Article body analysed

The theme of this week's Fantasy Challenge is "Big Spender". In this Gameweek, all players priced at £9. 0m or more will score DOUBLE points. There is a £100m budget for your 11-a-side team. When deciding which players to invest in, it is important to look at how they rank in the key stats, as well as the fixtures. Pick your Fantasy Challenge team NOW! Here, FPL expert Alex Dakers identifies some of the best Fantasy Challenge picks for Gameweek 12. 15: 00 GMT Fantasy Challenge deadline Aston Villa v Southampton Brentford v Newcastle Crystal Palace v Man City Three of the double points-scorers in Gameweek 15 will be in action in the same match on Saturday afternoon: Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (£15. 0m), Kevin De Bruyne (£9. 4m) and Phil Foden (£9. 1m). The defending champions have had a tough time but turned a corner in Gameweek 14 with a 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest. De Bruyne got a goal and an assist, delivering his first attacking returns since Gameweek 2, in his first start since Gameweek 4. The fact that he had five attempts and created four chances in 73 minutes before being granted an early rest should be a promising sign to potential investors if he is named in City’s line-up again. Haaland aside, Foden may have the best chance of City’s attackers to make the line-up after receiving a full rest against Forest, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Englishman is struggling to rediscover the form that won him the Premier League Player of the Season award last campaign. If KDB starts, the Belgian is almost certainly a safer pick on paper. As for Haaland, he got his first assist of the season against Forest and created two Opta-defined "big chances" in the match, but he has now scored just twice in the last nine Gameweeks, having registered an Expected Goals (x G) total of only 0. 19 for the second game running on Wednesday. But with Mohamed Salah (£13. 3m) not playing in Gameweek 15, Haaland is now more affordable within our £100. 0m budget. The fourth and final double points-scorer to take part in the opening day of Gameweek 15 is Ollie Watkins (£9. 0m).   Aston Villa’s frontman was pivotal in his side halting an eight-match winless run in Gameweek 14, getting a goal and an assist.  It means the England striker now has three attacking returns in his last three matches, after just one in the five before this run. Watkins was also handed a breather shortly after the hour-mark following his six-shot display, meaning he should be well-rested for the visit of a leaky and error-prone Southampton side who just succumbed to a 5-1 home defeat and have by far the league’s worst record for expected goals conceded (x GC) over the last six Gameweeks. Morgan Rogers, who ended a three-match goalless run of his own on Wednesday, may be more of a rotation risk ahead of that appealing fixture against the division’s bottom side, having lasted 86 minutes against Brentford. Managers should therefore be sure to check the team sheets prior to kick-off on Saturday afternoon.   Emiliano Martínez (£5. 0m) still has just a single clean sheet all season. But if ever there were a time for he and Villa’s shaky backline to secure their second shut-out, surely a home tie against the league’s lowest scorers is a better bet than ever. Attacking returns and even underlying numbers have dried up recently for Bryan Mbeumo (£7. 7m), who has one shot and no goals in his last five matches. Over the last several weeks it has instead been the likes of Yoane Wissa (£6. 2m), Mikkel Damsgaard (£5. 0m) and Gameweek 13 hat-trick hero Kevin Schade (£5. 1m) who have delivered the goods - and at a lower cost for FPL managers. Alexander Isak (£8. 4m) delivered a goal and assist in Newcastle’s thrilling 3-3 home draw against Liverpool in Gameweek 14, which should renew some interest in the Swede as he prepares to face the fourth-worst home defence in the division. 17: 30 GMT Fantasy Challenge deadline Man Utd v Nottingham Forest There are no players in Saturday’s late kick-off who get double points, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t several good options. Marcus Rashford (£7. 0m) was rested in midweek despite having scored three goals across two consecutive league starts under Ruben Amorim, and Amad (£5. 0m) has also been in good form. Diogo Dalot (£5. 2m) lasted 90 minutes for the third match in a row, appearing to be United’s most secure defender aside from Andre Onana (£5. 2m).   With captain Bruno Fernandes (£8. 5m) - stationed deeper than in previous fixtures - also racking up the maximum minutes in most recent matches and both Lisandro Martínez (£4. 4m) and Leny Yoro (£4. 3m) available for selection at the weekend, Fantasy Challenge managers backing United may want to keep an eye on the teamsheets before choosing their asset(s) of choice from Amorim’s rotation-heavy squad. Chris Wood (£6. 6m) surely remains the likeliest man to sneak a chance in for the visitors. He’s so far managed nine goals (two of them penalties) from an x G of just 5. 23. 14: 00 GMT - Fantasy Challenge deadline Fulham v Arsenal Ipswich v Bournemouth Leicester v Brighton Bukayo Saka (£10. 4m) is the lone player capable of scoring double points from Sunday’s three Premier League matches, and the in-form Arsenal star will surely be a shoo-in for many a manager despite blanking against Man Utd in Gameweek 14, after amasssing 16 attacking returns for the season in FPL. Available for slightly cheaper is Martin Odegaard (£8. 3m), who also blanked against the Red Devils but bettered his attacking team-mate on Expected Goal Involvement (0. 44 to 0. 35) and also created three chances.   Fantasy Challenge managers should be sure to check the teamsheets for this match as well, given the availability of Gabriel (£6. 