Granit Xhaka and Matt Doherty also worth consideration
Thursday 10 January 2019 15:54, UK
With the Premier League returning this weekend, 2016/17 Sky Sports Fantasy Football champion Dan Cox has his tips to include in your fantasy XI.
We return to Premier League action after yet another international break, with three days of fixtures to navigate our way through and grab some much-needed fantasy points.
Mo Salah will again be one of my five picks but I also have some differentials for you to consider this week...
The Egyptian scored his sixth goal of the season in Liverpool's win over Fulham, but it wasn't the avalanche of goals that many were expecting. Salah now sits on 80 points for the season and is steadily returning an admirable tally each week. With six goals, four assists and two Sky Sports Man of the Match (MOTM) awards, he's ticking over nicely.
In a considerable 46 per cent of teams, it is a huge risk not owning the Liverpool forward. If he does deliver a double-digit points haul and is the standout captaincy choice, then a lot of people will be overtaking you. It is a risk not worth taking in my opinion. Liverpool travel to Vicarage Road on Saturday and Salah will be my choice of captain for the day.
So onto the differentials, who are players that are not highly owned. What is good about a differential is that if they score highly then because they are in a relatively low amount of teams, it means that you will benefit as not many others will own them. We start with a player who surprisingly is not in as many teams as he should be...
The Spaniard is a class act who oozes quality. He picked up his third MOTM award of the season in the 3-1 win over Manchester United and is now tied at the top alongside Eden Hazard, James Maddison, Richarlison, Roberto Pereyra and Ryan Fraser, all with three apiece.
In just 7.7 per cent of teams I think he is a great pick. He is clearly a MOTM favourite and with a trip to face former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini's West Ham, I think it is a great time to bring him in. He is the third-highest point-scoring midfielder behind Hazard and team-mate Raheem Sterling with 77 points, plus he is £1.1m cheaper than Sterling and £1.3m cheaper than Hazard, so you could use that money to invest elsewhere in your team.
Having scored four times, assisted twice and with three MOTM awards he's having a great season.
Onto Sunday and the first of the two Sky Sports Super Sunday games.
Bournemouth host Arsenal in the 1.30pm kick-off at the Vitality Stadium. A player I like a lot in Sky Sports Fantasy Football is Granit Xhaka at £9.6m. With just 2.3 per cent ownership he's not a popular choice, but hear me out, because he is only 14 points behind David Silva. The Swiss international has scored twice this season and registered one assist.
But he gets the majority of his points from hitting tier two passing bonuses in most games. Jorginho is the only midfielder to have made more passes. Do not forget that those bonus passing points of three for making 70 successful passes is equivalent to a midfielder scoring a goal every other game.
Another option on Sunday comes from the second Super Sunday match of Wolves v Huddersfield at Molineux. Matt Doherty is priced at just £6.3m and is in just 6.3 per cent of teams. The marauding right wing-back has 61 points this season from four clean sheets, one goal, two assists and two MOTM awards.
I think he is a great season-long pick as he catches the eye, as shown with two MOTM awards already, plus he has the chance of attacking returns along with possible clean sheets.
Onto the Sky Sports Monday Night Football and Burnley host Newcastle at Turf Moor.
I think a popular captaincy choice will be Newcastle's Salomon Rondon priced at just £9.5m. The forward grabbed 18 points last week with his brace and MOTM against Bournemouth.
He could turn out to be a great pick, if Newcastle have turned a corner as they followed up their first win of the season with another consecutive victory. In just 0.4 per cent of teams he really is a differential, and it is not just a reaction to last weekend's haul as to why I am selecting him. In the coming weeks Newcastle face Burnley, West Ham, Everton, Wolves and Huddersfield so it is quite a favourable run of fixtures.
I'm currently 71st having made my way into the top 100 last week. I'm well above the average transfers left so I'm hoping to again finish in the top 100 after coming 30th last season and first the season before. Any Fantasy Football questions or dilemmas? Find me on twitter @Dancox82 and I'll happily answer them.
