There’s only a week left to use your wildcard, so you’ve no excuse not to make all of the transfers we’ve tipped for this week.
Three players to sign
Olivier Giroud
Fixture: Arsenal v Aston Villa
Price: £8.2m
Selected by: 5.9%
While Alexis Sanchez has undoubtedly been Arsenal’s best player this season and Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky have been in great form recently, Olivier Giroud’s recent performances have slipped under the radar.
The striker has scored four times in his past five games and, with Danny Welbeck just returning from injury, and Sanchez a doubt, the Frenchman is likely to start this weekend at home to Aston Villa.
Giroud is expensive, but is only selected by a relatively small amount of managers and has scored a respectable six goals in 11 appearances for the Gunners this season.
He could also prove very useful against Villa, who are likely to sit deep, by providing a focal point for Arsenal’s attacks, and bring their more creative players into the game.
An assist or a goal could be on the cards for Giroud against a side who’ve won just two of their previous 10 away games.
Patrick van Aanholt
Fixture: Sunderland v Burnley
Price: £4.2m
Selected by:1.5%
Looking for a for cheap defensive signing so you keep your funds for Sergio Aguero? Then you could a lot worse than Patrick van Aanholt. The defender is on loan from Chelsea and has just returned from injury, but will be an ever present in Sunderland’s side for the rest of the season.
He’s also only selected by 1.5 per cent of players and enters a run of fixtures where Sunderland will be hopeful of keeping clean sheets.
Three of the Black Cats next four games are at home, starting with Burnley tomorrow, and are against sides in the lower half of the table, in a poor run of form, or both.
Van Aanholt looks a decent, value for money option, for the next four games at least.
Dwight Gayle
Fixture: Crystal Palace v Everton
Price: £5m
Selected by:1.2%
Alan ‘the Messiah’ Pardew has resurrected Crystal Palace. Since taking charge of the club, Pardew has a 100 per cent record, three wins from three and more victories than his predecessor had in three months.
His reign has only begun, but the signs are promising for Palace under Pardew. The former Newcastle boss seems to have focused Wilfried Zaha, returned Jason Puncheon to form and Dwight Gayle is on fire (in the last two games at least).
Gayle has two goals and an assist since Pardew arrived, registering 24 points, and will be confident to adding to his tally this weekend. Palace host Everton, a side on the same amount of points as them, and one without an away clean sheet since September.
The game looks ideal for Pardew’s team to continue his impressive start. Everton will most likely dominate possession, which could play into Palace’s hands, who’s fast, tricky wingers could be primed to exploit the Toffee’s creaky defence.
Gayle is also a cheap option, selected by barely any players, and Palace face Leicester away and Newcastle at home in their next two fixtures. Gayle and Pardew’s purple patch could continue.
Three players to sell
Gary Cahill
Fixture: Chelsea v Manchester City
Price: £6.4m
Selected by: 13.7%
Gary Cahill has performed really well since joining Chelsea three years ago. The defender formed a solid partnership with John Terry and was an ever-present last season. However, his form has dipped recently and his place looks under threat to the player pictured alongside him below.
Kurt Zouma is only 20 but seems to have the potential to develop into a world class defender. With the visit of Manchester City, and Sergio Aguero, this weekend, Jose Mourinho could opt for the in-form Zouma over the dependable, but slightly out-of-sorts, Cahill.
Either way, Zouma is the future and this is a switch that will be made inevitably.
Stewart Downing
Fixture: Liverpool v West Ham United
Price: £6.6m
Selected by: 28.1%
Stewart Downing has been one of the Premier League’s best players this season, (there’s a sentence we never thought we’d write), and returns to Anfield looking like a player worthy of the hefty price tag Liverpool paid for him, rather than the relative flop that spent two years on Merseyside.
Downing has been excellent for West Ham, scoring five goals, registering seven assists and has become something of a creative fulcrum for the side.
But you should ditch him.
West Ham face a tricky set of upcoming fixtures, beginning with Liverpool away tomorrow, Sam Allydyce’s side then face Manchester United at home, and Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur away. Before hosting Crystal Palace, the Hammers will then play Chelsea and Arsenal.
With Downing also being selected by so many players, featuring in almost a third of all teams, take a calculated gamble and transfer the midfielder.
Ashley Williams
Fixture: Southampton v Swansea City
Price: £5.3m
Selected by:8.7
Swansea City are without Wilfried Bony, sold to Manchester City, and Gylfi Sigurdsson, suspended for the next three games and could be set to drop into the bottom half of the Premier League table. With their two best players gone, pressure on the Swans to be more defensively solid will increase.
The Welsh side have a goal difference of minus four, the twelfth best in the league, but take Bony and Sigurdsson out of the team and that figure goes down further.
Selling Ashley Williams looks a wise move. The defender is selected by 8.8% of players, Swansea haven’t kept a clean sheet in over a month and look unlikely to do so against Southampton on Sunday.
