Fantasy Premier League

Eriksen creating big FPL interest

By The Scout 23 Mar 2017
Christian Eriksen, Spurs

The Scout assesses most creative FPL midfielders since GW24, with Spurs, Everton and Swansea players leading the way

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Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen (£8.7m) ranks among the most creative midfielders over the last six Gameweeks, according to the ICT Index, sealing his status as a major target Fantasy Premier League managers.

Everton's Ross Barkley (£7.1m) ranks top for ICT Creativity over this spell. But, despite playing one fixture more, his 18 chances created were only one more than Eriksen's 17.

Joint-top with Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (£10.4m) for assists this season, Eriksen’s 13 are only three short of the 16 he provided in 2015/16.

Significantly for FPL managers the Dane is set to benefit from a promising Spurs run-in. They play 10 fixtures over the remaining nine Gameweeks, seven of which score only two in the Fixture Difficulty Rankings (FDR).

Along with team-mate Dele Alli (£8.9m), Eriksen is among the top three most-bought midfielders over the international break, with 25,000+ transferring him in so far.

Midfielder creativity GW24-29

Midfielder Team Mins played ICT Creativity
Barkley EVE 528 274
Eriksen TOT 418 264
Sigurdsson SWA 540 232
Silva MCI 394 215
Coutinho LIV 466 213
Fraser BOU 518 206
Mata MUN 305 200
De Bruyne MCI 360 194
Snodgrass WHU 436 185
Pedro CHE 398 169

Barkley’s impressive underlying statistics translate to four assists over his last six matches. But managers will be concerned that back-to-back trips to Liverpool and Manchester United in the next two Gameweeks may mean he will struggle to maintain that output.

Swansea City’s Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.7m) has matched Barkley over the same period, producing a goal and four assists.

Sigurdsson also benefits from a strong spell of fixtures, with six of Swansea’s remaining nine matches scoring no more than two in the FDR.

That offers him a platform to maintain his consistency: he has delivered attacking returns in eight of his 10 Gameweek appearances under Paul Clement

Ross Barkley, Everton
Ross Barkley created more chances (18) than any FPL midfielder over the past six Gameweeks

Juan Mata (£7.3m) has stepped up his form ahead of Manchester United’s 11 fixtures over the final nine Gameweeks, which includes trips to Burnley and Manchester City in Gameweek 34.

Owned by only 3.3% of FPL managers, the Spaniard featured in only four fixtures in the previous six Gameweeks, yet still produced two goals and an assist, creating more chances (13) than any team-mate.

Pedro (£7.2m) offers an alternative to more expensive Chelsea team-mates, Eden Hazard (£10.2m) and Diego Costa (£10.7m), for a run-in that offers the leaders 10 matches over the nine Gameweeks, starting with Crystal Palace at home in Gameweek 30.

The Spaniard delivered two goals and as many assists in five outings across the last six Gameweeks, with 11 key passes ranking top for Antonio Conte's side. 

Southampton's Dusan Tadic (£7.0m) has thrived thanks to a recent change of tactics by manager Claude Puel.

Playing in a central-support role in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Tadic has produced a goal and three assists in three appearances during our featured spell.

Tadic, who delivered eight goals and 13 assists in 2015/16, is also set to featured in 11 matches over the remaining nine Gameweeks.

With just 1.7% ownership in FPL, he could emerge as a key differential, particularly if Manolo Gabbiadini (£6.9m) fails to recover from a groin problem that forced him off against Spurs in Sunday’s Gameweek 29 defeat.

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