Fantasy Premier League 2016-17: Players to pick for gameweek 21

01/11/2017

Gameweek 20 belonged to the defenders as 5 out of the 10 games had a cleansheet in the scoreline. After a brilliant end to the year, the London clubs dropped points in the new year as Chelsea's 13-match winning streak was ended by Spurs while Arsenal were held to a draw by Bournemouth at Dean Court.

Liverpool, though, were not able to capitalize on the Chelsea result as they failed to hold a lead twice at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland. Guardiola's men finally showed some resolve as they beat Burnley despite being down to ten men for more than an hour. United continued their surge with a comfortable 2-0 win against Wet Ham in the Olympic stadium coming to within a couple of points of Arsenal.

Fixtures of Gameweek 21

Tottenham Hotspur vs West Bromwich Albion

Burnley vs Southampton

Hull City vs AFC Bournemouth

Sunderland vs Stoke City

Swansea City vs Arsenal

Watford vs Middlesbrough

West Ham United vs Crystal Palace

Leicester City vs Chelsea

Everton vs Manchester City

Manchester United vs Liverpool

Picks for Gameweek 20

Forwards

1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11.6): It is impossible to drop the Swede right now as he has 11 goals in the last 11 appearances in the league to go with four assists during the same period. Still not convinced? 43.3% of the people have him in their teams so you could possibly fall down your league table pretty quickly due to the Swede's absence in your team.

2. Sergio Aguero (12.8): It Time! He has been selected by just 21.6% of the players and he just pulled off an "Aguero standard finish" against Burnley last week. I don't need to give you numbers for the Argentine because, well, it's Super Sergio.

3. Olivier Giroud (8.6): I said it last week and I will say it again - Olivier Giroud is a player who will get you the points you have been missing in the earlier part of the season. After scoring three goals in as many games during the festive season, Arsenal now have Swansea (A), Burnley (H), and Watford (H) in their next three league games. Giroud has hit a purple patch and only 4.9% of the players have capitalized on it.

Midfielders

4. Dele Alli (8.5): When talking about form, how can you leave out the Tottenham star, who has scored 7 goals in his last four league appearances for the club that included a brace against leaders Chelsea. Spurs now take on West Brom at White Hart Lane and only 16.2% of the people will be rooting for Alli during the game.

5. Alexis Sanchez(11.9): While I very rarely recommend two players from the same team, Arsenal's run of fixtures has made it an easy option to take. He even broke his three-match duck against Bournemouth last week, and with 143 points, he has the highest number of points in the league.

6. Raheem Sterling (7.7): A bright start to the season was followed by a drastic slump in form for the Englishman. However, in the last 5 games, Sterling has been directly involved in five goals for the Manchester Club and it looks like City are finally getting the bets out of the former Liverpool player now.

7. Eden Hazard (10.4): Eden Hazard had been in good nick recently but again he struggled to keep the momentum going against Spurs where he could only manage 2 points. With a first defeat in 14 games, Conte's Chelsea would want to get back to winning ways as soon as possible and the Belgian would have to get back to his very best if Chelsea want to stay at the pinnacle of the Premier League.

Defenders

8. Phil Jones (4.9): The Manchester United defender was rested for the FA Cup tie against Reading but an injury to Marcos Rojo meant that the player came back into the side. Eric Bailly's international responsibilities means that the Englishman now has an undroppable status in the Mourinho team.

9. Charlie Daniels (5.2): As a defender, Daniels has scored three goals and assisted the same number in the 18 games he has played this season. Daniels and Bournemouth have kept 6 clean sheets as well. At a price of 5.2, Daniels is a very good player to have in the team.

10. Jose Holebas (4.8): The Watford full-back has been highly inconsistent over the last couple months, but next up for them Middlesbrough at Vicarage Road. Middlesbrough have struggled to get too many goals this season and it is highly unlikely that they would be able to trouble the Londoners in Saturday's encounter.

Goalkeeper

11. Victor Valdes (4.5): While Middlesbrough's attack has been inconsistent this season, their defence has been exceptional Valdez has been at the centre of everything good that the Riverside-based team have done this season. Valdes is priced at just 4.5 and playing behind a defensive team has the ability to win some points on his own for his club.

Differentials

Cesc Fabregas (6.9): After some very good performances against Bournemouth and Stoke, Fabregas was benched for the Spurs game that ended in a defeat for Spurs. He was the difference between Chelsea and the rest when the London side looked short of ideas. Surprisingly, he has been selected by just 2.2% of the teams which turns out to be a great differential to have.

Matt Phillips (5.8): The 25-year-old Scot has earned his managers more FPL points this season than he has in previous seasons. The left winger has already assisted his teammates 8 times which is more than Christian Eriksen and Adam Lallana this season.

Chris Brunt(5.0): The West Brom player has been deployed in a number of different positions this season. However, he is listed as a defender in the game which means that he can get you a cleansheet playing as a central midfielder as well. He is also a favorite to take freekicks at certain angles outside the box.