The Premier League is entering into the final third of the season and one of the things FPL managers have to look out for is the presence of blank and double game weeks. As a result of which, managers have to plan their team accordingly. It is vital to have players from teams who have matches in blank game weeks and one of those teams is Southampton FC.
In this blog, we will discuss about Southampton FC in detail and also give you suggestions as to who to pick from their side.
Why Southampton FC?
26th October 2019, St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton FC 0 Leicester 9: Southampton FC were rock bottom in the table and they had just 6 points from the opening 10 games. Every one expected Ralph Hassenhuttl to be sacked. But what has happened since has been nothing short of a revelation.
The Saints have since picked up 25 points from next 15 games and are one of the most in-form teams in the league. Only 4 teams have gathered more points than Southampton’s (9) in the last 5 games. Hassenhuttl’s men have a winnable run of fixtures coming up in the next 4 game weeks in particular. Each of those fixtures have an FDR of (2).
Fixtures: Aston Villa(H), WestHam(A), Newcastle(H), Norwich(A)
The Saints you must own:
Danny Ings, TSB: 29.8%; Price:7.0
This is as obvious as it can get. Open your FPL team, go to transfers and get in Danny Ings if you don’t have him already. Well if you have him already, make sure you hold on to him. Ings has already scored 14 goals this season and incidentally he scored at least 1 goal against 5 of his next 6 opponents in the reverse fixture. The Englishman is also a bonus point king, he has racked up 27 points, which is more than any other player in the fantasy game.
Alex McCarthy, TSB: 3.8%; Price:4.4
The biggest drawback for Southampton was their inability to keep clean sheets. Indeed, Alex McCarthy has only three clean sheets this season. Having said that all three of them have come in the last 7 games. Southampton have xGA of 27. 16 this season, which is remarkably -7.84 of the actual goals conceded. This stat, coupled with the fact that the South-Coast side have a great run of games makes Alex McCarthy a must-have as at the very least your backup keeper.
Incidentally, Dean Henderson, who is the most owned keeper among those who play in the fantasy game doesn’t have a fixture in GW28. Alex McCarthy faces WestHam in that Gameweek!
Differential options:
Nathan Redmond, TSB:1.1%; Price:6.2
Redmond is a classic case of a player who keeps performing below the levels of what he should. The midfielder has an xG of 4.02 and xA of 2.25, both of which are more than his actual tally of 3 goals and 1 assist. He produced arguably his best performance of the season in his last outing in the FA Cup meeting against Spurs.
Ryan Bertrand, TSB:0.8%, Price:4.8
Full backs are the way to go these days for FPL managers as they offer attacking returns along with clean sheets at times. One of the full-backs who offers a threat going forward is Saints’ skipper, Ryan Bertrand. The former Chelsea man has a goal and an assist this season. The left-back has a xA of 2.57 which is remarkably the second-highest for a Saint. 4.8 million is reasonably cheap, so if you are looking for a player who isn’t owned by other managers and at the same has good fixtures, Bertrand is the guy.
Keep an eye out on
Kyle Walker-Peters, TSB:0.6%, Price:4.4
This is a guy who is yet to make his Premier League debut for Southampton. But based on what we’ve seen from KWP in the very little amount of time he has had in the Premier League, we can definitely say that he’s a very attacking full-back. Prior to the start of this season, KWP had recorded 5 assists in 582 minutes of football in the last two seasons combined. That is remarkably nearly an assist every game. The full-back is nailed on to start, if he does go well against Burnley in GW 26, he might turn to be an astute pick for managers.
Author’s pick
James Ward-Prowse, TSB:1.5%; Price:5.8
This guy is a bit of a nuisance for managers, as he often ends up being the best player on the pitch without necessarily giving us points in FPL. Ward-Prowse has 4 goals and 3 assists this season. He takes penalties and he’s on set pieces. Southampton FC could have easily got penalties in their last two games. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if the lady luck goes for them in the coming weeks. One catch here is the fact Ward-Prowse is nursing a minor injury scare, so if all is well in that regard, he could be a good option.
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K K Anirudh
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