The first Premier League round in 2019 includes what could very well be the match of the season. Manchester City welcomes Liverpool to the Etihad. With Liverpool 7 points ahead, this is a must-win match for Manchester City if they want to catch Klopp’s men for the league title. The encounter plays out as the only match on Thursday.
Gameweek 21 is a little different for daily fantasy enthusiasts, as the big tournaments only include 7 matches. We skip the three matches on New Year’s Day and start on January the 2nd. The advantage of doing it like this is that we get to see the line-up for six matches instead of only for one. There will still be a little fantasy football on New Year’s Day of course. Everton vs Leicester (13:30), Arsenal vs Fulham (16:00) and Cardiff vs Tottenham (18:30) each will have a 5-a-side tournament with their name on it. It will be a nice warm-up to the games on Wednesday and Thursday.  

Guardiola have high praises for Liverpool

Bookmakers have Manchester City as clear favourite at even odds, but Pep Guardiola is clearly expecting a tough match on Thursday. – We have to accept that Liverpool could be the best team in the world right now, the Manchester City manager said and added: – The other team is fantastic. We agree wholeheartedly. Although the blue team from Manchester is not so bad either! It seems like Guardiola’s team is not in its best form, while Liverpool are very close to its top level, so we think the odds is a little bit too high on Liverpool. It could be a game of many goals! Since it is the only game that we will not know the line-up for, it is risky to pick players, especially from the home side. Pep will no doubt field his best XI, but it is not clear which players who are in it. SERGIO AGUERO (10.9M) is not in great form, but we think he will start. DAVID SILVA (10.8M) should be pretty safe on the left side of the midfield. BERNARDO SILVA (10.2M) seems to be a fairly certain starter as KEVIN DE BRUYNE (10.5M) has had a small injury set back.

On the other side of the centre line, we will be surprised if the usual suspects in attacks do not start the game. MOHAMED SALAH (9.5M), ROBERTO FIRMINO (8.8M) and SADIO MANE (9.2M) should all be safe picks. Firmino scored three times against Arsenal and had already showed signs of rising form before that match. He seems cheap at 8.8, and we like Salah’s 9.5 price too. If Klopp continues with the 4-2-3-1 system he has used some times this season, and did use with great success against Arsenal, XHERDAN SHAQIRI (7.2M) will for sure start, and offer very nice value at this price. Unfortunately, it is unclear if Klopp will keep the system or go back to 4-3-3 that he has employed for a majority of the matches this season.

The Manchester United train will not stop

Critics of Manchester United have pointed out that the opposition was weak in the three matches they played since Ole Gunnar Solskjær arrived and that Mourinho would have won those matches too. However, they are wrong. The team is totally transformed and if you cannot see that, you need glasses. The departure of the wet blanket Mourinho was a huge boost for the mood in the squad, and probably did Solskjær a few smart moves as well. We think the success will continue. Newcastle can put up a very solid defence on a good day, so perhaps we cannot expect four goals for the away team, but there will be some for sure. PAUL POGBA (12.2M) is the obvious choice once again. Two goals and one assist in the last match, and once more, he was the best player on the pitch. Suddenly he looks better than ever, even better than his Juventus days. MARCUS RASHFORD (11.5M) was better against Bournemouth than in the previous match, so normally we would add him to our team. Unfortunately, he is an injury doubt for this match. If he starts, we will pick him.

Wolves returning to clean sheet?

Two teams stand out when we go looking for defenders. Chelsea surely is the safest bet, but we struggle to find room to the rather pricey backline in our fantasy team. A more moderately priced alternative is Wolverhampton. Wolves should have a nice chance of keeping a clean sheet against Crystal Palace, even though they have conceded goals in 11 of their last 12 matches. The form is great however; as they come straight from a shocking away win over Tottenham. In Crystal Palace, Zaha is playing badly, and has in fact not scored in the last 13 games! So, let us look at the options. MATT DOHERTY (7.7M) is the obvious first choice. The right wing-back is constantly creating chances for his team, and could easily get some attacking points in addition to the clean sheet. As for the other two spots, it is close, but we like the cheaper CONOR COADY (6.8M) and RYAN BENNETT (6.5M).

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