Fantasy Premier League Tips - Forwards

Neil Monnery
08 August 2016

Sergio Aguero is the most expensive player this year, is he worth £13m?

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Fantasy Premier League is back and Neil Monnery is here to give his advice to give you the help you need to get bragging rights amongst your friends. Today he's talking about forwards...

The Watford duo of Odion Ighalo (£7.5m) and Troy Deeney (7.0m) will get a lot of love. They formed a tremendous combination last season and there is no reason to believe they won't repeat that this time around.

The cream of the crop

Most of us will buy at least one big name striker in our fantasy teams and the best attackers are the most expensive players in the game. Sergio Aguero is £1.5m more than any other player at £13m. He has been a consistent scorer as long as he's stayed fit throughout his stint in the Premier League. With Pep Guardiola now in charge, you would expect a lot of movement and attacking flair from Manchester City. If you can afford the big money, Aguero is a slam dunk.
Next up at £11.5m is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who for my money the best pure centre forward in the world. He is big, he is strong, has all the skill in the world and will suit both the Premier League and the way Jose Mourinho likes to play. If you want to save £1.5m and go with the United man instead of the City one, I certainly couldn't blame you.
We have three more players in double digits. Harry Kane at £11m has proved himself over the course of two seasons to be a quality fantasy option. He'll get the majority of time up front for Spurs. I'm not going for him but I can't knock you if you chose to do so. Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge are both at £10m. Vardy's big question mark is that his potential new strike partner Ahmed Musa (£7.5m) looks a real player. He scored twice against Barcelona in the week. Does he take away some of Vardy's chances? As for Daniel Sturridge, you can't trust him with his injury history and I'm not sure Klopp does either.

The middle value

For the strikers I've set the bracket for value in the middle of the market at £7m-9m. I ran with Jermain Defoe (£7m) and he didn't disappoint. Getting experienced centre-forwards who score every other game or so as your #2 or #3 striker is a good option. He is priced higher than he was at the end of last season but still a solid pick.

The Watford duo of Odion Ighalo (£7.5m) and Troy Deeney (£7m) will get a lot of love. They formed a tremendous combination last season and there is no reason to believe they won't repeat that this time around. They were the fifth and sixth highest scoring striker in the 15-16 fantasy season and are priced to be bought again this time around. Picking one of these two is not a bad play.

The high risk/high reward picks

The first player to catch my eye is Divock Origi at £7m. The Belgian is clearly liked by his manager and if he gets the nod over Sturridge as the centre forward of choice at Liverpool then he's tremendous value. We are unlikely to know if he is first choice until the season start but monitor this one closely.

I have a quartet at £6.5m that I think could all have great years if things go right for them. We'll start with Loic Remy. Now this is only worth discussing if he goes to Everton as part of any Romelu Lukaku deal. If he does, I'd expect him to be the starter in a pretty good side. He would be tremendous value and a no-brainer should this proposed transfer go through.

Three other players at that price I like are Charlie Austin, Álvaro Negredo and Saido Berahino. Austin is a year removed from being a fantasy superstar. When Negredo was at Man City, he scored 23 in 48 appearances in all competitions and if Berahino gets a fresh start away from West Brom, he is well capable of scoring goals. In all likelihood you are going to have at least one striker at £6.5m or below and any of these guys have the potential to be a 15-goal man.

Who to get in on the cheap

For the strikers I've set this as anyone at £6m or below. Benik Afobe at £6m and Diafra Sakho at the same price are two I'm interested in. The Bournemouth man could form a lethal combination with Callum Wilson (£6.5m), and I like Bournemouth attackers and midfielders because of the way Eddie Howe sets up his team. I also had Matt Ritchie in last year and didn't regret it. Sahko I'm cooling on now his transfer to West Brom is on ice, but if he goes somewhere he could be one to roll the dice on.

The Chelsea conundrum

You haven't read anything about Diego Costa, Michy Batshuayi or potentially Romelu Lukaku in this column yet and I'll tell you why. I'm really not sure who Antonio Conte is going to start up front. Of course Lukaku is still with Everton as of the time of writing but is being heavily linked with a return to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea surely won't play all three so are you willing to spend big fantasy money on a player you aren't sure will start the majority of games? I'm certainly not.

Rounding-up

Most fantasy managers will buy one premium centre-forward and then try and get two players in the middle of the pack who'll exceed their early value. I'll be doing that and Zlatan will be part of the first XI for Donald Trump's Wig.

His striking partners are not set in stone yet but the likes of Afobe and Wilson at Bournemouth, Austin, Negredo, Berahino and Remy are all being considered. If Christian Benteke gets a new home then at £7.5m we know he's a proven Premier League scorer and I'll be tempted.

Players I'm running away from but haven't mentioned yet include Wayne Rooney, Olivier Giroud and Vincent Janssen. I just don't believe in Wayne Rooney any more. Giroud will get hot and have pockets of great runs but Arsenal still seem to be in the market for a new centre-forward and how much playing time will Janssen get in the Premier League unless Kane gets hurt?

I'll be back with my tips for who to stick in goal on Thursday. My fantasy tips for the midfield went live on Tuesday, my fantasy premier league defender tips went live on Wednesday.

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