There were two big lessons to be learned from Fantasy Premier League this weekend: captaining Erling Haaland is no longer enough to achieve a green arrow, the other 10 actually have to chip in now and again, and betting against him is basically pointless at this point, as Mo Salah owners will confirm.
Haaland missed out on adding another Premier League match ball to his collection, but he still managed to score twice against Brighton and earn the joint-highest score of the gameweek alongside pre-season favourite Leon Bailey.
The contrast between this season’s leading FPL points scorer and last season’s could not be starker, though, as Salah blanked for the sixth time already during Liverpool’s shock 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest. Salah hasn’t built upon his match-winning exploits against Manchester City and is the most sold player ahead of Saturday’s transfer deadline.
It seems scarcely believable that one of the all-time great FPL assets has fewer FPL points after 13 gameweeks than Miguel Almiron.
Gameweek 13 top scorers
Goalkeepers:
- Henderson (Nottingham Forest) – 11
- Ward (Leicester) – 8
- Martinez (Aston Villa) – 7
- Pickford (Everton) – 6
Defenders:
- Castagne (Leicester) – 12
- Mykolenko (Everton) – 11
- Mings (Aston Villa) – 10
- Aurier (Nottingham Forest) – 7
Midfielders:
- Bailey (Aston Villa) – 13
- Iwobi (Everton) – 12
- Xhaka (Arsenal), Pereira (Fulham), Willian (Fulham), Casemiro (Man Utd), Almiron (Newcastle) – 10
Forwards:
- Haaland (Man City) – 13
- Ings (Aston Villa) – 12
- Vardy (Leicester) – 10
- Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest) – 9
Each season there is at least one player who becomes an overnight sensation and this year it is Almiron’s turn. The Paraguayan has always seemed like the affable type, but with this already his most productive season in English football, his charmingly sheepish grin is now permanently plastered across his face.
It is always tempting to overlook the Almiron types in the expectation that an unpredictable hot streak will soon turn lukewarm, but equally, when someone is playing with such confidence it becomes increasingly difficult to overlook them.
Gameweek 14 fixtures
Saturday 29 October
- Leicester vs Man City
- Bournemouth vs Tottenham
- Brentford vs Wolves
- Brighton vs Chelsea
- Crystal Palace vs Southampton
- Newcastle vs Aston Villa
- Fulham vs Everton
- Liverpool vs Leeds
Sunday 30 October
- Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest
- Man Utd vs West Ham
David Raya (Brentford)
Brentford are a puzzling team to work out. Over their past five matches, they have conceded nine goals but also not conceded in three of them. Thomas Frank’s team are either extremely difficult to break down or fold like a deck of cards. Ivan Toney’s assessment that they were a “shambles” at Villa Park on Sunday was difficult to argue with.
While Thomas Frank will be concerned by their away form, Brentford are a different proposition on their own turf. David Raya has kept four clean sheets so far – three of which have been in home fixtures – and should be confident of adding a fifth to his tally against a Wolves team that looks like it may never score a goal ever again.
Price: £4.6m Points: 53 Gameweek 14 fixture: Wolves (h)
Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal)
Nottingham Forest enjoyed a good week, following up a draw with Brighton by beating Liverpool in front of a buoyant City Ground on Saturday. Both results were built upon solid foundations, with Dean Henderson keeping consecutive clean sheets and it is clear that Steve Cooper has compromised on his philosophy to make his side harder to beat.
Forest’s attacking stats haven’t been great all season, as reflected by the fact that they have scored just a solitary goal on their travels so far. That should bode well for Arsenal this weekend and after tipping William Saliba (£5.1m) last weekend, his partner Gabriel makes the cut this week: his 11 shots are more than any other Arsenal defender.
Price: £5.1m Points: 46 Gameweek 14 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Trent Alexander-Arnold has been the best defender in FPL in the past few years by a country mile and while he hasn’t hit those same heights so far in 2022-23, surely his fortunes will begin to turn soon. With Reece James and Kyle Walker both injured, he will be eager to discover his top form quickly ahead of the World Cup.
The 24-year-old was given a breather by Jurgen Klopp at Forest, but made a positive effect on Liverpool’s side after coming on, creating two big chances and almost scoring himself with a back post header. That brief cameo showed what Alexander-Arnold can offer and he should regain his starting spot this weekend.
Price: £7.2m Points: 34 Gameweek 14 fixture: Leeds (h)
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Move aside Gabriel Jesus, Kieran Trippier is now the second-most popular player in FPL behind you know who with an overall ownership north of 60 per cent. No player has been transferred in more times than the Newcastle right-back who has been snapped up more than five million times since Gameweek 1.
Although only one point separates Trippier from Joao Cancelo in the highest-scoring defender charts, the underlying numbers suggest the England international is the superior option. He has created 27 chances to Cancelo’s nine and has recorded a higher xG despite having fewer shots on goal.