2m) remains up in the air. If he misses out, those searching for another Arsenal defender to capitalise on the Gunners’ set-piece dominance can look to the likes of William Saliba and Jurrien Timber (£5. 5m), who each paired a clean sheet with a goal last time out. Whether it was his five-match goalless run or simply necessary squad rotation, Raul Jimenez (£5. 6m) found himself reduced to 10 minutes off the bench in Gameweek 14 as Rodrigo Muniz (£5. 5m) was handed his first start since Gameweek 3. Neither man got on the scoresheet, though, with it instead being another instalment of the Alex Iwobi (£5. 6m) show. The former Arsenal and Everton man scored a brace to help see off Brighton, taking himself to six attacking returns from his last six matches. For Ipswich, Liam Delap (£5. 6m) is far from a bad option ahead of a home match against Bournemouth, who have conceded the second-most shots on target in the league when on the road this season.   Still, the Cherries beat Spurs comfortably in Gameweek 14, and they’ve now racked up more shots (219) this season than any team not named Manchester City. Andoni Iraola’s men have spread that attacking threat fairly evenly, too: Antoine Semenyo (£5. 7m) is the highest shot-taker, sitting second in the league for goal attempts (54); Marcus Tavernier (£5. 5m) was the stand-out against Spurs, claiming an assist and racking up an x GI of 0. 74; Justin Kluivert (£5. 4m) showed in Gameweek 13 that he isn’t afraid of the penalty spot; and summer signing Evanilson (£6. 0m) is Bournemouth’s current highest scorer in FPL, registering seven attacking returns across his last seven appearances. The Cherries only have two clean sheets this season - against Spurs and Arsenal - but they’re also among the best sides in the league for Expected Goals Conceded (x GC) over the last six Gameweeks, adding to the appeal of Milos Kerkez (£4. 5m), who has a goal and two assists in his last five matches. For Leicester, Jamie Vardy (£5. 5m), Patson Daka (£4. 8m), Facundo Buonanotte (£5. 0m) and Bilal El Khannouss (£4. 8m) are the leading options. Danny Welbeck (£5. 9m) missed Brighton's midweek match so keep an eye on the teamsheet if you're considering picking him.  Playing centrally in his absence, Joao Pedro (£5. 8m) bagged an assist against Fulham, while Kaoru Mitoma (£6. 5m) blanked after consecutive goals. Georginio Rutter (£5. 6m), whose x G and shot attempt numbers have ticked up in recent weeks, was handed nearly a full rest, so could be raring to go. 16: 30 GMT Fantasy Challenge deadline Spurs v Chelsea Son Heung-min (£9. 9m) has seven attacking returns from 10 league starts this season, but niggling injuries and fatigue appear to have so far restricted him from tapping into the consistent form that we are used to.   Ange Postecoglou has been rotating his squad so teamsheets will have to be checked, especially as Brennan Johnson (£6. 7m) registered just 0. 03 x GI against Bournemouth. If the midweek rest has done Son some good, and he can be squeezed into a Fantasy Challenge squad alongside some of the in-form premium players, he could be worth a punt given any points he scores will be doubled. Chelsea have, however, conceded just five goals in their last six matches - the least in the league over that period. The double points on offer for Cole Palmer (£11. 0m) in this week's challenge make him even more of a sure-fire pick than usual, and those backing Nicolas Jackson (£8. 2m) will surely be encouraged by the full rest he was afforded in midweek. He had 12 attacking returns from 13 starts prior to that benching, and will almost certainly start against a Spurs side who are fourth for Expected Goals Conceded over the past six Gameweeks (11. 69) despite only letting in six in that spell.   Elsewhere, Enzo Fernández (£4. 9m) continued his case to be the next budget midfield gem with a fifth attacking return in four Gameweeks, while Noni Madueke (£6. 3m) rebounded from his Gameweek 13 benching to register a goal and assist in his 71 minutes on the pitch against Southampton. 20: 00 GMT Fantasy Challenge deadline West Ham v Wolves West Ham had 31 shots in their midweek defeat at Leicester, the most shots by a losing Premier League away team since 2010. Four of those shots, as well as five key passes, came from Jarrod Bowen (£7. 4m). The Englishman - who has his share of set-pieces with corners and indirect free-kicks - may have more luck against Wolves, who have conceded the second-most set-piece attempts in the league away from home this season, while the Hammers have scored three goals from set-pieces in the last six Gameweeks alone. This Gameweek 15 curtain-closer could well turn out to be a goalfest, given West Ham and Wolves have each conceded eight goals in their last two matches. Matheus Cunha (£7. 1m) has now blanked in consecutive matches for the first time since Gameweeks 3-4. No other forward has outperformed their x G or Expected Goal Involvement figure by more than the versatile Brazilian, who is outscoring those numbers by three and four returns, respectively, across the season. The pendulum of form has instead swung the way of Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5. 6m) most recently, with the Norwegian forward scoring twice in the last two Gameweeks, firing off more shots than Cunha (five to four) and enjoying more big chances (four to zero) than his more expensive team-mate Kevin De Bruyne scored two great goals as City moved level with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League Or enter your details Incorrect email or password Your details have been submitted successfully. You have already entered this competition. Please check your email for further information. Your details have been submitted successfully.