FPL tips: Forgotten favourites to consider for gameweek 17

Another day, another gameweek – or so it can feel at the turn of the year.

With limited time to weigh up your options, we have devised a Transfer Score to help with your decision making ahead of the gameweek 17 deadline.

The score leans most heavily on a player’s form but further marks are given for favourable cost, ownership and upcoming fixture difficulty rating.

The pick of this week’s crop includes two players with surprisingly low ownership given their glittering FPL past.
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Guilt free Gylfi

Last year was one to forget for Gylfi Sigurdsson, with fewer goals scored than any season since he joined the league in 2012.

Sigurdsson is an FPL player with pedigree, having scored 182 points in 2018/19 from 13 goals and six assists. Overall, he has amassed more than 150 points on no fewer than four occasions.

The Icelander’s winning goal against Sheffield United was his second in four matches, equalling his total for the whole of last season.

The opportunity to dictate play for Everton is almost certainly due to the absence of James Rodriguez but Sigurdsson has grabbed his opportunity with both hands.

For a mere £6.8m and with an ownership of less than 2%, Everton’s number 10 could deliver points which won’t be picked up by many of your rivals.

Supreme Raheem

With two goals and three assists in his last five matches, Raheem Sterling has pulled clear of Kevin De Bruyne as Manchester City’s leading FPL points scorer.

In spite of this, Sterling’s ownership is less than a quarter of his Belgian teammate’s. He is also owned by fewer managers than the faltering Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has only managed two attacking returns in the last 14 gameweeks.

The England winger has been involved in more than 20 goals in each of the last four seasons and he has the potential to post similar numbers again.

After this weekend’s trip to Chelsea, the Citizens have four matches with the lowest fixture difficulty rating and Sterling looks well poised for big returns.

Defensive blues

Our tips in defence mirror the midfield picks, with an Evertonian in pole position, followed by a player from the blue side of Manchester.

After a run of 10 matches without a clean sheet, the Everton defence has solidified and can now boast three shutouts in the last four matches

In that time, Yerry Mina has added a goal and four bonus points, making him an attractive proposition with his modest price tag and low ownership.

John Stones led our transfer score last week and a further 90-minute run out where his side prevented their opponents from scoring has done nothing to harm his credentials.

There is always the risk of rotation when Pep Guardiola is around but at £4.9m, Stones is a tempting gamble.