This article is part of our Fantasy Premier League Rankings series.
Enter our new Fantasy Premier League Weekly Rankings. Each week, Chris Mosinski and I will be putting together rankings for the upcoming matchweek to give readers a look into which players have good matchups and which could struggle against their opponents. Don't worry, Nick Pitner will still be doing his Best XI column each week, but we wanted to expand our offerings for each matchweek and a rankings list seemed like the most valuable thing to add.
To put an added twist on it, Chris and I will be drafting against each other to formulate the rankings. A starting XI, plus seven bench spots (two strikers, two midfielders, two defenders, one goalkeeper). Chris had the first pick this week, I had two and three, he took four, and then we alternated after that. The overall rankings below will show how the draft played out, and then we break down each position, in case you're looking for that too.
Enter our new Fantasy Premier League Weekly Rankings. Each week, Chris Mosinski and I will be putting together rankings for the upcoming matchweek to give readers a look into which players have good matchups and which could struggle against their opponents. Don't worry, Nick Pitner will still be doing his Best XI column each week, but we wanted to expand our offerings for each matchweek and a rankings list seemed like the most valuable thing to add.
To put an added twist on it, Chris and I will be drafting against each other to formulate the rankings. A starting XI, plus seven bench spots (two strikers, two midfielders, two defenders, one goalkeeper). Chris had the first pick this week, I had two and three, he took four, and then we alternated after that. The overall rankings below will show how the draft played out, and then we break down each position, in case you're looking for that too.
If you have any feedback, whether on the format of the rankings, where certain players are ranked, or if you think we left someone out who should be on there, please feel free to post that in the comments section below.
Overall Rankings for Matchweek 21
1. Romelu Lukaku vs. Norwich City
2. Luis Suarez at Stoke City
3. Wayne Rooney vs. Swansea City Update: Rooney faces a late fitness test due to his recurring groin injury. Update #2: Rooney has been ruled out after being sent on a warm weather training trip with a United fitness coach.
4. Seamus Coleman vs. Norwich City
5. Mesut Ozil vs. Aston Villa
6. Eden Hazard at Hull City
7. Yaya Toure at Newcastle Note: Toure is headed for a late fitness test after taking a knock to his ankle in Wednesday's Capital One Cup match against West Ham.
8. Loic Remy vs. Manchester City
9. Olivier Giroud vs. Aston Villa
10. Emmanuel Adebayor vs. Crystal Palace
11. Leighton Baines vs. Norwich City Baines will face a late fitness test after experiencing back spasms last weekend.
12. Adam Lallana vs. West Bromwich Albion
13. Yohan Cabaye vs. Manchester City Update: Cabaye faces a late fitness test for a calf injury.
14. Hugo Lloris vs. Crystal Palace
15. Robin van Persie vs. Swansea City Update: van Persie has returned to training but is not guaranteed to play this weekend. Update #2: van Persie has been ruled out.
16. Christian Eriksen vs. Crystal Palace
17. David Silva at Newcastle
18. Kyle Walker vs. Crystal Palace
19. Tim Howard vs. Norwich City
20. Daniel Sturridge at Stoke City
21. Patrice Evra vs. Swansea City
22. Steven Gerrard at Stoke City
23. John Terry at Hull City
24. Santi Cazorla at Aston Villa
25. Oscar at Hull City
26. Dimitar Berbatov vs. Sunderland
27. Alvaro Negredo at Newcastle
28. Ross Barkley vs. Norwich City Note: Barkley will have a late fitness test after suffering a toe injury in last weekend's FA Cup match against QPR.
29. Samir Nasri at Newcastle
30. Per Mertesacker at Aston Villa
31. Bacary Sagna at Aston Villa
32. Wojciech Szczesny at Aston Villa
33. Martin Skrtel at Stoke City
34. Michael Dawson vs. Crystal Palace
35. Simon Mignolet at Stoke City
36. Antolin Alcaraz vs. Norwich City
On Romelu Lukaku being ranked No. 1 overall:
Mosinski: Norwich City allow more than two goals per away match. There are lots of top strikers who will be playing on the road this week, which leaves Romelu Lukaku as the best option by far.
