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Steven Davis leads the way for Saints; how to make a fantasy difference?

Leicester picked up their Premier League trophy in style, Man United cranked up the fourth-place pressure on their city rivals and Sunderland edged closer to a local derby with Middlesbrough next season.

Here's what we learned from the first half of a busy, and at times emotional, double Gameweek in ESPN FC Premier Fantasy.

WEEKLY WONDERS

The double-match men are yet to shine, leaving the big points-scoring over the weekend to their single-fixture rivals.

Southampton midfielder Steven Davis (£6.0m) was the star turn, his brace at Spurs earning him 15 points and giving his team a strong chance of European football next season.

Swansea shocked one of the Saints' Europa League rivals West Ham with a 4-1 win at the Boleyn Ground. Andre Ayew (£7.3m) did the most damage, with a goal and an assist for 12 points. He's now scored 27 points in the last two gameweeks.

Leicester stalwart Andy King (£4.0m) matched Ayew's performance in the Foxes' 3-1 title party win over Everton, while Palace striker Dwight Gayle (£5.3m) scored 11 points from a brace that might well book him his place in the Eagles' FA Cup final side.

TEAMSHEET TALK

Injuries, suspensions, upcoming bigger matches and end of season chances for fringe players are playing havoc with many an ESPN FC Premier Fantasy manager's squad.

Swansea and Liverpool made huge changes and won anyway; Man City brought back most of their Champions League starters and didn't. But the key team issues surrounded some of the season's biggest performers.

Mousa Dembele's suspension for poking the eye of Diego Costa meant a rare start for Ryan Mason (£4.0m). More pertinently, no-one feels the loss of the Belgian more than Harry Kane (£10.0m). In the 10 matches that Dembele hasn't started, Kane has managed just one goal.

This should mean the 52.4 percent of fantasy owners who have him are a tad worried ahead of Spurs' final fixture away at Newcastle.

With the race for fourth spot guaranteed to go to the wire, Man United manager Louis van Gaal may be reluctant to rotate too many players ahead of their FA Cup final. But his decision to rest Daley Blind (£6.8m) at the weekend means those who have invested in Man United cannot afford to be complacent.

Given that Blind has been rested only twice before, the 12.9 percent of ESPN FC managers that own his defensive partner Chris Smalling (£7.2m) face a nervous wait for the Gameweek 38 teamsheet. Injuries are also an issue as Anthony Martial (£8.6m) limped out of the warm-up at Carrow Road and Matteo Darmian (£6.3m) didn't last the match.

With a must-win home match at Bournemouth to round off their league campaign, United players are attractive options. Working out which ones will actually feature will be tough.

Champions League football is all-but assured for Arsenal again, but a final fixture at home to rock-bottom Villa keeps their players firmly on the fantasy radar.

The hard-fought 2-2 draw at Man City was earned without the injured duo of Mesut Ozil (£9.7m) and Per Mertesacker (£6.1m), and Danny Welbeck's (£7.5m) return to the starting line-up lasted just 23 minutes before a knee injury forced him off.

Ozil should be back for the final fixture and Gabriel (£5.9m) could well continue in place of Mertesacker for a match that promises good returns for Gunners' players across the pitch.

THE NUMBERS GAME

There is just one more shot to make a mark now, and there are a number of players out there who are very much due a big points finish. Looking at the stars who have had at least 10 goal attempts over the last four matches while scoring no more than one goal, you could find a real difference-maker among the midfielders.

Dmitri Payet (£8.8m) is an obvious choice, but with 44.7 percent ownership, he's not going to steal much of a march on an owner's fantasy opposition.

Christian Eriksen (£8.7m), with much lower ownership stats and a match at Newcastle, looks a better bet. Four assists have offset a goalless streak that's involved 14 shots, eight of which have come in the area, for the Dane.

West Brom's Craig Gardner (£6.1m) is the very definition of a differential as he's owned by just 0.1 percent of managers. A missed penalty at Bournemouth denied him a goal, and he's fired in a further 12 shots, of which seven were in the penalty area.

A home match with a Liverpool side that will be more concerned with the Europa League final three days later makes Gardner a decent punt.

Bournemouth's Matt Ritchie (£6.2m) has been one of the Cherries' under-performers this season, with four goals and eight assists a lower return than many expected. He has been busy in recent weeks, however, with one goal from 11 attempts.

Both he and striker Josh King (£6.5m), who has exactly the same four-match stats as the Scotsman, are worth a look for their final-day trip to a Man United side that could be heavily rotated.