MyFPL is a series where we will go through our thought process before every FPL Gameweek in the 2019/2020 season.
2018/19 Overall Ranking: 16 658
Current Overall Points: 179
Current Overall Ranking: 637,066?
Last Gameweek Points: 49
A third so-so week in a row has me a little worried, my knee is jerking ever so slightly and I’m starting to be more and more afraid of missing out on some of the bandwagons the rest of the FPL community are enjoying. Getting Sterling is way too hard to do without dropping Salah, so I’ll have to settle for Aguero who is a sure starter against Brighton at home. Should be a nice little differential captain.
The other guy I brought in (for a -4 hit) is the leading FPL scorer so far, Teemu Pukki. I’m too late for the Pukki Party, but I figured if I brought some FPL analysis I’d be granted entry. The thing is though.. I’m not so sure how long the party is going to last. Sure, he’ll score against West Ham, no doubt about it, but Man City? Defensively minded Burnley and Crystal Palace away? I’m not so sure. Maybe I got sucked into a bandwagon out of pure FOMO and didn’t have anyone to tell me that I’m too late to jump on it.
So that’s what I figure I will write about this week. Judging which current and potential bandwagons you should jump on, which you should stay away from and which ones you should abandon. I’ll rate each player out of 5.
? ? ? ? ?
One bandwagon means that you should totally avoid or even jump off, three means you should keep the player if you are already on, but no reason to jump on, while 5 means that you should do everything in your power to get on the bandwagon as quickly as possible.
Teemu Pukki (Norwich) – whu, MCI, bur, cry, AVL
His underlying stats are good, his points production is off the charts and he scored against two of the presumed top 6 teams. What’s not to like? Mainly his fixtures, being unproven away in the PL and that he hasn’t yet met any good defensively minded teams, but rather free scoring ones. The goal against Liverpool away looks impressive, but they haven’t been able to keep a clean sheet so far (much to my dismay as a double Liverpool def owner).
His next 5 fixtures are bookended with good fixtures however, against West Ham away and Aston Villa at home, so there is absolutely no reason to jump off the bandwagon if you are one of the many who already jumped on it. Just don’t panic if he ends up blanking in the three matches in the middle.
Pukki Bandwagon Party rating:
? ? ? ? out of 5 bandwagons
Oleksandr Zinchenko (Man City) – BHA, nor, WAT, eve, WOL
I feel like Zinchenko owners should feel hard done by getting only one clean sheet so far and very little to show for having a nailed Man City defender for £5.5. That’s not gonna last for long. Not because he will rise in price with everyone jumping on the bandwagon, but because he’ll fall victim to Pep’s dreaded wheel of rotation with Benjamin Mendy coming back and João Cancelo getting more and more acquainted with the squad.
Still, all hope is not lost and neither is Zinchenko’s starting spot. The next fixture against Brighton and his many crosses against Bournemouth are encouraging however, so while you should be preparing an escape plan away from Zinchenko, you might get a parting gift right before the international break.
Zinchenko Bandwagon Rating:
? ? out of 5 bandwagons
Sebastien Haller (West Ham) – NOR, avl, MUN, bou, CRY
Haller showed a bit of his class in West Ham’s 3-1 away victory over Watford with 2 goals and made his case for a good old FPL bandwagon. West Ham might be God awful defensively, but that means they need to score even more goals, which bodes well for Haller and a bevy of good midfield options. I’ll only rate the Haller bandwagon here, but if midfield is where you need to strengthen (perhaps for Martial) both Lanzini and Felipe Anderson are great options, while Yarmolenko also could get more starts with Antonio out injured for a while.
Anyway, back to Haller, he should link up really well with the aforementioned midfielders. He hasn’t been able to show his assist prowess yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Haller serves as this season’s Jimenez, with a constant stream of goals and assists. Either way, the most tasty fixture for a striker, at home to Norwich awaits, so jump on the bandwagon as soon as you can. I was sadly £0.1 away 🙁
Haller Bandwagon Rating:
? ? ? ? out of 5 bandwagons
Mason Mount (Chelsea) – SHU, wol, LIV, BHA, sou
Mount looks like an integral part of Frank Lampard’s team once again and he has had a very promising start to the season with goals and bonus against Leicester and Norwich. A seemingly nailed Chelsea midfielder on set pieces for only £6.2, are we dreaming?
As with any Chelsea asset however, I’m a bit weary of jumping on the bandwagon just yet. We’re still not 100% sure how Lampard likes to play and the next couple games don’t exactly scream goals and assists either. Sheffield United are as solid as they come in terms of new boys, Wolverhampton have been hard to break down and Liverpool likely have Alisson back at that point. I’d hold for the next 3 weeks, but if you have Mount already, obviously keep him.
Mount Bandwagon Rating:
? ? ? out of 5 bandwagons
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) – bur, NEW, che, shu, LEI
Most people have been selling their Liverpool defenders, especially those who picked Andrew Robertson to start the season. He even dropped in price down to £6.9 this week, which is anything but nice for current owners and holders. TAA has been the more productive player so far with two assists and has started in their last 14 league matches, squashing the notion that he’s a huge rotation risk. Even when he’s benched, it’s usually in favour of Joe Gomez against other top 6 teams where defensive and offensive output is less likely anyway.
