FPL 2019/20 Scout Report 12 – The Watchlist

We’re back with the weekly Players to Watch article ahead of Gameweek 10 where we’ll provide you with a list of players who we expect to do well in the upcoming gameweeks along with a differential pick to help you climb up the overall rankings.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DEF: MUN 5.4m)

Upcoming fixtures: Norwich (A), Bournemouth (A), Brighton (H), Sheffield United (H)

A Manchester United player?! Surely the first question in FPL Managers’ minds will be why pick a Manchester United player whose team is just 2 points above relegation? Well, an impressive performance against Liverpool has put Wan-Bissaka on the top of my FPL Defenders’ shopping window ahead of an amazing fixture run.

Over the next 11 matches, Spurs and Manchester City in gameweeks 15 and 16 are the only top 6 sides that United face. United restricted Liverpool to just 1 big chance at Old Trafford in what was an overall solid defensive performance. Despite keeping just 2 clean sheets this season, Manchester United have allowed their opponents just 11 big chances, with Burnley the only side to have done better. Over the course of the season, Manchester United have let in just 47 shots from inside the box, level with Manchester City and Chelsea, with no other team doing better. Also, the Red Devils have the best xGc (expected goals conceded) over the same period, with no other side doing better.

Wan-Bissaka has also had the best baseline bonus among all his United teammates, making him most likely to get bonus points when United keep a clean sheet. Another intriguing thing about him is, with a great performance against the current league leaders having played a 352/3412 formation, Wan-Bissaka might continue playing at RWB, thus his assist and goal potential could be significantly boosted. At just 5.4m, he could be a great buy ahead of a decent fixture run.

Jamie Vardy (FWD: LEI 9.1m)

Upcoming Fixtures: Southampton (A), Crystal Palace (A), Arsenal (H), Brighton (A)

After an impressive performance against Burnley, Jamie Vardy is firmly on my radar and is surely coming in my personal FPL team as well this week. There isn’t a lot to say and write about the English striker as he’s never been a player with great underlying stats but as we’ve known historically, he’s been a very clinical striker with a high goal conversion rate.

Leicester in the opening 8 gameweeks faced 5 of the last seasons top 7 and thus it came as no surprise to see them having very poor attacking stats with only Newcastle having a worse xG than the Foxes. With a great run of fixtures from gameweek 9 onwards, a Leicester should be seriously looked at; although, with the poor stats shown in the opening 8 weeks, monitoring Leicester for a week against Burnley looked sensible where, Leicester had a tally of 19 shots against the Clarets, with 10 of them coming gin the box and 3 of them on target. Vardy himself had 2 shots with both of them coming from inside the box.

Leicester face Southampton up next who aren’t generally a team that’ll sit back and defend and thus would leave more spaces for Vardy to run in behind. Also, Vardy looks like being one of the best captaincy options when the Foxes welcome Arsenal at the King Power, with most of the big guns having bad fixtures that particular week. Also, having penalty duties help his cause. Thus, all in all, Vardy with an ownership of just 13.4%, looks like a template buster ahead of the great fixture run.

Raúl Jiménez (FWD: 7.1m)

Upcoming fixtures: Newcastle (A), Arsenal (A), Aston Villa (H), Bournemouth (A)

We’d love to include Callum Hudson Odoi again after him doing justice to our selection last week and him being Chelsea’s pick of the bunch in recent weeks. But in Raúl Jiménez, we see a striker who looks set to replicate his last season’s form ahead of a great fixture run.

After a difficult start to the season for Wolves and the Wolves’ striker in particular having multiple competitions to play in, both Jimenez and Wolves look to have regained their form in the Premier League, amassing 8 points from a possible 12 in their last 4 matches Jiménez himself has retuned 2 assists and a goal in the last 2 matches against City and Southampton as he looks to kick off his goal-scoring exploits ahead of some favorable fixtures.

Although it’s worth mentioning, Newcastle away doesn’t look the greatest of fixtures in terms of attacking returns as the Magpies have been pretty solid at home. I’d still suggest, monitoring Jimenez for a week against Newcastle. Regardless, with great fixtures and penalty duties without Neves on the pitch, Jimenez is still a very solid option and with an ownership of 9.8%, he could also prove to be a great differential in the upcoming weeks.

Differential Pick – Anthony Martial (MID:  7.5m) Ownership: 3.2%

Upcoming fixtures: Norwich (A), Bournemouth (A), Brighton (H), Sheffield United (H)

Another Manchester United player in the list of differentials and why not; with the way United have been performing recently, I doubt there are many managers who own them.

Anthony Martial returned from injury against Liverpool in gameweek 9 and now that the Frenchman’s ownership has dropped down to JUST 3.2%, he could be a massive differential for FPL Managers in the coming weeks. Prior to his injury, Martial returned points in every start from gameweeks 1-3, scoring 2 goals and assisting 1. It’ll be intriguing to see if he starts today in the Europa League clash against Partizan Belgrade. Regardless, Martial looks prime to start up front for United in the near future, flanked by Rashford and James.

There are great up sides to owning the United attacker. If OGS decides Martial isn’t fit enough to start against Norwich and even if he comes off the bench, he could still easily get returns against probably the worst defense in the league. Also, an away trip to the Vitality and two home games against Brighton and Sheffield for United are fixtures too good to avoid the out-of-position United attacker, putting them on top of the fixture ticker. Spirits will be high in the Manchester United camp after an encouraging and promising performance against Liverpool and a counter-attacking style of play may well suit the Frenchman.

An ownership of 3.2% for Martial might not remain constant with the fixtures coming and jumping early on the Martial train could well bear ripe fruits for his owners.

Thank you, everyone, for having a read and wish you all the very best for Gameweek 10! May your arrows be green!

Written by Samson Baretto

El Arte Del Futbol is an official content creator for OneFootball. Find more Original Features, Player Profiles and Tactical Analysis’ on www.elartedf.com. If you are reading this on our website, we’d like to thank you for your continuous support! Follow us on twitter to stay updated with all the latest content.