As managers in Fantasy Premier League move to bring in Omar Marmoush (£7.3m), The Scout looks at whether the Manchester City forward is a good pick.
Marmoush is the second most-bought player ahead of Gameweek 30, earning 182,000+ transfers in after his goal and assist against Brighton & Hove Albion in Blank Gameweek 29 gave him his second double-figure haul in seven outings.
Notably, the Egyptian has been near-identical to Erling Haaland (£14.8m) for Fantasy output since joining Man City in January.
Marmoush has matched the Norwegian’s four goals from Gameweek 23 onwards and has amassed 38 points over that period, placing him fourth among forwards and just behind the 40 of Haaland.
Indeed, Haaland is the only forward who has been involved in more goals than Marmoush during that spell.
Haaland's total of six is one ahead of a host of strike rivals including Marmoush, Beto (£5.1m), Chris Wood (£7.3m), Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m).
The main difference between the Man City pair has been consistency.
Whereas Haaland has produced only one blank in his six outings from Gameweek 23 onwards, Marmoush has blanked in five of his seven appearances.
Top-scoring forwards, GW23-29
| Player | G | A | Blanks | Pts |
| Beto | 5 | 0 | 3 | 43 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 40 |
| Wood | 4 | 1 | 4 | 39 |
| Marmoush | 4 | 1 | 5 | 38 |
| Watkins | 3 | 2 | 2 | 37 |
| Mateta | 4 | 1 | 1 | 35 |
What is Marmoush's potential for goals and assists?
The underlying statistics help to highlight Marmoush's prospects for both goals and assists.
His creative potential in particular stands out here. The Egyptian's total of eight chances created from Gameweek 23 onwards ranks second among forwards.
Added to his 14 shots, this means he has been involved in 22 shots over the last seven Gameweeks. That places him one ahead of Haaland, who has had 14 shots and created seven scoring chances for his Man City team-mates.
However, it's worth pointing out that just FOUR of Marmoush's efforts have come from inside the penalty box.
Among the players featured in the table below, Beto and Raul Jimenez (£5.5m) have had 18 such efforts, while Haaland, Yoane Wissa (£6.5m), Liam Delap and Joao Pedro (both £5.6m), have had at least THREE TIMES the number of shots in the box as Marmoush.
Top forwards' attacking stats, GW23-29
| Player | Shots | Shots in box | Chances created | Shot involvement |
| Cunha | 23 | 11 | 8 | 31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimenez | 23 | 18 | 5 | 28 |
| Beto | 21 | 18 | 6 | 27 |
| Delap | 21 | 14 | 2 | 23 |
| Wissa | 19 | 14 | 4 | 23 |
| Marmoush | 14 | 4 | 8 | 22 |
| Haaland | 14 | 12 | 7 | 21 |
| Joao Pedro | 15 | 13 | 6 | 21 |
An assessment of Marmoush's involvement in big chances - a situation where the player is expected to score - again helps to highlight his lack of threat inside the opposition box.
He's had only two big chances and created a further three, which means he has been involved in five such opportunities.
Again, though, a host of other forwards have boasted a significantly superior goal threat. Haaland, along with Beto, Joao Pedro and Watkins, have all had at least THREE times that number of big chances.
Top forwards' big-chance stats, GW23-29
| Player | Big chances | Big chances created | Big-chance involvement |
| Joao Pedro | 7 | 5 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beto | 10 | 1 | 11 |
| Haaland | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Watkins | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Isak, Jimenez, Vardy, Wood | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Marmoush | 2 | 3 | 5 |
How do Man City's fixtures look?
A Gameweek 30 match at home to Leicester City lifts the immediate potential of Man City's key players, and their schedule over the run-in suggests they can then continue rewarding investors for the rest of the season.
Pep Guardiola's side avoid all of the current top seven teams over their remaining nine fixtures - a run that is reflected in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), with NONE of those matches scoring more than three.
It is worth noting, though, that Man City will have a Blank Gameweek 34 if they defeat AFC Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarter-finals, OR if Aston Villa beat Preston North End.
Man City's remaining nine fixtures
| GW | Opp. | FDR |
| 30 | Leicester (H) | 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Man Utd (A) | 3 |
| 32 | Crystal Palace (H) | 3 |
| 33 | Everton (A) | 3 |
| 34 | Aston Villa (H) | 3 |
| 35 | Wolves (H) | 2 |
| 36 | Southampton (A) | 2 |
| 37 | Bournemouth (H) | 3 |
| 38 | Fulham (A) | 3 |
So, should managers invest in Marmoush?
While Man City have good fixtures, this is a point in the season when Blank and Double Gameweeks should be shaping every decision you make, and Marmoush faces a tough task to force his way into managers’ forward lines.
Both Crystal Palace and Newcastle United play two matches in Double Gameweek 32 (DGW32), which makes Mateta and Alexander Isak (£9.3m) higher-priority picks.
For those who are looking to invest in Man City's attack, Haaland is still clearly the go-to asset, with both his goal threat and consistency being far superior to Marmoush's.
Ultimately, the Egyptian’s five blanks and four shots in the box in seven matches shows there is still lots to improve on. Granted, he’s half the price of Haaland in Fantasy, but the statistics show there are plenty of other mid-price forwards who are far exceeding Marmoush for goal threat right now.
However, if Man City do get their own Double Gameweek then Marmoush’s ability to deliver huge hauls would boost his appeal considerably as an alternative to Haaland - albeit you would be unlikely to captain him - or even alongside the Norwegian.