If you haven’t already, go check out our Differentials XI – Game week 1 draft, in which we set out a draft squad which can be seen below:
Changes:
Coutinho (OUT) > Cazorla (IN)
Jones (OUT) > van Aanholt (IN)
Coloccini (OUT) > Gibbs (IN)
Walker (OUT) > Chester (IN)
Wickham (OUT) > Adebayor (IN)
Starting XI: Green (2.0%), Johnson (2.0%), van Aanholt (1.0%), Gibbs (3.3%), Cazorla (3.5%), Arnautovic (2.5%), Snodgrass (2.3%), Lamela (2.5%), Zarate (1.0%), Pellè (2.8%), Adebayor (2.9%)
Bench: Foster (4.5%), Chester (0.8%), Tadic (1.7%), Trippier (2.0%)
So we have made a few changes to the squad over the past week (we couldn’t help but to tinker). Firstly, after Coutinho bagged himself a goal and an assist against Borussia Dortmund, his ownership shot to way over 5% that day and therefore we were forced to remove him from the team. His replacement is Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard has clocked up over 330 points over the last 2 seasons. Last season was arguably not as good as his previous but he is integral to working the ball around midfield.
As Luke Shaw has picked up an injury and has been ruled out for the next month, Phil Jones’ ownership rose to 6.2%, ruling him out of our differentials squad. His replacement is Patrick van Aanholt. The player was on loan at Vitesse for a period of last season, playing 29 games and scoring 4 goals. He has rarely had the chance to perform at his previous club Chelsea, who sold him to the Black Cats this summer, but they obviously saw potential in him and he may be a surprise player for FPL managers brave enough to include him.
The second change we made was to bring Gibbs in for Coloccini. This change was mainly due to the fact that we believe Arsenal will be more solid at the back and keep more clean sheets than Newcastle. Also, the Englishman’s attacking presence could be seen in the Community Shield as he pushed high up the left wing, which could possibly result in the odd assist or even goal.
James Chester is the third addition and has been brought in for Kyle Walker. The Spurs defender has been sidelined for the start of the season and England’s opening Euro 2016 qualifiers as he has not fully recovered from a pelvic injury.
The final change in player is the removal of Connor Wickham, and to replace him we have chosen Emmanuel Adebayor. During pre-season, Adebayor has bagged himself two goals against Schalke and Celtic, and we back him to hit the net this season too. At just 2.9% ownership, he could turn out to be a cracking differential.
The final change in the team is forced upon us as Coutinho was removed, which means that we need a new captain. We have gone with a real differential here and have gambled with Arnautovic, as he showed some real potential last season for Stoke, scoring 4 and assisting 10. This season with new signings such as Bojan, the Austrian may be able to pick up some more points along with some of those elusive bonus points.
