Welcome to the sixth edition of two in two out for gameweek 17! The series where I tell YOU which two Fantasy Premier League players to bring in and which two FPL players to kick out of your teams with the aim of giving you green arrows!
Last edition I told you to bring In Deulofeu and Pedro, these were solid predictions as Deulofeu picked up one assist against Norwich and got robbed of one assist against Everton (watch the goal, if you have a pair of eyes you’ll understand!). Pedro was “meh”, he flopped against Bournemouth and came off the bench to pick up an assist in Chelsea’s away loss to Leicester, but at least they got something! I then went on to tell you to bring out Mata and Fonte. Mata failed to score or assist since the last edition as expected, leaving the 16.4% of you that have him empty handed! Fonte failed to keep a clean sheet at home to Aston Villa and away at Crystal Palace. Successful edition? I think so!
IN
Olivier Giroud (Arsenal, Forward, 9.0m)
Giroud is on FIRE at the moment! He pulled Arsenal through to the Champions League knock-out stages with a hat-trick against Olympiacos and took this form into the league. The Frenchman has scored six goals in his last eight games and he will be pumped to help Arsenal win another big game, their next game at home to Manchester City. After the Man City game, Arsenal’s next three fixtures are; Southampton (A), Bournemouth (H) and Newcastle (H), three games against teams with very shaky defences. Only 11.8% of you have Giroud and that is a fairly small percentage compared to the likes of; Harry Kane (32%), Jamie Vardy (56.6%) and Romelu Lukaku (51.3%) meaning that Giroud can be a nice differential for you to gain points on other managers. Giroud is a solid pick that will score more and more goals in the near future.
Yannick Bolasie (Crystal Palace, Midfielder, 6.2m)
Considering all the tricks, flicks, beating defenders and whipping crosses in Bolasie does, it came to me as a shock that he’s only got one assist to his name this season. Having said that, I think Bolasie has started to pick up in both form and confidence. He’s already equalled his goal tally for last season with four goals so far and with Stoke (A), Bournemouth (A) and Swansea (H) to come, I’ve got a sneaky feeling Bolasie is going to pick up a good amount of points and for only 6.2m, this one is certainly worth it. One thing you can guarantee with Bolasie is positive and attacking football. With this comes a good chance of goals and assists, with this comes lovely points in fantasy football and with this comes you thanking me (@MellorFootball, quick plug) for telling you to bring Bolasie in! Everyone’s a winner.
OUT
Graziano Pelle (Southampton, Forward, 8.1m)
Pelle has had a good season so far, not great, just good. The Italian has scored six goals this season already but has only managed one assist in the last seven games he’s featured in for the Saints. Southampton have hit a sticky patch in their season and the fixture list isn’t too nice to them: Spurs (H), Arsenal (H) and West Ham (A) awaits the Saints and already low on confidence, will Pelle be able to score? It will be tough. With much more efficient replacements for a cheaper price available, it’s time for the 13.1% of you fantasy football managers to take Graziano Pelle out of your teams.
Bacary Sagna (Defender, Man City, 5.5m)
A big 19.7% of fantasy football managers have Sagna in their teams and this is no surprise to me – he’s been a regular due to the absence of Zabaleta, he’s cheap for a Man City defender and clean sheets are likely. Sagna’s minutes are running out as Zabaleta is expected back into regular football within the next fortnight. Not only are Sagna’s minutes running out, but so are his clean sheets as Man City face Arsenal next away at the Emirates, a clean sheet is unlikely in this one so is it time to take Sagna out now in preparation for Zabaleta’s return perhaps? It would be a smart move in my opinion. Once Sagna is out of first team football his current price of 5.5m is only going to decrease meaning you may lose his value which can hinder your chances of affording players across the pitch. Taking Sagna out now would prevent this and in my opinion, is the correct way to go about this situation!
We had a solid edition last week, but solid is never enough, we want more and that’s the aim. Hopefully this edition brings you the green arrows we love to see and in the next edition we can brag about how great we are…hopefully. See you next time and good luck!
Written by Tom Mellor
