Spot the Differential – Gameweek 17

Our Saturday morning scour for some overlooked Fantasy alternatives brings a couple of midfielders who’ve shone in seasons gone by, plus a £30 million Argentine who is finally beginning to blossom in north London….

Gylfi Sigurdsson

In light of the fact that Bafetimbi Gomis and Eder mustered zero goals and two shots on target between them in the four matches prior to Garry Monk’s dismissal, caretaker manager Alan Curtis elected to switch things up for Swansea’s road tie against Manchester City, fielding Gylfi Sigurdsson (6.5) as a false nine attacker. Emboldened by that vote of confidence from the interim boss, the Iceland international turned out an impactful performance that portends a return to form.

Encouragingly, Sigurdsson chalked up more shots on target (four) than any midfielder last Gameweek – to put that into perspective, Gomis managed the same number of accurate attempts in his previous 10 outings. Moreover, the former Tottenham Hotspur recruit ranked joint-second for attempts (five) and shots inside the box (three), suggesting a change of manager could see him return to the form that served up 154 points in the previous campaign.

Considering how well he fared against Manuel Pellegrini’s squad, Sigurdsson will be hoping to retain the same role for Swansea’s upcoming home tie against West Ham United – furnishing us with an out-of-position prospect.

Although the Hammers have recorded back-to-back shut-outs, only Norwich City and Stoke City (both 94) have conceded more shots inside the box (90) on their travels, and they place fifth with regards to big chances surrendered (16). Furthermore, the Irons chart second for shots inside the box conceded (41) and joint-third for big chances allowed (11) over the last four Gameweeks, which suggests that Sigurdsson could punish their defence as he prepares for the first of four home fixtures in the next six.

Marouane Fellaini

Rendered a peripheral figure by Manchester United’s depth of midfield talent, Marouane Fellaini (6.2) has been afforded consecutive starts by Louis van Gaal due to a recent batch of injuries. The Belgian vindicated his manager’s decision by bagging United’s only goal over those two fixtures in last week’s 2-1 loss at Bournemouth.

Since the combative Fellaini’s number was called in Gameweek 15, no midfielder has amassed as many shots inside the box (eight) or penalty-box touches (18) – given that Man United place top for possession in the final third (70.3%) across the whole season but joint-seventh for penalty-box touches (424), this is a salient point. In addition, Fellaini ranked second for attempts (nine) and joint-second for shots on target (four) across that stretch.

Man United are winless in three matches but next face a Canaries outfit that ranks bottom for clean sheets (zero) and big chances conceded (42) this term. Further bolstering the case for the hosts’ out-of-sorts attack, Norwich place joint-top for shots inside the box conceded (94) and top for big chances conceded (24) on the road. Indeed, they’re one of only two teams (the other being Swansea) that’s failed to card a single shut-out away from home turf.

Erik Lamela

Mauricio Pochettino recently described Erik Lamela as a “more confident and a different player from two years ago”.

Such praise arrived in response to Lamela’s stunning Europa League hat-trick over Monaco earlier this month – his first for the club and the latest stepping stone in his progress towards justifying the reported £30 million paid by Spurs to AS Roma.

Clearly, Lamela still has some way to go to fulfilling that promise. Similarly, in Fantasy terms, the Argentine has only really hinted at his true potential.

The Monaco goals proved his ability to explode points, whilst his underlying statistics this season more than hint that he is in the ascendency.

Lamela is adopting more threatening positions, enjoying 2.7 touches in the penalty area this term compared to 1.9 last season. This has translated to an effort on goal every 48.5 minutes this season compared to 63.8 in 2014/15. Similarly, he is creating chances for team-mates more frequently, showing a key pass every 29.7 minutes, up from 40.4 minutes last term.

Priced at 6.8 in the FPL and part of a Spurs side that’s scored just twice in their last three outings, there will hardly be a clamour to acquire Lamela’s services in a crowded midfield arena.

However, there’s no denying his progress under Pochettino and, with the player himself showing confidence in a Spurs revival at Southampton this weekend, he could represent a worthy gamble.

Certainly Lamela and Spurs appear to arrive at St Mary’s at a good time: Ronald Foeman’s side have kept just one clean sheet in their last six home ties and, over the season, have conceded 18 big chances in home matches – only West Brom have allowed more.