This weekend's Fantasy Challenge, “Bargains”, sees all players priced £6.0m and under earn DOUBLE points.
With £100m available to pick 11 players, the flexible budget presents managers with an intriguing dilemma: do you continue backing the top premium picks? Or do you go all-in on cheaper options to maximise your points potential?
Pick your Fantasy Challenge team NOW!
Once a player's club have started their first match of the Gameweek, they will be locked from any changes. However, you can otherwise tweak any remaining slots in your team, and even enter a full squad, right up until 19:00 GMT on Sunday.
Here, Alex Dakers identifies some of the best remaining budget Fantasy Challenge picks.
Sunday
19:00 Final GMT Fantasy Challenge deadline
Chelsea v Brentford
Southampton v Spurs
Cole Palmer (£11.1m) justified his price tag again in Chelsea’s blockbuster Gameweek 15 win over Spurs, but Enzo Fernandez (£5.0m) - who also has a share of set-pieces duties - could run him close thanks to the double points on offer in this week’s challenge.
Fernandez has now registered six attacking returns in five Gameweeks and faces a Brentford side who have just a single point and a league-high 107 shots conceded away from home this season. The Bees are also third-bottom for goals scored away from home, which could raise faith in the likes of Marc Cucurella (£5.1m), who boasts two assists in three matches, and goalkeeper Robert Sánchez (£4.8m).
Brentford’s Nathan Collins (£4.5m) scored last weekend for his sixth attacking return this season, the joint-most among all defenders, while Kevin Schade (£5.1m) managed his sixth return in three matches despite playing just 17 minutes off the bench in Gameweek 15.
Southampton continue to struggle in front of goal, but Cameron Archer’s (£5.0m) underlying stats have at least ticked up a little recently, the forward accumulating an Expected Goal Involvement (xGI) total of 1.09 across three starts since Gameweek 13.
Most of Spurs’ main point-scorers are priced above £6.0m, but Pedro Porro (£5.6m) could deliver at both ends against the league’s most goal-shy attack and second-worst defence. Ange Postecoglou’s men have conceded the second-fewest goals away from home this season, with eight, although three of their last four away matches have ended in defeat.
Monday
AFC Bournemouth v West Ham
Boosted by their respective potentials for attacking and bonus points, the likes of Milos Kerkez (£4.6m), Illia Zabarnyi (£4.4m) and Dean Huijsen (£4.3m) are all worthy picks in an AFC Bournemouth backline whose home defensive record can be bettered only by Liverpool this season.
Further forward, Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) is second in the league for goal attempts, with 58, and Justin Kluivert (£5.5m) is also worth a look. Evanilson (£6.1m) falls outside the Fantasy Challenge “bargain” classification but Enes Unal (£5.4m) has scored off the bench twice in the last four Gameweeks and could warrant a punt.
West Ham United are among the top teams for goal attempts but the worst for goals scored away from home. Still, there are worse options than the towering Tomas Soucek (£4.9m), who has two goals in his last four matches and plays in a side ranked top for set-piece attempts in away matches.
Full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.6m), who scored in back-to-back matches recently, and Crysencio Summerville (£5.7m), who has racked up 1.41 xGI in his last 117 minutes of league action, are alternatives to consider.
