Manchester City will welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The Cityzens are 14 points behind league leaders Liverpool and could pull within 11 points for at least 24 hours. One player that the club will be counting on this weekend against the Eagles is Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez.
The winger is in fine form for Pep Guardiola having bagged 17 Fantasy Football League points in gameweek 22 against Aston Villa. Mahrez now has 106 FPL points and goes into round 23 at a mere £8.5 million. The biggest issue with selecting Mahrez in FPL is Guardiola’s penchant to sit the winger for multiple games. However, his form warrants a start versus Crystal Palace.
How good has Mahrez been?
The Manchester City forward has tallied five double-digit matches. Mahrez has had three straight weeks of good FPL points returns averaging 9.3 points a game over the last three gameweeks. He has tallied an assist in each of those three gameweeks along with two goals last weekend.
Mahrez now has seven goals and nine assists in 1,083 Premier League minutes. The Manchester City forward averages one league goal every 154.7 minutes of football.
Mahrez is a hot pick for gameweek 23. He has already topped his FPL points total from last term when he tallied 102 FPL points with seven goals and four assists in 1,331 minutes played.
His best FPL season came during Leicester City’s title-winning campaign in 2015-16. Mahrez totalled 240 FPL points during that season.
Mahrez’s transfer price has gradually increased since gameweek 13. He started the season at £8.5m and topped out at £8.7m before decreasing as low as £8.3m. Gameweek 22 saw 392,304 FPL managers select Mahrez to play.
Manchester City are linked with Real Sociedad’s winger Mikel Oyarzabal. Although the club is unlikely to dip into the transfer market, reports from the Express indicate the Cityzens are interested in adding the attacker to the squad this month.
It is believed Leroy Sane could be sold to Bayern Munich making way for Oyarzabal to join the club. If the winger does arrive, he will give Mahrez competition for a starting role. Sane’s knee injury this season has limited the competition Mahrez has faced for a starting XI position. That lack of competition could play into the hands of FPL managers who select the Manchester City forward this weekend.
Could Mahrez have another big points total this weekend? It is possible with the Cityzens facing Crystal Palace.
