A handful of popular Fantasy Premier League picks are missing out this weekend with Daniel Munoz, Liam Delap, Marc Cucurella, Rayan Aït-Nouri and potentially Matheus Cunha all sidelined through suspension.
Cheap defenders
Hall, Robinson and Milenkovic are standout choices
Fulham left-back Antonee Robinson in action
Three budget defenders stand out as obvious buys this week and both Antonee Robinson and Lewis Hall are amongst the five most popular transfers-in for this week. Fulham’s Robinson has six assists this season and a brilliant fixture run including home games versus Southampton, Bournemouth and Ipswich in his next four league games. He hasn’t missed a league minute and has arguably been the best left back in the Premier League so far this season despite his team only keeping two clean sheets.
Lewis Hall, fresh orf his 15-pointer, is in high demand. Hall takes half the set pieces, adopts attacking positions in open play and is a creative outlet for Newcastle. When he returns, he regularly picks up bonus points too because of his good underlying statistics where key passes and created chances matter. The left back has good fixtures on the horizon and has had two price increases in as many weeks.
Nottingham Forest are defensively a better team than Fulham and Newcastle and have had five clean sheets so far this season. Nikola Milenković has two goals and one assist so far and has clocked the second highest xG (expected goals) of any defender with Crystal Palace’s Munoz top of the charts. No one is more dangerous at converting from set piece deliveries than the Serb, and also playing in a solid backline, he’s an easy pickup at a budget price for most FPL managers.
Forward focus
Wood, Jimenez and Mateta offer cheap alternatives
Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates
If budget isn’t an issue, Alexander Isak and Nicolas Jackson are brilliant buys this week. These two are arguably the in form number 9s in the league at the moment, with Isak particularly impressing at home against Liverpool and then Leicester City, and both Newcastle and Chelsea have favourable fixtures. Chelsea in particular are putting up excellent attacking numbers and are the best functioning front line in the division right now.
The cheap forwards haven’t been performing as expected with Joao Pedro and Evanilson blanking of late and if you’re shopping for a budget or mid-price forward, the options feel limited. Chris Wood has had a brilliant start to the season and Erling Haaland is the only forward who has outscored him. The fixtures aren’t brilliant for predicted goals, but the New Zealander has been super-consistent this season and you can never rule him out, even in tough matchups.
Raul Jimenez has fixtures to target with some high potential upside home games in the next few weeks. His minutes, however, are a slight risk and with Rodrigo Muniz scoring last time out, it’s expected that Jimenez will rarely play 90 minutes as the Brazilian offers a lot off the bench. The Mexican is still surely first choice and only costs 5.5 million, which feels like a bargain when you consider Fulham's form, their favourable fixtures and the number of creative options they have behind the centre-forward.
Jean-Philippe Mateta has played 90 minutes in seven of his last eight league games and after an impressive win over Brighton, Crystal Palace are unbeaten in five. Mateta was awesome at the end of last season, and we could be about to see him rediscover some of his best form now that the Eagles have started scoring goals again, averaging almost two goals a game. Coady Gakpo and Joane Wissa are also worth consideration. The Liverpool forward has been playing on the left wing but seems to have made that spot his own, having started the last four out wide where he’s scored twice. Early substitutions will happen, but at 3% owned the Dutchman could be a fun punt and differential.
Captaincy
Palmer or Salah remain the standout choices
Chelsea winger Cole Palmer applauding the supporters
The best three midfielders in the game are the best options with the armband this week, although some might argue they all have a potential banana skin with tough away fixtures on paper. Mohamed Salah is likely to be the most popular choice whilst Liverpool are playing well, but you never know what Tottenham team you’re coming up against and on their day Spurs can beat anyone. Nevertheless, this feels like a game full of goals, and backing the Egyptian King is likely the safest of moves.
Bukayo Saka now has three blanks in a row and FPL managers are getting twitchy. The right winger is still playing well even if his attacking teammates look below par. A trip to Selhurst Park is never easy and captaining Saka feels riskier than usual. Cole Palmer was close to returns against Brentford but, to the surprise of many, only scored the three FPL points. Chelsea are a fun attack to back at the moment and Palmer is clearly their key cog, their talisman. Some might be put off by Sean Dyche parking the bus at Goodison Park, especially after Everton’s clean sheet versus Arsenal last weekend, but if Chelsea do score early, the ceiling is high and Palmer should absolutely be considered this weekend.
For those looking for a differential, Isak is an interesting option this weekend as he faces Ipswich at Portman Road. Newcastle however aren’t the best on the road and with The Tractor boys beating Wolves last time out, they will fancy themselves to get something from the match which might not be as easy for Newcastle as many think.
More FPL tips from Gianni Butticè on his YouTube channel.