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24th Feb 2017

The three players you need in your Fantasy Football team this week

Conor Heneghan

The Brady hunch.

J-League

Ogie Nolan’s Tullig Panthers** remain at the top of the J-League after Gameweek 25, but their lead has been cut significantly after a poor outing last time out, with less than 10 points now separating them from Alan Duggan’s Klippity Klopp.

The biggest movers since the last round of fixtures were Gerard Dowling’s The El Special One, who now lie in third and have six points to spare over Derek Dickenson’s 2 Girls, 1 Schlupp in fourth place.

Propping up the top five this week, meanwhile, are Barry Grennan’s Garrymore UTD, a further three points adrift.

J-League Top 5

  1. Tullig Panthers** – Ogie Nolan: 1,522 points
  2. Klippity Klopp – Alan Duggan: 1,513 points
  3. The El Special One – Gerard Dowling: 1,498 points
  4. 2 Girls, 1 Schlupp – Derek Dickenson: 1,492 points
  5. Garrymore UTD – Barry Grennan: 1,489 points

This week’s leaders: Tullig Panthers** – Ogie Nolan: 1,522 points

Gameweek 26

Managers will be forced to rely on the strength of their squads this weekend with four teams out of action due to the EFL Cup Final on Sunday, including three of the top six – Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United – and United’s opponents at Wembley, Southampton.

Of the fixtures that are taking place, Liverpool’s clash with a manager-less Leicester City side at Anfield on Monday night is the standout, especially considering that the Champions could feasibly be bottom of the table by kick-off.

Such a turn of events is unlikely as it would require victories for Crystal Palace (home to Middlesbrough), Sunderland (away to Everton) and Hull City (home to Burnley), but stranger things have happened.

This week’s picks

Safe bet: Eden Hazard (£10.2 million). Swansea have been impressive of late, but facing the Champions-elect on their home turf is a fearsome prospect.

Like Diego Costa, Hazard hasn’t been firing on all cylinders in the second half of the season, but as he showed against Arsenal, he can turn it on with the flick of a switch.

Dark horse: Robbie Brady (£5.5 million). His first start against Chelsea returned a glorious free-kick and nine points and he wasn’t even happy about his performance.

Burnley’s record signing looks set to be a regular in Sean Dyche’s side and his set-piece delivery alone could be the source of some precious points.

Captain’s choice: Romelu Lukaku (£9.7 million). The big man let us down against Middlesbrough last time out, but he’s terrorised Sunderland once already this season and we’re going to back him to do it again on home turf on Saturday.