After Manchester United and Leeds United played out a thriller in midweek that nobody outside of Old Trafford was able to watch in the UK, Premier League football returns again on Saturday. West Ham host Chelsea in the early kick off while there is also the small matter of Arsenal v Manchester City on Wednesday night. So how can FPL managers get those green arrows? We’ve come up with three pointers to guide you to success.
Arsenal, Man City or both?
Whereas last week was a delight for those of us with Manchester United assets (except Casemiro), this gameweek provides a slightly different dilemma. With many of us tripled up on United and Marcus Rashford bringing the points home as captain, United take on Leeds in the second instalment of their back-to-back encounters on Sunday.
But the double gameweek belongs to the top two, Arsenal and Manchester City. The Gunners host Brentford at the weekend as Pep Guardiola’s men travel to Aston Villa, before the challengers meet in a colossal clash at the Emirates on Wednesday night. For FPL managers, this presents an opportunity. But how do you exploit it?
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Mikel Arterta’s side lost last time out to a newly-inspired Everton, while City slipped up at Tottenham to leave FPL managers short of points. However, both teams are favourites to bounce back with wins even before they meet at the Emirates. One thing is almost certain. Goals.
City have looked dodgy in defence so it is probably worth steering clear to include attacking outputs. Erling Haaland is a must, while Eddie Nketiah is now approaching 10% ownership and is a snip at £6.8m with a double gameweek to come. Elsewhere, Martin Odegaard and one of Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli are worth including while Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne present interesting options.
The winner of the Arsenal v City game doesn’t really matter for FPL managers. Keep the defenders out of your team and keep your fingers crossed for goals.
Everton differentials
Oh, hello Sean Dyche. The Toffees looked like a completely different outfit under their new boss as they beat league leaders Arsenal at Goodison Park. That result will have caught the eye of FPL managers as they look to pluck out differentials and as Everton travel to Anfield for the Merseyside Derby, points could be on the cards.
Most managers would not want to put Everton assets in ahead of a game away at Liverpool, but Jurgen Klopp’s men are a shambles at the minute. Betfred have the Toffees priced at 11/2 for the win and FPL managers now have several options on their watchlist.
Goalscorer James Tarkowski is just £4.2m, while Dwight McNeil is taking set pieces at £5.1m. Also, if you back Dominic Calvert-Lewin to return to form by scoring a few headers, you can bring him in for £7.9m.
Off the boil…
Knowing when to get rid of players is half the battle with FPL. It isn’t just about picking players in form, but not wasting time when players are out of form. Mo Salah is certainly one of those with no returns in his last five fixtures, as is Miguel Almiron who also has no returns in his last five.
Popular forward Aleksandar Mitrovic has amassed just four points across the last four weeks and Ivan Toney has two in two, as well as a blank GW25 coming up. Kevin De Bruyne is perhaps an outlier. He hasn’t hit double digits since GW14 and his gametime is not guaranteed, but City have two vital fixtures this week. As they have fallen out of form, Guardiola could well go back to his trusted Belgian.
Stick with KDB if you have him, but for the others, it’s time to move on.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
