Aston Villa are once again teaming up with the No.1 independent fantasy football site in 2021/22.
Fantasy Football Scout will be providing regular reports packed with hints and tips to help you, hopefully, move into the top tier of fantasy football management.
If you need some guidance ahead of GW16, sit back and take their advice on board…
When Steven Gerrard first took over as Aston Villa manager, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers around the world were hoping for a new manager bounce.
Over the first four Premier League matches that Gerrard has overseen, the Villans have picked up nine points from three victories, exactly the sort of bounce we were hoping for.
A key area for FPL managers to target is the defence.
During the 2020/21 season, a Villa defensive double-up was a popular strategy with many managers opting for Emi Martinez (£5.5m) in goal and one of the defenders.
The arrival of Gerrard, known for his defence solidity at Rangers, means that this is a strategy that FPL managers could now revisit.
Ezri Konsa (£4.9m) was the highest scoring player across Gameweek 15, registering 17 points for his two goals and three bonuses.
Konsa has played every minute since Gerrard’s arrival, registering an impressive 25 points.
In the Premier League’s ICT Index - which ranks players based on their influence, creativity and threat stats - Konsa sits ninth for defenders for threat, suggesting that he is a great option for attacking returns.
As a result of the weekends action, he is the defender with the most goals over the last four Gameweeks. Those two goals have come from six penalty area touches.
He also ranks third amongst defenders in the game for expected goals (xG) over this time.
As Konsa’s heat map shows, he has the ability to return points at both ends of the pitch and therefore could be a fantastic differential for FPL managers at just 0.6% ownership.
