Fantasy Football: Ruben Loftus-Cheek shines brightest in Goal's Premier League Team of the Week

Another round of Premier League football has come and gone and, as always with double gameweeks, there were no shortage of ups and downs.

Rotation and injuries were mostly to blame for a lot of the fun being sucked out of one of the most anticipated weeks on the Fantasy schedule as none of the 10 highest owned players in our game managed to score a goal.

The result of this was that defenders really stole the show in Matchweek 32, with five of them making our Goal Team of the Week, and all of them scoring more Fantasy points than any forward. Just keep reading to see who all made the cut and, conversely, who missed out.

GK: Ederson - Manchester City - 2 Games, 2 Clean Sheets, 1 Save = 14 Points

DEF: Aymeric Laporte - Manchester City - 2 Games, 1 Assist, 2 Clean Sheets = 17 Points

Laporte has been one of the best defenders in the Premier League this season, and that quality was certainly on display in this double gameweek.

Not only the 24-year-old he contribute to clean sheets against both Fulham and Cardiff, but also supplied an assist for a Kevin De Bruyne goal in the latter.

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All in all, the French defender ends the week with 17 points in the Goal game, the most at his position. Unfortunately, his owners will need to find a replacement for Laporte ahead of the weekend, as Manchester City will not play in Matchweek 33.

DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta - Chelsea - 2 Games, 1 Goal, 1 Goal Conceded, 1 Clean Sheet = 15 Points

DEF: Kurt Zouma - Everton - 1 Game, 1 Goal, 1 Clean Sheet = 14 Points

Last year’s loan at Stoke didn’t exactly go to plan for Zouma, but things have been far better for him at Everton this season. Coming into the week he had already been a part of three times as many goals as he was in 2017-18 (1g, 3a) and was just three clean sheets shy of his career best (eight in 15/16).

Having added to both of those categories against West Ham, the Frenchman is now just three points shy of his best ever Fantasy season, a mark which he will surely reach in this season’s five remaining matches.

Next up for the Toffees is a home match against Arsenal and, while the matchup does not particularly favour Zouma, he’s still ownable considering the truncated fixture list this coming weekend.

DEF: Wes Morgan - Leicester City - 1 Game, 1 Goal, 1 Clean Sheet = 14 Points

DEF: Patrick Van Aanholt - Crystal Palace - 2 Games, 1 Goal, 1 Clean Sheet = 14 Points

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MID: Ruben Loftus-Cheek - Chelsea - 1 Game, 1 Substitute Appearance, 2 Goals, 1 Assist = 18 Points

If you were told that a Chelsea midfielder would leave the double gameweek as our Goal Player of the Week, Eden Hazard owners would have been delighted. Well, while the Belgian did have a decent week, it’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek who ended up taking the plaudits off the back of two goals and an assist.

While Loftus-Cheek has not gotten the guaranteed minutes needed to fully trust him in Fantasy, he has been fantastic when played having scored five goals in just 560 minutes. For context, Sergio Aguero is the only other Premier League player that has recorded a higher goals per 90 minutes rate (.86) than the English midfielder (.80) this season. So, if Loftus-Cheek is ever guaranteed minutes, he will very much be worth owning in the Goal game.

MID: Christian Eriksen - Tottenham - 2 Games, 1 Goal, 2 Assists = 16 Points

MID: Abdoulaye Doucoure - Watford - 2 Games, 2 Goals = 16 Points

MID: Will Hughes - Watford - 2 Games, 1 Goal, 1 Assist = 13 Points

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FOR: Sergio Aguero - Manchester City - 1 Game, 1 Goal, 1 Assist = 10 Points

Sergio Aguero still managed to be the best forward in our game this week, despite playing just 56 of a possible 180 minutes. He pulled up with an injury against Fulham early in the second-half but, before then, had already recorded a goal and assist for both Manchester City.

Unfortunately, the division's leading scorer will not play this weekend due to scheduling and could also potentially miss the Crystal Palace match in Matchweek 34 due to the muscle injury he picked up this round. Things don’t get any better after that either as, even if he’s fit, the next two matches would come against strong defences in Tottenham and Manchester United.

Aguero will surely still be owned in many teams for the run-in but his best performances of the season are likely behind him in terms of Fantasy points.