Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Danny Welbeck and Michail Antonio must be in your fantasy football team this weekend

This week's essential fantasy football picks

Russell Cane
Friday 01 April 2016 17:02 BST
Comments
Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck's vital statistics
Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck's vital statistics

With the international break done and dusted, fantasy football managers across the nation will be hoping their star players have stayed injury free. With only seven game weeks remaining, it’s crunch time for anyone looking to make a late surge up the table.

The Independent have teamed up with daily fantasy football game www.oulala.com and together we have analysed the key stats to identify four players that simply must be in your fantasy football team this weekend.

Oulala's extensive database of statistics, which comprises of 70 different criteria sourced straight from Opta, offers the perfect platform to determine which players will finish the season on a high.

Danny Welbeck

Danny Welbeck celebrates his late winner against Leicester City (Getty)

Welbeck will have been delighted to be back in the England fold after an extensive injury layoff. The 25-year-old will be hoping to continue his good form at club level this weekend. The forward has hit the ground running since returning to the Arsenal starting XI, leading the team with three goals in five games. Welbeck has also fired off nine shots, with an impressive 75 per cent of those testing the goalkeeper. Welbeck has completed 10 successful take-ons in that spell, which ranks him 3rd amongst his teammates. Arsenal are at home to Watford this weekend, and Welbeck and co will be hoping to avenge the defeat they suffered to the Hornets in their FA Cup Quarter-Final before the international break.

Michail Antonio

West Ham United winger Michail Antonio

Antonio’s great form of late meant many believed he was deserving of an England call up. Having turned down the chance to play for Jamaica in the hope of breaking into the England setup, Hammers fans were hoping Roy Hodgson would reward the winger with a first cap during the international fixtures. Whilst he was overlooked this time, no one can deny the role Antonio has played in the Hammers’ high-flying season, scoring three times in the last six games. He has averaged over two shots per game during that period, with a shot accuracy of 60 per cent. Whilst you might expect Antonio to be one of the best at taking on defenders, given the position he plays, (he ranks 2nd in team with eight successful take-ons), one stat that jumps off the page is that he has made 16 interceptions. This is proof that Antonio’s eagerness to get forward does not prevent him from putting in the dirty work to win the ball back. West Ham host a Crystal Palace side this weekend that have failed to win their last 10 league games. Slaven Bilic will be hoping to cause further misery for the Eagles at the Boleyn Ground.

Gabriel Paulista

Arsenal defender Gabriel

Gabriel arrived at Arsenal looking to break into a defence with an established centre-back pairing of Mertesacker and Koscielny. Whilst he had to bide his time on the bench initially after his move from Villareal, the Brazilian has enjoyed consistent starts in the team of late. In that spell, Paulista has led the defence in blocks, clearances and aerial duels won (with 10, 47 and 15 respectively). He has also managed 17 interceptions, and completed 88 per cent of his passes – the latter being good enough for 2nd in the team. Like Welbeck, Paulista will be hoping Arsenal can hold off Manchester City and West Ham to stay in the automatic Champions League places with a win against Watford at the Emirates.

Jermain Defoe

Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe celebrates his opening goal

Defoe will be pivotal if Sunderland are to make it out of the relegation zone and remain in the Premier League. His volley against Newcastle in the Tyne Wear derby looked to have secured all three points, until Mitrovic headed in late on. Sam Allardyce though will be banking on Defoe’s goal scoring prowess to get the Black Cats out of danger. In the last six games, Defoe has scored three times, provided one assist and managed 16 shots, which all rank best within the team. He will no doubt be looking to improve his shot conversion rate though, which stands at 19 per cent, but will be encouraged to see that over half of his shots have hit the target. Sunderland are at home to West Brom this weekend, and will be hoping to make it two defeats from two for the Baggies’ after their home defeat at the hands of Norwich last time out.

Stats supplied by daily fantasy football game www.oulala.com

Follow Oulala on twitter @OulalaGames

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in