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Fantasy Football: Ones to Monitor? Ollie Watkins, Raphinha, Edouard Mendy

Harvey Barnes, Callum Wilson players to consider for Fantasy Football bosses; Amend your Fantasy Football team below and listen to the Fantasy Football podcast

Will you make any changes ahead of an action-packed Premier League weekend?
Image: Will you make any changes ahead of an action-packed Premier League weekend?

With fixtures becoming tougher for some and potentially less gruelling for others, we check out some potential players to monitor for the upcoming weeks.

The busy festive period is nearly here and Sky Sports Fantasy Football changes now could deliver all-important points. Which players should you consider? Listen to the Sky Sports Fantasy Football podcast below and read our tips below.

Ollie Watkins - £8.6m

Watkins celebrates his second at the Emirates for an excellent Villa
Image: Ollie Watkins celebrates his second at the Emirates in Aston Villa's 3-0 win

Ollie Watkins has made a great start to Premier League life, finding the net six times from his first eight matches. It could have been more when you take into consideration the fact that five of those six came against Liverpool and Arsenal in dominant Aston Villa displays.

Watkins currently stands on 59 Fantasy Football points, which is still probably below the haul that his performances have warranted. The promising aspect of making a move to the striker sooner rather than later is the idea of Villa travelling to West Ham on Monday Night Football, providing a potential game-changing captaincy option.

Their fixtures thereafter are not too bad on paper either. Dean Smith's side face West Ham, Newcastle, Wolves, Burnley, West Brom and Crystal Palace in their next six, so you would expect to see the 3.09 per cent ownership of Watkins increase drastically in the coming weeks.

Raphinha - £6.8m

Marcelo Bielsa refused to comment on Saturday about the offside decision
Image: Marcelo Bielsa gave Raphinha his first start against Arsenal last weekend

Raphinha made his first start for Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa against Arsenal, and somehow did not find his name on the scoresheet. After hitting a sweet long-distance effort just wide, the Brazilian did have a chance to earn Leeds three points late on, but saw his strike ricochet off the post and out.

While playing from the right, he did find pockets in between the lines of Arsenal to exploit and is expected to keep his place coming into the Christmas period. At only £6.8m, Raphinha could be a steal and about to deliver big returns in the forthcoming matches.

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After trips to Everton and Chelsea, Leeds welcome West Ham and Newcastle before facing rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford. A home fixture against Burnley is followed by an away game at West Brom, and with Raphinha set to feature more so in these clashes, points could be in abundance. He is in just a mere 0.06 per cent of Fantasy Football teams.

Edouard Mendy - £7m

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Image: Edouard Mendy has made a significant impact for Chelsea already

It is said that you should choose your goalkeeper wisely and stick with them for the majority of the season. In that case, look no further than Chelsea new boy Edouard Mendy.

Five games, four clean sheets, 40 Fantasy Football points. Even in Europe, Mendy has been excelling, conceding his first goal in four Champions League matches during Chelsea's 2-1 win at Rennes on Tuesday.

Four clean sheets from his first five have seen him bring in the averages in that respect, but with home ties against Leeds, West Ham and Aston Villa to come, he could extend his tally between the sticks as well as Fantasy Football points.

Mendy comes in at just £7m, much cheaper than that of Alisson and Ederson, while only 3.05 per cent of Fantasy Football managers have recruited his services. Will you rue not bringing in the Chelsea stopper sooner rather than later?

Harvey Barnes - £8.2m

Diogo Jota battles for possession with Harvey Barnes at Anfield
Image: Harvey Barnes battles for possession with Diogo Jota

Harvey Barnes was unlucky not to score against Premier League champions Liverpool. He fired an effort just wide of the post after a well-worked move culminated in Jamie Vardy finding Barnes in the box. The England international did hit tier one-shot bonus points though (two shots on target), a theme which has seen the 22-year-old pick up the averages throughout the season so far.

Barnes has hit the tiers on five occasions this term, three for tier one and twice for tier two respectively. Alongside his double-figure hauls against Burnley and Leeds, it has placed him in a favourable position among Fantasy Football managers, while sitting pretty on 47 points.

Leicester face Fulham on Monday evening (a decent captaincy option), followed by a trip to Sheffield United and two home matches against Brighton and Everton. Now could be the time to strike on Harvey Barnes, or if you need a bit more time to monitor, do so at your own risk, with 11.5 per cent of the top 1,000 players already on board.

Callum Wilson - £9.5m

Star man: Callum Wilson
Image: Callum Wilson should return for Newcastle this weekend

Callum Wilson missed Newcastle's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, as Steve Bruce's men barely laid a glove on their opponents. The England striker does already have six goals to his name this campaign and has demonstrated he has a keen eye for goal.

With his team's trip to Crystal Palace being the individual game on Friday, it offers a great opportunity to captain, particularly when Newcastle face Aston Villa, West Brom, Leeds and Fulham in their four matches afterwards. It will offer a chance for goals and to build on his already impressive 59 points for the season.

Only 2.23 per cent of players have Wilson in their frontline, but could he be about to change Newcastle's fortunes as he makes his return to the side?

Do you have a captain for Friday night? If so, will you bring one in? There are four days of Premier League action to navigate this weekend, so make sure your changes are made by the first kick-off on each of those days. Play here for free.

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