A Week for
the Differentials
FPL
managers were left shocked, as heavy hitters such as Aguero, Lukaku, Hazard and
Sanchez were unable to record any returns while many new differentials were
uncovered by various interesting results throughout the weekend.
Furthermore,
Chelsea continued their great form in the Premier League since the application
of Conte’s brilliant 3-4-3 formation, which has seen them win 6 in a row
without conceding a single goal. West Brom had a dominant performance as they
scored 4 against Burnley. Liverpool faltered against a defensively solid
Southampton side to allow Man City to catch up with an impressive 2-1 win
against Crystal Palace and Chelsea to overtake them at the top of the Premier
League.
1. Differentials Galore
Many
players who were overshadowed by the brilliant performances of heavy hitters in
recent weeks flourished in a very underwhelming week for FPL managers. These
players could be recruited in the future if they continue this run in form
Matt
Phillips headlines these differentials. The West Brom winger has been on
immense form in the last two gameweeks providing 2 goals and 2 assists. In
GW12, he provided another goal and assist in West Brom’s 4-0 destruction of
Burnley which resulted in a 14 point haul. This run of great form is not
unfamiliar with Phillips providing 8 assists in the final 12 games in the
2014/15.
Cedric Soares is one of the greatest
differentials in FPL this season. Priced at 4.9m, he is the cheapest of all the
Southampton defence, which have been solid defensively in a season in which
clean sheets have been scarce. Cedric returned from injury in GW12 and was able
to rack up his 3rd clean sheet in his last 4 starts in the Premier
League. Cedric could be a great player to free up funds for other improvements
in FPL squads.
Sigurdsson concludes the best
differentials from GW12. Swansea haven’t been in the best form in their Premier
League history as they sit in bottom place after 12 games. However, regardless
of this terrible form, Sigurdsson has still managed to get 3 goals and 3
assists so far this season. Sigurdsson had an impressive performance in GW12
against Everton managing 1 goal and a 9-point return in an improved performance
by Swansea.
2. Chelsea continue their dominance
Chelsea are the team on hot form at
the moment. Conte has been successful with the application of the 3-4-3 as
Chelsea currently sit on top of the Premier League table after keeping their 6th
straight clean sheet. With the 1-0 win against Middlesbrough in GW12, Chelsea
put forth an unchanged starting lineup for the 5th consecutive game,
which is the first time they do so in the Premier league era. Along with that,
Conte has become the first ever Chelsea manager to win 6 consecutive games without
conceding a single goal. At the core to this success are the players who have
been in great form.
The players crucial to this recent
success are Hazard, Costa and the entire defensive players. Hazard has played a
pivotal role in the Chelsea attack, showing the form which won him the PFA
Player of the Year in the 2014-15 season. However, Hazard wasn’t able to show
the form of recent weeks as he was basically man-marked out of the game by a
sold Middlesbrough defence. Costa has been influential in the Chelsea attack so
far this season, only failing to find the back of the net in two occasions. This
was no different in GW12 as Costa continued his great run of form and found the
back of the net to win the game for Chelsea. The Chelsea defence have been
solid with Cahill, Azpilicueta and Luiz in the form of their life. Adding to
this is Marcos Alonso, the left back being utilised in Left Midfield. All of
these members of the Chelsea squad have helped establish Chelsea as a force to
be reckoned with this season.