Price: £5.8m Points: 66 Gameweek 14 fixture: Aston Villa (h)
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
Prepare yourselves for an earth-shattering statement: Bruno Fernandes is more effective when Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t in the team. Who knew? Over the past week, United have beaten Spurs and drawn against Chelsea and in each game, Fernandes was their most impressive attacking player. He scored the decisive second goal against Spurs and fired off nine shots, while at Stamford Bridge he created three chances, including two that were begging to be converted.
With only three weeks to go until the World Cup, now is the perfect time to take a punt on one or two differentials who you can offload for free once the tournament begins. Owned by only 2.3 per cent of managers, Fernandes could be a potent player to own ahead of games against West Ham (h), Aston Villa (a) and Fulham (a).
Price: £9.8mm Points: 40 Gameweek 14 fixture: West Ham (h)
Phil Foden (Man City)
Phil Foden had started each one of Manchester City’s Premier League matches this season until last Saturday’s game against Brighton which came just a couple of days after he had been included in i‘s Gameweek 13 tips. Typical.
Foden was the most-bought player ahead of the Gameweek 13 deadline but managed just a solitary point after being brought off the bench soon after Brighton threatened to make things tricky for City. If anything, that raises Foden’s appeal this week. Surely Pep won’t name one of his most in-form players on the bench for the second league game in a row?
Price: £8.4m Points: 65 Gameweek 14 fixture: Leicester (a)
Miguel Almiron (Newcastle)
It’s time to hold our hands up: we’ve been ignoring Miguel “Miggy” Almiron for far too long. The Paraguayan’s place in this week’s starting line-up is long overdue and hopefully, he can continue to bring in the points, starting on Saturday against Aston Villa.
Almiron’s recent form is as unexpected as it is uplifting. Before the 2022-23 campaign commenced, Almiron had scored nine goals in 110 Premier League appearances; he has netted six times in 12 matches this season, including five in his last five. Not even the great Erling Haaland can match his points tally since Gameweek 9.
Price: £5.2m Points: 67 Gameweek 14 fixture: Aston Villa (h)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Bukayo Saka was extremely quiet during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Southampton and looked leggy, unsurprising perhaps given he has played just under 1,200 minutes for club and country already this season. Mikel Arteta was surprisingly bullish about his use of Saka after last week’s win against PSV, but with qualification to the Europa League knockouts already assured, he may opt to give the winger a breather for Thursday’s rematch with the Dutch side.
As alluded to above, Forest look more resolute at the back, but Arsenal have more firepower than notorious xG champions Brighton and a Liverpool side lacking Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.
Price: £7.9m Points: 64 Gameweek 14 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
Not for the first time this season, Liverpool’s senior players fell well short of their usual standards during last weekend’s defeat at the City Ground and it was left to the younger players to carry the fight to Forest. The only encouragement for Jurgen Klopp would have been the performances of Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho.
Elliot, in particular, was excellent and unfortunate to be on the losing side. Playing on the right of midfield, Elliot created a huge opportunity for Carvalho that was missed and almost scored himself with a drive that was parried wide by Dean Henderson. Only Alexander-Arnold (with five) has created more big chances for the Reds this season than Elliott (four).
Price: £5.0m Points: 26 Gameweek 14 fixture: Leeds (h)
Erling Haaland (Man City)
Assuming that everyone reading this article or newsletter owns Haaland already, the most interesting debate to be had over the ponytailed goal machine revolves around the captaincy and whether you plan to just leave the armband on him or else take a risk from time to time.
This weekend could be one of those occasions where you may be tempted to go for someone else. After conceding 22 goals in their opening seven league matches, City’s upcoming opponents Leicester have since kept clean sheets in four of their last five matches.
Furthermore, the more superstitious FPL managers out there may worry that Haaland will be the latest victim to the early kick-off “curse” that has, so the theory goes, temporarily drained the powers of the Premier League’s best players. Maybe forcing down chicken pasta for breakfast is to blame…
Price: £12.2m Points: 117 Gameweek 14 fixture: Leicester (a)
Harry Kane (Spurs)
Has the Bournemouth bubble burst? Up until last week, the Cherries improbably held the longest unbeaten streak in the Premier League, a run that had coincided with Gary O’Neil’s appointment as interim manager. However, they have since lost back-to-back games to slip back toward the relegation zone.
Spurs are also point-less from their last two but will expect to return to winning ways on the south coast. Harry Kane has a good record against Bournemouth, scoring seven times in eight matches against them and has only blanked twice in FPL all season. O’Neil could also be without first-choice keeper Neto this weekend due to injury.
Price: £11.5m Points: 84 Gameweek 14 fixture: Bournemouth (a)
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