Fantasy football players suffered a variety of blows over the international break with injuries to several of the top scoring forwards in the Premier League. Luckily, this weekend of football presents a wide variety of matchups a savvy player can exploit to his/her advantage even without their marquee players.
The Liverpool/Manchester City match as well as the Tottenham Hotspur/West Ham United provide opportunities for plenty of goals, while Arsenal and Chelsea will find themselves in one-sided affairs that they will likely dominate from the get-go.
Here are the 10 players to either start or sit in Fantasy Football Gameweek 13; check out our fantasy football tips in these slides:
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Goalkeeper
Start: Petr Cech
Cech has been in top form lately and should put up another very strong performance against West Bromwich Albion.
Bench: Joe Hart
Hart has surprisingly been less effective at home than on the road: He has just two shutouts in five matches at Etihad Stadium, but five shutouts in six matches on the road. Regardless, Saturday’s big match against Liverpool will likely be a high-scoring affair.
Defender
Start: Marcos Rojo
Rojo has performed as well as could be expected since replacing the injured Luke Shaw. Though it’s hard to gauge if Man United have the firepower to score against Watford, we can safely assume the defence can do it’s job with Rojo playing at his best.
Bench: Alberto Moreno
Man City are one of the best offenses in the league, which means Moreno will have his work cut out for him. As one of Liverpool’s more expensive defenders, he’s not worth the risk this week.
Midfielder
Start: Robbie Brady
The Norwich midfielder is a master of the cross and should get plenty of shots against Chelsea’s porous defense.
Bench: Ross Barkley
Though his teammates should shine against lowly Aston Villa, Barkley has struggled in his past two performances since his big games against Arsenal and Man United. Expectations should be cautiously low on Saturday.
Midfielder
Start: Willian
Chelsea’s underrated midfielder has been a serious force for the team over the past few months, scoring or assisting seven times in the last 10 matches. He should have no problems getting the team a goal against Norwich City.
Bench: Jamie Vardy
The miracle run ends this weekend. With Vardy’s injured hip, Claudio Ranieri would be a fool to play him for the full ninety minutes – if at all – this weekend, especially against a Newcastle United team they match up well against.
Forward
Start: Romelu Lukaku
With goals in back-to-back games and three goals in his last five, Lukaku should have plenty of opportunities at Goodison Park against a below-average Aston Villa team.
Bench: Anthony Martial
If you don’t know by now that Martial is suffering from an injured foot and will be out for a while, here’s your reminder – bench him now.