A lengthy FPL break has now come to a close and the Premier League returns with gameweek 23 this Saturday. Injury blows and suspensions have made differentials increasingly important for GW 23 so once again I’ll be providing two under the radar picks.
JERMAIN DEFOE, £6.0M, 0.5% TSB
Defoe’s return to the Prem’ saw him face his former club, Tottenham Hotspur, on his debut for Sunderland. Despite failing to score on his debut for the first time in his career, he managed to grab an assist for Seb Larsson’s free kick. In this game and Sunderland’s clash with Fulham, Defoe proved his goal threat. Although he is yet to find the net in a Sunderland shirt it’s only a matter of time before he does exactly that and with a home fixture against a leaky Burnley defence coming up, Defoe looks like a good differential for gameweek 23. Match fitness, or a lack of it, may see Defoe fail to play 90 minutes however, that doesn’t mean that he won’t be scoring for the Black Cats. Personally I fancy him to score but the decision is all yours – he’s got my backing!
JASON PUNCHEON, £5.5M, 3.5% TSB
A wonderful display in gameweek 22 saw fellow Eagle and under the radar pick Dwight Gayle score a whopping 16 points. Likewise, Gayle’s counterpart, Jason Puncheon, bagged 12 points for any managers with him in their side. Puncheon has now scored 2 goals in 2 Premier League games and Alan Pardew’s new ‘I can score more than you’ approach means that the midfielder will be looking to attack at all opportunities. A great signing at £5.5M with a very promising run of fixtures gives me great confidence in Puncheon and a home tie against a defensively shocking Everton could result in a third Puncheon goal in 3 games. In my opinion he really is worth a shot.
So that wraps up another under the radar, good luck for gameweek 23 and as always, thanks for stopping by!
Dan
@DanRahilly
