Headliner – Harry Kane (SOU)

Kane will be looking to repeat his heroics from this fixture last year when he scored a hattrick in a 5-2 victory and the Englishman is our headliner for this week’s picks. Over the last four gameweeks, the Englishman has fired 12 shots on target (SoT), double that of the next best forward, Jiménez (six). Only Rondón has attempted more shots in the box (SiB) (13) than the Englishman, and no forward has scored more than Kane’s three goals. Spurs have 25 SoT in the same period, more than any other side, indicating that despite the loss to Arsenal, Spurs’ attack looks to be finding its groove. Southampton are languishing in 18^th position currently, having parted company with Hughes, and their defensive stats make for poor reading. They have conceded 36 SiB over the last four gameweeks, the fifth worst in the league over that period, and no team has conceded more goals than their 12.  Our Fix Algorithm backs Kane to add to the Saints’ misery, with a point score of 7.0.

Leroy Sané (wat)

The injury to Mendy has led to regular starts for Sané in the Man. City lineup, and the German was in sparkling form in gameweek 14 as he picked up an assist vs. Bournemouth. He was actually unlucky not to get further returns. Guardiola’s post match comments indicate that the German is currently undroppable –

"If he’s going to complain to his manager why he doesn’t play I will show him the video of this, because if he plays like he did today he will play. The challenge is there with De Bruyne coming back, I ask the best of all of them. We want to be competitive in all competitions, so there is no other option, and playing like that he deserves to play.”

Sané has registered Fantasy Premier League (FPL) involvements in each of the seven games he has started this season, notching five goals and seven assists. Over the last four gameweeks the German has the same number of shots (10) and SoT (five) as Salah and Sterling, and has attempted the same number of assists as the Englishman (nine), indicating that he can match Sterling’s output at a much lower price. Only Brighton’s March (four) has more assists than the German’s three, and only Hazard (11), Fraser (10) and B. Silva (10) have created more chances than the German's nine. No team has taken more SoT than the Champions’ 25 over the last four gameweeks, or scored more goals (16), an average of four a game. Their opponents Watford have conceded seven goals in the last four games and only three teams have conceded more. The Champions have scored 14 goals past the Hornets in their last three meetings, and our Fix Algorithm backs Sané to contribute, with a projected point score of 4.5.

Felipe Anderson (CAR)

Anderson scored his fourth goal in as many games as West Ham put three past Newcastle in gameweek 14, and the Brazilian has strong underlying statistics to back up his performances. Over the last four gameweeks, only Paterson has had more SiB amongst midfielders (nine vs. eight), and no midfielder has had more SoT (six) or goals (four) than the Brazilian. Only four teams have attempted more SiB than West Ham’s 50 over the same period, which is impressive considering they played Man. City in one of those games. Their opponents Cardiff have picked up just one point on their travels conceding 12 goals in the process and only six teams have conceded more. They have conceded 62 SiB in those six games at an average of over ten a game, the eighth worst in the league. Our Fix Algorithm backs the Brazilian to get attacking returns, with a point score of 4.0.

Callum Wilson (HUD)

Wilson continues to defy the fixture list this time scoring against the Champions at the Etihad, and the Englishman now only trails Aubameyang in the goal scoring charts, with eight goals. Agüero (28) and Jiménez (22) have attempted more SiB in home matches than Wilson’s 21 amongst forwards, and only the Man. City forward has had more ‘big chances’ (nine) than the Enligshman’s eight. His creativity stats are also impressive, only Agüero (13) and Perez (15) have created more chances on home turf than Wilson’s 12. The Cherries have created 20 ‘big chances’ at the Vitality and only Everton (22), Chelsea (23) and Man. City (27) have created more. Bournemouth have also fired 33 SoT while only the ‘top six’ sides have managed more. Their opponents Huddersfield have conceded 14 goals on their travels, the fifth worst in the league. The Cherries won this fixture 4-0 last year, and will fancy themselves to get back to winning ways after losing four in a row, and our Fix Algorithm projects a point score of 4.6 for Wilson. 

Fabián Balbuena (CAR)

Balbuena kept his second clean sheet of the season as West Ham won 3-0 away at Newcastle in gameweek 14, and the Paraguayan will be hoping to add to that total as they face the division’s worst travellers, Cardiff, who have scored just two away goals. After a poor start to the season, the Hammers’ defence has shown signs of improvement over the last six gameweeks conceding just 46 SiB, which is fewer than Tottenham and Man. Utd, and although they have conceded nine goals four of them came against the Champions in gameweek 13. Only Keane (eight) has taken more SiB than the Paraguayan’s seven amongst defenders, indicating his potential at both ends of the pitch. No team in the division has attempted fewer shots (43) or SoT (14) than Cardiff, and our Fix Algorithmpredicts a clean sheet probability of 42% for the Hammers, and a point score of 4.0 for the Paraguayan.