Yahoo! Fantasy Football: Manchester United to bounce back from Wednesday's humilation

As predicted in the midweek edition of our weekly Yahoo! Fantasy Football tipster articles, Manchester City restored their 15-point lead at the top of the Premier League. Pep Guardiola’s side could even extend that by another three points when they play Burnley in Saturday’s early kick-off, albeit potentially only for a few hours.

This weekend, we have entered Saturday’s main content on Yahoo! Fantasy Football where we have picked our XI from six Premier League fixtures starting with the 3pm kick offs.  

Think you have what I takes to beat us and win big this weekend? For new users, use the promocode ‘Fantasy50’ when you deposit £5 and benefit from a £50 reward to use on any cash games. Now, here is our XI:

Goalkeeper – DAVID DE GEA (MANCHESTER UNITED)

The Spaniard was forced to pick the ball out of his net on two occasions in Wednesday’s humiliating defeat to Tottenham but David de Gea will be confident of earning his 15th clean sheet in the Premier League this season when Manchester United host Huddersfield on Saturday.

Nine of the 14 clean sheets De Gea has kept already have come at Old Trafford and Huddersfield should prove the perfect opponents to extend his fantastic record this season. The Terriers have only won two Premier League away matches this season but, crucially, have failed to score in nine of 12 league matches on the road.

Defender – LUKE SHAW (MANCHESTER UNITIED)

Jose Mourinho is expected to make wholesale changes to the Manchester United backline after lambasting the way his team defended against Tottenham in midweek, which should see Luke Shaw return to the starting XI.

Shaw is starting to win Mourinho over after making serious changes to his life off the pitch and that has reflected in his recent performances on it.

United are unbeaten in the five Premier League matches Shaw has started this season and his attacking endeavour could be important with Huddersfield expected to play compact. 

Defender – NACHO MONREAL (ARSENAL)

Arsenal have been a shambles at the back at times this season, but a return to home soil should benefit them this weekend. Only Manchester City (37) have recorded more Premier League points at home than Arsenal (29) so far this season and Everton, their opponents this weekend, have not won away to Arsene Wenger’s side since 1996.

While Nacho Monreal hasn’t covered himself in glory at the back this season, after failing to score a single Premier League goal during his first four full seasons with the Gunners, Monreal now has four league goals this season.

Defender – SHANE DUFFY (BRIGHTON)

Brighton may not have won a Premier League match since before Christmas, but Chris Hughton’s side are at least very difficult to beat on home soil. They have only lost three times at the AMEX this season and those defeats came against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.

However, the Seagulls need to start turning draws into wins at home, with only West Brom (7) having drawn more Premier League home matches than Brighton (6) this term.

Brighton host a severely depleted West Ham side at the moment and they will eye three points here. Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk have been really impressive for Hughton’s side this season and we have elected for the former in our pursuit of big points in our Yahoo! Fantasy Football team this weekend.

Midfielder  - MESUT OZIL (ARSENAL)

Mesut Ozil finally looks to have put his foot down as the main man at Arsenal in the wake of Alexis Sanchez’s departure. Arsenal even announced the Germany international’s new contract when it looked like he would leave for nothing in the summer.

The 29-year-old has played a direct hand in 11 Premier League goals this season, but eight of those have come at home. While best known for the amount of goals he creates, Ozil also likes a goal against the Toffees. In fact, against no English team has he scored more against than Everton (3).

Midfielder – HENRIKH MKHITARYAN (ARSENAL)

After giving Henrikh Mkhitaryan his Arsenal bow from the bench on Tuesday night, Arsene Wenger has confirmed the 29-year-old will make his full debut at home to Everton in Saturday’s late kick off.

Wenger’s main task will be picking Mkhitaryan’s confidence up after it fell off a cliff towards the end of his stint at Manchester United but, in a fixture that Arsenal usually dominate, the Armenia international will have a good opportunity to impress his new supporters.

As mentioned earlier, Everton haven’t won away to Arsenal in 22 years and enter this match having won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions.

Midfielder  - WILFRED NDIDI (LEICESTER)

It’s a little surprising that no team has shown any interest in Wilfred Ndidi since he joined Leicester 12 months ago. The 21-year-old has really impressed for the Foxes and enjoyed a fine month of January, completing the most tackles in the Premier League (18).

Ndidi has even added goals to his game this season, netting three times from his box-to-box role in Leicester’s midfield. A goal and the WhoScored Man of the Match award in two of his last three outings makes for impressive reading for a player most known for his defensive qualities.

Midfielder – JORDON IBE (BOURNEMOUTH)

After a somewhat disastrous start to life at Bournemouth, Jordon Ibe finally looks to have found his footing for Eddie Howe’s side. Ibe has started each of Bournemouth’s last eight Premier League matches and has been named the WhoScored Man of the Match in two of the last four.

The 22-year-old has quietly raked up five assists in the Premier League this season and will be full of confidence as Bournemouth go out in search of extending their unbeaten run in the league to seven matches.

Utility – JORDAN AYEW (SWANSEA)

New Swansea manager Carlos Carvalhal continues to work wonders at the club after following up a shock 1-0 victory over Liverpool with a stunning 3-1 win against Arsenal in the Premier League. Swansea were five points adrift of safety when Carvalhal came in prior to the turn of the year and now that gap is only one point.

Jordan Ayew has quickly asserted himself as a key player for the new Swansea manager, scoring three times in their last five matches, picking up the WhoScored Man of the Match on two occasions in that period.

Striker – JAMIE VARDY (LEICESTER)

Jamie Vardy has now scored 10+ goals in each of the last three Premier League campaigns and comes into Saturday’s match with Swansea looking to get on the scoresheet for a third game running for the first time since September.

In fact, the 31-year-old has netted five goals in his last seven starts for Leicester and Swansea cannot afford to make any mistakes at the back, with Vardy ready to pounce.

Striker – CALLUM WILSON (BOURNEMOUTH)

Another English striker in good form at the moment is Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson. The 25-year-old, now over two serious knee injuries, has played a direct hand in six goals in his last six starts for the Cherries (four goals, two assists).

Wilson was in terrific form as Eddie Howe’s side stunned Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, picking up a goal, an assist and the WhoScored Man of the Match award. He should certainly come into consideration for your Yahoo! Fantasy Football XIs this weekend.