Fantasy Football tips: Miguel Almiron & Andreas Pereira among value players
- Published
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola's post-match comments about Erling Haaland's fitness after his substitution in the Champions League draw at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday sent shivers through the Fantasy Premier League community.
The Norwegian goal god dug a lot of us out of trouble again in gameweek 13 with two goals against Brighton earning 26 points if you selected him as captain, and a fully-fit Haaland would definitely be the most popular captain in gameweek 14 with City away to Leicester.
So we will be hanging on to Guardiola's every word in his pre-match news conference this week before we decide how much of a risk it will be to start Haaland, or indeed pick him as captain.
The thing that makes it more interesting is that there are plenty of other tempting captaincy options this week.
Liverpool have a home game against Leeds. Yes, I know Mohamed Salah has failed to score against West Ham and Nottingham Forest since his winner against City, but he scored again in the Champions League this week and, if you already have him in your squad, it would be crazy not to consider it, particularly with Leeds looking so vulnerable.
Darwin Nunez could also be a good option if he has come through that Ajax game unscathed.
Tottenham are away to Bournemouth with Harry Kane failing to score only once in 11 games, while Arsenal host Forest, which means their front four of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus can come into the captaincy equation.
I can't ignore Newcastle assets either, given their superb form, so Miguel Almiron and Callum Wilson would be your best two bets for their home game against Aston Villa.
I would always recommend giving the armband to an attacking player because as soon as a goalkeeper or defender concedes then they are far more unlikely to bring you the haul you are looking for, but my good friend Chris Sutton bucked this trend successfully in gameweek 12 with his captaincy of Kieran Trippier earning him 18 points - 12 more than my skipper Leandro Trossard.
Almiron is the most popular signing in the game so far this week, having been transferred in by more than half a million managers and Newcastle facing Villa, Southampton and Chelsea in their final three games before the break for the World Cup.
He costs just £5.4m but six goals this season mean he is only three points behind Kevin de Bruyne as the highest scoring midfielder in the game - and there is absolutely no reason why that form shouldn't continue.
Fantasy football managers are turning to Newcastle's Miguel Almiron after five goals in five games
It is also a valuable reminder that a player's price tag in this game can mean nothing, with Fulham's Andreas Pereira another excellent case in point.
The Brazilian was the most popular choice as a budget midfielder at the start of the season to fill out our squads and sit on the bench, but he has consistently proven he deserves a place in our starting XIs with a goal and five assists.
Two of those assists came in the 3-2 win at Leeds on Sunday. I know I was not the only one who left his 10 points on the bench, but I didn't feel I could start him ahead of my other seven attackers - Saka, Martinelli, Phil Foden, Wilfried Zaha, Haaland, Kane and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Pereira faces Everton at Craven Cottage on Saturday, which gives me exactly the same conundrum, but I still think Zaha gets the nod as Crystal Palace's penalty-taker for the home game against Southampton.
The point I am making, though, is don't be afraid to start Pereira and don't go making unnecessary signings in midfield if he is sitting in your squad. For example, if Haaland is ruled out this week then I am more than happy for Pereira to come into my team.
Pereira is not the only player outperforming his price tag this season, and if you are in the market for a value signing for these last weeks before the World Cup then any of the following could work: Jordan Pickford, Ben White, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman, Timothy Castagne, James Justin, Conor Coady, Kurt Zouma, Diogo Dalot, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Philip Billing, Bryan Mbeumo or Odsonne Edouard. And Almiron of course.
If you have a bit more money to spend and fancy a bit of a punt on a striker, have a look at Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has played more than 70 minutes in Everton's past two games, scored in their 3-0 win against Palace and now faces Fulham, Leicester and Bournemouth.
Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the Fantasy 606 podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave.
The latest episode previewing gameweek 14 is available on the BBC Sounds app.
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