Fantasy Football Tipster: Gameweek 29

Match Week 28 Round-up

Luis Suarez managed to end a run of two straight match week high ratings from Gareth Bale with a WhoScored perfect 10 of his own – the 4th of the season for the Uruguayan – netting a hat-trick against Wigan. A trio from United’s Shinji Kagawa and starring role in the same game from Wayne Rooney earned them the second and third highest ratings respectively last weekend, with Marouane Fellaini the only other player to register over a 9.

Impressively, Kagawa and Suarez only needed 3 and 4 shots respectively to secure their hat-tricks, with Rooney and Oscar having the most efforts at goal in match week 28, with 7 apiece. Meanwhile, David Silva’s tally of 7 key passes was the highest in that category for the second week running, ahead of Rooney, who again ranks highly, Pienaar and Cabaye (all 5).

In terms of successful dribbles Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere tried his best to force the issue in the North London derby, with a week high of 7, but his side fell short on the day, while last week’s leader here Sessegnon ranked second, with 6. Defensively, Morgan Schneiderlin made the most tackles (9) and interceptions (10) of any player last time out, despite his side going down to bottom club QPR.

Ahead of an odd week in fantasy football terms, we do our best to pick a team from just 6 league fixtures this weekend, and with a number of top sides not in action there are some bargain buys to be had.

Match Week 29 Suggested XI

Ben Foster

The West Brom keeper is a man in top form and only Julio Cesar has made more saves since the turn of the year than Foster's 36. He's made half of those stops (18) in his last 3 matches, including a penalty save at Liverpool, and though he may be forced into a few more when Swansea visit the Hawthorns the chances of keeping a clean sheet may be high.

Gareth McAuley

The fact that we've chosen two of the Baggies rear guard may seem like a risk but only 3 sides have a better defensive record at home than WBA, conceding just 13. Meanwhile, Swansea have only scored in one of their last 7 league away games and have drawn a blank on 9 occasions on the road - the most in the Premier League - and McAuley is Clarke's most reliable defender.

Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

Newcastle picked up an impressive result in Russia on Thursday and new signing Yanga-Mbiwa was excellent. We're tipping the Frenchman to inspire another clean sheet when Stoke visit as the Potters have only scored 1 goal in their last 6 league away games. Pulis' side have also picked up the fewest points in 2013 (4).

Clint Hill

Harry Redknapp's team will be in buoyant mood after winning only their third game of the season against Southampton last time out. They have another great opportunity to pick up points when they host Sunderland and have kept clean sheets in 3 of their last 4 home games, including matches against City and Tottenham, with Hill an unsung hero.

Robert Snodgrass

The Scot has failed to net in his last 10 games, but will be desperate to get back on the scoresheet against Southampton. The Saints are weak at defending set pieces and attacks down the wing according to their team characteristics at WhoScored. Not only did Snodgrass score in the 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture, but also just 6 players have created more chances from set pieces (19).

Gaston Ramirez

With the match forecast suggesting that Southampton will score through a piece of individual skill at Norwich there were a few players to choose from. We've gone for Ramirez, who has 4 goals and 3 assists, as he has the most key passes and dribbles per game combined of any Saints player (2.4), as well as recording the most through balls per game (0.4).

Yohan Cabaye

Joining the Uruguayan in the midfield is Newcastle's stand-in skipper and we've again looked to the WhoScored match forecast to aid our decision. The home side are tipped to score a long shot against Stoke and only 9 players have had more shots from outside the box this season than Cabaye (23), with only 7 having scored more than the Frenchman from distance (2).

Gareth Bale

It continues to be impossible to leave out the flying Welshman who struck again as Spurs wiped Inter aside in the Europa League. Andre Villas-Boas' side may face a tough trip to Anfield but in Bale they have a player who has scored 10 goals in his last 9 league games and netted when the two sides met earlier in the season, despite also scoring an unfortunate own goal in that game.

Andreas Weimann

Paul Lambert's young Villa side have shown encouraging signs in narrow defeats to Arsenal and City of late and will fancy their chances in a crucial battle at Reading. The visitors are tipped to score from a fast break situation and only 4 players have netted more goals on the counter than young Austrian Andi Weimann's two this season, which includes his strike at the Emirates last month.

Adam Le Fondre

If Villa were to take the lead at the Madjeski it should come as no surprise to see the match forecast highlight the likelihood of a Reading comeback. The Midlands outfit have conceded 70% of their goals after half time this season and no player has scored more goals in the final 20 minutes of matches this season than Le Fondre (7), with 9 of his 10 goals coming in the second half of games.

Romelu Lukaku

With only 6 games this weekend it's unlikely that a team wouldn't be represented by more than one player, but three from West Brom may seem excessive. Nevertheless the returning Romelu Lukaku bagged WBA's only goal in the reverse fixture this season and has 6 in his last 7 games. Indeed, only Suarez (8) and Bale (7) have scored more goals in the league in 2013.