Fantasy Premier League

The Promoted: Pukki can be the next Jimenez

By The Scout 30 May 2019

The Scout says Norwich's top scorer has potential to deliver cut-price goals just like Wolves striker in 2018/19

The Scout looks at the Fantasy Premier League prospects of the three promoted sides.

Norwich City: Attack

The prolific Teemu Pukki (£6.5m) could be among the top-value forwards in FPL.

The striker finished 2018/19 as Norwich City's top scorer with 29 goals, while supplying a further nine assists.

And the underlying statistics highlight his influence for the Championship winners.

Shooting star

Pukki's 127 shots inside the penalty area were more than double the 58 of his nearest Norwich rival, Onel Hernandez (£5.5m).

The 29-year-old converted 20.1 per cent of his chances this season.

That was similar to Ayoze Perez's (£6.5m) 21.8 per cent and Callum Wilson's (£8.0m) 21.5 per cent, with that pair initially costing £6.5m and £6.0m respectively in FPL.

Weighing up the cost

This raises the appeal of Pukki for managers on the lookout for the next Raul Jimenez (£7.5m) in 2019/20.

Jimenez was originally priced at only £5.5m for promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers last season. Yet he went on to deliver 13 goals and 10 assists, earning over 4.1million transfers in.

Midfield contenders

Norwich also have a trio of attacking midfielders who could offer strong value.

Marco Stiepermann (£5.5m), Emiliano Buendia (£6.0m) and Hernandez were all involved in at least 15 goals each.

Norwich’s attacking midfielders 2018/19

Player	Starts	Goals	Assists	Mins per goal/assist
Stiepermann	39	9	6	220.0
Buendia	35	8	12	143.0
Hernandez	34	8	9	184.5

Of the three, it is Buendia who could be the best FPL pick due to his style of play.

Playing on the right side of a 4-2-3-1 formation, the Argentinian's 91 chances created and 64 successful tackles in 2018/19 were more than any team-mate.

Both are key factors in the Bonus Points System (BPS), which decides how bonus points are awarded.

Buendia's share of set-pieces further boosts his potential for assists.

Indeed, his average of 31.4 minutes per chance created was bettered by only three FPL midfielders with 1,000+ minutes last season.