Ok hands up, who sold Mo Salah last week? Considering over 385,000 Fantasy Premier League managers utilised their second wildcard chip of the campaign, the answer is probably quite a few.
At least judging by the FPL Twitter chamber, most people were in a hurry to offload their Liverpool assets to future-proof their teams for upcoming blank and double gameweeks. Big mistake. Those who transferred out Salah, Darwin Nunez and co were punished emphatically when the Reds stuck seven goals past Manchester United. Salah, Nunez and Cody Gakpo all feature in the top 10 most-bought players this week.
In last week’s tips, we talked up the strategy of buying Brentford and Brighton assets ahead of Double Gameweek 27 and with both teams winning – and many of their star players returning points – last weekend, that will continue to be a popular plan. Crystal Palace and Southampton also play twice this week, but given their tricky fixtures and poor recent form, players from those sides shouldn’t feature too heavily in your transfer plans this week.
Instead, we’d advise going all in on Brentford and Brighton, who are two of the form teams in the division. The Bees haven’t been stung since before the World Cup and are on the longest unbeaten run in the Premier League, while the Seagulls are soaring under Roberto De Zerbi and have lost just one of their last 10 games in all competitions. They each play twice in Gameweek 29 too – although Brighton will blank between those two doubles.
Gameweek 26 top scorers
Goalkeepers:
- Ward (Leicester) – 11
- Sa (Wolves) – 11
Defenders:
- Fofana (Chelsea) – 14
- Veltman (Brighton) – 13
- Cash (Aston Villa) – 12
- Chilwell (Chelsea) – 10
Midfielders:
- Salah (Liverpool) – 21
- Mac Allister (Brighton), Gakpo (Liverpool) – 14
- Mitoma (Brighton) – 13
- Nelson (Arsenal), Foden (Man City) – 11
- Billing (Bournemouth) – 10
Forwards:
- Johnson (Nottingham Forest) – 13
- Nunez (Liverpool) – 12
- Firmino (Liverpool), Toney (Brentford) – 8
Here is this week’s team ahead of Saturday’s deadline:
Gameweek 26 fixtures
Saturday 11 March
- Bournemouth vs Liverpool
- Everton vs Brentford
- Leeds vs Brighton
- Leicester vs Chelsea
- Spurs vs Nottingham Forest
- Crystal Palace vs Man City
Sunday 12 March
- Fulham vs Arsenal
- Man Utd vs Southampton
- West Ham vs Aston Villa
- Newcastle vs Wolves
Wednesday 15 March
- Brighton vs Crystal Palace
- Southampton vs Brentford
David Raya (Brentford)
A straight shoot-out for the best goalkeeper option this week looks to have been settled by De Zerbi after he demoted Robert Sanchez to the bench against West Ham. Budget goalkeeper Jason Steele (£3.9m) impressed but it is uncertain whether he is now the No 1 or simply keeping the gloves warm for a few weeks.
Such uncertainty is enough to steer us away from Brighton and onto Brentford. David Raya made a rare error against Fulham on Monday night but has been exceptionally consistent this season, accumulating the third-most points of all keepers and the joint-most bonus points (14) with Bernd Leno.
Price: £4.8m Points: 109 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Everton (a), Southampton (a)
Pervis Estupinan (Brighton)
Pervis Estupinan shrugged off a knock that ruled him out of last week’s FA Cup win against Stoke to play 76 minutes of Saturday’s league encounter meaning he should be fighting fit ahead of Brighton’s double header. Despite being the most-bought defender ahead of Saturday’s deadline, he is currently owned by less than 10 per cent of managers.
The Ecuadorian has flown under the radar to become one of the most consistent defenders in FPL: only Emerson Royal (with 46 points) has outscored Estupinan (42) since Gameweek 20. The left-back has also provided the most assists (three) among defenders since the Premier League’s post-World Cup restart.
Price: £4.8m Points: 70 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Leeds (a), Crystal Palace (h)
Ben Davies (Spurs)
Nottingham Forest are the lowest-scoring away side in English football’s top-four tiers, averaging one goal every four Premier League matches. That record suggests that investing in a Spurs defender this weekend is a reasonable idea, but the million pound question is who to go for?
Pedro Porro had more shots (with four) than any other defender in Gameweek 26 and was unfortunate to rattle the woodwork with a free-kick, but faces competition from a revitalised Emerson Royal; Eric Dier was dropped last weekend; and Cristian Romero is a walking yellow card. Ben Davies might be the answer then, particularly if he replaces the out-of-form Ivan Perisic at left wing-back.
Price: £4.8m Points: 86 Gameweek 27 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Ben Mee (Brentford)
Brentford are generally more solid at the Community Stadium than they are away from home but have tightened up- significantly on their travels since the start of the campaign. After conceding 17 goals in their first seven away fixtures, they have since let in just two in their previous four despite taking in trips to the Etihad and Emirates in that time.
That form justifies a defensive double-up and Ben Mee edges out Rico Henry as the second inductee from the Bees backline after scoring three times already this season, the most alongside Virgil van Dijk. Ethan Pinnock (£4.4m), who scored against Fulham, is a cheaper alternative if funds are low.
