Hopefully you’ve secured a good position in your league table during the first two weeks of the season. If so, you’ve afforded yourself the luxury of bolstering your squad from the margins, or else you need to find some new starters, and fast.
In any case, there is no better time to introduce the Draft Fantasy weekly waiver wire article. Given all the variation across leagues, scoring, and manager needs, we’re going to lay some ground rules:
Five player picks each week
Will cover at least one Defender, Mid, and Forward
Must be underowned
Recommended for standard scoring
1. Aaron Mooy, MID, Huddersfield
The 26 year old Australian Mooy, a former City Player who was loaned to Huddersfield last season, may be the Terriers’ most important player. Managers have already started to take notice, as he jumped from 4% to 10% owned already, which was one of the biggest rises. If they have any chance of staying up this year, they will need Mooy to continue his scintillating form, which notched him a goal and assist to start the season, both wins. This pace won’t continue forever (4 goals in 45 Championship appearances), but try to ride it while it lasts. For his part, Mooy will do his best to continue to take corners and be centrally involved. He’s in the Matt Ritchie, Anthony Knockaert, Robbie Brady, and Pascal Gross vein of players; players whom everything will flow through, even though the team may struggle. Next up: home to Southampton, away to West Ham, and home to Leicester.
2. Michail Antonio, MID, West Ham
He’s back! Mike Tony is a welcome sight for Hammers fans who are looking to take anything positive from the 3-2 loss this past weekend. Chicharito was the star player, but only got the first goal of his brace thanks to Antonio’s shot which fell kindly for a tap in. Antonio started, lasted about 68 minutes after recovering from last season’s injury, and should be an automatic starter regardless, but especially while Marko Arnautovic serves his red card suspension. After 9 goals and 3 assists last season, To put that into better context, his 4.2 PPG last year was the same as the much more popular Gylfi Sigurdsson. Antonio could easily duplicate his performance again this year after having 4 shots in his first game back. Given that he actually dropped from 38% to 35% this past week, he’s due for a rise. Next up: away to Newcastle, home to Huddersfield, and away to West Brom.
3. Harry Maguire, DEF, Leicester
Maguire really showed us the money (that’s a Jerry Maguire reference for those of you counting at home) after his £25M move from Hull this summer. Similar to Mooy, Maguire already has a goal and assist, but he also picked up clean sheet points against Brighton this past weekend to raise his season total to 15, edging Mooy’s 14. You can’t fault his ambition as he’s stated he wants to play his way into the England squad. At the least, he should keep his place in the Foxes’ lineup even after Robert Huth gets healthy, and that might even push Maguire into a slightly more advanced role. He could still be available in your league as he is only 8% owned. Maybe this year’s Milner isn’t actually Milner. Next up: away to Man United, home to Chelsea, and away to Huddersfield.
4. Andrew Robertson, DEF, Liverpool
Hull City is not longer in the EPL, but they were kind enough to leave us with the aforementioned Maguire, and also LB Andy Robertson. While both have tough fixtures upcoming, they warrant attention here. It may not be the smartest thing to hitch your current wagon to a Hull City defense that could not keep them up last year, but Robertson’s new home at Liverpool is slightly better, though they have tended to make defensive errors in the past. The Scottish international Robertson fired in 10 (!) crosses against Crystal Palace and Klopp may finally have been convinced that he deserves to start. He was unlucky not to earn an assist, but if he get as many touches, crosses, and opportunities again, he would be a valuable fantasy asset. Currently, only 3% of managers have shown the faith, probably due to the uncertainty Alberto Moreno caused in the opening weekend when Liverpool drew 3-3 against Watford. Next up: home to Arsenal, away to Manchester City, home to Burnley.
5. Fernando Llorente, FWD, Swansea
The currently available market for Forwards does not seem as replete as further positions down the pitch, but you only have to start one each week. If you are barely surviving with your current attackers and Fernando Llorente is still available, he’s worth a waiver wire claim or perhaps better suited to a free pickup after the 10AM GMT deadline on Tuesday. Swansea desperately need their target man back in the lineup, and he doesn’t seem too far away now. The Spaniard scored 15 goals and averaged 3.8PPG last season, on par with Jermain Defoe. At 30% ownership this week down from 37% the week before, one of the biggest fallers should bounce back soon. He’s not going to be a top option immediately, but a waiver wire investment for the marathon season. Next up: away to Crystal Palace, home to Newcastle, away to Tottenham.
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