Premier League: Team of Round 21
Interestingly, the Team of Round 21 doesn't feature a single club that was represented in the Team of Round 20 - a fact that emphasises the challenging nature of both the Premier League and fantasy games! That said, despite Chelsea being held to a surprising goalless draw at home to Southampton and Manchester City and Liverpool facing one another, the average score managed in R21 by the Superbru community increased to 59.6.
Here's your usual Premier League fantasy round-up including the R21 TOTR.
Community average score in Round 21: 59.6
Community best in Round 20: 89
TOTR score: 127
Theoretical best legal score: 127
In front of Gunn is a back three consisting of Leicester City duo Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell and Crystal Palace's Patrick van Aanholt. Both sides managed very good clean sheet away wins in this round at Everton and Wolves respectively. Pereira and van Aanholt scored best thanks to managing an assist each while the Leicester full-backs also picked up bonus points for consistent in-game performance. Pereira completed numerous dribbles as he featured in a more attacking position than usual on the right flank while Chilwell picked up tackle and dribble points from his usual LB spot.
Of the three defenders, it is Pereira who stands out as the best option if you're looking for a new defender in your 11-a-side fantasy team. Only five defenders have scored more points than the Foxes full-back in our PL fantasy games so far this season and the fact he occasionally starts in a more advance right-midfield role makes the chances of him scoring attacking points all the better.
Just as Watford's Ken Sema benefitted from a goal and an assist in that 3-3 draw with Bournemouth to gain 10 Superbru points, Son Heung-Min managed 10 points for the exact same actions as Tottenham defeated Cardiff 3-0 away from home. Despite the Korean's incredible recent form, think twice before adding him to your fantasy teams as he will be away for the Asian Cup following Spurs' Premier League game with Manchester United in Round 22.
The final TOTR midfielder is Arsenal's Granit Xhaka who like Leroy Sane, Dale Stephens and Christian Eriksen scored a goal in Round 22 but also made more than three interceptions against Fulham to earn an additional point. Mohamed Salah remains the overall highest scoring midfielder and player in our fantasy game with 139 points despite only scoring 2pts against Manchester City (A).
Kane is of course a far more commonly selected striker than the other two TOTR forwards at Superbru though Arnautovic's popularity can be expected to rise back up from 7% now that he is fit and starting games again. Deeney has been far less prolific so far this season than the other two, scoring 3.6 Superbru points per game, but is a relatively frequent starter for Watford.
Marcus Rashford, who narrowly missed out on a place in this TOTR after scoring 8 points in R21 thanks to a goal at Newcastle United, remains a key forward to keep an eye on following the turnaround in Manchester United's form under OGS. However, Romelu Lukaku has now also scored in each of United's last two games so it will be very interesting to see if the Belgian earns his starting place back in future rounds now that he has returned from compassionate leave.
Premier League ideal 5-a-side teams by daily round during R22:
New Year's Day: Lloris, Pereira, Xhaka, Son, Kane (47 points)
Wednesday: de Gea, van Aanholt, Stephens, Fraser, Deeney (48 points)
Thursday: Ederson, Robertson, B. Silva, Sane, Aguero (25 points)
Congratulations to those of you that made it through the hectic festive period without missing a Premier League pick. You've earned a well deserved rest until the 12th of this month where Round 22 will take place across three days.
Click here to play Premier League Fantasy at Superbru
Click here to play Premier League 5-a-side Fantasy at Superbru
Here's your usual Premier League fantasy round-up including the R21 TOTR.
Community average score in Round 21: 59.6
Community best in Round 20: 89
TOTR score: 127
Theoretical best legal score: 127
Defence
Neil Etheridge takes a well earned rest from this week's TOTR having played between the sticks in each of the last two rounds. His replacement is Southampton's Angus Gunn who put in a fantastic performance to keep a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge on his Premier League debut! Gunn made six saves to take his Superbru points tally to 8 and certainly won't have harmed his chances of taking Alex McCarthy's starting place on a regular basis.In front of Gunn is a back three consisting of Leicester City duo Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell and Crystal Palace's Patrick van Aanholt. Both sides managed very good clean sheet away wins in this round at Everton and Wolves respectively. Pereira and van Aanholt scored best thanks to managing an assist each while the Leicester full-backs also picked up bonus points for consistent in-game performance. Pereira completed numerous dribbles as he featured in a more attacking position than usual on the right flank while Chilwell picked up tackle and dribble points from his usual LB spot.
Of the three defenders, it is Pereira who stands out as the best option if you're looking for a new defender in your 11-a-side fantasy team. Only five defenders have scored more points than the Foxes full-back in our PL fantasy games so far this season and the fact he occasionally starts in a more advance right-midfield role makes the chances of him scoring attacking points all the better.
Midfield
There's a midfield four in this week's TOTR due to their being a number of high-scoring strikers in this New Year round and not for the first time, the best performing midfielder of all in this week's XI is Ryan Fraser. After bagging 11 points in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Watford at the Vitality, Fraser is now up to 93 points for the season meaning he is the fifth best-performing midfielder so far this season, ahead of the likes of Pogba, Sane, Mane and fellow Team of Round 21 member, Son.Just as Watford's Ken Sema benefitted from a goal and an assist in that 3-3 draw with Bournemouth to gain 10 Superbru points, Son Heung-Min managed 10 points for the exact same actions as Tottenham defeated Cardiff 3-0 away from home. Despite the Korean's incredible recent form, think twice before adding him to your fantasy teams as he will be away for the Asian Cup following Spurs' Premier League game with Manchester United in Round 22.
The final TOTR midfielder is Arsenal's Granit Xhaka who like Leroy Sane, Dale Stephens and Christian Eriksen scored a goal in Round 22 but also made more than three interceptions against Fulham to earn an additional point. Mohamed Salah remains the overall highest scoring midfielder and player in our fantasy game with 139 points despite only scoring 2pts against Manchester City (A).
Strikers
The most eye-catching points totals in this TOTR belong to the forwards as Troy Deeney, Marko Arnautovic and Harry Kane lead the line. Deeney and Arnautovic both managed a brace but couldn't help their teams to more than score draws while Kane picked up a goal and an assist to push Spurs towards a 3-0 win at Cardiff and become the second highest scoring player in our fantasy games so far this season.Kane is of course a far more commonly selected striker than the other two TOTR forwards at Superbru though Arnautovic's popularity can be expected to rise back up from 7% now that he is fit and starting games again. Deeney has been far less prolific so far this season than the other two, scoring 3.6 Superbru points per game, but is a relatively frequent starter for Watford.
Marcus Rashford, who narrowly missed out on a place in this TOTR after scoring 8 points in R21 thanks to a goal at Newcastle United, remains a key forward to keep an eye on following the turnaround in Manchester United's form under OGS. However, Romelu Lukaku has now also scored in each of United's last two games so it will be very interesting to see if the Belgian earns his starting place back in future rounds now that he has returned from compassionate leave.
Premier League ideal 5-a-side teams by daily round during R22:
New Year's Day: Lloris, Pereira, Xhaka, Son, Kane (47 points)
Wednesday: de Gea, van Aanholt, Stephens, Fraser, Deeney (48 points)
Thursday: Ederson, Robertson, B. Silva, Sane, Aguero (25 points)
Congratulations to those of you that made it through the hectic festive period without missing a Premier League pick. You've earned a well deserved rest until the 12th of this month where Round 22 will take place across three days.
Click here to play Premier League Fantasy at Superbru
Click here to play Premier League 5-a-side Fantasy at Superbru