Folks we're back. We got two matchdays this week! Here are some players you should keep an eye on for matchday 17.
Stephen Ward (Burnley):
Looking for a defender? Look no further than Burnley’s Stephen Ward. Ward is 7th-place Burnley’s leading FPL scorer on the season and costs only £5.1 — plus Burnley host struggling Stoke City.
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool):
Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah has been named the 2017 African Player of the Year by the BBC. Salah, who arrived on Merseyside this summer from Roma, is Liverpool's most expensive signing ever and also probably the buy of the summer.
Most years the Europa League is barely given a second thought this time of year. Sure it might be worth watching as the competition draws to its climax, but the Round of 32, not to mention the Europa League draw itself, typically doesn’t register highly on the mainstream soccer watch list.
The Manchester clubs were rewarded for winning easy groups with easy Round of 16 foes while three other matchups pit championship contenders against each other in the Champions League draw announced Monday. Real Madrid faces Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea takes on Barcelona and Tottenham drew Juventus.
For all the attacking talent on display in the Manchester Derby, defensive blunders decided the outcome between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday. And when the snow settled, City defeated United 2-1 to set the English Premier League record for consecutive wins at 14.
It was one of those matches where you wondered if the manager would get away with resting some of his big stars on the bench. It was one of those matches where you always felt the team in the lead would regret not adding a second or third. It was one of those matches where you weren’t shocked at all to see the road underdog score an equalizer to steal a point.
For the neutral, there’s no better scoreline in football than 3-2. Goals, end-to-end action and drama are all promised in such an outcome, and Leicester City’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Newcastle United delivered Saturday.
On the 125th anniversary of Newcastle’s founding, Joselu brought the 52,000-strong audience to its feet by opening the scoring following some great work by Dwight Gayle.
Matchweek 16 of the English Premier League kicked off Saturday morning with relegation candidates West Ham shocking defending champions Chelsea 1-0 at the London Stadium. David Moyes’ first victory as Hammers boss was secured by Marko Arnautovic, the $27 million man who’d yet to score following his summer move from Stoke City.
But Moyes suddenly seems like the right man for the job with Arnautovic finding net and West Ham climbing to 18th in the table, with just their horrific goal difference of minus 18 keeping them from safety.