Fantasy Football Tips for Gameweek 14 in the Premier League

As predicted by the tipster, Pedro’s remarkable form at Stamford Bridge continued last weekend as he helped Chelsea to their seventh straight league win. Chelsea are involved in another huge match in gameweek 14, but it’s not the only fixture of interest, as the tipster provides more tips ahead of this weekend’s action.

CHRIS BRUNT (WEST BROM)

The Northern Ireland international’s return from injury has been a welcome boost for Tony Pulis’ side, although it has also been unusual. Chris Brunt has been used as a left-back for the majority of Pulis’ reign as West Brom manager, having previously enjoyed a lot of success on the left wing for the Baggies. However, since returning from his eight-month injury lay-off, Brunt has been deployed in an unfamiliar right forward position.

You don’t get many opportunities like this on fantasy football websites, but it’s worth taking advantage of when they come around. Brunt is listed as a defender on most sites, but as he is actually playing much further forward, there is a greater chance of the 31-year-old picking up points at both ends of the pitch. Not only will he collect all the defensive points his side earns, but his newfound position increases his chances of getting involved in the goals West Brom score.

Despite missing the majority of this year through injury, only Juan Mata (41), Wayne Rooney (50) and David Silva (59) have registered more assists than Brunt (37) since the start of the 2010/11 campaign. West Brom welcome Watford on Saturday with a view to going four league games unbeaten, an opponent they have kept a clean sheet against in each of their last two matches. Brunt is far from the most eye-catching players in the Premier League, but he could prove an effective transfer given his new position.

DIVOCK ORIGI (LIVERPOOL)

Liverpool have been in a superb run of form this season but the concern now is how they cope without their talisman, Philippe Coutinho. The Premier League’s second highest rated player (7.85) is sidelined for the remainder of 2016, which will mean his teammates will have to step up and fill the void.

Jurgen Klopp’s side will look to keep pace with their title rivals at the expense of Bournemouth at the weekend, and with Daniel Sturridge still a doubt, Divock Origi could be handed his first league start of the season.

The Belgium international has scored in consecutive appearances for Liverpool for the first time since he went on a goalscoring run of three matches in April earlier this year. Origi’s Liverpool career has been far from plain sailing since he joined from Lille in 2014, but he has impressed when turned to under Klopp, and he has a real chance of helping Liverpool maintain their title challenge over the coming weeks, starting away to Bournemouth this weekend.

VIRGIL VAN DIJK (SOUTHAMPTON)

Southampton will be high in confidence after progressing into the semi finals of the League Cup for the first time since 1987 in midweek and now they must turn their attentions to Premier League action when they make the trip to the worst team in England’s top four tiers this year.

Morale in the Crystal Palace squad must be at rock bottom at the moment after they squandered a 4-3 lead with six minutes remaining to lose 5-4 to Swansea last time out. They are now averaging 0.68 points per league game in 2016, as the pressure continues to mount on Alan Pardew at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles have conceded an alarming 13 goals from set pieces in the Premier League this season, which is five more than any other team, and exactly half the amount they have conceded in total. Scoring from set pieces should actually be strength of Palace’s when you consider the personnel they have available, but that could be countered by a Southampton defence that boosts a statistically calculated strength of ‘defending set pieces’.

It’s because of this that investing in one of Southampton’s centre-backs should be explored. Virgil Van Dijk’s performances since swapping Celtic for Southampton have been immense and it’s unsurprising that he has been linked with a big money move away. The Netherlands international is Southampton’s highest rated player from those that have made more than one league appearance this season (7.47). Not only that, but no defender is winning more aerial duels per game in the league this season (4.4), which means he should pose a real threat from set pieces for Southampton this weekend.

BRUNO MARTINS INDI (STOKE)

Having failed to win any of their opening seven Premier League matches this season, Stoke have now won four of their last six to lift themselves out of the relegation battle to 11th in the table. The Potters will now be looking to continue their resurgence when they host a Burnley side that may be unable to call on key players at the weekend.

The Clarets could be without Tom Heaton, Dean Marney and Johann Berg Gudmundsson this weekend, which would be bad news for a Burnley side that have the worst away league record this season. Sean Dyche’s side have only picked up one point from their five matches on the road this season and have only managed to score one goal in that time, at least four fewer than any other team.

As a result, there should be opportunities to pick up points with Stoke defenders this weekend. The Potters couldn’t stop conceding goals at the start of the season, but they have improved in that department in recent weeks and are up against the perfect opponents to record consecutive clean sheets for just the second time this season. Bruno Martins Indi was signed from Porto at the start of the season and his performances have grown as Mark Hughes’ side have found their feet. He was named the WhoScored Man of the Match in Sunday's 1-0 win at Watford and the Dutchman will be looking to carry his good form into Saturday’s match.