Sky Sports Football Fantasy Team of the Week: Declan Rice, David de Gea and Gabriel Jesus feature
Surprise appearances from Long and Hendrick
Tuesday 15 January 2019 10:40, UK
We take a look at the top performers from Gameweek 23 of Sky Sports Fantasy Football. Have any of your XI made the Team of the Week?
David de Gea - £8m: 17 points
David de Gea now has two successive clean sheets for Manchester United, complementing their six successive wins in all competitions. He earned a Sky Sports Man of the Match award (MOTM) for his fine performance between the sticks against Tottenham, making numerous saves from Harry Kane in particular, as he reached the tier two bonus points for saves.
Lucas Digne - £8.2m: 17 points
It was a second MOTM performance in four fixtures for Lucas Digne, who provided a sterling performance in both attack and defence. The left-back came up with an assist and kept a clean sheet for Everton, while achieving tier one bonus points for tackles. Digne now has 43 points in his last four matches, averaging just under 11 per game in that time.
Declan Rice - £6.6m: 19 points
Declan Rice scored his first goal - and the winner - for West Ham as they saw off Arsenal 1-0 at the London Stadium. Rice played in the holding midfield position, but earned valuable clean sheet points as he is a defender in the game, alongside a Sky Sports Man of the Match award to reward his fine performance. Rice was the highest scoring defender this weekend and is the second cheapest in the Team of the Week at a mere £6.6m.
Sol Bamba - £6.4m: 12 points
Sol Bamba registered double figures for the first time this season with another resolute performance at the back for Neil Warnock's side. A clean sheet was rewarded with a man-of-the-match award, another first for the season, taking his total to 77 points for the campaign.
Kurt Zouma - £7.6m: 13 points
Kurt Zouma joins team-mate Lucas Digne in the team of the week, demonstrating his largest points haul of the season thus far, earning more than half of his previous best of five. The bulk of his total came from the goal he registered, while the clean sheet complemented a good day at the office for Zouma.
Willian - £9.5m: 13 points
Willian may have netted his first goal in 11 Premier League matches, but in doing so, recorded his biggest points haul so far this campaign, bettering his total against Cardiff. A man-of-the-match performance propelled the Brazilian into the team of the week1, collecting the most points from midfield alongside Jeff Hendrick.
Pedro - £9m: 10 points
Pedro scored Chelsea's opener in their win against Newcastle and produced an impressive points return following his absences against Southampton and Crystal Palace The Spaniard reached tier one shot bonus points too, putting him in a prime position to retain his shirt as Chelsea travel to the Emirates on Saturday.
Jeff Hendrick - £7.9m: 13 points
The Burnley midfielder contributed to both goals as his side won for the third time in a row, dispatching Fulham 2-1 at Turf Moor. A man-of-the-match performance gave Hendrick his highest haul of points this campaign and is only the second time he has registered over two points.
Fabinho - £ 9.1m: 10 points
Fabinho was a key cog in the Liverpool machine as they beat Brighton 1-0 at the Amex. He achieved tier two passing bonus points and obtained a man-of-the-match award for the first time this season, giving the Brazilian his highest total in a single game this season with 10 points.
Shane Long - £8m: 10 points
Shane Long netted his first goal of the season in Southampton's away win at Leicester, an important one for the team and individual as it was the striker's first goal in 279 days. The same month last year, he ended a 325-day drought, so January must bring the Irishman luck. He rounded off his performance with an assist, collecting a third of his overall points tally from this sole game.
Gabriel Jesus - £12.1m: 17 points
Gabriel Jesus has notched seven goals in his last three outings, registering on the scoresheet in each of his last three fixtures in all competitions. His brace against Wolves was enough to see him win the Sky Sports Man of the Match award and top the striker charts for Gameweek 23.
