Fantasy Premier League

FPL Saturday review: In-form Watkins in demand for secure fixtures

By The Scout 26 Feb 2023
Watkins

Aston Villa forward has five goals in as many matches and will NOT blank ahead of his Double Gameweek 29

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Ollie Watkins (£7.2m) continued his most prolific run of goals in Fantasy Premier League by scoring for a fifth successive match on Saturday.

The Aston Villa forward collected six points thanks to his goal in a 2-0 win at Everton.

Watkins has now amassed 40 points from Gameweek 21 onwards, placing him third among all players in Fantasy during that time.

Villa’s run of five matches in the next four Gameweeks hands him the chance to claim a place in managers’ forward lines.

Crucially, Villa are one of the few sides with a Double Gameweek 29 whose match in Gameweek 28 is not at threat from postponement due to the FA Cup.

See: How FA Cup results will affect FPL managers

Managers have already reacted to Watkins' latest goal, with more than 28,000 bringing him in for Gameweek 26, making him the third most-transferred in player.

Villa's five matches in four Gameweeks
GW Opp. FDR*
26 CRY (H) 2
27 WHU (A) 3
28 BOU (H) 2
29 CHE (A) 4
29 LEI (A) 3

*Fixture Difficulty Ratings

Phil Foden (£8.0m) delivered his second-highest score of the season in a 4-1 win at AFC Bournemouth.

The midfielder claimed 13 points and was among three players, along with Erling Haaland (£12.2m) and Julian Alvarez (£6.0m), to produce a goal and an assist for Manchester City.  

Foden has profited from Pep Guardiola’s recent rotation around UEFA Champions League matches, starting back-to-back league fixtures for the first time since Gameweek 20.

Meanwhile, Haaland’s 10-point return gives him an early advantage over his main rivals for the Gameweek 25 captaincy, Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) and Bukayo Saka (£8.5m). 

Both Salah and Saka blanked in the opening match of their Double Gameweek 25 and were instead overshadowed by their defensive team-mates.

Liverpool’s goalless draw at Crystal Palace was their fourth clean sheet in five outings, while Arsenal's 10th shutout of the season helped William Saliba (£5.3m) and Gabriel (£5.2m) become the latest centurions in Fantasy.

The centre-backs are on 103 and 101 points respectively following a 1-0 win at Leicester City, both ranking among the top four defenders.

Highest-scoring FPL defenders
Player Points
Trippier (NEW) £6.0m 146
Saliba (ARS) £5.3m 103
Schar (NEW) £5.1m 102
Gabriel (ARS) £5.2m 101
White (ARS) £4.7m 97

Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard (£6.6m) also reached 100 points for the season on Saturday. 

The Belgian was selected ahead of Eddie Nketiah (£6.8m) up front against the Foxes and supplied the assist for Gabriel Martinelli’s (£6.5m) winner.

Trossard’s transfer from Brighton & Hove Albion means Arsenal now possess four of the 10 midfielders to hit 100 points this season.

Time to think about West Ham?

West Ham United proved handy differentials at both ends of the pitch thanks to a 4-0 home win over Nottingham Forest.

Danny Ings (£6.4m) led the way with two goals and 13 points, while Said Benrahma (£5.5m) and Declan Rice (£4.7m) also delivered double-figure returns.

The Hammers now have three home matches in the next four Gameweeks, including both of their Double Gameweek 29 encounters with Southampton and Newcastle United.

Also in this series

Part 1: DGW25 bonus points
Part 2: DGW25 stats: Haaland eclipses Double Gameweek stars

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