Fantasy Premier League 2016-17: Players to pick for gameweek 22

01/19/2017

Gameweek 21 belonged to Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea who put up comprehensive wins to maintain the lead over the rest of the chasing pack. FPL managers benefited from the presence of Harry Kane (17) and Marcus Alonso (21) in their teams along with West Ham's Mr. Reliable, Michail Antonio (15).

Liverpool, though, were not able to keep the pressure on the top two as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. That left the door open for Arsenal who are now just one point behind the Merseyside team thanks to their 4-0 win over Swansea City. Manchester City, on the other hand, were thrashed 4-0 at Goodison Park which resulted in them falling out of the top four for the first time under Pep Guardiola.

Fixtures of Gameweek 22

Liverpool vs Swansea City

AFC Bournemouth vs Watford

Crystal Palace vs Everton

Middlesbrough vs West Ham United

Stoke City vs Manchester United

West Bromwich Albion vs Sunderland

Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

Southampton vs Leicester City

Arsenal vs Burnley

Chelsea vs Hull City

Picks for Gameweek 22

Strikers

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11.6): The Eric Cantona comparisons don't look so silly now, do they? Ibrahimovic is the joint top-scorer in the league alongside Costa and has scored 10 goals in his last 10 league appearances. For a man who has hit the purple patch of his Manchester United career, Ibrahimovic is simply undroppable right now.

Olivier Giroud (8.7): Arsenal's easy run of fixtures is almost over, and it was the Frenchman who made sure they picked up maximum points with four goals in as many matches. In the last week itself, Giroud has been picked by almost half-a-million players. Do you really want to miss out on his points?

Diego Costa (10.3): After the blitz midway through the first half of the season, Costa has slowed down coming into the new year. His confrontation with Antonio Conte didn't help as he found himself at home for the Leicester game. However, his talent cannot be doubted and his return to training suggests he will feature against Hull at the Bridge with a point to prove.

Midfielders

Philippe Coutinho(8.3): He is back!! Is there anyone who doesn't like the little Brazilian? He was instrumental in Liverpool's early season form and on his return to the starting line-up created the only goal that took his side through to the next round of the FA Cup. Against a weak Swansea defense, Coutinho has the talent to wreak havoc and earn you some easy points.

Alexis Sanchez(11.9): You cannot be surprised to see his name here. His goal against Swansea took him past 150 points for the season in just 21 games. How he is still in just 37% teams is beyond me. In his last 9 games, he has had an assist or goal in 8. Sanchez appears to be the only player who has done his price tag of 11.9 justice.

Dele Alli(8.7): The 20-year-old has a knack of turning up for the big games. Be it inflicting a first league defeat to Pep Guardiola in England or ending Chelsea's 13 game-winning streak, Alli has been at the forefront every time Spurs have faced a big team. So with City next and a grand total of 121 points, he is a good player to have in the team.

Kevin Mirallas(6.0): Everton's positive results have coincided with Kevin Mirallas' return to form. The Belgian has two assists and two goals in his last four games and looks to be in very good touch at the moment. Selected by just 2.3% of the players he could prove to be a good differential considering that Everton face a struggling Crystal Palace next.

Defenders

Gareth McAuley(4.9): West Brom take on strugglers Sunderland at the Hawthorns and are heavy favorites to win the match. The Baggies have been in good form recently and McAuley has already scored four goals this season having scored the same number in the last three seasons combined. Managed by Tony Pulis, McAuley is always a favorite to get you a clean sheet.

Marcos Alonso (6.6): Alonso tops the total score for defenders in this season's league with 104 points. Alonso has three goals and three assists to go with 11 clean sheets. His price might put you off but the returns are certainly worth the risk. Chelsea take on Hull City at Stamford Bridge and it looks highly unlikely that the Tigers could trouble the league leaders.

Ragnar Klavan (4.6): With the ongoing FIFA controversy surrounding Joel Matip, Klavan might get a few more games before the Cameroon defender makes a comeback to the team. Playing Swansea could not have come at a better time for the reds as they get ready to take on the Swans at Anfield.

Goalkeeper

Victor Valdes (4.6): For a price of just 4.6, Valdes is an excellent buy considering the fact that Middlesbrough play a defensive style of football. The three-time Champions League winner provided 10 points last week and appears to have finally adjusted to life in England. Middlesbrough take on West Ham, who are struggling with internal problems cue Dmitri Payet, in their match and a clean sheet looks to be on the cards.

Differentials

Ben Mee (4.6): Burnley are third on the home table having conceded just 11 goals in 12 matches. This has been down to the efforts of Ben Mee, Tom Heaton, and Michael Keane. Mee has scored one goal and provided a couple of assists which is a very good return for a central defender.

Junior Stanislas (5.2): The Englishman has scored one and assisted two more in the three starts since his return from injury. Everything that Bournemouth do right goes through Stanislas. He has been selected by just 3.2% of the players, so having him might get you some points over your friends.

Christian Benteke (7.4): The former Liverpool striker has had an on-off season so far. Although he has scored eight goals this season, he is on a horrible dry spell that now spans six games. The absence of Wilfried Zaha means that the offensive responsibility now falls on the shoulders of the Belgian with Everton, Bournemouth, and Sunderland in the coming weeks.