Etienne Capoue’s (£4.8million) ascent to the top of the Fantasy Premier League standings has been remarkable.
After mustering one goal and a single assist in the previous three seasons, the Watford midfielder has found the net on three occasions in the first four Gameweeks, combining this with an assist and eight bonus points.
Having started the season at a cost of £4.5m, Capoue has risen in price three times and has been drafted in by more than 809,000 FPL managers – second only to Alvaro Negredo (£6.9m), with 825,000+ so far. He is now in 25.1% of squads.
Watford’s recent signing, Roberto Pereyra (£6.0m) from Juventus, looks set to add competition for FPL managers’ attentions, though.
Emerging from the bench in the 3-1 home loss to Arsenal, the Argentinian scored his side’s consolation and followed that up with an assist in the Hornets’ comeback win at West Ham United last weekend.
In a central role alongside Capoue in Walter Mazzarri’s 3-5-2 formation, Pereyra has already equalled his team-mate’s four chances created. His average of 36.5 minutes per key pass is only narrowly behind Eden Hazard's (£10.3m) 35.7 minutes.
From the point of his debut as a substitute in Gameweek 3, the new boy has mirrored Capoue for shots on target (two) and efforts from inside the box (two).
Pereyra will now be looking to test the resolve of Manchester United's defence at Vicarage Road on Sunday. Following that, the Hornets embark on a run of matches that is deemed very favourable by the Fixture Difficulty Ranking (FDR) chart.
Mazzarri’s side register a total FDR score of six over Gameweek 6-10, as they go up against Burnley, AFC Bournemouth, Middlesbrough, Swansea City and Hull City.
Having scored against the likes of Southampton, Chelsea and West Ham already, there is no doubt that Capoue remains the value option in the Watford midfield.
Nonetheless, Pereyra’s promising start to life in the Premier League suggests he could more than match his popular team-mate for FPL returns, both in Gameweek 5 and across that run of upcoming matches.
