Fantasy Premier League

FPL Saturday review: More away joy for Martinez

By The Scout 13 Dec 2020
Emiliano Martinez, Aston Villa

The Scout analyses the first Gameweek 12 matches as Aston Villa goalkeeper rises to second place

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The away form of Emiliano Martinez (£4.8m) has been vital for the second highest-scoring goalkeeper in Fantasy Premier League this season.

Aston Villa’s No 1 registered his fourth clean sheet in five Premier League matches on the road in a 1-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers

Martinez collected the maximum three bonus points and two save points for a Gameweek 12 score of 11 points. He is now five points behind West Ham United's Lukasz Fabianski (£5.1m) at the top of the FPL goalkeeper standings.

But Martinez's average of 5.3 points per match is the best of any goalkeeper who has started more than one match this term.

And his prospects for further returns look positive. Villa face Burnley, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace in the next three Gameweeks. 

Aston Villa's GW12 highlights

Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith confirmed after Saturday's win that Anwar El Ghazi (£5.7m) and Jack Grealish (£7.8m) are the club's two main penalty-takers.

Indeed, it was El Ghazi who converted from the spot in stoppage time to clinch victory this weekend.

That news will disappoint owners of Ollie Watkins (£6.1m), who had taken both of his side's previous spot-kicks in 2020/21.

Case for Man City defence

Defences were on top elsewhere, with more Premier League clean sheets recorded on Saturday than there were in the whole of Gameweek 11.

Two of the four shutouts came at Old Trafford, where Manchester City once again kept the opposition at bay.

Pep Guardiola's side have kept three successive clean sheets and are set to enjoy an appealing run of fixtures all the way through to the beginning of February.

Only one of City's next 10 matches scores more than three in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR).

Man City's next 10 Gameweeks
GW Opp FDR GW Opp FDR
1 WBA (H) 2 6 BHA (H) 2
2 SOU (A) 3 7 CRY (H) 3
3 NEW (H) 2 8 WBA (A) 2
4 EVE (A) 3 9 SHU (H) 2
5 CHE (A) 4 10 BUR (A) 2

Dwight Gayle (£5.9m) was the only FPL forward to find the back of the net on Saturday.

Gayle scored the winner in Newcastle United's 2-1 victory over West Brom.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m) reminded recent sellers of his worth, however, with the assist for Gylfi Sigurdsson's (£6.8m) match-winning penalty in Everton's 1-0 triumph over Chelsea.

Calvert-Lewin was the most-sold forward in Gameweek 12, with 229,687 transfers out.

But the Everton striker has blanked in only two of his 12 appearances this season. He sits joint-fourth in the overall FPL points table, level with Bruno Fernandes (£10.9m) of Manchester United.

Also in this series 

Part 1: GW12 FPL stats: Salah rewards faith with goal
Part 2: Part 2: GW12 Bonus points: Kane earns maximum

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