This article is part of our Mondogoal Fantasy Soccer series.
After finally taking a brief layoff following the usual hectic holiday schedule, the Premier League returns this week with a full slate of games played Tuesday and Wednesday.
With that come countless Mondogoal contests for fantasy owners to join, and in aim of producing profits, here's a six-pack of players to target when assembling Week 21 rosters.
FWD: Olivier Giroud, ARS at LIV (£10.6M): As Arsenal have climbed to the top of the Premiership table, Giroud has led the top of the Gunners' attack. The Frenchman notched an assist in back-to-back league outings prior to scoring in Arsenal's FA Cup win over the weekend. Overall, Giroud has netted 16 times in 21 total starts at the club level, helping him average about 12 Mondogoal points per game over his last eight appearances for Arsenal. On Wednesday, Giroud will face a Liverpool outfit whose top four central defenders are all injured in some fashion, and he's scored in two of his last three games against the Reds.
MID: Kevin De Bruyne, MCI v. EVE (£12.4M): Since joining Manchester City in September, only four midfields have averaged more than De Bruyne's 9.89 points per game on Mondogoal. That comes largely due to the Belgian's five goals and eight assists, but that production has almost exclusively come at home. In fact, De Bruyne holds merely one goal and zero assists away from the Etihad Stadium in Premier League action. While that's certainly a development for fantasy owners to consider going forward, Wednesday's game is thankfully at home against Everton. Only Sunderland has shipped more goals over their past six games than Everton, so De Bruyne's appetite for home cooking could prevail once again.
DEF: Chris Smalling, MUN at NEW (£7.8M): While his team continues to trot out an overpriced, uninspiring mid-table attack, Smalling's defensive contributions have helped salvage Manchester United's season. To that point, no defender can match Smalling's 10 clean sheets, and only Tottenham have conceded fewer goals than the Red Devils thus far. With 44 passes intercepted and 28 successful tackles as well, Smalling is the fourth-ranked defender in Mondogoal's Tuesday contests. That's when he'll play at Newcastle, the league's third-worst offense, and a team that Man United have blanked in three of their last four meetings.
GK: Wayne Hennessey, CRY at AVL (£8.1M): Past the mid-way point in the season, no team has allowed fewer away goals than Hennessey's Crystal Palace. While he didn't grab hold of the Eagles' starting goalkeeper position until Week 7, Hennessey has not looked back since. The Welshman has claimed six clean sheets, including three in his last five matches, heading into Tuesday's game at Aston Villa. Considering no team has scored fewer goals than the last-place Villains this term, Hennessey stands a good chance of adding another clean sheet this week.
FWD: Marko Arnautovic, STK v. NOR (£6.9M): Although his forward position designation on Mondogoal probably doesn't result in the fantasy production that a midfield pegging might, Arnautovic's current form and cheap price tag still make him well worth the investment this week. Setting owners back only £6.9M, Arnautovic has supplied four goals and one assist in Stoke City's past six top-flight matches, leaving only seven players with more goals than him at present. Pitted against a bottom-five Norwich City defense in a home game Wednesday, Arnautovic is seemingly one of the better bargain buys in Week 21.
FWD: Diego Costa, CHE v. WBA (£7.4M ): Last season's third-leading scorer, Costa's week-to-week performances have become representative of Chelsea's results. Through this season's first 16 league matches, Costa managed just three goals, as Chelsea flirted with the relegation zone. Since then, the Blues opted to sack their manager, and Costa has responded with three goals in their subsequent four games, an unbeaten stretch. With that in mind, Costa is the man to monitor in Wednesday's home date with West Brom, a side that Costa scored in his most recent appearance against.
