Yahoo! Fantasy Football: Manchester United to end woes with authoritative performance

The dreaded international break has come to a close and now we can all focus on club football until the end of the season. While Manchester City have all but wrapped up the Premier League title, there is still plenty to play for at the top and bottom of the table.

With that, the WhoScored Expert is also back this weekend. We are looking at Saturday’s main contest on Yahoo! Fantasy Football to have a chance of winning a share of £2,500. In order to enter, we have been tasked with picking a team from Saturday’s matches starting from the 3pm fixtures.

Before running through our XI, we need to bring to your attention a sign-up offer that you should consider. By using the promocode ‘Fantasy50’, new users will get a bonus up to £50 to use on any cash games when depositing at least £5! Now, here is our XI:

Goalkeeper – DAVID DE GEA (MANCHESTER UNITED)

Manchester United will look to consolidate second spot in the league this weekend when they host Swansea.

While the Swans have enjoyed a stunning resurgence under new boss Carlos Carvalhal, only three points will appease the Red Devils faithful.

United have only lost two of their last 42 Premier League home matches and both defeats were against rivals Manchester City.

Jose Mourinho’s side have conceded the fewest home goals (10) in the Premier League this season, while David De Gea has kept the most clean sheets in the division (16).

Defender – ERIC BAILLY (MANCHESTER UNITED)

It’s a pity for Manchester United that Eric Bailly has not been available more often, as he has already reminded everyone that he is the best defender at the club.

Injuries have limited Bailly to just nine Premier League starts this season and United’s chances of finishing second will improve significantly if the 23-year-old stays injury free for the remainder of the season.

United have won a greater share of their Premier League matches when Bailly has started (60.6%) compared to when he hasn’t (51.4%) since the start of last season.

Defender – JAMAAL LASCELLES (NEWCASTLE)

Many were surprised that England manager Gareth Southgate overlooked Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles during the international break, particularly after he called on the services of Swansea defender Alfie Mawson.

The 24-year-old has been a real positive in Newcastle’s tough season and Chelsea have already been mooted with an interest for his services at the end of the season.

Lascelles is not just important for his leadership qualities and performances at the back, but he is also a goal threat in the opposition’s penalty area. Newcastle have struggled for goals this season and the fact that Lascelles is their third top goalscorer (3) says it all about his importance to the club

Defender – JAMES TARKOWSKI (BURNLEY)

Fresh from making his England debut on Tuesday night, James Tarkowski will be determined to finish the season strongly with Burnley to enhance his chances of making Gareth Southgate’s squad for the World Cup this summer.

Tarkowski has been one of the best defenders in England this season, illustrated by the fact he occupies a spot in the WhoScored Team of the Season in the Premier League (7.35 rating).

Burnley will look to close the gap on Arsenal to two points before the Gunners play Stoke on Sunday and will be confident of doing so when they face a West Brom side that have lost their last seven matches.

Midfielder – KENEDY (NEWCASTLE)

The fact that Chelsea signed Emerson Palmieri was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to Newcastle’s season. His arrival meant Rafa Benitez’s side were able to prise Kenedy away from Stamford Bridge on loan for the remainder of the season and he injected added quality to their attack.

Kenedy has played a direct hand in three goals in six league appearances for the Magpies and scored his first Newcastle goals prior to the international break in a 3-0 win over Southampton.

The Brazilian winger has already established himself as Newcastle’s highest WhoScored rated player (7.19) in the Premier League this season.

Midfielder – MO DIAME (NEWCASTLE)

After starting the season out of the team and seemingly out of favour, Mo Diame has made a stunning return to form for Newcastle in recent weeks.

The 30-year-old has forced his way back into the reckoning under Rafa Benitez and is now keeping the likes of Mikel Merino and Isaac Hayden on the sidelines.

In fact, Diame has scored a WhoScored rating of at least 7 in five of his last six matches for Newcastle and his power from midfield has proved a real asset in the last few months.

Midfielder – DAVID SILVA (MANCHESTER CITY)

As selected by 40% of the people that voted on our Twitter poll, David Silva makes our Yahoo! Fantasy Football XI.

It’s been a very difficult time off the field for Silva of late but the Spain international has been tremendous on it all season.

Silva has only reiterated the fact he is one of, if not, the greatest players in the club’s history this season.

The 32-year-old has played a direct hand in 17 Premier League goals this season (8 goals, nine assists), including four in his three outings.

Midfielder – JUNIOR STANILAS (BOURNEMOUTH)

Another Yahoo! Top-20 in-form player is Bournemouth’s Junior Stanislas. Like Bailly, Bournemouth will wish their star midfielder was more readily available this season.

Stanislas has scored five Premier League goals this season and four of those have come in his last seven appearances.

The 28-year-old has scored in successive appearances and will hope to continue that fine form when they travel to Watford on Saturday afternoon.

Utility – GABRIEL JESUS (MANCHESTER CITY)

With Sergio Aguero expected to miss out for Manchester City this weekend, the onus of leading the line will fall on Gabriel Jesus’ shoulders.

The Brazil international has endured a difficult first full campaign in the Premier League but remains highly thought of at the club.

A lengthy injury lay-off has only added to Jesus’ frustrations this season but he should at least have the chance to make his 14th league start of the campaign away to Everton on Saturday.

Despite his struggles, only six Premier League players that have scored at least five goals this season have a better mins-per-goal record than Jesus (1 every 139.1 minutes of action).

Striker – ROMELU LUKAKU (MANCHESTER UNITED)

For all of the criticism that has been fired Romelu Lukaku’s way this season, the 24-year-old has still scored 25 goals in all competitions in his first year at Manchester United.

The Belgium international has not been given his fair share of credit when things have gone well, either.

Lukaku continued his fine run of form during the international break and now the United No.9 has played a direct hand in 11 goals in his last 10 appearances for club and country (nine goals, two assists).

The former Everton striker will look to add to his tally when United host Swansea on Saturday, a fixture they should win comfortably.

Striker – CHRIS WOOD (BURNLEY)

Finally back at full fitness, Chris Wood will hope to finish off his first season at Burnley with a bang. The 26-year-old has been limited to just 17 appearances in the league this season because of injury but he has still weighed in with seven goals and one assist.

Wood has been devastating from the bench in Burnley’s last two games, playing a direct hand in four goals in his last 79 minutes of playing time (three goals, one assist).

Following his fine recent form, the New Zealand international will hope to have done enough to earn his first start of 2018 this weekend. Even if he doesn’t get the nod, only Anthony Martial (6) has scored or assisted more goals as a substitute than Wood (5) in the Premier League this season.