Premier league games

2023 - 2 - 9

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Image courtesy of "The Athletic"

Fantasy Premier League: Is it time to invest in Liverpool assets again? (The Athletic)

After a poor season so far for Liverpool, might their assets start to be the difference-makers over the coming weeks in FPL?

Aside from Liverpool’s two fixtures in Gameweek 25, another reason to go for Salah and Nunez is that they are both owned by relatively few FPL managers, so it’s a good time to get ahead of the curve. The Uruguayan may not be the most clinical, but he is a player who arrives in great goal-scoring positions, reflected in his high xG. If Liverpool start to score goals more freely again, it’ll likely be Salah or Nunez involved. And with Van Dijk and [Ibrahima Konate](https://theathletic.com/football/player/ibrahima-konate-vi83z5XUFDUq6gFF/) (£4.8m) out injured, there is little confidence that Liverpool’s defence will improve soon. Although this may lead us to believe that Nunez is a bad finisher, his career stats tell us differently. He has also created 38 chances with an xA (expected assists) of 3.1. He will be worth buying again — at the right time. He has seven goals and five assists this season, with the highest xG (9.17) among midfielders (which is what FPL classes him as). Things are likely to improve in this regard with the return of injured players such as In attack, last season Liverpool had already scored 52 goals by this point, with an xG of 50.38. They have conceded 28 goals with an expected goals conceded (xGC) of 29.2. After the same number of games last season, they had conceded 18 goals, with an xGC of 19.72.

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Image courtesy of "BBC Sport"

Chris Sutton's Premier League predictions v FEET bassist Oli Shasha (BBC Sport)

Chris Sutton takes on FEET bassist and West Ham fan Oli Shasha to pick his winners and losers from this weekend's Premier League games.

I am going for them to win, but it will be a close game - Harry from the band [FEET guitarist Harry Southerton] is a big Villa fan and when we used to live together we'd watch a lot of these kind of games, and in the last couple of seasons Villa always played well. Oli's prediction: There will definitely be goals in this one, but Liverpool will show up and they always seem to play well in this fixture. Oli's prediction: Man City have been playing a bit weirdly for a while now and I think Haaland's goals have masked a lot of issues in the team. I originally went for a 4-1 Liverpool win but my housemate is an Evertonian and he has been trying to get in my ear about how close it will be. There will be a siege mentality at Etihad Stadium and that should create the kind of atmosphere that Guardiola has been asking for recently. Oli's prediction: I remember this fixture last season because we were in the recording studio and I interrupted a drum take by screaming when Arthur Masuaku scored an absolutely bonkers goal to win it with one of the last kicks of the game. I am going for us to win again - we are at home and when our fans get going it's really something, especially in a game like this one. Leicester ended their long wait for a victory when they beat Aston Villa last week but they are not out of trouble yet. Pep Guardiola's side missed a massive chance to put the pressure on Arsenal when they lost at Tottenham last weekend. They are brave on the ball and they always create chances. "Back then there didn't seem to be any enthusiasm from the players, but all of a sudden it changes. 2-1

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Image courtesy of "Betting.betfair"

Premier League Opta Stats: 10 bets to back from 6/5 to a 12/1 Bet ... (Betting.betfair)

Stats guru Mike Norman analyses the best Opta stats to provide insight, odds and Bet Builders for Betfair ahead of the Premier League action this weekend.

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