Week 7 Fantasy Premier League Player Picks

GW 7 Fixture List:

*Everton v. Crystal Palace

Swansea v. Liverpool

Hull City v. Chelsea

Sunderland v. West Brom

Watford v. Bournemouth

West Ham v. Middlesbrough

Manchester United v. Stoke City

Leicester City v. Southampton

Tottenham v. Manchester City

Burnley v. Arsenal

Best Bets for 2+ Goals: Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Chelsea

Best Bets for a Clean Sheet: Manchester United, Leicester City, Arsenal, West Brom

[*NOTE: Everton v. Crystal Palace is Friday so be sure to set your line-ups early!]

Goalkeepers:

David De Gea (MUN) [5.5 Official, 7.53 Fantrax] - Stoke City is tied for the fewest goals in the league. United has only allowed one goal per game on average at home. You do the math.

Ben Foster (WBA) [4.7, 5.96] - Normally I’m loath to recommend keepers and defenders on the road, but West Brom is tied for the stingiest number of road goals allowed and the Black Cats feature one of the most anemic offenses in the league.

Thibaut Courtois (CHE) [3.17 FT] - Following a shellacking at the feet of the Gunners the Blues are due for a rebound effort at struggling Hull. Meanwhile, Courtois’ price is dirt cheap considering his pedigree.

Jordan Pickford (SUN) [4.0, 2.19] - Sunderland’s defense is struggling, but West Brom’s road offense does not scare anyone. This one could easily end up as a nil-nil affair, so going with the inexpensive home side’s net minder may pay off handsomely.

Loris Karius (LIV) [1.00 FT] - Liverpool is not going to give you too many clean sheets, but at the bargain basement price of 1.00, you don’t need much to return value. On top of that, would you like to know that Swansea is also allowing the highest average score to keepers in the league at 7.75 ppg in Fantrax? Indeed, as it turns out, Karius is a nice play both for long term and short term keeper seekers.

Defenders:

Seamus Coleman (EVE) [5.5, 10.07] - The rampaging wing back usually offers nice potential for offensive and defensive returns and this week at home against Crystal Palace is no exception. Coleman’s averaging 13.33 ppg while Crystal Palace allows the fourth highest average to defenders (7.84 ppg) overall in Fantrax, with five of 13 defenders notching double digit points in the Eagles’ three away games so far.

Papy Djilobodji (SUN) [6.27 FT] - The former Chelsea signing may not pass the eye test, as whenever I watch the Black Cats he seems absolutely lost out there in terms of marking players. And last I heard, marking is kind of important when it comes to defending. But I’m not the manager, so all that matters is that David Moyes keeps putting him out there, and Papy keeps racking up the points, averaging 9 ppg in Fantrax, and a home fixture against West Brom offers a decent shot of adding the clean sheet bonus for the first time.

Shkodran Mustafi (ARS) [5.81 FT] - Averaging 7 ppg in Fantrax and offers the cheapest way to get in on the stifling Arsenal defense. The Gunners are away, but a clean sheet at Burnley would be little surprise for surging Arsenal. Regardless, Burnley allows the highest average to opposing defenders (8.87) in the league.

David Luiz (CHE) [5.03 FT] - “Sideshow Bob/David” Luiz is averaging 7 ppg in Fantrax in his two games since coming over from PSG, and like Coleman he should have plenty of opportunities to rack up points on both ends.

Callum Chambers (MID) [4.32 FT] - When the Gunners sent some players on loan, you may have had your eye on Jack Wilshere, but the starlet midfielder has a grand total of one points across his three games with Bournemouth. Meanwhile, less heralded defender Callum Chambers exploded onto the scene with Middlesbrough, racking up 15 points in his inaugural game against Spurs without benefit of a clean sheet, goal, assist or even shot on target.

Midfielders:

Alexis Sanchez (ARS) [11.1, 16.96] - Sure he’ll cost you a pretty penny. But Alexis is absolutely on fire, at the center of everything as far as the Gunners’ offense goes. With Kun facing a tough match-up at White Hart Lane, Alexis is certainly an attractive choice for the captain’s arm band in Official format. [NOTE: Alexis is listed as a midfielder in Official and as a striker in Fantrax.]

Gylfi Sigurdsson (SWA) [7.2, 13.45] - Siggy is averaging 14.33 ppg at home in Fantrax, he’s on PK duty and welcoming a Liverpool squad that has trouble securing clean sheets and shows no aversion to shoot-outs.

Son Heung-Min (TOT) [7.5, 11.16] - Spurs face a tough match-up with Manchester City which allows the third-lowest average in Fantrax to midfielders (4.61 ppg). On top of that, Harry Kane is out. But sometimes form trumps everything else and Son is definitely overflowing with it, exploding for four goals and one assist in the past three games, even managing 17 points in Fantrax in the one game he didn’t score.

Paul Pogba (MUN) [7.11 FT] - The record transfer finally got onto the score sheet last weekend, a huge weight off his shoulders in the rousing victory. Stoke allows the third highest average to midfielders in Fantrax (10.71 ppg), so a second straight big performance could easily be in order. That said, he’s still not worth the inflated price in Official if you’re thinking long term.

Nacer Chadli (WBA) [6.4, 5.27] - Alright, so last week showed that the former Spur isn’t going to score and assist twice each game. But Chadli may have locked down penalty duty, he’s a proven Premier League goal scorer, he’s attractively priced in both formats and Sunderland is far from imposing.

Strikers:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (MUN) [11.5 BPL] - Somehow, even with four goals scored total including three off corner kicks last week by the Red Devils, Ibra was kept off the score sheet. At home against Stoke City, knocking the ball into the net should not be a problem for the big Swede. After all, he’s the leading scorer for the league’s fourth-most prolific offense while Stoke has allowed the second-most goals. If you don’t have him at discount in Fantrax, though, he may be a reach in that format.

Romelu Lukaku (EVE) [9.3, 14.76] - With Kane injured and Kun facing a tough task as already mentioned, turning to King Troll is surely tempting considering Everton’s at home with a decent match-up against Crystal Palace. Lukaku could earn PK duties particularly if Leighton Baines remains out injured but possibly even if not, what with the veteran defender having missed his most recent PK off the post.

Theo Walcott (ARS) [7.5, 13.46] - Between Alexis and Theo, you’ve got to have at least one, and grabbing both isn’t a bad idea. No need for me to elaborate on Theo, just check out Alistair’s recent piece on the rejuvenated Gunners star. [NOTE: Walcott is listed as a striker in Fantrax and a midfielder in Official.]

Charlie Austin (SOU) [6.3, 8.82] - Austin has wrested the starting striker spot from Shane Long with a pair of goals and an assist in his past two games, scoring 15+ points in Fantrax each time. Leicester City is far from the defensive fortress of last season’s Cinderella season, tying for the fifth-most goals allowed in the league.

Marcus Rashford (MUN) [6.9, 7.91] - Rashford seems to be the preferred option next to the Big Z up front rather than Wayne Rooney, and hey-o, the price is right! On top of that, Stoke City gives up the third highest average to opposing strikers at 10.71 ppg in Fantrax.

[NOTE: All ppg averages in Fantrax are based only on starters.]

So which players are you grabbing or avoiding this week?