Gameweek 10 Fantasy Premier League: One To Watch.
After a rather interesting Gameweek 9, @insiderFPL gives his pitch for three players who are currently slipping underneath the radar and may be just the ones to give your Fantasy Premier League team a leg up on the competition.Gameweek 10 One To Watch: Dimitri Payet
Dimitri Payet is undoubtedly one of the most talented players in the Premier League, he's on the 2016 Ballon d'Or shortlist, but yet he's only in 12.9% of FPL teams.
To put that in perspective, the wildly inconsistent Philippe Coutinho sits at 36.8% ownership, Raheem Sterling, whose form has simmered down quite a bit since the start of the season, has 21.1% ownership and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who hasn't scored in his last five Premier League appearances, still boasts a whopping 38.5% ownership.
The reason why Payet is being overlooked by so many fantasy managers is because West Ham have gotten off to an incredibly slow start to the season, but in recent weeks there have been signs that the Hammers are improving.
In the first three weeks since Payet has returned to action West Ham did quite well going forward with the Frenchman contributing four assists over that span, but that was largely overlooked due to the massive holes in their defense.
In the three weeks to follow, Bilic made sure to focus on building from the back, which in some respects limited Payet and West Ham's attack. Over those three games Payet was still able to score off of a wonderful solo-effort, tacked on a game winning assist and was unfortunate to see another one of his shots deflect off the crossbar.
It's not the type of production we've come to expect from the ex-Marseille man, but the 11 chances he created and his 13 successful take-ons over those matches suggest it is not entirely his fault.
The striker situation at West Ham is currently far from ideal, but one must imagine that Payet is ecstatic that Andre Ayew is nearing a return with the slight possibility of playing this weekend.
Other than the permanently injured Andy Carroll, Ayew is the only striking option on the roster that is a proven Premier League goal scorer. His imminent return will be an immediate boost for the team, as well as Payet's assist total.
It's also worth noting that Aaron Creswell's return to fitness adds a bit extra of a punch to the London side's attack. His runs up the left flank add an extra attacking option, as well as allowing Payet to cut inside more frequently and get into more dangerous positions.
West Ham are slowly but surely improving and their match against an Everton side that just conceded two goals to an Andre Gray and Steven Defour-less Burnley will be a great opportunity for Payet to kick the Hammers' attack back into gear.
Worth A Punt: Adama Traore
While Middlebrough may have only come away from Gameweek 9 with a 0-0 draw against Arsenal, they will be thrilled to know that starlet Adama Traore appears to be the real deal. Traore signed from Aston Villa during the summer transfer window, but until now has been confined to small cameos off the bench. He's done a decent job as a substitute, but he never really got enough of a chance to impose himself in a game until this weekend. Middlesbrough desperately needed to improve their attack, so after a few weeks of tinkering with different lineups, Aitor Karanka finally gave the Spanish winger his chance to impress from the right flank. The tinkering has finally paid off, at least a little bit, as Traore was noticeably the best player from either team that day. The 20-year-old used his pace and strength to break down the right wing and get in on goal twice. Had it not been for two fantastic saves by a determined Petr Cech, Traore would have had a brace and Middlesbrough would still be celebrating a huge upset win over the Gunners. Also in the match, the once Barcelona youth player used some tricky dribbling in a tight area in order to get around Hector Bellerin and send in a pinpoint perfect cross that Alvaro Negredo should've been able to at least steer on target. It was the kind of performance that should have established Traore as Boro's main attacking threat. At just £4.8 million and 0.1% ownership, the Spaniard offers a great alternative as a fourth or fifth midfielder to the much more defensive minded players Etienne Capoue (£5.2m & 41% ownership) and Joe Allen (£5.1m & 9.3% ownership).Keep An Eye On: Gylfi Sigurdsson
In a lot of ways, Gylfi Sigurdsson is the poor man's Dimitri Payet. He's by far the most talented player on a struggling team, he's capable of being both scorer and provider and he takes nearly all the set pieces including penalties, which cannot be said for Payet. Considering that Sigurdsson and Swansea haven't exactly gotten off to a flying this season, it's understandable why the Icelandic star is only featured in 3.5% of FPL teams. However, under new manager Bob Bradley there is a new hope that Siggy can get back to fantasy relevance. In Bradley's first game in charge, the midfielder was temporarily deployed as a false nine where he was able to nick the ball off an Arsenal defender and curl it into the corner of the net. New striker signing Borja Baston was later introduced into the match, and Sigurdsson dropped back into the number 10 role. In the following match Baston was able to earn a spot in the starting 11, and Sigurdsson continued to play in his favored position just behind the striker. Although the Swansea star would not leave the match with a goal or assist, he did have a very productive game. The Iceland international had three shots on target in the match and had another come crashing off the crossbar. He also sent in some great crosses off of set pieces that Baston and defender Mike van der Hoorn always looked lively to. It was a solid outing that showcased Sigurdsson's hunt for more goals, as well as showed us that he has some teammates that will be capable of putting away the chances he creates for them. It also doesn't hurt that Swansea face Stoke City next and then Manchester United at home. Considering United's midfield is a mess and Eric Bailly is out injured, Swansea has very nice looking fixtures, with the exception of Tottenham, that run all the way until gameweek 20. The new manager and easy fixtures make Sigurdsson worth considering for the weeks to come.[alert type=yellow ]Introducing Bet4theBest
Bet4theBest is a website that allows you to create a new FPL team each GW and enter it into either a £5, £10 or £20 league. The entry fees are totalled up and split between the managers who scored highest that GW. Why do we promote Bet4theBest? The Bet4theBest game is one that we feel our users will learn quickly and could profit from. The website boasts budget-free team selection, top-heavy payout structures and smaller, more competitive, contests. Read our guide to daily fantasy football and weekly Bet4theBest tips here.
[/alert]
