GW3 Ones to watch: Matt Phillips

The Scout looks to an in-form West Bromwich Albion side for his fourth player to watch for Gameweek 3.

Matt Phillips (WBA) £6.0m

The winger is off the mark in Fantasy Premier League, having set up Hal Robson-Kanu’s (£5.5m) winner in the Gameweek 2 victory at Burnley.

He then followed that up with a goal and an assist in the 3-1 Carabao Cup victory over Accrington Stanley on Tuesday night.

West Brom and Phillips head into Sunday’s home match against Stoke City full of confidence. 

Phillips can also take advantage of a weakness down the left side of the Potters’ defence.

Stoke have allowed 30 crosses down their left, compared with only 12 from the right.

Phillips already ranks joint-second among FPL midfielders for successful crosses (four).

His pace and long-range shooting make him a threat from open play, but Phillips is also a key figure on set-pieces.

He completed 17 of his 34 corners last season – only Burnley pair Robbie Brady (£5.5m and 55.6%) and Scott Arfield (£5.0m and 53.3%) achieved a better conversion rate in terms of finding a team-mate.

This is key because West Brom scored 20 goals from set-pieces last season, second only to champions Chelsea.

That included a PL-high 16 goals from corners. 

Phillips ended last season with four goals and nine assists from only 26 starts, with injuries stalling his progress.

But he was still West Brom’s top-ranked midfielder with 115 points.

Should he stay fit then Phillips can better that tally in 2017/18, and the forthcoming period will be vital to his FPL prospects.

West Brom’s schedule remains favourable.

Four of their next five matches score only two in the Fixture Difficulty Rankings.

With an ownership of just 2.6% of managers, Phillips is an intriguing midfield differential for Gameweek 3 and beyond.

West Brom's next five Gameweeks

Also in this series 
Part 1: Richarlison
Part 2: Daley Blind
Part 3: Chicharito
Part 5: Patrick van Aanholt