A fine run of form which may go some way to securing the Premier League title for Manchester City has also made the defending champions a top FPL priority.
Pep Guardiola’s side have won their last 12 Premier League games, scoring 34 and keeping seven clean sheets to put themselves 11 points ahead of Liverpool.
But which of their superstar players lead the way statistically? These five do, and might be the key to claiming an FPL title of your own.
Goals
For a team leading the league by such a margin, it might seem surprising that City don’t have a single player in the top 10 for the Golden Boot.
Their two top scorers are Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva on seven goals each, with a host of team-mates just behind them as City share the goals around.
Sterling (£10.7m) costs significantly more than Silva (£7.5m) while both rank in the top 10 for Threat among midfielders.
The Portuguese notched five of his goals this season between gameweek 11 and gameweek 15, while Sterling secured double figures points returns in GW16 and GW19.
While neither player should be expected to score every week like an out-and-out striker, both have shown the sort of recent form which may reassure potential buyers.
Assists
The top assister on the team is Joao Cancelo, a defender who looks comfortable in all areas of the pitch.
The Portuguese is backed by more than 40 per cent of managers and has seen his price rise to £7m as the result of his performances this term.
Cancelo has notched one goal, eight FPL assists and 12 clean sheets so far, making him the highest points scorer in Guardiola’s squad.
His 11-point return against Chelsea in GW22 was a reminder to any managers yet to add the full-back that this is a player capable of performing in the biggest games.
With Southampton, Brentford and Norwich up next for the defending champions, don’t be surprised if the points continue to flow.
Premium
The most expensive player in the City squad – in FPL terms at least – is Kevin De Bruyne, whose £12.1m value has proved a little steep this season.
The Belgian has had a forgettable campaign by his own high standards, but recent form suggests he may be moving back towards his best.
After scoring the winning goal in City’s 1-0 win against Chelsea, De Bruyne has scored four and assisted one in his last six games, earning 47 FPL points in that time.
This is a player who scored 13 and registered 23 FPL assists as recently as the 2019-20 season, earning his backers 251 points.
His price may have been too high for much of the season, but it is a nod to the sort of form he has shown in the past and may well be capable of again.
Threat
Gabriel Jesus has scored just two league goals this season despite topping the Threat charts at Manchester City after 22 gameweeks.
Threat is a metric introduced by the FPL to measure the quality of the chances a player enjoys in front of goal, with a score of around 100 usually accounting for a goal’s worth of chances.
Jesus has racked up a season score of 694 so far this term, suggesting his performances deserved closer to seven goals.
The £8.6m man has three goals in the Champions League as well as another in the FA Cup – if he continues to perform as he is in the league, he may well start scoring as the season continues.
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