Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Harry Kane were Sunday’s Fantasy Premier League firefighters after other popular assets took a flamethrower to managers’ teams on Saturday. Yes Erling, we’re talking about you.
Usually when things go horribly wrong in FPL, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have something to do with it. Their shock draw against Nottingham Forest just days after a huge win over Arsenal could not have been any more poorly timed for FPL bosses who loaded up on their big hitters for the double in Gameweek 23. Differential pair Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish were the only City stars to return more than two points.
City’s title rivals Arsenal weren’t quite as unreliable, although their main men still caused plenty of frustration with Martin Odegaard missing a sitter, Bukayo Saka getting himself booked and Eddie Nketiah hitting the bar and failing to score for the fourth game running. Their defensive form has also dipped alarmingly too with no clean sheet secured since the 2-0 win against Spurs in Gameweek 20.
Still, Arsenal players will retain their popularity in FPL given they are one of four clubs playing twice in Gameweek 25, the others being Everton, Liverpool and Wolves. Meanwhile, there is a quartet of clubs not playing at all this week: they are Brentford, Brighton and Carabao Cup finalists, Manchester United and Newcastle United.
As mentioned last week, it is advisable to bench Marcus Rashford and Kieran Trippier for one week, rather than selling them and being forced to pay an inflated price to buy them back later on in the season. There is more of a question mark hanging over other in-form assets like Ivan Toney, Kaoru Mitoma and lesser-owned options from United or Newcastle like Luke Shaw, Bruno Fernandes or Miguel Almiron, however. If you can easily move them on to double gameweekers with a big upside, it is probably worth doing.
Gameweek 24 top scorers
Goalkeepers:
- Leno (Fulham) -11
- Neto (Bournemouth) – 10
- Bazunu (Southampton) – 9
- Dubravka (Newcastle) – 8
Defenders:
- Coleman (Everton), Royal (Everton) – 15
- Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) – 12
- Davies (Tottenham) – 11
- Estupinan (Brighton), Tarkowski (Everton), Robertson (Liverpool) – 8
Midfielders:
- Rashford (Man Utd) – 15
- Fernandes (Man Utd) – 12
- Bernardo (Man City), Ward-Prowse (Southampton) – 10
- Eze (Crystal Palace) – 9
Forwards:
- Watkins (Aston Villa), Wood (Nottingham Forest) – 8
- Solanke (Bournemouth), Mbeumo (Brentford), Nunez (Liverpool), Kane (Spurs) – 5
Inevitably, there is a strong double gameweek flavour to this week’s selection, with Liverpool emerging as a team of interest once more after back-to-back wins against Everton and Newcastle. Trent Alexander-Arnold provided an assist, Virgil van Dijk and co kept a clean sheet and each of the front three made goal contributions during Saturday’s victory at St James’ Park. Just like the good old days.
Here’s i‘s line-up for Gameweek 25 ahead of Friday’s deadline:
Gameweek 25 fixtures
Friday 24 February
- Fulham vs Wolves
Saturday 25 February
- Everton vs Aston Villa
- Leeds vs Southampton
- Leicester sv Arsenal
- West Ham vs Nottingham Forest
- Bournemouth vs Man City
- Crystal Palace vs Liverpool
Sunday 26 February
- Spurs vs Chelsea
Wednesday 1 March
- Arsenal vs Everton
- Liverpool vs Wolves
Jordan Pickford (Everton)
If you are on the lookout for a new goalkeeper Jordan Pickford could fit the bill. Everton have kept back-to-back clean sheets at Goodison Park since Sean Dyche took charge, ahead of Saturday’s home meeting with Aston Villa. Pickford’s chances of recording a shutout at the Emirates are obviously far less, but there is every chance that England’s No 1 can rack up some save points: David Raya and Bernd Leno are the only keepers to make more stops than him this season.
Price: £4.4m Points: 74 Gameweek 25 fixture(s): Aston Villa (h), Arsenal (a)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Our decision to pick Trent Alexander-Arnold last week paid off handsomely as he recorded his highest-scoring gameweek since September with a dozen points against Newcastle. Alexander-Arnold provided a sumptuous assist for Liverpool’s opening goal scored by Darwin Nunez and looks to be rediscovering his attacking edge after a tricky campaign.
Since FPL resumed in Gameweek 17, Alexander-Arnold has been statistically the second-most creative defender in the game, with 15 chances created, seven big chances created and an expected assists total of 2.65, only bettered by Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier.
Price: £7.3m Points: 75 Gameweek 25 fixture(s): Crystal Palace (a), Wolves (h)
Emerson Royal (Tottenham)
It turns out that all Tottenham had to do to get Emerson Royal firing was splurge £40m on another right-back to take his place. The Brazilian has been in absolutely inspired form since Pedro Porro joined the club on transfer deadline day, catching the eye in both defensive and attacking phases of play and earning man of the match awards in his last two starts.
Royal’s goal against West Ham was his second in his last five appearances and his points totals across his last four starts are 7, 9, 6 and 15. Spurs have kept clean sheets in both of their home matches under Antonio Conte’s assistant Cristian Stellini and welcome a Chelsea side that has managed just one goal in their last four league games to N17 on Sunday.
Price: £4.9m Points: 67 Gameweek 25 fixture: Chelsea (h)
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James Tarkowski (Everton)
Question: Which Everton player has had the most shots on goal since Sean Dyche took charge? Answer: James Tarkowski. The centre-back has had five attempts all from inside the box over the past three gameweeks and with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s fitness an ongoing concern, he has emerged as Everton’s principal goal threat, predominantly from Dwight McNeil set-pieces.
