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 GW18, sit back and take their advice on board…
The club's fans and Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers very much missed Aston Villa in Gameweek 20, with many choosing to bench their Villa assets in order to bring them straight back in for Gameweek 21.
One of the biggest talking points in FPL right now is wondering how to make the most of your transfers. Targeting teams and players who have games to be rescheduled is high on managers’ agendas. Villa had found excellent form since the appointment of Steven Gerrard as manager and having two additional games in hand will make their assets increasingly attractive.
With the top four playing each other and Leicester City’s match against Norwich City postponed, many of the game’s premium forwards will be high on the sales list for FPL managers. Jamie Vardy (£10.4m) and Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.5m) currently top the sales chart with over 134,000 transfers out between them ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
So far, Ollie Watkins (£7.8m) has attracted over 43,000 new managers ahead of the next Gameweek, on the back of a goal and an assist in his last two Premier League fixtures. Between Gameweeks 17 and 19, Watkins registered seven shots - only Harry Kane (£12.1m) registered more in that period.
Watkins also made 102 touches, with 77 of those in the opposition’s half and 52 in the final third. There were only two forwards in the game to register more touches in that period and they - Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette (£8.4m) and Newcastle United’s Joelinton (£5.8m) - have played 269 and 270 minutes respectively in comparison to Watkins’ 180.
Likewise, Watkins is only beaten by Lacazette and Joelinton for passes received, despite the lack of minutes. Of the regularly playing forwards, he also receives a pass the most often, getting one every 2.5 minutes, meaning that he is more likely to have opportunities for goal involvement and get on the bonus points system. These are all things that are important to FPL managers and make Watkins an attractive buy.
