Why you should go BIG on Man City again for FPL run-in

The Scout looks at who managers should invest in ahead of City's final eight matches of the season The Scout explains why Manchester City are a key club to invest in in Fantasy Premier League and picks out their best players. Following their 4-0 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, Manchester City will now have a Double Gameweek 33 (DGW33), hosting Arsenal in their first fixture before visiting Burnley. The trip to Turf Moor has been removed from Gameweek 34 due to the FA Cup semi-finals taking place on the same weekend, meaning Pep Guardiola's side will have a Blank Gameweek 34 (BGW34).As a reminder, a “Double Gameweek" is when a club play TWO Premier League fixtures in a round of matches, and their players get two chances to score points. A Blank Gameweek occurs when at least two top-flight clubs DON'T have a Premier League fixture in a particular Gameweek. Man City and Crystal Palace both have eight matches left to play - one more than everyone else. That is because they didn't play in the last Gameweek, in Blank Gameweek 31 (BGW31) - a problem which meant four Man City players were among the nine most-sold players in BGW31. That "blank" was due to Man City's EFL Cup final against Arsenal, where Nico O'Reilly (£5.0m) scored both goals in a 2-0 win for Pep Guardiola's side. City's league match against Palace will now need to be rearranged, meaning they are set to have another "Double Gameweek" at some stage. That makes their players especially good picks so, here, The Scout looks at who managers should consider bringing in.Who are Man City's form players? O'Reilly's display in the EFL Cup final has continued his outstanding run of form since he was moved into his preferred central-midfield role by Guardiola. Listed as a defender in Fantasy, the 21-year-old has scored three goals across his last four league appearances, while also collecting two clean sheets. His 38 points across those contests are by far the most of any Man City player, with Rodri (£6.3m) and Antoine Semenyo (£8.2m) the only team-mates to produce more than half that total. Notably, Rodri has just one attacking return across his last four league matches - a goal against Nottingham Forest - but he has supplemented that with four defensive contribution (DC) points and a further four bonus points. Semenyo sits just one point behind Rodri on 21 points in this same period. Listed as a midfielder, he's profited from a move up front recently, scoring twice, but he has since moved back into a support role. Five Man City players have accumulated more points than Erling Haaland (£14.5m) over the past four Gameweeks, as the Norwegian's minutes were managed due to an injury niggle. Haaland has managed just one goal and one assist across his last four league matches, totalling 15 points in those contests against Fulham, Newcastle United, Forest and West Ham United. However, he certainly returned to top form in City's FA Cup win over Liverpool, by scoring his 12th hat-trick for the club. Man City's top-scoring players, last four matches Player Pts Goals + assists Clean sheets* DC/Bonus O'Reilly 38 3 2 4 Rodri 22 1 1 8 Semenyo 21 2 1 2 Ait-Nouri 18 2 1 3 Dias 16 0 2 3 Haaland 15 2 N/A 1 B.Silva 15 1 1 3 *Defenders earn four points for a clean sheet, midfielders earn one pointScroll across on mobile to see the full table Who's had the biggest goal threat? The underlying statistics help to highlight O'Reilly's huge potential for Fantasy managers over the run-in. Over his last four matches, he is ranked first among team-mates for shots, shots in the box and big chances, which are situations where a player is expected to score. Haaland takes second spot with 12 shots, while also ranking joint-second on eight shots in the box (alongside Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) and three big chances, alongside Semenyo. His uncharacteristically lowly 8.3 per cent goal conversion rate shows why Haaland has frustrated so many backers. O'Reilly and Semenyo have easily surpassed that number, with 23.1 and 22.2 per cent goal conversion respectively. A clinical showing against Liverpool in the FA Cup, though, suggests he is rediscovering his sharpness in front of goal. Goal threat, last four matches Player Shots Shots in box Big chances Goal conv. O'Reilly 13 11 4 23.1% Haaland 12 8 3 8.3% Marmoush 11 8 0 0.0% Semenyo 9 7 3 22.2% Bernardo 7 6 0 14.3% Foden 7 2 1 0.0% Guehi 5 5 2 0.0% Rodri 5 4 1 20.0% Cherki 5 4 0 0.0% Scroll across on mobile to see the full table Who's had the most all-round potential? A look at O'Reilly's overall numbers indicate his sole focus is on scoring goals. He's made a total of eight defensive contributions across his last four matches - the fewest of every player in the table below - and created just one chance for his team-mates. Haaland and Semenyo have created one big chance each and, added to their three big chances above, this means they have both been involved in four big chances, placing them joint-top with O'Reilly. For a team that's renowned for their attacking football, it's fair to say these numbers are not hugely impressive. Defensive duo Marc Guehi (£5.1m) and Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) also feature among the top five for big-chance involvements across their last four matches, an indication of the lack of options from midfield, in particular. Certainly, Semenyo and Guehi have made an impact since joining in January, placing second and third for defensive contributions. There's no surprise that Rodri leads the way for defensive contributions by some margin, with his total of 50 not far away from being twice that of any team-mate. The Spaniard's eight chances created rank joint-top along with Bernardo Silva (£6.2m) and Rayan Cherki (£6.3m). Big-chance (BC) stats and defensive contributions (DC), last four matches Player BC inv. BC created Chances created DC O'Reilly 4 0 1 8 Haaland 4 1 2 10 Semenyo 4 1 4 28 Guehi 3 1 3 26 Ait-Nouri 3 2 4 19 Rodri 2 1 8 50 Foden 2 1 4 15 Scroll across on mobile to see the full tableSo, who are the best Man City picks for the run-in? At a cost of £5.0m and owned by only nine per cent of Fantasy managers, O'Reilly is shaping up to be a cut-price, differential gem for the run-in. Bearing in mind that Man City's match against Palace will be at home, O'Reilly's seasonal home output would make him a genuine option for the Triple Captain chip if that match is moved into a Gameweek where they already have a scheduled home match. Indeed, his average of 7.7 points per start in home matches is better than any team-mate, with Haaland just behind on 7.3.Despite his drop in output, Haaland has to be among the best three Man City picks to own for the run-in. The Norwegian's performance against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League recently, when he had seven shots, followed by his ruthless display against Liverpool, indicates he is getting back to his best. Guardiola still seems uncertain over the best structure of his midfield right now, and Semenyo's surprise benching in that match against Real Madrid shows why we can never take anything for granted. While the Ghana international does still look the best option among Man City's midfielders for now, Rodri's multiple routes to returns shouldn't be overlooked if you're shopping in the sub-£6.5m category.