FPL tips ahead of Brighton

Aston Villa are teaming up with the No.1 independent fantasy football site in 2020/21. 

Fantasy Football Scout will be providing regular reports packed with hints and tips to help you, hopefully, move into the top tier of fantasy football management.

Need some help with your FPL line-up, sit back and take their advice on board…

A man in form

Ollie Watkins (£6.4m) yet again rewarded the 19.4% of managers who own him with a goal and maximum bonus points against Arsenal last time out.

Even with Watkins only playing once in Gameweek 24 when other Fantasy Premier League (FPL) assets will play twice, he is still the fifth most transferred in player at the time of writing, with around 175,000 managers investing in him this week.

Three of the four players who have more transfers in this week have the benefit of playing twice in double Gameweek 24.

However, with two fixtures still to be rearranged against Everton and Spurs, Watkins will have double Gameweeks coming up, making him a very attractive FPL option.

Targett the defence

Yet again an Aston Villa defender is looking like a must own for FPL managers. With 11 clean sheets in 21 Premier League games, Villa sit second in the league for shut-outs. Only Manchester City, who have played an extra game, have registered more.

With a wealth of opportunities to choose from including goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (£5.2m) as well as defenders Matt Targett (£4.8m), Tyrone Mings (£5.4m), Ezri Konsa (£4.6m) and Matty Cash (£5.0m), Villa’s defence all look like great picks.

Indeed, with the weight of investment in the Villa defence, now could be the time where FPL managers consider doubling up.

Martinez is now owned by 35% of FPL managers, with the defenders ranging between 1.5% and 8.5% owned. When Villa keep a clean sheet, the level of ownership in Martinez means while FPL managers benefit from his points, it may not have such a large impact on overall rank.

FPL managers can make Martinez and the Villa defence a differential pick by adding a second player to their teams. Targett and Mings have the highest potential points ceiling of the defence with their recent attacking returns on top of clean sheets.

This season we have seen attacking returns for all four of Villa’s regular defenders: Targett three assists, Cash two assists, Mings two goals and one assist, and Konsa two goals.

When you own one of these defenders alongside Martinez, they become great differentials and have the potential to give FPL managers huge boosts in their mini-leagues and overall rank.

Managers that have already invested in the Villa defence should target the defensive double-up or even triple-up over the coming Gameweeks – especially ahead of the rearrangement of postponed fixtures.

Fewer than 0.1% of Fantasy managers own Martinez, the highest-scoring goalkeeper in FPL this season, alongside Targett and Mings, who are the highest-owned Aston Villa defenders. The reward for owning all three could be huge.