The intense December Premier League train keeps rolling, and round 16 is especially interesting for several reasons. The best choice for captain is far from obvious, there are several budget priced in-form players, and on Saturday there will be four matches shown on TV. For the second time this season, there is a “very late” match on Saturday, in addition to the usual ones.

The round starts with Bournemouth vs Liverpool. As usual, the early match on Saturday is not included in the big tournaments, but there is a 500-euro GTD single-match competition for the encounter at Vitality Stadium. The format is 5-a-side, so it is quick and easy to make a team.

Is Aubameyang the man?

It looks like PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG (13.8M) will be the most used captain in our weekly tournaments. The Arsenal striker has scored 9 times in the last 10 Premier League matches, so we would be hard pressed not to say he is in good form – even though he did not impress in midweek against Manchester United. Perhaps he is best the option this week, but we are a little bit concerned with the opposition. Huddersfield played surprisingly against Bournemouth, and were unlucky to lose 1-2. The team is no doubt in very good form, so we actually expect them to put up a fight against Arsenal.

Huddersfield’s weakness is that they do not have any typical goalscorers in their squad. It was symptomatic that the player that scored their goal against Bournemouth was defender Kongolo. So maybe we should take a look at Arsenal defenders. The one that really stands out with regards to form is SEAD KOLASINAC (8.9M). He has been really busy since he came back from injury, travelling up and down that left side like a crazy man. Not only can he get clean sheet points, he is definitely one of Arsenals best offensive outlets, and he is priced way cheaper than for instance HECTOR BELLERIN (11.2M). While a bit expensive, Bellerin has shown nice form too, and likes to go forward on the right side. The line-up will be available in time for registering and there are a lot of candidates for the Arsenal defence, so we recommend checking it, as there could be some cheap alternatives in the starting XI.

The bargain bin is full

Plenty of alternatives in the rebate drawer this round. LUCAS PEREZ (5.5M) should be a certain starter in the West Ham attack, considering that Arnautovic has been ruled out. Perez has gotten very few chances at both Arsenal and West Ham, but managed to score twice when he replaced Arnautovic after 40 minutes. We really liked the way Perez made his goals, and suspect more will follow. West Ham are hosting Crystal Palace this weekend, a team that were poor against Brighton.

ALEXANDR MITROVIC (5.9M) impresses us. He has scored only 3 times in the last 10 matches in the league, but he is always a threat. In midweek, he made a nice assist to Kamara for the 1-1 goal. This weekend he will be up against Bailley and the rest of the Manchester United crew, so it is a tall order, but on the other hand, United has conceded 25 goals this season, which is way more than teams like Leicester and Crystal Palace.

Southampton has a new manager in Ralph Hasenhutti, so it is a bit uncertain how he will plan the line-up. However, Southampton played well against Tottenham in midweek, even though they lost 1-3, so we suspect the new chief will find a place for STEVEN DAVIS (5.3M), who got his first start of the season and was amongst the best players of the team. He got the chance because MARIO LEMINA (7.4M) was suspended, and Lemina could be back now in his defensive midfielder spot, but it is still possible that Davis will feature somewhere on the field. In previous seasons, he has been used a lot in the attack. We do admit he is far from a sure starter, so please check the line-up as they will be available in time for the deadline. If he does, 5.3M seems cheap.

We are surprised to see HENRIKH MKITHARYAN (10.6M) with much lower price than Xhaka, Torreira and Iwobi. As opposed to those three, Mkitharyan is a player who usually has a fair chance of either scoring or getting an assist. He came on for an injured Ramsey in midweek, and should have a good chance of finding himself in the starting XI. The problem with Henrikh is that his form is questionable. He played poorly against Tottenham, but was better against Manchester United. In the last 10 Premier League matches, he has only scored once. It is fair to say he is not as good as he once was, but the price is tempting.

Finally, there is MORGAN GIBBS-WHITE (4.8M). Who? He is an 18-year-old Wolverhampton midfielder that got his first league start of the season in midweek. If you have seen the first Wolves goal, scored by Jimenez, you will have noticed the beautiful pass that played Jimenez through the Chelsea defence. That was Morgan Gibbs-White work. Playing as a false nine, the youngster got overall very high marks for his efforts and we are pretty sure he will continue in the starting XI. While other Wolves midfielders all cost more than 7 million, 4.8M for Gibbs-White sounds very tempting.

Cheap but solid defence

Wolverhampton have something to offer in the other side of the field as well. Only five teams have conceded fewer goals than Wolverhampton this season, and since only two teams have scored less than Newcastle, it really makes sense to target the Wolverhampton defence. As a nice bonus, their players are priced moderately! Surely, it must be easier to keep Newcastle players at arm’s length, than Chelsea players, and Wolves only conceded once against the London team – and that was a freak goal where defender Coady hit the ball into his own net, putting keeper Patricio out of play. As usual, the priciest one is MATT DOHERTY (6.6M) and it is not without reason. He is by far the most offensive Wolves defender, and got an assist in midweek. RUBEN VINAGRE (4.8M) seems like a good buy as well, even though he got critique for his involvement in midweek. WILLY BOLY (6.0M) perhaps is the best option of the rest.

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