Wout Weghorst
Who doesn’t want to have a 6ft6in beanpole of a target man as part of their squad at some point this season? And what better time to bring in Wout Weghorst than when he is doubling against Crystal Palace and Leicester?
Well, before his double against Brighton and Tottenham would have been ideal, but after a 14-point haul last time out, Weghorst’s popularity is set to shoot through the roof, not least because a lot of managers will be playing a Free Hit chip this week.
Harry Kane
We have been struggling for options up front all season but they are abounding now as an in-form Kane joins Weghorst in our picks. The Tottenham striker’s display at Manchester City last week was one of the best by a Premier League centre-forward in recent memory.
If Tottenham can exploit space as regularly against Leeds, Kane and Son Heung-min will be must-haves for anyone on a Free Hit and are worth considering for a transfer too with a double in gameweek 29 on the horizon.
Riyad Mahrez
Why have barely any of us owned Mahrez over the past few months? Given he picked up 63 points since the middle of December despite going to the Africa Cup of Nations, scoring six goals in his last seven league appearances, it is a fair question.
The answer is simple: Pep roulette. The City team sheet is still something of a lottery on any given week but after only coming on as a substitute against Tottenham and having had a free midweek, Mahrez has a good chance of starting for the trip to troubled Everton.
Nick Pope
Goalkeepers are rarely captaincy options but that could well be the case with Pope this week ahead of Burnley’s double. For a team second-bottom in the table, their record of 29 goals conceded in 22 games is not disastrous, nor is a run of four clean sheets in their last six despite a difficult set of fixtures.
Pope tends to score well in terms of save points too and has been known to collect bonus on occasion, meaning that clean sheets often come with a couple of points sprinkled on top. You may not want to spend a transfer on the goalkeeper spot but if you are playing a Free Hit this week, he is a no brainer.
Armando Broja
Broja blanked after making his way into our picks last week but we are keeping the faith with the cut-price striker, who is playing as part of an in-form Southampton side and continued to put up decent underlying numbers last time out against Everton.
You probably could not ask for a better run of fixtures than Southampton’s next six, starting at home to an admittedly improved Norwich this week, before meetings with Aston Villa, Newcastle, Watford, Burnley and Leeds.
