ham attacker of choice. After impressing in front of goal at Hull, Bowen has looked a near constant threat in the Premier League without managing to land himself consistent returns, though I feel that his pace and intelligent running in behind striker Sebastien Haller could catch this Fulham defence off-guard, and land Bowen in the points this weekend.
Next up is Mateusz Klich (9.0M), against Crystal Palace away.
Leeds have looked a threat going forward from day one in the Premier League despite a poor display against Leicester last time out, and Palace away represents a good opportunity for Bielsa’s men to respond to this poor result.
Klich has impressed me throughout so far, looking like a player with good quality who finds himself often in potentially dangerous scenarios, and always looking for the killer through pass – though, the key to his appeal is that he is on penalty duty for Leeds.
My fourth and final midfielder is Wilfried Zaha (8.9M), facing Leeds at home.
I’ve had to go against one of my rules in this case and I’ve picked an attacker against a team I own a defender in, however, this is a case where both Zaha and Dallas could come out of this game with returns, as Dallas offers so much attacking threat as well as his clean sheet potential.
Zaha has looked reinvigorated since his move back to the striker position, and also looks to have regained penalty-taker status (for the most part, at least). With Leeds’ attacking play style, here’s hoping I can profit from both sides scoring on the weekend.
Attackers
Just a two-man attack this week, but they are two potentially huge-hitters for this weekend’s fixtures…
The first attacker for me this week is Harry Kane (14.5M), up against West Brom away from home.
With 12 goals and 10 assists already for Spurs this season, Harry Kane is having a truly jaw-dropping start to the season. Whilst he does look to have improved personally on last season – I think there are some similarities to this renaissance with Calvert-Lewin’s season start. Kane has returned consistently in a somewhat stagnant Spurs team for the last couple of seasons, but now Spurs are really purring, and Spurs are holding the ball in more dangerous positions than they were, Kane’s output has sky-rocketed. Until something changes, he’s a lock in all of my fantasy teams.
My final attacker is Marcus Rashford (10.0M), facing Everton away.
With pressure mounting on Solskjaer after some poor results, United need to come out all guns blazing, and Everton have shown that despite a much improved attack, their defence is still shaky at times. If anyone in United colours is the one to exploit this potential weakness, it should be Marcus Rashford. Playing in the striker role in recent games and having just come off a first United hat-trick, Rashford looks on fire, and if United ca get themselves going, Rashford could profit massively in my opinion.
Captaincy
My captaincy for this week is Harry Kane (14.5M). As I said, he looks to me to be the best asset in the game at the moment, and with a fixture like West Brom up next, it feels a bit of a no-brainer to go with the England captain. The only real viable alternative would be Son, but for me personally, the security of Kane being a 90-minute-man, as well as the penalty taker, means I will always swing in his favour on this decision if given the option, though Son is of course a great pick in his own right.
Strategy
A slight variation on the all-out-attack strategy for me this week, as I line up in a 4-4-2 formation. This was simply due to a lack of attacking options that I really liked – with Liverpool facing Man City, two of the best attacking teams in the league become overpriced assets in my opinion due to the unpredictability of this result. This leaves us somewhat fishing for scraps in terms of really explosive attacking options in my opinion, so I drafted in another budget defender in Ezri Konsa, and made sure the extra funds were reallocated to ensuring the attackers I do have are explosive, and hopefully they can bring home the points come this weekend. Good luck managers!
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