We’ve just passed the halfway point of the 2017/18 Premier League season and so now would be a good time to look back on the best Fantasy performers thus far. Manchester City have had an historic start and, appropriately, have four players in our Team of the Season. Here's a look at who else has performed best in the first half of the campaign.
GK: David De Gea - Manchester United, £7.7m, owned in 34.11% of teams
DEF: Marcos Alonso - Chelsea, £7.6m, owned in 29.19% of teams
It feels as though Alonso has had a bit of a disappointing year thus far in Fantasy, yet here he is as the highest scoring defender of both goals (5) and points (114). His attacking threat has obviously always been there, but the recent improvement has definitely been made defensively where Chelsea have kept more clean sheets in the last 10 matches (6) than any other club. His price is a bit prohibitive, but it's unlikely anyone who already has him in their side thinks about that every week when he’s racking up points.
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi - Manchester City, £7.2m, owned in 14.8% of teams
DEF: Antonio Valencia - Manchester United, £7.2m, owned in 24.94% of teams
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MID: Mohamed Salah - Liverpool, £8.8m, owned in 55.05% of teams
Even the staunchest Liverpool supporter can’t have expected this level of performance when Salah signed for the Reds in the summer. He has contributed to more goals than any other player in the Premier League this season (20) and, as such, is currently our Goal Player of the Year on 146 points. While it’s unlikely that the Egyptian will keep scoring at this rate, it’s not impossible as he currently sits top five in both shots on target and shot accuracy.
MID: Raheem Sterling - Manchester City, £8.6m, owned in 15.66% of teams
MID: Kevin de Bruyne - Manchester City, £8.3m, owned in 45.33% of teams
GOAL
MID: Riyad Mahrez - Leicester City, £7.5m, owned in 8.65% of teams
The rest of the players on this list are kind of “no brainers” but Mahrez has flown a bit under the radar this season. While clearly not as good as he was in Leicester’s title run, the Algerian international is clearly far better than he was during the disappointing 2016/17 campaign. It seems silly to point out that a player on this list is worth owning, but he currently has the seventh most points in the Goal game yet is outside the top 20 in price. Mahrez is a perfect dismount for any disillusioned Hazard owners who are looking to both improve a position and save some money along the way.
FOR: Sergio Aguero - Manchester City, £8.8m, owned in 28.41% of teams
FOR: Romelu Lukaku - Manchester United, £8.9m, owned in 50.47% of teams
FOR: Harry Kane - Tottenham, £9.2m, owned in 40.89% of teams
Kane is a bit of an odd one in Fantasy this term. His league leading 18 goals thus far make him seem the elite Fantasy striker that we always thought he was and, in a season long format, he is a must own. That having been said, the fact that he has still blanked in as many matches as not is strange but, considering the struggles of other big name forwards, he is surely favourite to win the Golden Boot again for a third straight campaign.
