FPL tips: Emmanuel Dennis bucks the trend for strikers

With Premier League fixtures coming thick and fast at this time of year, armchair managers must be constantly on top of their fantasy teams.

No sooner are this week’s midweek games out of the way than gameweek 15’s transfer deadline arrives on Saturday morning.

Using the PA news agency’s Transfer Score system, combining form, cost ownership and upcoming fixture difficulty rating (FDR), we take a look at who you should be targeting – with a rare attacking leader in the rankings.

Dennis the menace

Watford’s free-scoring form has been spearheaded by Emmanuel Dennis, FPL’s second-highest scoring striker behind Jamie Vardy in what has on the whole been a quiet season for players in that positional classification.

At just £5.4million and second in the leaguewide form rankings after three goals and three assists in as many games, Dennis looks an irresistible pick this week, even with Manchester City arriving at Vicarage Road – indeed, their effect on Watford’s FDR and his 15.5 per cent ownership are the only things capping his transfer score at 84 out of 100.

Teemu Pukki is another bargain option at £5.9m after scoring in three of Norwich’s last four games, while three goals in five are enough to bag Southampton’s Che Adams the final podium place up front.

Defensive strength

The next three places in the transfer score rankings behind Dennis are occupied by defenders, with Tottenham full-back Sergio Reguilon pushing him close for top spot.

Also rated at 84 and separated by just 0.1 overall, Reguilon has a goal, an assist and a pair of clean sheets in the last three games.

Team-mate Eric Dier should also be under consideration this week, edged into third place among defenders by Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Anfield star has a goal, four assists and two clean sheets in his last four games to top the form chart and justify his £7.7m price tag.

Silva lining

After the defensive trio come the top three midfielders, ranked fifth to seventh overall this week in transfer score and headed by Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva.

The Portugal star is outscoring all his team-mates bar full-back Joao Cancelo this season, with the help of three goals in four games. He has 21 points more than Ilkay Gundogan, 28 more than Phil Foden and almost double the scores of £100m summer signing Jack Grealish and England star Raheem Sterling and is cheaper than any of them, bar a £0.1m difference in Gundogan’s favour.

Cheaper still is Leicester’s James Maddison, back to his best form with two goals and two assists in the last seven days, while Liverpool’s Diogo Jota has four goals in three games but sees his appeal capped slightly by ownership of over 27 per cent.

Earning their Spurs

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris joins his Tottenham defensive colleagues Reguilon and Dier among our recommendations as Antonio Conte’s side show solid form at the back.

Our other two goalkeeping picks have taken contrasting routes to inclusion, with Wolves’ Jose Sa leading all stoppers with a form average of 6.5 points per game to score 69 in that category – which makes up 50 per cent of a player’s transfer score – and an overall mark of 65.

That is despite his side having the toughest run of upcoming fixtures – Manchester United, by contrast, have the easiest to help lift David De Gea to a rating of 64 despite his indifferent form score.