Daily Fantasy Gameweek 24 must-haves and must-nots

Gameweek 24 is upon us just a few days after Gameweek 23’s doors slammed shut and we are treated to an extended fixture list this Saturday of 8 games. The biggest match of the weekend is undoubtedly the lunchtime kick off between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge but there are some key battles to be had in other fixtures which you should consider when picking your fantasy teams.

Join the brand new ‘Yahoo Cup’ here – a new 10-week long Fantasy competition. It’s free to join and there is more than £25,000 available in prizes, with £1500 up for grabs each week and £10,000 given to the cumulative winners.

[Premier League team news LIVE: All the latest injuries and squad news]

Sign-up today at yahoo.co.uk/fantasy and deposit using promo code “YDF10” for £10 worth of Yahoo Sport Reward Points (YSRPs).

Must Haves

Defence

At the back, there are a few decent options this Saturday. To kick things off, Spurs host Middlesbrough and the likes of Kyle Walker and Hugo Lloris should be considered. Tottenham failed to win last week, but they once again managed to keep a clean sheet! Liverpool and Dejan Lovren face Hull this weekend too, who will be without their star man Robert Snodgrass who made a move to West Ham in the transfer window. If Liverpool are to mount any title challenge, they will need to win this one and they should do too. Our final defensive pick is Seamus Coleman who faces Bournemouth this weekend, where not only would you fancy an Everton clean sheet, but maybe a cheeky assist or goal for Coleman too!

[The General’s budget tips for Gameweek 24]

[Yahoo XI: Can you beat our team in Gameweek 24?]

Midfield

As noted above, Liverpool face Hull on Saturday and it should be a comfortable win for Liverpool. Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane are coming back into the starting eleven for two different reasons, but will both want to mark their returns with a goal or two and what a chance they have against Hull. Crystal Palace earned their first win under Sam Allardyce last gameweek, in which Andros Townsend looked very good and with a game against Sunderland, the Englishman will want to continue this form. Spurs arguably have the game of the week for fantasy managers – at home to Middlesbrough – so it is in no doubt that Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen will be popular picks this week.

Forwards

Jermain Defoe hasn’t scored a goal since gameweek 21, which for his standards is a while, but there is no doubt that he will be looking to find the back of the net this week as Sunderland travel to Crystal Palace. Everton host Bournemouth in one of the 6 3pm kick offs, and many will look to Romelu Lukaku to be one of their front men. Bournemouth have conceded 10 goals in their last 4 games, which reads well for those that are looking to bring the big Belgian into their teams. What we’ve mentioned a few times now is that Spurs also have a brilliant game in terms of fantasy football potential, and therefore Harry Kane will likely fancy a goal or two this weekend. Diego Costa may have missed a penalty last week, but with a huge game at home to Arsenal, Conte will look to his big players to step up to the plate and help them extend their lead at the top of the table even further!

Must-Nots

Defence

Starting off our must-nots this week is Michael Dawson who faces a visit from Liverpool this weekend. Dawson surprisingly enjoyed his first clean sheet of the season last time out against Manchester United of all opponents, but with an average of nearly 2 goals a game conceded from his last 10 games, he is not one to pin your hopes one. Another must-not is Ben Gibson. He is a nailed-on starter for Boro, having played every minute of every game this season, but he faces a tough trip south to White Hart Lane in the Saturday evening kick off. Of late, they have only managed to grab clean sheets against fellow strugglers and Spurs will want to make amends as soon as possible for 2 draws in their last 2 games. Our final player to avoid this gameweek is Bournemouth’s Simon Francis, who has the challenge of keeping out a decent Everton side. The Toffees have bagged 11 goals in their last 5 games and Bournemouth have no clean sheet from their last 4 (which included games against strugglers Hull, Watford & Crystal Palace), so we should expect Everton goals here.

Midfield

Southampton are experiencing a really poor run of form lately, having lost 5 of their last 6 in the league and dropping out of the FA Cup in spectacular fashion, therefore we would suggest avoiding Nathan Redmond this week. Southampton have managed 2 goals in their last 5 and their midfield screams a lot more promise than what they’ve actually delivered recently. Redmond has only 1 goal and 1 assist since he scored in the Saints’ draw with Manchester City in October. Another man we would suggest avoiding this week is George Boyd, who faces a trip to Watford. Although Watford’s recent win over Arsenal was a complete shock for everyone, Burnley continue to have struggles away from home and we can’t see Burnley taking too much from this game.

Forwards

Up top this week, our must-not suggestions are pretty straight forward. Due to the fixtures at hand, there is a lot of goalscoring potential out there but if we were to put money on players that will fail to make an impact on their fixtures, it would be these guys. First up, we have Alvaro Negredo who plays Spurs. It seems pretty obvious given they are the lowest scoring team in the league but Spurs have also been absolute machines when it comes to keeping clean sheets recently, especially at home (conceded only 1 goal in their last 5 home fixtures). Our second shout out goes to Abel Hernandez who plays Liverpool this week. Liverpool are no strangers to conceding a goal, and Hull have been putting in some stronger performances lately, but this guy is not having the best of times. His main hiccup of late was failing to convert either of the 2 penalties that were awarded to him within the space of a minute in the FA cup. A definite avoid.

With special thanks to the guys across at FPL Updates: http://fplupdates.com/