FPL tips and team news ahead of Gameweek 16

It’s December which can only mean one thing for the Premier League: non-stop football! This congested period is often when the very good start distancing themselves from the pack.

Gameweek 16 starts on Friday night, so don’t get caught out, with Brentford hosting Watford as both sides look to move away from the relegation zone. Saturday sees all of the top three in action, including Liverpool hosting Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa and Manchester City taking on Wolves.

There’s then a four-game “super” Sunday which ends in South East London as Everton look to build on their win against Arsenal, taking on Crystal Palace.

Have things already gone south for your fantasy team this season? FanTeam have launched a free-to-enter Second Chance competition which kicks off in January and includes a £100,000 prize pool.

How to join FanTeam’s Second Chance Premier League 2021/22 Fantasy Football tournament for free:

To sign up, you need to be over 18, Gamble Aware and meet FanTeam’s terms and conditions. Otherwise, just follow these simple steps:

• Head to FanTeam and sign up
• Join the ‘Second Chance Season Game’ tournament with your free entry ticket
• Create a team and click ‘Enter Tournament’

FPL tips for Gameweek 16: Six players to consider

Diogo Jota, 7.7: In the absence of Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota has been the man for Liverpool and although he didn’t score against Wolves last weekend he’ll be ready on Saturday. The Portuguese forward was rested in midweek to remain fresh for the visit of Aston Villa and has scored four goals in his past four Premier League matches. Since the Premier League returned from the final international break of the year, no player has scored more goals than Jota’s four.

Raphinha, 7.6: Chelsea’s defence look shot, conceding six goals in their past two matches across all competitions and they have generally been given the runaround in the Premier League even when restricting their opponents to one goal. So you can expect Raphinha to have a field day against a wounded backline, continuing his excellent season so far. The Brazilian has scored six of Leeds’ 15 Premier League goals this season, winning them seven points, while also recording one assist.

Jose Sa, 4.8: If you’re looking for a good goalkeeping option for cheap, Jose Sa is the man you want. The Wolves shot-stopper has certainly earned that moniker, making 47 saves in the Premier League so far this season at an average of 3.13 per game. He has also conceded just 13 goals and kept five clean sheets. While that may increase against Man City, the saves will be worth it for fantasy football.

Demarai Gray, 5.9: Demarai Gray goes into this game on a mini run of form, and has arguably been Everton’s best player in recent weeks. The 25-year-old has scored two of their past three goals, netting against Liverpool before scoring the injury-time winner against Arsenal on Monday. He has already scored in three consecutive games on one occasion this season, and will be looking to achieve three-in-a-row for the second time.

Emmanuel Dennis, 5.4: There are only two players in the Premier League this season that have reached five goals AND five assists. One of those is Mohamed Salah, obviously, but the other is perhaps a surprise name in Emmanuel Dennis. The Watford forward is enjoying his first season in the Premier League, netting six goals and providing five assists in 14 appearances.

Jamie Vardy, 9.5: Jamie Vardy likes piling the misery on relegation-battling clubs, pass it on. The English striker has been directly involved in 25 goals in his last 18 Premier League matches against sides starting the day in the bottom three, scoring 18 and providing a further seven assists. This season alone it stands at three goals and one assist in two games.

FanTeam’s Second Chance fantasy game explained:

Team news, injuries and suspensions for Gameweek 16

Sergi Canos is suspended for Brentford after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season, and is joined on the sidelines by Ivan Toney, Kristoffer Ajer, David Raya, Mathias Jorgensen and Julian Jeanvier. Watford remain without Ben Foster, Peter Etebo, Adam Masina, Ismaila Sarr and Nicolas N’Koulou. Ken Sema could return.

Gabriel Jesus and Aymeric Laporte could make their Man City returns from injury, but Saturday is still too soon for Ferran Torres, Phil Foden and Nathan Ake. Fernando Marcal, Rayan Ait Nouri and Conor Coady could be available for Wolves, but Pedro Neto, Willy Boly and Jonny Otto are still absent.

Emile Smith Rowe should return for Arsenal this weekend, but Gabriel Martinelli may not be risked. Sead Kolasinac won’t be back until January. Meanwhile, Southampton are without the suspended Oriol Romeu and Mohamed Salisu, with Jan Bednarek, Fraser Forster, Alex McCarthy and Stuart Armstrong all injured.

Jorginho might be okay to play for Chelsea this weekend after missing the draw with Zenit, but Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell are still out, now also joined by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Robin Koch, Liam Cooper, Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford are out for Leeds.

Saturday’s game will come too soon for Roberto Firmino, with Liverpool also missing Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott. Aston Villa remain without Bertrand Traore and Leon Bailey, but Danny Ings and Matt Targett could return.

Brandon Williams is unable to face his parent club this weekend, so joins Milot Rashica, Sam Byram and Christoph Zimmermann on the sidelines for Norwich. Raphael Varane, Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are out for Man Utd.

Ben Mee and Phil Bardsley could return for Burnley this weekend, but Maxwel Cornet, Dale Stephens and Ashley Barnes will miss out. Kurt Zouma is set to be out for some time for West Ham, joining Angelo Ogbonna, Ryan Fredericks and Ben Johnson on the sidelines.

Ricardo Pereira could be in line to return for Leicester this weekend, but may not be risked. Jannik Vestergaard, Ayoze Perez, Wesley Fofana, Ademola Lookman, Kelechi Iheanacho and Daniel Amartey are all out, however. Newcastle will be without Ryan Fraser and Paul Dummett, but Ciaran Clark is back from suspension.

Joel Ward is back from suspension from Crystal Palace, with James McArthur and Joachim Andersen also in contention to return. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is still out for Everton, as are Salomon Rondon, Yerry Mina and Tom Davies.

Tottenham’s scheduled meeting with Brighton has been postponed.