Yahoo! Fantasy Football: Liverpool flourish in top performing XI

Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham all secured precious wins in their bid to land a top-4 spot at the weekend, with Chelsea the biggest losers of those pushing for a place in the Champions League. Arsenal host Manchester City on Thursday night in their game in hand, but defeat for the Gunners could effectively rule them out of the running for a spot in Europe’s elite club competition. 

As a result of City’s Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal on Sunday, there were only nine Premier League matches played over the weekend, but there were still plenty of opportunities to win cash prizes on Yahoo! Fantasy Football. Yet to sign up? New users can use the promo code ‘Fantasy50’ to earn a £50 bonus to use in the cash games when you deposit £5. 

Here we run through the best performing XI from the weekend’s Premier League action, with this side earning a notable 209.65 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points this week… 

GOALKEEPER – ORESTIS KARNEZIS 

Watford’s 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday evening wasn’t the most glamourous of Premier League ties, yet a win for the Hornets saw them move to within one point of the Toffees. Remarkably, Watford goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis was one of only two goalkeepers to keep a clean sheet this weekend, with the 32-year-old on hand to make three saves to earn 14.50 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points. 

DEFENDER – CRAIG DAWSON 

As West Brom sunk closer to the abyss – a 2-1 home loss to Huddersfield leaves them seven points from safety – Craig Dawson gave the Baggies a fighting chance at the weekend. The defender netted in the second half to halve the deficit against the Terriers, while five aerial duels won and three clearances helped earn 14.70 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points. 

DEFENDER – EMRE CAN 

Emre Can did enough to secure a spot in the WhoScored Premier League team of the week with a man of the match performance in Liverpool’s 4-1 win over West Ham. One goal and one assist played a key role in the German earning 20.75 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points, as did two tackles and two key passes. 

DEFENDER – ADAM SMITH 

Adam Smith was a half time introduction in Bournemouth’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle and scored the key goal that set the Cherries on the comeback trail with 10 minutes remaining. Despite playing just 45 minutes, Smith made one key pass, one interception and three clearances to gain 14.65 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points 

MIDFIELDER – RAJIV VAN LA PARRA 

Rajiv Van la Parra netted his third goal in his last four competitive appearances with his opening strike in Huddersfield’s 2-1 win over West Brom at the weekend. To go with his goal, the Dutchman chipped in with two key passes, six dribbles and five tackles to yield 20.45 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points. 

MIDFIELDER – WILLIAN 

Willian has been in fine form of late, having scored five and assisted one in his last four competitive starts Chelsea. The Brazilian makes this XI having gained 20.30 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points on Sunday, with his goal, one key pass and eight successful dribbles contributing to his inclusion in the top performing side and his WhoScored man of the match award. 

MIDFIELDER – DAN GOSLING 

The second of two Bournemouth players to make the cut, Dan Gosling scored the key equaliser on Saturday in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle. With two tackles, one interception and two dribbles, the former Newcastle man did enough to gain 14.80 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points. 

MIDFIELDER – SADIO MANE 

The second of three Liverpool performers to feature in this XI, Sadio Mane netted a second half goal in the Reds’ 4-1 win over West Ham, his seventh Premier League goal of the campaign. Six shots and two key passes earned the Senegalese sensation 18.80 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points and a spot in the top performing side. 

UTILITY – ROMELU LUKAKU 

Romelu Lukaku has surged up the Premier League form table after a string of solid attacking performances and one goal and one assist in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea saw him gain 20.85 points with Yahoo! Fantasy Football. Five shots, one key pass and one successful dribble capped off a fine display by the Belgian at Old Trafford. 

FORWARD – MOHAMED SALAH 

Rounding off the Liverpool contingent is arguably the signing of the season Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian maintained his flying form with one goal and one assist in the 4-1 win over West Ham, while two key passes helped return 23.20 Yahoo! Fantasy Football points. 

FORWARD – DWIGHT GAYLE 

Completing the top performing Yahoo! Fantasy Football XI is Newcastle forward Dwight Gayle, who bagged in brace in the Magpies’ 2-2 draw with Bournemouth. The 27-year-old earned more points (26.65) than any other Premier League player in gameweek 28 with two key passes and one tackle helping achieve that score.