Price: £5.1m Points: 95 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Everton (a), Southampton (a)
Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
Is Kauru Mitoma the most exciting player to watch in the Premier League right now? He’s certainly in the mix. The man with a degree in dribbling has been a revelation for Brighton with his touchline trickery and penalty box potency and is one of a number of technically gifted Japanese players thriving in Europe right now.
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Mitoma provided a goal and an FPL assist last weekend – he was fouled for the penalty scored by Mac Allister – and has managed eight goal contributions (six goals, two assists) across his previous 10 league appearances in total. He is, at the time of writing, the most signed player ahead of this week’s deadline.
Price: £5.4m Points: 84 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Leeds (a), Crystal Palace (h)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Arsenal eventually put three goals past Bournemouth, but frustratingly for FPL managers none of them were scored or assisted by any of their eight-most owned players in the game. Reiss Nelson (0 per cent owned), Thomas Partey (0.4), Emile Smith Rowe (0.4) and Ben White (11.9) hoovered up the points. Not that those in the Arsenal-supporting, FPL-playing venn diagram would have minded too much.
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To borrow a phrase from Gary Neville “it was a freak”. It is unlikely that Arsenal’s main men will dodge FPL points to quite the same extent again so the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli remain the go-to options from Arsenal’s attack, with Saka faring marginally better than the other two across the season.
Price: £8.5m Points: 149 Gameweek 27 fixture: Fulham (a)
Mo Salah (Liverpool)
Liverpool’s ruthless dismantling of Manchester United was completely unexpected, but as the goals began to fly past David De Gea with increasing regularity, it was little surprise that Mo Salah was involved in the majority of them.
Salah levelled Robbie Fowler as Liverpool’s all-time leading Premier League scorer with a lethal finish before moving past him with his second, both of which unusually were scored with his right foot. He also assisted goals for strike partners new and old to earn a huge 21-point haul, which would have been 22 if he’d kept his shirt on.
Salah famously failed to score or assist during Liverpool’s 9-0 drubbing of Bournemouth in August but has scored in all three of his matches at the Vitality Stadium, netting five times in the process.
Price: £12.7m Points: 154 Gameweek 27 fixture: Bournemouth (a)
Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton)
Our decision to move for Alexis Mac Allister a week early paid off as the Argentine helped himself to a 14-point haul – his best score since Gameweek 6 – as Brighton hammered West Ham. The rationale behind the Mac Allister pick was twofold: 1) he is playing in a more advanced role as a No 10 and 2) he is Brighton’s regular penalty taker. On Saturday, he scored from the spot and provided an assist.
Despite only playing three games over the four past gameweeks, while others have played five or six, Mac Allister ranks third for xG behind only Erling Haaland and Mo Salah. That number is slightly skewed by his penalty which carries an xG figure of 0.75, but is also indicative of his growing goal threat under De Zerbi.
Price: £5.4m Points: 84 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Leeds (a), Crystal Palace (h)
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
Bruno Fernandes has borne the brunt of most criticism directed towards Manchester United’s players after Sunday’s shambolic 7-0 defeat at Anfield. His face-clutching theatrics after a flick of Ibrahima Konate’s fingernail, ungracious shove on the assistant referee and general histrionics have all attracted ire. Fernandes played all the tracks from his album that nobody likes.
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Being charitable, it was evidence of his will to win and as the club’s de facto captain, he will be more eager than most to put things right immediately. A home game against Southampton should offer Fernandes and United a swift shot at redemption given the south coast club’s relegation struggles.
Price: £9.8m Points: 116 Gameweek 27 fixture: Southampton (h)
Harry Kane (Spurs)
Tottenham have been stuck in a boom or bust cycle for the entire season and will hope to put things right this week against AC Milan and Nottingham Forest following a miserable week. Generally when Spurs have hit a slump, Harry Kane has been the one to snap them out of it.
Kane has scored 18 times in 26 league games, bettering his tally from the whole of last season and might have received more recognition had the one player with more goals hadn’t been quite so ruthless. The England skipper has perhaps usurped Erling Haaland as the best premium forward to own, though, as Spurs have a fixture in Gameweek 28 while City do not.
Price: £11.7m Points: 163 Gameweek 27 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Ivan Toney (Brentford)
We were guilty of doing the Ivan Toney hokey-cokey last week, initially including him in our tips before getting cold feet and swapping him out for Bryan Mbeumo instead over concerns about a potential betting ban. In hindsight, it was a hasty decision, as Toney outscored Mbeumo by six points during Brentford’s 3-2 win against Fulham on Monday night. In our defence, Mbeumo missed a sitter, hit the post from a free-kick and had an xG of 0.73 without netting.
It is still unclear when Toney’s suspension may kick in, but until there is further clarity on the situation he is possibly the best striker in the game; his form and Brentford’s glut of matches should lead to plenty of FPL points. Only the big two Haaland and Kane have outscored Toney among forwards in FPL this season.
Price: £7.7m Points: 122 Gameweek 27 fixture(s): Everton (a), Southampton (a)
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