The top clubs in the Prem. League were all busy during the week and had to compete in the Champ. League and Europa League. Man. City and Arsenal met in a catch-up game, in which the Citizens won 3-1 and are thus in 1st place for the time being. In the top half of the table, the matches between Newcastle and Liverpool and Brighton and Fulham will be particularly interesting on matchday 24. In the relegation battle Wolves-Bournemouth and Everton-Leeds.

Goal:

Keylor Navas (46₵, Nottingham): For me personally one of the most underrated goalkeepers in the world, who has won the Champ. League three times. Now he has been loaned to the Tricky Trees and could show his class especially against the league leaders Man. City. The Citizens shoot on average six times per game on the opponent’s goal, from which Navas could profit with his strength on the line. Still, caution is advised as City have scored an average of 3.96 times per game in their last eight matches against promoted teams.

Defence:

Reece James (128₵, Chelsea): Even though the Blues, despite their transfers, have yet to impress both offensively and defensively, Reece James is one to keep a special eye on this matchday. Before his injury, he was one of the strongest defenders in the league and also scored really well. In the last league game against West Ham and also in the Champ. League against Dortmund he scored over 200 points and played a solid game. The Blues have an average of 58.2% possession, which is 15% more than their opponents Southampton, which means the full-back will get some ball action.

Craig Dawson (92₵, Wolverhampton): Wolves only brought the experienced centre-back from the Hammers for 3.8 million on 22 January this year and the 32-year-old is doing very well in Wolverhampton’s central defence. In his two games for his new team so far, he has scored 312 and 289 points and even managed to score on his debut against Liverpool. Opponents Bournemouth average just under 10% less possession than Wolves, which means Dawson could pick up some easy passing points with his 82% passing rate.

Ben Mee (91₵, Brentford): Form strength meets form weakness in the game between Brentford and Crystal Place. Brentford are unbeaten in ten league games, whereas Palace have not picked up a win in six, plus the Eagles last beat Brentford in 1957. One of the Bees’ most in-form players Ben Mee could push that positive record further and put in another strong game. In his last two games he has a strong 72% tackling rate, managed to shoot on goal once per game and even scored himself against Southampton.

James Tarkowski (110₵, Everton): For a whole eleven games, the centre-back has always scored more than 200 points, has a strong passing rate of 85% and wins 73% of his duels. On top of that, the 30-year-old is always firing at goal and already has a whopping 14 shots on goal this season. The Tofees look like a different team again under new coach Sean Dyche and will go into the next game with a broad burst despite the bitter 2-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby. Opponents Leeds have not won for nine games and Everton have lost just one from 15 home games at Goodison Park against Leeds.

Midfield:

Jack Grealish (102₵, Man. City): The 100-million man performed really well across competitions in his last five games. In those, he came up with five shots on goal, two assists and one goal. The Tricky Trees are unbeaten in six games, but I still think the league leaders can cause them problems, after all, the first game ended 6-0 for Man. City.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (90₵, Tottenham): The Dane shows year after year that he is one of the strongest midfielders in the Prem. League and this year again he manages to play consistently well. In his last seven league games he never scored less than 200 points and could always shine with his all-rounder qualities. He has an outstanding pass rate of 89% and a tackling rate of 62% this season, and he has also scored four times himself and set up three goals.

Joao Gomes (58₵, Wolverhampton): The 22-year-old Brazilian was signed for 18.7 million on 30 January and scored the winning goal on his 20-minute debut last weekend, scoring 268 points in total. If he is to start against Bournemouth, he should definitely be on your radar.

Enzo Fernandez (93₵, Chelsea): Even if the first games with the new transfers have gone anything but well, one cannot deny that the 22-year-old World Cup winner is a very promising player and that the Blues could soon turn the tide. Fernandez has averaged 375 points in his first two league games and the Champ. League match against Borussia Dortmund, shooting on goal five times and setting up one goal. He could play strongly again against the Saints and perhaps even get his first win with the Blues.

Attack:

Bukayo Saka (114₵, Arsenal): The Gunners have failed to win any of their last four games of late and find themselves in second place in the table after last week’s defeat to direct rivals Man. City. Now they need a win against Aston Villa and Saka could be one of the crucial reasons for that. In his last three games, he averaged 519 points, scored once, set up a goal and averaged four shots on target per game.

Joao Felix (115₵, Chelsea): After his unnecessary red card in the game against Fulham, Felix was able to start and score directly against West Ham on the last matchday. He also managed to collect two more shots on goal in that game and scored a strong 430. He was also one of the best players on the pitch for me against Dortmund during the week and managed three shots on goal. This week’s opponents Southampton have managed to go without conceding a goal in only one of their last 28 games, something the Portuguese could take advantage of.

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