Fantasy Premier League tips gameweek 27: James Ward-Prowse, Fabian Schar, Marcus Rashford and more

Gameweek 27 holds a lot in store for Fantasy Premier League managers - with double gameweeks for Crystal Palace, Southampton, Brighton and Brentford across the Premier League.

With those in mind, here are five essential picks for your fantasy football team this week:

Despite a penalty miss in GW26, James Ward-Prowse is the Southampton asset to own going into this week.

He is an obvious goal threat himself, both from open play and set pieces, but the stat you should be most drawn to is his expected assists - Ward-Prowse has just two assists to show from 5.64 xA.

Saints’ captain creates so many opportunities for his teammates, who have been wasteful at times this season.

If their forward players can show signs of life, as they have against Chelsea and Leicester in recent weeks, then Ward-Prowse can add to his tally in GW27.

If he can’t, then there’s always the potential fallback of scoring from the spot or another outrageous free-kick to secure FPL points.

No double gameweek for Newcastle this time, but a clean sheet against Wolves looks likely, so bringing in a defender is a shrewd decision.

Kieran Trippier may look the obvious candidate, given his incredible attacking output across the season, but Newcastle have simply stopped scoring goals of late - just two in their last five matches in all competitions - so extra points from defence by way of assists or goals seems unlikely.

With that in mind, we can turn to the 0.9m cheaper Fabian Schar. The Swiss centre-back averages 4.6 points per game and also has the potential for bonus points.

With in-form Brentford and Brighton having double gameweeks comes a number of options.

The best of these is to ensure a defensive asset from one or both teams is in your side ahead of the deadline.

Pick of the bunch is Brighton’s Pervis Estupinan.

Three clean sheets from four is as strong a record as you could hope for and the Ecuadorian also has three assists from his last five. Leeds and Crystal Palace also represent two good chances for points, with neither side firing regularly and both conceding frequently.

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For the second week running, Ivan Toney is an essential pick for your team.

Another who is set for a double gameweek, Toney added his 15th goal of the season against Fulham on Monday.

It’s no surprise he has had such success in front of goal; the forward had four shots against his West London rival, with two on target, slightly above his season average of three per game this term.

With fixtures against two leaky defences in Everton and Southampton, you’d be missing out if Toney is not in your side.

Following Manchester United’s humbling at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday, you should expect a response from Erik ten Hag’s main man, Marcus Rashford.

United have a great fixture with which to bounce back as they welcome Southampton to Old Trafford.

The forward has strong goal contribution numbers, averaging 0.75 per game, and great underlying stats including good accuracy and conversion percentages. He faces a Southampton defence which has conceded an average of 1.6 goals per game.

It all adds up to a real possibility of a return to scoring form from the England attacker, who lined up as United’s centre-forward last time out.

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