Spotlight: Kenedy

Dear Friends,

Time is running out to win leagues, and making up ground will be difficult because we are all driven to carry several of the same essential players, leaving us less maneuvering room than we might imagine. What this means is that we can look at the top ten of most leagues and see mostly similar lineups.

The top five owned midfielders are:

• Mo Salah 62.1%
• Kevin De Bruyne 24.7%
• Raheem Sterling 18.0%
• Pascal Groβ 17.1%
• Abdoulaye Doucoure 15.1%

Owned by just 1.2% of managers, today we highlight Kenedy, a midfielder at Newcastle who may be a great differential candidate for the run in. Brought to the Premier League by Chelsea, he has not yet established himself at Stamford Bridge. He has now in fact scored more goals for Newcastle than for his parent club. The two goals for his loan club in game week 30 have put the light on him.

I watched the Southampton game, and it was clear that he added something to the Newcastle attack with his pace and quality. Rafa Benitez is careful about all the praise Kenedy has received from that and his other exciting displays since joining the Magpies. Rafa’s hope is to work him hard to continue to produce performances that keep the team in the top flight.

The question then is: Should we bring Kenedy into our teams? Let’s take a look. One positive to start with is that he’s priced at a budget friendly £4.7. Upcoming fixtures versus Huddersfield at home, Leicester away, and Arsenal at home add an edge. If stats help make your decisions, the Brazilian has started all six games since moving to Tyneside, contributing an assist and two goals off 2.3 shots per game. The six straight starts show that Benitez trusts him, so I think that we can too, at least in the budget midfielder category.

Not one to be overly superstitious, but fascination is often close to superstition, and so it goes with the number 7. In many cultures, the number 7 is considered beneficial and even protective. Dear friends, there are seven gameweeks that remain in the fantasy premier league season and Kenedy’s form is currently marked by none other than — yup — lucky number 7.

How lucky do you feel? Is Kenedy in your fantasy plans? Do tell in the comments!