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With a weekend-to-mid-week quick turnaround, I thought it prudent to file my Togga Perfect XI picks for both GW 16 and 17.
Goalkeeper
GW 16: Nick Pope
GW 17: Nick Pope
When in doubt, look toward the divinity of the Young Pope for an answer. With games against Watford and Stoke, the Burnley keeper will face plenty of shots and has a chance at a clean sheets.
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Defenders
GW 16: Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso, Harry Maguire, Shane Duffy
GW 17: Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso, Harry Maguire, Nicolas Otamendi
Yes, you’ve spotted a trend! Whenever possible I’m keeping the same players for both gameweeks. Chelsea play the “West Ham Horribles” followed by Huddersfield. If any of “Dave” or Marcos “Cro-Magnon Orlando Bloom” Alonso drop out, sub them for any Chelsea defender. Harry “Jerry” Maguire has tasty fixtures against Newcastle and Southampton, so his ticket is booked for both game-weeks. The only change is I want a Brighton defender against Huddersfield in GW 16 and a Manchester City defender against Swansea in GW 17.
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Midfielders
GW 16: Eden Hazard, Riyad Mahrez, Aaron Ramsey, Wilfried Zaha
GW 17: Eden Hazard, Riyad Mahrez, Aaron Ramsey, Wilfried Zaha
In short, I want a piece of the best midfielders from Chelsea (@WHU, @HUD); Leicester City (@NEW, @SOU); Arsenal (@SOU, @WHU); and Crystal Palace (BOU, WAT). And no, I don’t care that Chelsea, Leicester and Arsenal will be playing away matches. As always, I will be monitoring for rotation. Gylfi Sigurdsson is not a bad alternative on either game-week, and neither is Kevin DeBruyne if he starts against Swansea.
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Forwards
GW 16: Harry Kane, Alvaro Morata
GW 17: Harry Kane, Alvaro Morata
Citizen Kane has a chance at monster scores with home matches versus Stoke and Brighton, Alvaro Morata plays at West Ham and at Huddersfield. About the only negative thing for Morata is that “Captain Failure” David Moyes seems inclined to bench Arrgh, Joe Hart, Arrgh in favour of Adrian, who is 10X better at keeper. As always there is risk of rotation here; Mo Salah or Jamie Vardy would be a trustworthy stand-in.
Have fun with the coming matchups; see you on Togga’s PXI NMA league!
Do you agree or disagree with my picks? Are you employing a wildly different strategy or prefer to keep things simple entering the busy festive period? Let us know in the comments below!