The Premier League week began on Tuesday and ended on Wednesday this week, which was a welcome change to the usual format. It seemed to catch a number of teams off guard with scoring down for the most part with the exception of Manchester City’s lopsided win with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United combining for two goals in draws while Arsenal suffered a surprising 2-1 loss to Watford. Here is a look at the top individual EPL fantasy performances by position from this past week.
GK: Tom Heaton, Burnley
Heaton was one of three goalkeepers that registered a clean sheet win this past week but his five saves were the most of the group and that was the difference as he earned top EPL fantasy honors at his position. Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessey and Manchester City’s Willy Caballero earned clean sheet wins but neither came close to matching Heaton’s save total in a 1-0 win over Leicester City.
Burnley has had an average season by most counts and is now in 10th place in the EPL standings. They have compiled 29 points through 23 games so far this season while allowing 33 goals in that span. They’re not usually a team we look to for EPL fantasy purposes.
Honorable Mention: Wayne Hennessey, Crystal Palace; Willy Caballero, Manchester City
D: Scott Dann, Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace picked up a 2-0 win over Bournemouth thanks in large part to a strong effort from Dann at both ends of the pitch. The veteran defender opened the scoring in the 46th minute with the goal that stood as the game-winning marker and then earned a clean sheet bonus in part because of his strong defensive play to help secure three points. It’s not often that Crystal Palace makes its way into our EPL fantasy articles. They are still in the relegation zone as they have 19 points so far this season, which is the third-fewest in the EPL. The main issue is their offense, which has scored just 14 goals in 23 games this season.
Honorable Mention: Michael Keane, Burnley; David Luiz, Chelsea; Damien Delaney, Crystal Palace
M: Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea
Swansea earned an important three points with a 2-1 win over Southampton thanks in large part to a strong performance from Sigurdsson. The veteran midfielder registered a goal, an assist and six shots in total and received a bonus for scoring the game-winning goal.
M: Georginio Wijnaldum, Liverpool
Wijnaldum delivered the lone goal for Liverpool in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea as they managed to hang on for an important point in the most highly anticipated match of the week. David Luiz opened the scoring for the Blues in the 24th minute and it was Wijnaldum that played hero for Liverpool with the tying goal in the 57th minute to help them earn the draw. As per usual, Liverpool finds its way into our EPL fantasy recap due to another good offensive showing – at least for Wijnaldrum. They have scored 52 goals so far this season, which is the most in the EPL.
Honorable Mention: David Silva, Manchester City; Alex Iwobi, Arsenal; Raheem Sterling, Manchester City
F: Gabriel Jesus, Manchester City
Jesus made his mark for City with a goal and an assist with two shots in a 4-0 win over West Ham United. Jesus helped open the scoring with an assist on Kevin De Bruyne’s opening goal and then scored a goal of his own in the 39th minute to put the match well out of reach. It was an incredible performance for City’s newest addition to the lineup and something they have to hope he can build on moving forward.
F: Peter Crouch, Stoke City
Crouch got Stoke City on the board with a goal in the seventh minute and it would have stood as the game-winning marker if it wasn’t for an own goal by Ryan Shawcross that cost them an important two points in the standings. Crouch finished the game with a goal and five shots in total, which was enough to earn the second spot on this EPL fantasy list.
Honorable Mention: Troy Deeney, Watford; Alvaro Negredo, Middlesbrough; Shane Long, Southampton
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