JOE’s Fantasy Football Tips – week 23

Tom Victor

For possibly the first time all season, all three of our picks found the net last week.

David Silva, Benik Afobe and Dusan Tadic were all on target, helping their teams get important wins.

It’s now almost neck-and-neck in our JOE vs the Readers competition, as you can see here. Probably wasn’t the smartest move from you guys to pick someone who hasn’t actually moved to England yet, though.

	Previous Total	Player1	Player 2	Player 3	Total
JOE	54	Silva 12	Afobe 7	Tadic 6	79
Readers	81	Payet 2	Firmino 2	Sane 0	85

Room for improvement this time around then. Here’s who we fancy to do well.

Shinji Okazaki – Forward – £5.6m

Leicester have hit a wall after their fast start, but they’re still in the mix for Champions League football.

While Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have fallen off the pace, their big-money summer signing has shown some of the ability that convinced the club to part with £8m in the close-season.

Okazaki hasn’t quite reached the goalscoring level he managed for Mainz, but his FA Cup goal against Tottenham demonstrated the talent the Foxes have on their hands.

Shinji Okazaki must be an absolute nightmare to play against. Just doesn't stop.

— Ben McAleer (@BenMcAleer1) January 20, 2016

James McClean – Midfield – £4.7m

Bear with us on this one.

McClean has been genuinely good at times this season, taking his place as the one creative attacking player permitted in any Tony Pulis side.

If you ignore the red card and ensuing sh*tshow against Bournemouth, the Derry winger has been a valuable outlet for a team that’s achieved a lot more than they had at this stage last season.

https://twitter.com/originalmuffman/status/689980222142291968

Gerard Deulofeu – Midfield – £6.1m

After an impressive few weeks, the 3-3 draw at Bournemouth seems to have set Everton back, with just one league win in the eight matches since.

They have the chance to set things right against a Swansea team playing under Francesco Guidolin for the first time.

If the visitors line up defensively, as they have done recently in the absence of a recognised striker, the Toffees will need someone capable of working well in narrow spaces. Enter Deulofeu.

Martinez needs to stop breaking up the Deulofeu & Lukaku partnership. Lennon can't provide the same quality. #FPL

— FPL GOAT (@FPL_GOAT) January 19, 2016

Readers’ Picks

@JOE_co_uk Baines. Based on fixture, attacking threat, a belief he's due a goal and his hair.
Not based on Everton's defensive ability.

— GadFly* 🔻 (@FPL_Fly) January 22, 2016