Most of the rumoured transfers failed to materialize this week, thus forcing Draft Fantasy managers to reevaluate the players available to them.
Here are five players to target in your Draft Fantasy league that have might have been overlooked or forgotten with all the transfer deadline drama…
Chris Wood, FWD, Burnley
The former Leeds striker has only played for Burnley for about 30 minutes, but he already has a goal to his name – a dramatic stoppage-time equalizer from a sublime Robbie Brady pass that rescued a point against Spurs. Not a bad way to reintroduce himself to Draft Fantasy managers looking for a forward who was 100% available on Tuesday morning waivers.
Following brief Premier League stints with West Brom and Leicester, Wood will hope he has finally earned regular starts as Burnley’s club-record £15 million fee. The 25-year-old Wood has 20 goals in 52 caps for New Zealand, and 40 goals in 80 appearances for Leeds in the Championship from 2015-2017.
Finding the back of the net will be much harder now than with Leeds, but he’s worth a shout as a third forward.
Next up: Home to Crystal Palace, away to Liverpool, home to Huddersfield.
Jay Rodriguez, FWD, West Brom
This isn’t the first time I’ve fawned over Jay Rodriguez, and it probably won’t be the last. But hopefully this admiration is well-placed and Rodriguez will bounce-back this year under Tony Pulis at West Brom.
He has his first Premier League goal for the Baggies now, so hopefully the form of the 2013-14 season, when he returned 15 goals in 33 appearances for Southampton, will return.
It’s been mostly a long and hard road through injury and lack of form since then, but a goal in midweek vs Accrington Stanley and the previously mentioned first league striker Stoke can only help.
Rodriguez is regaining his confidence, and West Brom are undefeated to start the season. He is owned by 15% of Draft Managers, and the next two fixtures look enticing.
Next up: Away to Brighton, home to West Ham, home to Manchester City.
Matt Ritchie, MID, Newcastle
The only real compunction I had about including Ritchie (8% owned) on the waiver wire watchlist, was whether to include his Newcastle teammate Christian Atsu (2%) as well. Close call, but I have opted to spread the picks across other teams and showcase Ritchie’s talents.
He was a flickering brilliance at Bournemouth two seasons ago, yet he decided to ply his trade up north and head back to the Championship and then earn his way back to Premier League football with Rafa Benitez’s squad. He scored 12 in 42 with seven assists for Newcastle last year, and turned in a stellar all-round performance in the romp against West Ham.
He has been called up to the Scotland squad for the international break, which is just another chance for him to find his feet and stamina in the young season. He should continue to be a regular starter as a winger, or something more central, for many weeks to come. Just 9% owned.
Next up: Away to Swansea City, home to Stoke City, away to Brighton.
Cédric Soares, DEF, Southampton
Cédric is an entertainer, at least if you are entertained by solid team defense and crossing. The Euro 2016 Champion is well-known to fantasy managers in most every format, but it seems surprising that he is only 23% owned in Draft Fantasy. He has picked up two clean sheets in three starts and has played every minute possible so far.
He put in seven crosses versus Swansea, and has shown some offensive potential in addition to Southampton’s always stingy defense. Perhaps his real value is that while new signing Wesley Hoedt (100% available as of Tuesday morning) from Ajax puts either Jack Stephen’s (3%) or Maya Yoshida’s (8%) place in the starting XI under threat.
Virgil Van Dijk’s (57%) future is still uncertain as of the time of this writing, and Ryan Bertrand is more than 50% owned, Cedric represents a good waiver path into the Saints backline.
While the offense attempts to resolve their anemic output, the defense carries more value than the attackers right now. The defenders have pretty much all been linked to transfers, especially to Chelsea, but they can’t all go, can they?
Next up: Home to Watford, away to Crystal Palace, home to Manchester United.
Antonio Rüdiger, DEF, Chelsea
Speaking of the Chelsea defense, the German international Antonio Rüdiger (17%) has somehow managed to resurrect himself in the last two weeks after their disastrous loss to start the season.
I had nearly written him off, but Antonio Conte has started Rüdiger all three matches to start the season, though that might have been aided by Gary Cahill’s (65%) red card suspension for the last two.
While Chelsea was linked with almost every defender available (and did manage to sign Davide Zappacosta from Torino – more on the new signings in another article), they finally kept a clean sheet in game week 3 and are looking much more like the they may have righted the ship.
If Cahill was somehow dropped in your league, he is by far the much safer pick, but Rüdiger might be worth a gamble in larger leagues. The 38 week Premier League season is a marathon, and a stash like this could pay well later.
Next up: Away to Leicester, home to Arsenal, away to Stoke City.
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