It's been a great week for the Premier League, with all four of its teams in the Champions League qualifying for the knockout stages following Liverpool's dramatic win over Napoli and Tottenham's late equalizer to draw with Barcelona.
But now we return our focus to domestic matters, with the European competition done until mid-February.
Liverpool are the Premier League leaders through 16 weeks after Manchester City suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Chelsea last weekend. But third-place Tottenham are the biggest favorites this coming weekend, at home against Burnley, and that's where I'll be plucking my Tier 1 forward and captain from.
Harry Kane isn't off to as good a start as he had last season. At this point in the campaign one year ago, Kane had already scored 12 goals and was averaging nearly 17 fantasy points per game. So far this season, Kane has scored nine goals, and is averaging fewer than 13 points per game.
But there are reasons for encouragement. Kane didn't score a goal against Barcelona on Tuesday, but he had an assist, took six shots, and had four chances created.
He was rested last weekend against Leicester City, only playing 16 minutes off the bench. But Kane had a goal and an assist in the previous game against Southampton, and a goal against Arsenal in the game before that.
And his shooting numbers are returning to more typical Kane levels. He only took 12 shots in his first five games this season. But Kane is now up to 51 shots in total, only six behind league leader Mohamed Salah, and the Spurs striker has 27 shots on goal, tying him for the league lead with Salah.
Kane is also tied with Salah for the league lead in expected goals, at 9.51.
Salah, who also has had a relatively slow start compared to last season, exploded last Saturday with a hat trick at Bournemouth. It wouldn't be a big surprise if Kane delivered a similar performance at home against Burnley, who have conceded 32 goals in 16 games, the second-most in the league.
But no pressure, Harry. A brace would be just fine!
Take your pick
There are lots of attractive options at Tier 1 midfielder this week. Manchester City are the second-biggest favorites, playing at home against Everton. And that's the early kickoff on Saturday, meaning you'll get to see Manchester City's lineup before making any final decisions, which is nice for a change.
Leroy Sane is coming off a brace in their 2-1 Champions League win over Hoffenheim on Wednesday. Raheem Sterling provided the assist on one of Sane's goals, and just missed scoring a goal himself.
The problem is, I'm having a hard time choosing between them. Both have huge upsides, with each posting a 40-plus point game since the start of November. But each has had two single-digit games in the same time span.
If Manchester City were playing against a weaker opponent, I'd be comfortable playing either one, thinking both could come up big in the same game. But Everton are currently in seventh place, and have a relatively good defensive record -- only four teams have conceded fewer than their 19 goals in 16 games. Plus both Sterling and Sane played the full 90 minutes on Wednesday, and face a very quick turnaround. I'm going to pass on the City duo this week.
The Tottenham trio of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min are all tempting as well, playing against Burnley. Son is coming off a goal and an assist last weekend against Leicester City, and a goal against Southampton in the game before that.
But Kane was on the bench for most of the game against Leicester City, letting Son play a more prominent role, and none of these three have been consistent fantasy-wise this season. In fact, they've combined for only eight league goals -- Son has three, Alli has three, and Eriksen has two -- and they're all averaging fewer than 11 points per game. I'm going to pass on these guys, as well.
Eden Hazard hasn't scored a goal in seven straight games, yet he remains the Premier League leader in fantasy points, averaging over 19 per game. He had two assists in the win over Manchester City last week, and an assist in each of the previous two games. Hazard's now the league leader in that category as well, by the way, with eight.
It's only a matter of time before Hazard finds the back of the net again, and Chelsea are strong favorites playing at Brighton on Sunday.
What sealed my decision was seeing that Alvaro Morata started in Chelsea's Europa League game at Vidi on Thursday (Hazard was left home to rest). Morata then suffered a knock and had to come off late in the first half. He was replaced by Olivier Giroud, who scored a goal in the second half.
All this means Giroud will likely start against Brighton, and in the five league games Giroud has started this season, Hazard scored five of his seven goals (with Giroud providing the assist on two of them).
These two appear to link up very well in the final third, and I'm hoping to see more of that on Sunday, with Hazard as my Tier 1 midfielder.
Other picks
Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham (Tier 2 forward): I also considered West Ham's Javier Hernandez in a Fulham-West Ham game that could have a bunch of goals in it. But I give Mitrovic the edge because he's at home, and should pick up more points if neither scores a goal. Mitrovic shoots more -- in fact he's tied for second in the league in shots with 55, behind only Salah.
Felipe Anderson, West Ham (Tier 2 midfielder): As I mentioned earlier this week, Anderson has scored five goals in the past six games, and since the start of November is second overall in fantasy points, behind only Sane. And Fulham have conceded 40 goals in 16 games -- eight more than any other team.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Southampton (Tier 3 midfielder): Not only does he have the highest fantasy points per game average in this tier, but Hojbjerg -- more of a defensive midfielder, admittedly -- continues to shoot a surprising amount, averaging more than two shots per game. He put up decent point totals against Tottenham and Manchester United earlier this month, and I think he can do the same against Arsenal.
Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool (Tier 1 defender): He just eclipsed Marcos Alonso as the top defender in terms of fantasy points per game. Alonso hasn't finished in double figures in four straight games, while Van Dijk has finished in double figures in 10 straight games. And Van Dijk has even gotten more involved in the attack in recent games.
Matt Doherty, Wolves (Tier 2 defender): Doherty's remarkable season continues -- he's now had a goal or assist in three straight games after scoring against Newcastle last week, and is up to three goals and three assists on the season. Plus Wolves are favored at home against Bournemouth, who have conceded 26 goals in 16 games.
Hugo Lloris, Tottenham (Goalkeeper): He has already made 41 saves this season -- four more than Kepa Arrizabalaga, five more than Alisson, and 13 more than Ederson, despite playing in four fewer games than those other three. That's why Lloris is second at his position in points per game -- behind only Alisson, who has twice as many clean sheets (10). But I like Lloris' chances of a clean sheet this week much better, at home against Burnley, versus Alisson against Manchester United.