With the Premier League just around the corner my colleague, Daniel Siggins, and I have decided to help you guys on your 38 week journey into the unknown world of fantasy football. Siggins has been tasked with choosing the 5 best players for fantasy. When I say five best it means that not only do they get points but they are also different picks to the usual suspects. Not RVP or Aaron Ramsey but cheaper alternatives. In turn, my task was to choose the most overrated or worst fantasy players people think are good. Fantasy footy is not about getting good players and building a team of galacticos. Not all good players get points. Defensive midfielders don’t get that many points but rookies still put them in their team because they are good on the pitch. By overrated I do not mean that they are bad but simply put there are cheaper alternatives that may get you around 10 points a week on a more consistent basis and not 20 one week and 4 the next. So here are my five most overrated players(no specific order):
Steven Gerrard(9.0)- Gerrard got 205 points last season. He scored 13 goals and provided the Liverpool strikeforce, aka SaS, with 15 assists. Now with Suarez gone his assists will most likely decrease. His age is getting to him and it has showed, especially during the World Cup and the latter part of the EPL season. Now that Liverpool have signed Emre Can and Adam Lallana and have a healthy Lucas Leiva, Gerrard’s playtime may decrease throughout the season. Furthermore, there are alternatives for the same price or cheaper that are just as good if not better, such as Aaron Ramsey, Ross Barkley, Christian Eriksen, etc.
Daniel Sturridge(11.5)- Sturridge, Suarez’ sidekick, score 22 goals last season, racked up 8 assists and a whopping total of 197 points. A very good player, but yet again Suarez gone, will Sturridge be able to become a 30+ goal scorer a season? The worst part is that Liverpool will also face three tough teams to kick off the season, with the toughest being against Manchester City at the Etihad. He also faces Southampton (a homecoming for some of his teammates) and Tottenham. His price is also far too high when you can get players like Lukaku who costs 9.0 or Diego Costa who is .5 cheaper.
Seamus Coleman(7.0)- The Everton fullback is the highest scoring defender, points-wise, from last season. He got 180 points and had a really tremendous season under new coach, Roberto Martinez. The problem with Coleman is that he is, A) The most expensive defender, B) Playing Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United within the first 7 weeks, and C) As I have said numerous times already, an expensive defender, so obviously there cheaper alternatives who are just as good. Filipe Luis from Chelsea is worth 6.0, a Chelsea defender(in FPL terms this equals a lot of clean sheet points), and a fullback as well who can combine well with Eden Hazard down the left flank and get assists. There is also Geoff Cameron from Stoke, sometimes a fullback, who costs 4.5, a bargain. Pablo Zabaleta is also a cheaper alternative to Coleman.
Eden Hazard(10.0)- All that needs to be said is that for his price(10.0), he should be more consistent. If he can be more consistent and play just as well week-in week-out then go ahead and put him in your team. If he is the same as last season, fantasy league players may as well get somebody else who can average 10 points a game all season long. Better than having somebody get you 20 points and the next game get two. Why have an inconsistent Hazard when you can have a more consistent and way cheaper Jason Puncheon or Cesc Fabregas?
Ron Vlaar(4.5)- One decent World Cup and everybody forgets just how average of a defender Ron Vlaar really is. There is a reason he plays for an average team like Aston Villa: he is an average player. Last season he got 92 points. Brad Guzan got more points than that, about 30 more! For the price of 4.5 there are alternatives such as Caulker from newly promoted QPR, Calum Chambers from Arsenal, even John O’Shea from Sunderland got more points than he did last season. Vlaar is definitely a popular choice but picking somebody else, as always, will most likely give the edge over your rivals in FPL and help you get those vital points to win your league.
*Please note these suggestions are based on fantasy.premierleague.com*
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