Burnley always score against Liverpool, but there’s a first time for anything. More spectacular things have happened. If you are already a Robertson owner who has kept faith, it might be pointless to switch in TAA instead, but if you plan on wildcarding in the near future like many are, Alexander-Arnold is the Liverpool defender to own and you better get him quick, as his positive fixture run ends quickly. He’s a season keeper for me.
Alexander-Arnold Bandwagon Rating:
? ? ? ? out of 5 bandwagons
Ashley Barnes (Burnley) – LIV, bha, NOR, avl, EVE
Did you know that only Sadio Mané and Sergio Aguero have scored more goals in the Premier League in 2019 than Ashley Barnes? Of course you do, because every week he keeps scoring that fact is brought up on FPL Twitter. Still, matching Raheem Sterling with 13 goals, 27 shots on target and 54 shots total for a soon to be £6.7 forward is fantastic value.
Some will be put off by his first match against Liverpool, but many tip him to be the one who keeps Burnley’s goalscoring streak against the European Champions going. It might as well be Chris Wood or no one however, as Barnes can’t keep being Burnley’s lone goalscorer at the striker position. He’s had a magical run in 2019, but I just can’t see it continuing for that long.
Barnes Bandwagon Rating:
? ? out of 5 bandwagons
Sergio Aguero (Man City) – BHA, nor, WAT, eve, WOL
Remember who had more goals than Ashley Barnes in 2019. Yup. Do you know who’s guaranteed to start against Brighton at home in the injury absence of Gabriel Jesus. Yup. Same guy. Sergio “Kun” Aguero. Many thought he was about to lose his place under Pep Guardiola, but on the contrary he has been getting more and more playing time as he’s acclimated to Guardiola’s football philosophy. He’s about to overtake Thierry Henry in Premier League goals and with a higher goals per game ratio than anyone at this level in the Premier League.
Aguero is here to stay and he should be on your Fantasy team as well. Possibly even along with Sterling if you have him. City’s upcoming gameweeks are looking really tasty and you should look to get as many bites of the apple as possible. City have favourable fixtures until GW12, so stock up on as much firepower as you can, regardless of cost.
Aguero Bandwagon Rating:
? ? ? ? ?out of 5 bandwagons
BONUS: 3 Potential Bandwagons:
The thing about bandwagons is that they only tend to start after a points haul. So why not be ahead of the game and jump on a bandwagon before it has even started. Here are three potential ones:
Moise Kean (Everton) – WOL, bou, SHU, MCI, bur
Offensive Everton assets have mostly been dropped so far. I sure did with Richarlison last week and I don’t regret it, while many a Gylfi Sigurdsson owner have been thinking the same thing. With the amount of firepower the Merseyside blues have, this trend of barely scoring goals should not continue and while Richarlison or Gylfi might be the main beneficiaries of that, there are cheaper and possibly just as good alternatives.
Alew Iwobi is only £5.9, which is really good for an Everton winger and he has looked very lively when given the chance so far. Moise Kean has looked even more lively however, and once Everton finally dumps Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the bench where he belongs, expect Kean to start banging in goals. I expect him to start any gameweek now and while his 5 next fixtures are not ideal, he has good fixtures all the way until Gameweek 13. Pay attention to this beast.
Kean Bandwagon Rating:
? ? ? out of 5 bandwagons
Harry Wilson (Bournemouth) – lei, EVE, sou, WHU, ars
Let his perfect free kick against Man City last weekend be a warning shot. You don’t wanna miss out on this £6.0 wonderkid with the magical left foot. He has two slightly difficult fixtures coming up, but from GW6 to about 12-13 he should provide some more goals and assists. Ryan Fraser has been awfully disappointing so far and he might lose all set piece duties to this man.
Many people brought in King or namesake Callum Wilson, who is now referred to as his full name, but like me, you’ve been forced to drop them for some of the forward bandwagons mentioned in this article. Fraser as mentioned has been disappointing and Brooks is still a month+ away, so if you feel like taking advantage of Bounemouth’s good fixture run (GW6-12), Harry Wilson is your guy.
H. Wilson Bandwagon Rating:
? ? ? ? out of 5 bandwagons
Emerson (Chelsea) – SHU, wol, LIV, BHA, sou
The underlying stats machine. No goals, assists or clean sheets yet, but they will be coming sooner rather than later for Emerson, maybe even this coming Gameweek. I’d wait on getting Mount because of fixtures, but that’s because they face defensive teams. Emerson could quite easily get a clean sheet against Sheffield United and bonus could also be in reach if it’s a low scoring game as expected.
Personally I’m waiting to jump on him until he’s done with Liverpool as I had bigger needs this Gameweek, but I’m afraid of missing out on double digits hauls. He’s one of many good £5.5 defender options and could easily replace one of your Liverpool assets. He likely replaces van Dijk for me soon enough.
Emerson Bandwagon Rating: