From this matchday onwards, all the players who were at the Afika Cup will be available to the coaches again. Some of them were able to play for their clubs in the FA Cup and during the week, but Jürgen Klopp in particular will be delighted that his two top stars Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah are back in the squad. Chelsea’s game against Arsenal has already had to be postponed as the Blues face Palmeiras in the Club World Cup final on Saturday. Despite the cancellation of the London derby, we can look forward to interesting matches in the fight for international places and to stay in the league.

Goalkeeper:

Kasper Schmeichel (8.0m, Leicester): The 0:2 defeat against Liverpool was very bitter for Leicester and especially for the Dane, who showed an outstanding goalkeeping performance, the outcome of the game could have been better. He stopped 10 out of 12 goal shots, played 9 super passes and thus came up with a strong 470 points. This weekend’s match is against another team that shoots a lot on goal. West Ham United are 6th in the statistics table with 310 shots this season and if Kasper Schmeichel continues to perform so consistently well, he could pick up some points on Sunday.

Defence:

Mohamed Salisu (9.2m, Southhampton): Things didn’t look quite so good for the Ghanaian on matchday 20. He caused a penalty and was even sent off after a red card. But after he had served his ban, he took off. In the three games after that, he averaged 329 points and is in first place in the “ball intercepted/blocked” statistic, in the last five matchdays, although he only played through three games. Against Man. United he will have plenty to do and could become a scoring machine for you.

Shane Duffy (15.1m, Brighton): After a lengthy injury lay-off, one of SPITCH’s best defenders returns. The Irishman picked up an injury in early December and was allowed to play through for the first time in the FA Cup last weekend, for this reason he is not yet shown at the top of the defender’s list as he has yet to play in the Premier League in the last game and so could be the secret tip of the matchday. The points he scored before his injury are outstanding and if he can follow that up against Watford at the weekend, he will definitely be worth his price.

Tyrick Mitchell (5.6m, Palace): The 22-year-old full-back, who comes from the club’s own academy, has hit the most crosses in the last five fixtures and is averaging a solid 244 points. Against Brentford, he could once again shine with his crosses and for 5.6 million, he is definitely worth considering.

Pascal Struijk (7.2m, Leeds): After a long injury lay-off, the Dutchman is back and has shown for three games why he has earned his regular place. With 244, 288 and 444 points he scores really strongly, of which only one goal assist and one goal shot were offensive actions. Against out-of-form Everton, the in-form centre-back could again show how good he is.

Midfield:

Yves Bissouma (10.6m, Brighton): Aston Villa are showing great interest in the 25-year-old central midfielder, who celebrated his first appearance after the Africa Cup with a goal in the FA Cup. He also performed very well before the Africa Cup, scoring 368 and 433 points. He will give his all against Watford and Brighton will be hoping that they made the right decision in rejecting Aston Villa’s record bid of £35 million.

Wilfred Ndidi (11.6m, Leicester): After returning from the Africa Cup, he played right back at centre-back for Leicester during the week and scored a solid 262 points against Liverpool. All SPITCH managers love defenders listed in midfield as they are the most consistent scorers and therefore very good for double up pitches. Against West Ham he will get plenty to do and hopefully give you some good points.

Jacob Ramsey (3.1m, Villa): Again and again Steven Gerrard praises him highly and rightly so. In his last three league games he scored three times, set up a goal and scored over 500 points in two of the three games! For a measly 3.1 million, you can actually field him anytime without much risk and then score some proper points too.

Attack:

Wilfried Zaha (10.2m, Palace): Another returnee from the Africa Cup who delivered straight away. Wilfried Zaha scored directly on his comeback against Norwich and scored 290 points. Against Brentford he could continue his good start and maybe even score again.

Allan Saint-Maximin (8.9m, Newcastle): The Frenchman can always deliver and will now have even more support to do so due to Newcastle’s many transfers. He shone in the last game with 390 points and against Aston Villa he and his team will again give everything to get out of the bottom of the table.

Lucas Moura (10.9m, Tottenham): Averages more points than Harry Kane and costs half as much. Under Antonio Conte, the Brazilian has been showing his class more and more lately and seems to fit perfectly into his playing system. An interesting player who has a lot of scoring potential this matchday.

Other alternatives:

Other players to keep an eye on are Kieran Trippier (7.6m, Newcastle), who is making a complete impact at his new club, Philippe Coutinho (10.8m, Aston Villa), who is coming into his own under Steven Gerrard, and Diogo Jota (15.5m, Liverpool), who is really hotting up at Liverpool right now.

About me: For several weeks now, I have been supporting SPITCH as an intern in the various departments. Through my experience on the free pitches, I want to help you find interesting players that maybe not everyone has on their radar.