Diego Costa, Harry Kane or Alexis Sanchez? Replacements for Sergio Aguero in Sky Sports Fantasy Football
Wednesday 7 December 2016 09:02, UK
Our Sky Sports Fantasy Football scout looks at alternatives for Sergio Aguero as the Manchester City striker begins a four-match ban.
The striker will miss upcoming clashes with Leicester, Watford, Arsenal and Hull following his knee-high tackle on David Luiz, leaving 30 per cent of Sky Sports Fantasy Football managers considering replacements.
With Aguero rated the Premier League's most expensive striker at £13m, here's a look at the potential players who could take his place...
High flyers
Alexis Sanchez (£12.4m) - 119 points
Arsenal's star man looks the obvious pick after climbing to the top of the Sky Sports Fantasy Football scoring charts at the weekend with a stunning hat-trick.
An assist and the Sky Sports man-of-the-match award saw him rack up a whopping 27 points at the weekend, two more than Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge has picked up all season.
The Chilean, who has been utilised as a striker by Arsene Wenger, is now the league's joint top goalscorer with 11 goals, but the big question is whether he can maintain such form, having managed tallies of 13 and 16 in his previous campaigns.
Diego Costa (£12.1m) - 108 points
Costa is level with Sanchez in the goalscoring charts and is just one of four players to have passed the 100-point mark following his leveller against Manchester City on Saturday.
The Spain international also provided an assist for Chelsea's third and picked up the MOTM award, but his 15-point haul was still well short of Sanchez's tally.
Costa has been the model of consistency this season without running riot, scoring in all but four of his starts, but finding the net more than once in a game on just the single occasion at Swansea.
Super Sunday gamble
With Manchester United hosting Tottenham as part of Nissan Super Sunday this weekend, why not pick a side - or more specifically a star striker - when looking to replace Aguero...
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (12.2m) - 78 points
Spurs will be wary of Ibrahimovic's return to form ahead of Sunday's match, with the Swede scoring six goals in his last five games in all competitions.
However, that followed a run of a solitary goal in 11 appearances, with United often struggling for goals throughout the campaign.
Jose Mourinho's sixth-placed side have scored significantly less than all of the top five, while West Brom and Crystal Palace have found the net more times than United this season.
Harry Kane (£12.8m) - 68 points
Last season's Premier League top goalscorer has some ground to make up in terms of points, but is in the form to suggest it won't take him long.
Five goals in four games since returning from injury has seen his tally climb to seven for the season, while Sunday's trip to United, live on Sky Sports 1 HD, is followed by Hull and Burnley visiting White Hart Lane.
Cheaper options
Kelechi Iheanacho (£11m) - 36 points
Similar panic ensued when Aguero was handed a three-match ban for an elbow on Winston Reid, only for Iheanacho to fire City to back-to-back wins over Manchester United and Bournemouth.
The Nigerian youngster has scored in both of his Premier League starts this season and also found the net when brought on as a half-time substitute against Southampton.
Jermain Defoe (£11m) - 83 points
Sunderland's primary source of survival hope has scored more goals than any other English striker in 2016, and sits above Ibrahimovic and Kane in terms of points this season with 83 to his name.
Charlie Austin (£9.8m) - 73 points
Austin is placed seventh among strikers in fantasy football this season, with six goals helping to a strong total of 73 points despite his modest price tag of £9.8m and Southampton being the second lowest scorers in the league.
Christian Benteke (£11.2m) - 63 points
The Crystal Palace striker is 10 points worse off than Austin but boasts fine form with three goals from his last two starts ahead of a trip to strugglers Hull next weekend.
