Philippe Coutinho
Aston Villa hit something of a slump under Steven Gerrard but there were signs of them rediscovering their early promise in the win at Brighton last week and their upcoming double is strong from an attacking perspective.
Southampton may be in-form but have the top flight’s third-worst defence on the road, while Leeds have been an outright shambles. Granted, they are under new management now, but a player of Coutinho’s ability should be licking his lips at that pair of fixtures.
Mason Mount
Norwich announced last week that their home meeting with Chelsea would be rearranged for GW28 if either side went out of the FA Cup. Their elimination gives Thomas Tuchel’s side an enticing double of Burnley and the Canaries away, but who to pick from their band of attacking talent?
Mount has been going slightly under the radar this season with strong underlying performances and a solid 104 points, albeit without a league goal to his name since December. That could change this week, especially against a side he put a hat-trick past in October.
Antonio Rudiger
While it is difficult to pick out a dependable attacking asset from Chelsea’s ranks other than Mount, there are more options at the back. The returning Reece James will tempt a lot of managers but for security of starts, you cannot do much better than Rudiger.
Clean sheets are what we’re looking for here, and neither Burnley nor Norwich pose much of a threat as the two lowest scoring teams in the top flight. With Newcastle visiting Stamford Bridge next week, investing in Chelsea’s defence looks like a wise move in the medium-term.
James Ward-Prowse
Talking of dependable assets, Ward-Prowse is practically guaranteed to play 180 minutes of Southampton’s double against Villa and Newcastle. With set-pieces and penalties in his locker and at a modest price of 6.5m, it can feel that the England international is somewhat underrated in fantasy circles.
Ward-Prowse has scored a point more than Raphinha over the course of the season and has every chance of outsourcing him this week too.
Ryan Fraser
If you really want to go all-in on the doubles, how about a Newcastle player? Eddie Howe’s in-form side play twice this week against Brighton and Southampton, then twice next week against Chelsea and Everton. A double double, if you like.
Joe Willock is attracting a lot of attention after two goals in as many games and put up a long streak of returns around this time last season. But there’s also Fraser, who came away from last week’s win at Brentford with an assist and seems to the one be stringing things together in Howe’s attack.
