The condensed Premier League schedule means plenty of action this week with Week 19 ending on New Year’s Day and Week 20 beginning on January 2nd. Before we look to this week, we will take the time to look back at the top performers from this past weekend led by a surprisingly dominant performance from a Burnley striker. Here is a look at the top individual EPL fantasy performers at each position from this past week.
GK: Artur Boruc, Bournemouth
Swansea City has struggled offensively this season but they did manage to fire five shots on target in their 3-0 loss to Bournemouth. Boruc shut the door for the clean sheet win with five saves, which was just enough to edge out Leicester City’s Kasper Schmeichel for top fantasy honors at his position. Bournemouth is now currently sitting in ninth place in the EPL standings. They have not often provided contributors in terms of EPL fantasy on the defensive end as they have allowed 31 goals in 19 games, which is the most of any team in the Top 10 of the Premier League standings.
Honorable Mention: Kasper Schmeichel, Leicester City; Simon Mignolet, Liverpool
D: Charlie Daniels, Bournemouth
Bournemouth got back on track with a 3-0 win over Swansea City thanks in big part to a strong effort from Daniels at both ends of the pitch. Daniels delivered a lockdown performance at the defensive end and boosted his fantasy score with an assist. Daniels also benefited from a clean sheet bonus after Boruc shut the door on the Swansea attack. In terms of offense, Bournemouth has scored 26 goals in 19 games so far this season.
Honorable Mention: Gary Cahill, Chelsea; Michael Dawson, Hull City
M: Hal-Robson Kanu, West Brom
West Brom secured a 2-1 win over Southampton thanks in big part to a strong effort from Kanu, who led all Premier League midfielders in fantasy points for Week 19. Kanu registered a goal and an assist including the game-winning marker. West Brom now finds themselves in eighth place in the Premier League standings. They have managed to collect 29 points in 20 games so far this season. In terms of EPL fantasy purposes, they have scored 28 goals in 20 games, which is right in the middle of the pack. They have been decent on defense too as they’ve allowed just 24 goals so far this year.
M: Paul Pogba, Manchester United
Pogba delivered again for Manchester United with the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough. Pogba was all over the pitch in this game as he finished with seven shots in total, despite that only two were on target including the lone goal. Manchester United had a strong start to the season but they have labored a little bit since then. They have fallen back to the pack and are in sixth place in the EPL standings. The good news is that they still have 39 points are hold a nine-point buffer over seventh place. Their offense has been quite reliable for EPL fantasy purposes as they’ve now tallied 31 goals in 20 games so far this season.
Honorable Mention: Islam Slimani, Leicester City; Georginio Wijnaldum, Liverpool; Benik Afobe, Bournemouth
F: Andre Gray, Burnley
Gray delivered the most dominant fantasy performance of Week 19 regardless of position as he scored a hat trick in a 4-1 win over Sunderland. Gray opened the scoring in the 31st minute and then added two goals in two minutes early in the second half to put the game out of reach. It was a dominant performance overall from Burnley, but unfortunately it didn’t take long for them to come back down to earth with a 2-1 loss to Manchester City just a couple of days later.
F: Willian, Chelsea
Chelsea continued its dominance at the top of the Premier League table with a 4-2 win over Stoke City in which Willian delivered a pair of goals. The veteran striker scored two goals and fired five shots in total with an added bonus for delivering the game-winning goal. The Blues are currently in first place in the EPL standings.
Honorable Mention: Matthew Phillips, West Brom; Ashley Barnes, Burnley; Ryan Fraser, Bournemouth; Anthony Martial, Manchester United
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