Antoine Semenyo (£8.2m) and Rayan Cherki (£6.3m), Manchester City – Arsenal (h), Burnley (a)
Nico O’Reilly’s injury means free hitters no longer have to choose between Semenyo and Cherki.
You’ll want to keep an eye on O’Reilly injury updates, as he is in such incredible form, but no other City defenders offer the same upside.
Semenyo has blanked in two straight games but he has 21 returns this season, while Cherki was on top form last week against Chelsea and his 13 assists is bettered only by Bruno Fernandes.
Arsenal will be a tough fight but Burnley away is a juicy fixture, even if it was just a single gameweek.
I wouldn’t worry about Pep roulette at this stage of the season either – City are in a title fight and he’ll play his best XI in each game if he can.
Marcus Tavernier, Bournemouth, £5.4m – Newcastle (a), Leeds (h)
You might be tempted to look at other Bournemouth attacking assets who are in better form.
But Tavernier is a haul waiting to happen. In Bournemouth’s past five games he has taken 16 shots, three big chances and an expected goals (xG) of 2.15, without scoring.
That’s more than any other Bournemouth player and he is on penalties too, although sharing the responsibility with Junior Kroupi.
Diego Gomez, Brighton, £4.9m – Tottenham (a), Chelsea (h)
Brighton have a few interesting options, with Yasin Ayari and Jack Hinshelwood decent punts, but Gomez offers a mix of goal threat and defensive points.
He has started the past seven and is playing as a wide midfielder as part of three players behind the centre-forward.
In those games he has picked up defcon three times, scored twice and had an assist too.
Cole Palmer, Chelsea, £10.5m – Manchester United (h), Brighton (a)
Chelsea are in rotten form and have tough fixtures in the double but Palmer is still near-essential if you are free hitting.
He’s on penalties for a start and, if Chelsea manage to bounce back from their thrashing by Manchester City, he will likely be at the heart of things.