Laird: Are we really skipping over the best goal-scorer in England for our top spot? I guess we are this week. I'll happily plug him into the No. 2 spot.
On Seamus Coleman getting called at No. 4 overall:
Mosinski: Canaries can't score on the road. Plus, goals by defenders earn extra points. Good matchup for that.
On Robin van Persie at No. 15
Laird: He's obviously a much higher pick if he was healthy, which has been his issue for quite awhile now. RVP is getting close to regaining his "injury prone" tag, which puts a number of other strikers ahead of him right now.
On Dimitar Berbatov ahead of Alvaro Negredo
Mosinski: Berbatov has scored or assisted in each of his last four matches.
Laird: Coincidentally, Negredo's last road goal came against Newcastle. Unfortunately, it came in a Capital One Cup match back on October 30.
Strikers
1. Romelu Lukaku vs. Norwich City
2. Luis Suarez at Stoke City
3. Wayne Rooney vs. Swansea City Update: Rooney faces a late fitness test due to his recurring groin injury. Update #2: Rooney has been ruled out after being sent on a warm weather training trip with a United fitness coach.
4. Loic Remy vs. Manchester City
5. Olivier Giroud vs. Aston Villa
6. Emmanuel Adebayor vs. Crystal Palace
7. Robin van Persie vs. Swansea City Update: van Persie has returned to training but is not guaranteed to play this weekend. Update #2: van Persie has been ruled out.
8. Daniel Sturridge at Stoke City
9. Dimitar Berbatov vs. Sunderland
10. Alvaro Negredo at Newcastle
Midfielders
1. Mesut Ozil vs. Aston Villa
2. Eden Hazard at Hull City
3. Yaya Toure at Newcastle Note: Toure is headed for a late fitness test after taking a knock to his ankle in Wednesday's Capital One Cup match against West Ham.
4. Adam Lallana vs. West Bromwich Albion
5. Yohan Cabaye vs. Manchester City Update: Cabaye faces a late fitness test for a calf injury.
6. Christian Eriksen vs. Crystal Palace
7. David Silva at Newcastle
8. Steven Gerrard at Stoke City
9. Santi Cazorla at Aston Villa
10. Oscar at Hull City
11. Ross Barkley vs. Norwich City Note: Barkley will have a late fitness test after suffering a toe injury in last weekend's FA Cup match against QPR.
12. Samir Nasri at Newcastle
Defenders
1. Seamus Coleman vs. Norwich City
2. Leighton Baines vs. Norwich City Baines will face a late fitness test after experiencing back spasms last weekend.
3. Kyle Walker vs. Crystal Palace
4. Patrice Evra vs. Swansea City
5. John Terry at Hull City
6. Per Mertesacker at Aston Villa
7. Bacary Sagna at Aston Villa
8. Martin Skrtel at Stoke City
9. Michael Dawson vs. Crystal Palace
10. Antolin Alcaraz vs. Norwich City
Goalkeepers
1. Hugo Lloris vs. Crystal Palace
2. Tim Howard vs. Norwich City
3. Wojciech Szczesny at Aston Villa
4. Simon Mignolet at Stoke City
And if you're curious how our teams line up against each other, here you go:
| POS | Mosinski | Laird |
| GK | Hugo Lloris | Tim Howard |
| D | Seamus Coleman | Leighton Baines |
| D | Kyle Walker | Patrice Evra |
| D | Per Mertesacker | John Terry |
| M | Eden Hazard | Mesut Ozil |
| M | Adam Lallana | Yaya Toure |
| M | Christian Eriksen | Yohan Cabaye |
| M | Steven Gerrard | David Silva |
| F | Romelu Lukaku | Luis Suarez |
| F | Loic Remy | Wayne Rooney |
| F | Emmanuel Adebayor | Olivier Giroud |
| BG | Wojciech Szczesny | Simon Mignolet |
| BD | Michael Dawson | Bacary Sagna |
| BD | Antolin Alcaraz | Martin Skrtel |
| BM | Ross Barkley | Samir Nasri |
| BM | Santi Cazorla | Oscar |
| BF | Daniel Sturridge | Robin van Persie |
| BF | Dimitar Berbatov | Alvaro Negredo |
