If you’re in a hurry and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick summary of what you need to know about Gameweek 23.
WHEN IS THE FPL GAMEWEEK 23 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections must be made no later than this 11:00 GMT on Saturday 24 January.
WHO PLAYS FOR MAN CITY?
Gameweek 22 was another bad one for ‘template’ choices, including Manchester City’s attacking duo Phil Foden (£8.6 million) and Erling Haaland (£15.1 million).
That’s six consecutive clean sheets for Foden, who was withdrawn at half-time due to a hand injury, while Haaland has reached eight games (in all competitions) without an open goal. We have tried to find out the reason for this.
Their underlying stats are still good enough to make our Goals and Assists Imminent tables, and the odds are heavily backing Pep Guardiola’s side for a clean sheet and attacking returns against last-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But will Foden and Haaland even start this? Especially now that Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) is among the latest crop of returning participants in the African Cup of Nations.
Antoine Semenyo (£7.7 million) and other new acquisitions Marc Guehi (£5.2m) should play though. Neither featured for Man City’s Champions League defeat to Bodo/Glimt, which explains why they were both unanimously chosen by the Scout Squad.
WE TALKED ABOUT BRUNO
In the same way, Bruno Fernandes (£9.3m) is included in all our proposed Gameweek 23 Wildcard drafts. The all-rounder was unlucky not to bag a huge haul last week and play the number 10 role.
‘Buy, hold or sell’ has him as an essential purchase now or after the trip to Arsenal. Many have already dumped Foden for him, whose 100% ownership within ‘The Great and the Good’ is certainly about to tumble. Expect this to continue beyond Saturday’s deadline.
THE MIDFIELD DILEMMA
He and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m) combined for the first derby goal, inspiring Lateriser to write about FPL’s best midfielders to buy.
It’s good timing, because Bruno Guimaraes (£7.3m) is an injury doubt, Cole Palmer (£10.4m) always packs a punch, Matheus Cunha (£8.0 million) was limited to a cameo role in Gameweek 22, Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) again failed to start, and Morgan Rogers (£7.7m) continues to miss opportunities.
Zophar’s Q&A spends a lot of time on the midfield situation. If he were to move to Wildcard now, both Fernandes and Mbeumo would be chosen, while he also likes Chelsea defender Trevo Chalobah (£5.6 million).
His next opponents are the low-scoring Crystal Palace, a team against whom the central defenders regularly score defensive points (DefCon). Speaking of which, check out our fun quiz on this season’s best DefCon performances.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 23 CAPTAIN
Despite his recent troubles, neither Captain Sensible nor ours Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm can resist recommending Erling Haaland for the armband as he is at home against Wolves.
Have both Bukayo Saka in their top three, true Igor Thiago (£7.2 million) and Rayan Cherki (£6.7 million) are also mentioned.
TEAM REVEALS
SCOUT CHOICES + DIFFERENTIAL
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit except for the name – goes all-in on Man City’s assets, alongside double coverage of Chelsea, Arsenal and Brentford.
Another good choice from the Bees is Kevin Damage (£7.1 million). He is the best midfielder this season in terms of shots inside the box (37) and big chances (13), making him one of many tantalizing differences.
PREDICTED LINEUPS
We have predicted the starting XIs of all twenty Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 23!
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