Doubling up on Everton’s defence would have been unthinkable in the dark final days of Frank Lampard’s tenure, but the Toffees already look like a team transformed under their new boss. Unsurprisingly given their history at Burnley, Tarkowski has instantly become a vital member of Dyche’s team at both ends of the pitch.
Price: £4.3m Points: 70 Gameweek 25 fixture(s): Aston Villa (h), Arsenal (a)
Cody Gakpo (Liverpool)
It took a little while for Cody Gakpo to get going, but Liverpool’s January signing from PSV looks to be finding his feet. After going five games without a goal for his new club, Gakpo has scored in successive matches, helping Liverpool to a pair of much-needed Premier League victories.
The manner of Gakpo’s strikes will please Jurgen Klopp too. He was perfectly placed to score a tap-in against Everton and then broke Newcastle’s offside trap with a clever run and smart finish at the weekend. It’s a small sample size but Gakpo has the fourth-highest xG of any player since Gameweek 23 and two players above him – Erling Haaland and Bukayo Saka – had an extra fixture.
Price: £7.7m Points: 21 Gameweek 25 fixture(s): Crystal Palace (a), Wolves (h)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Arsenal fans and FPL managers had their hearts in their mouths when Bukayo Saka was down receiving treatment after being on the receiving end of his annual Villa Park kicking on Saturday lunchtime. But the winger is evidently made of strong stuff and managed to nurse his way through the game which is encouraging ahead of the double.
Equally reassuring is Saka’s fine form. Since the league’s resumption, Saka has directly contributed towards seven goals (five goals, two assists) in nine appearances and only not returned in two fixtures. It’s always a good idea to have a first-choice penalty taker for a double gameweek too and Saka has scored all four of his spot kicks in the Premier League.
Price: £8.4m Points: 132 Gameweek 21 fixture(s): Leicester (a), Everton (h)
Arsenal’s top-scoring FPL assets
- Bukayo Saka – 132 points
- Martin Odegaard – 131
- Gabriel Martinelli – 114
- William Saliba – 97
- Leandro Trossard – 94 (83 for previous club Brighton)
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
It wasn’t the worst finish from a Norwegian superstar this weekend – that dubious award belongs to Erling Haaland for his scarcely believable double miss against Forest – but it was a bad one nonetheless. Martin Odegaard had the whole goal to aim for after being teed up by Eddie Nketiah with the scoreline level at 2-2 but somehow screwed his side-footed effort wide. Fortunately for him, it didn’t ultimately matter.
That moment was the one blemish on an otherwise typically excellent display from the Arsenal skipper: only Bruno Fernandes created more chances than Odegaard in Gameweek 24 (with nine to seven), which included an assist for Oleksandr Zinchenko’s first Arsenal goal. Saka and Odegaard should be your top two Arsenal targets if you only have one or own neither.
Price: £7.0m Points: 131 Gameweek 21 fixture(s): Leicester (a), Everton (h)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Those who invested in a certain premium Manchester City asset for their double in 23 have an easy transfer decision to make this week: Kevin De Bruyne out, Mo Salah in. It is worth highlighting that City have an excellent fixture on paper away to Bournemouth, but Salah should be a number one priority transfer given Liverpool have two fixtures.
The Egyptian has been poor by his standards this season, but has looked much more like his usual self over the past couple of weeks, earning FPL scores of 11 and six points in his last two games. Salah is one of the top three captaincy options in Gameweek 25, alongside the aforementioned Saka and Odegaard.
Price: £12.6m Points: 122 Gameweek 25 fixture(s): Crystal Palace (a), Wolves (h)
Ruben Neves (Wolves)
Our double gameweek representation looks like this: Arsenal (three players), Liverpool (three), Everton (two) and Wolves (one). That is not due to any bias against Julen Lopetegui’s side but more a reflection of Wolves’ tricky upcoming fixtures and their disappointing defeat to Bournemouth last time out.
When it comes to Wolves, our advice would be to only buy if you’re planning on using a Wildcard or Free Hit, otherwise just prioritise the other clubs instead. If you do fancy taking a punt, Ruben Neves could be the man to target owing to his status as the club’s first-choice penalty taker. He has converted all seven penalties he has taken in the Premier League.
Price: £5.4m Points: 81 Gameweek 25 fixture(s): Fulham (a), Liverpool (a)
Erling Haaland (Man City)
We didn’t pick Erling Haaland last weekend and while that decision was vindicated by his failure to score, it was a rather unsettling position to be in. Despite missing both of his big chances at the City Ground, the big man comes straight back into the XI for City’s trip to Bournemouth.
The most puzzling aspect of Haaland’s blank on Saturday was that it followed perhaps his most complete performance in a City shirt after he bullied Arsenal’s defenders in midweek. Haaland doesn’t look like the type to dwell on missed chances and is much more likely to want to bounce back with a vengeance against the Cherries.
Price: £12.2m Points: 183 Gameweek 25 fixture: Bournemouth (a)
Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal)
Stocking up on three Arsenal assets for the double is practically essential given they are one of the two best – if not the outright best – team in the league. Saka and Odegaard are the two best options without a doubt but managers have a decision to make over who completes the set: invest in a defender or triple up in midfield or attack?
It’s a coin toss but given Arsenal’s lack of clean sheets recently prioritising a forward over a defender seems like a sensible play, which leaves Eddie Nketiah as the most obvious pick. Nketiah has played every single minute of Arsenal’s league matches since the restart, and while he has gone four games without a goal he has looked a threat recording a promising xG of 1.57 in that time.
Price: £6.8m Points: 52 Gameweek 25 fixture(s): Leicester (a), Everton (h)
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