This article is part of our The Armband series.
All of the big names did well in the midweek matches except for Harry Kane, Diego Costa, Dimitri Payet, Jamie Vardy, Romelu Lukaku, Sadio Mane, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott… alright, I'll stop.
At the least, Salomon Rondon did well as expected and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his fifth goal in five matches. Unfortunately, the only other relevant forward was Divock Origi. My captain favorite Chris Brunt assisted twice to Rondon and was a late Swansea goal away from a clean sheet. Adam Lallana has turned into the best midfielder outside of Mane for Liverpool, while Christian Eriksen had another great outing, now with five goals and two assists in the last four matches.
Maybe the biggest surprise of Gameweek 15 was that Kane couldn't find the back of the net for Spurs in a 3-0 win. He finished with just two shots, and in a 3-4-3 formation, it wasn't meant to be.
And just like that, Gameweek 17 is upon us with six more matches on Saturday starting things off.
It's a good chance for Costa to get back to doing what he does best, and that's scoring (no, not getting a fifth yellow card). Chelsea are at Crystal Palace, which is a good bet for three points for the Blues. With Eden Hazard likely out, Costa may be the only option, unless you want to give a go with Cesc Fabregas, who has scored or assisted in three straight.
West Ham again have a great matchup against Hull, but they didn't do anything spectacular versus Burnley last time out. Still, many fantasy bosses will be on Dimitri Payet even if he disappointed last match. The same can be said for Ibra, though away at West Brom is by no means an easy matchup for the Red Devils. Ibra needed a last-minute goal at Palace in midweek, but his goal run can't be ignored.
Once again, similar to last gameweek, Tottenham have the best matchup, home against Burnley, a side that has scored once and allowed 16 goals on the road. Kane disappointed against Hull, but don't expect that to happen again. And if he burns you twice, well, don't blame me. Of course, Eriksen will be added by many and will likely be an armband favorite as well after his last performance. And for the ridiculous amount of people who own Kyle Walker (37 percent), this should be another home clean sheet for Spurs.
Unfortunately, that's about it for favorable fantasy matchups, which undoubtedly means there will be a massive number of goals. The Merseyside derby will have a lot of eyeballs, but Everton have only allowed six goals at home this season, which means another three-goal effort from the Reds is unlikely. Origi is dealing with a minor knock, but should be ready, while Sane and Lallana are also on the list. Predicting which player will score will be the test. If Origi gets another, maybe I'll become a believer. However, the last time Liverpool played someone relevant on the road, they gave up four to Bournemouth. Romelu Lukaku, are you out there?
The same difficult situation can be said for Man City-Arsenal, with the Gunners coming off just their second loss of the season. Alexis Sanchez is probably the only Gunner that should warrant attention, with Kevin De Bruyne the only option for the home side. Man City have not had success against other top teams this season, which ultimately means this match will end 1-1.
For the contrarians, there are a couple forwards that deserve monitoring, with Jermain Defoe against Watford and Alvaro Negredo taking on Swansea. Defoe hasn't scored in two straight while Negredo hasn't been very good all season, but good matchups should result in at least a few chances.
Unfortunately, Chris Brunt is not in my rankings this week.
