Well, that was an underwhelming double game week. To illustrate this point, only Olivier Giroud and Wilfried Zaha scored twice this week, and both of them scored their brace in just one match.
None of the five most owned players with double fixtures managed to contribute to multiple goals, let alone score multiple times. In fact, despite eight teams having double fixtures, five entrants in our Goal Team of the Week come from sides that played just once in MW35.
GK: David De Gea - Man Utd - 2 games, 5 saves, 1 clean sheet = 10 points
DEF: Chris Smalling - Man Utd - 2 games, 1 goal, 1 goals conceded. 1 clean sheet = 15 points
After a nightmarish loss to West Brom, Smalling played an important role in Manchester United’s bounce back against Bournemouth. The points from his goal, clean sheet, and two starts all combined to make the centre back our Fantasy Player of the Week. Unfortunately, Jose Mourinho’s side do not have a Premier League fixture this weekend, but Smalling will be an excellent option for the run-in considering his recent goalscoring streak and the strength of United's defence.
DEF: Zanka - Huddersfield - 1 game, 1 assist, 1 clean sheet = 10 points
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool - 1 game, 1 assist, 1 clean sheet = 10 points
GoalMID: Wilfried Zaha - Crystal Palace - 1 game, 2 goals = 14 points
Christian Benteke and Alexander Sorloth have both been struggling for fitness and Zaha has certainly pounced on his chance to start up front. A double against Brighton means the 25-year-old has now scored seven goals on the season, matching his best ever Premier League tally. Zaha's efforts have been incredibly helpful to the team as well seeing as Palace have not lost any match in which the Ivory Coast international has scored. As for his value to your Fantasy side, it’s very high this week as he faces Watford and their league worst home defence.
MID: Raheem Sterling - Man City - 1 game, 1 goal, 1 assist = 11 points
MID: Christian Eriksen - Spurs - 2 games, 1 goal = 10 points
Christian Eriksen absolutely loves racking up Fantasy points against Manchester City. His goal at the weekend makes it five goals and four assists that he has notched against them in 11 matches. Unfortunately, the match against Brighton went neither Eriksen’s nor Tottenham’s way, but the Dane had a decent round of matches all things considered. Let’s just hope he makes better of his double fixtures week in MW37.
MID: Pascal Gross - Brighton - 2 games, 1 goal = 10 points
GettyFOR: Olivier Giroud - Chelsea - 1 game, 1 sub appearance, 2 goals = 13 points
The Frenchman’s performance against Southampton is exactly what his Fantasy owners and Antonio Conte were hoping for when Giroud signed for Chelsea. Morata’s lack of consistency may just lead to the January signing winning the starting job for the Blues. These were Giroud’s first two Premier League goals since leaving Arsenal, but they will surely not be his last.
FOR: Gabriel Jesus - Man City - 1 game, 1 goals, 1 assist = 10 points
FOR: Ayoze Perez - Newcastle - 1 game, 1 goal, 1 assist = 10 points