Season so far: best outfield assets
There are only eight Gameweeks left in the 2021/22 season. This international break is therefore the perfect moment to assess the stats, pull apart the players form and ensure the best FPL picks for the run in. Using the Fantasy Football Scout members area we assess the best outfield assets for the remaining weeks of the season.
Mo Salah’s 222 FPL points this season see him way above every other FPL asset in the game. Indeed he is currently the only player to have amassed over 200 points this season. It should also be remembered that Salah has reached this feet having missed two Gameweeks taking part in the African Cup of Nations. However, there have been plenty of other excellent options this season.
FPL returns
Salah is top for FPL returns this season with 31. He is followed closely by team maters Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson who have 29 and 25 respectively. 13 of Alexander-Arnolds returns this season are attacking ones with 16 coming from clean sheets. Robertson has 12 attacking returns and 13 clean sheets.
Four of the top seven players for returns so far this season are defenders. The other three are midfielders. Harry Kane is the top forward for returns this season and he is tenth, followed by Antonio in eleventh.
However, when we look at the same stats for the late six Gameweeks the situation is markedly different. Kane leads the way with 11 returns in the last six weeks. With Aston Villa’s Matt Cash and Liverpool’s Robertson in second with eight returns each. Four of Cash’s returns are from attacking play, whilst three of Robertsons come from attack.
Spurs assets also make up four of the top six for returns in the last six Gameweeks. With good fixtures on the horizon for Spurs as well as full focus on the League their players could make good investments.
Chances created
Over the course of the season so far Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold has created more chances than any other outfield player. His 77 chances is one more than midfielder Bruno Fernandes, and 20 more than third played James Ward-Prowse.
Of Alexander-Arnold’s chances created, 16 of them have been classified as big chances, again the most in the league above Fernandes with 15 and Salah who has 14.
As with the FPL returns however this table looks very different when sorted by the last six Gameweeks as opposed to over the whole season. Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min has created 19 chances for his teammates in the last six Gameweeks, three more than Ward-Prowse and four more than Alexander-Arnold. However, Son has made more appearances than both of those assets in the same time period.
Kane and Tottenham’s new signing Dejan Kulusevski are both also in the top eight for chances created. They have each created 14 opportunities for their teammates in the last six Gameweeks.
Expected Goal Involvement
Salah is top for expected goal involvement (xGI) over the course of the season. This means that he is expected to have been involved in more goals than any other outfield player this season. The top sic for xGI stats for the season are made up of five of the most expensive assets in the game, as well as Diogo Jota in the mid price bracket. These stat suggest that it is worth budgeting for the premium options.
This is also true in the last six Gameweeks with the same five premium assets remaining in the top six for xGI. However, Kane is now above Sadio Mane for xGI and Son has moved above Ronaldo. Jota has dropped out of the top six, mostly as he has only played in three of the last six matches and in that time has played just 106 minutes.
Shots
Over the course of the season so far Salah is top for shots with 115. Of these 92 have come from inside the box and 34 have been classed as big chances. Kane is second for shots with 94, significantly less than the Egyptian. Of Kane’s 94 shots 59 have come from inside the box and 26 have been classed as big chances.
In the last six Gameweeks Kane and Salah are tied top with 31, however Kane has played significantly more minutes. Southampton’s Stuart Armstrong is tied third with Cristiano Ronaldo and Bukayo Saka with 21 shots.
Overall
Across the season as a whole Salah’s numbers are far superior to any other player in the game. However, over the last six Gameweek’s the Spurs players in particular have had a resurgence. Most of the players leading in each area are premium options and this therefore suggests that investing in the right premiums for the run in will be key. With Kane’s stats so positive in the last six Gameweeks investing money in a premium forward now seems a sensible strategy. With the premium defenders also high in the charts for returns and chances created managers will need to pick budget enablers carefully to maximise their premium options.
Community Chatter
Whilst Salah appears to be an important pick for the rest of the season he is on injury watch for many FPL managers. Salah missed Liverpool’s FA Cup win over Nottingham Forrest at the weekend and Karam has been searching for him in Egypts training photos. If Salah isn’t fit for Gameweek 31 it could make for some interesting decisions for FPL managers.
Likewise with Alexander-Arnold injured heading into the international break he was the most transferred out player on Tuesday. If fit for Gameweek 31 the underlying stats suggest managers may regret this.
