Chelsea gave an early glimpse of how good they can be under Enzo Maresca with a sensational 6-2 win over Wolves to earn their first win of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
Noni Madueke scored a stunning hattrick the day after he called Wolverhampton ‘s***’ and Cole Palmer earned plenty of points for his Fantasy Premier League users with a goal and three assists.
It was a game where seemingly every Chelsea attacker got in on the fun.
Nicolas Jackson got a goal and assist (10 FPL points for the 3.6% managers who chose him). Pedro Neto bagged his first assist in Blue colors, and the returning Joao Felix scored a goal after coming off the bench too.
But the player who probably feels most left out of the fun is Christopher Nkunku.
Not only did the Frenchman not get to start, but he only came on as a substitute in the dying minutes when the game was already settled.
When he came on, his teammates just didn’t have enough energy or even a desire to score more goals or set things up for him. Nkunku only managed one single pass in the last 10 minutes or so.
Nkunku must have been disappointed with his outing, along with thousands of FPL managers who had him on their team. That is because Chelsea forward only got one point return for the 12.2% FPL managers who owned him.
The worst thing is that his late cameo also robbed those managers of the chance of seeing their first substitute replace Nkunku on their FPL and potentially get a better return.
Nkunku has been a popular FPL pick mostly because of his attractive initial £6.5m price and how he performed pre-season.
The Frenchman was one of Chelsea’s best players in a shaky pre-season campaign, scoring three goals!
He even played as a centre-forward on occasions, convincing many fans that he’ll start up-front for the Blues and finally have his breakthrough campaign.
But two weeks into the new Premier League season and all those predictions have fallen flat.
Nkunku has given a three-point return in the first two match days and doesn’t even seem a guaranteed starter anymore. Enzo Maresca appears to view him as an alternative for Cole Palmer in that no.10 role.
Palmer isn’t being removed from Chelsea’s team unless injured or suspended, so Nkunku’s chances of regularly starting games seem dim.
The Frenchman is unlikely to play on the left-wing ahead of new wingers Pedro Neto and Joao Felix.
He isn’t suited to the right-wing, where Noni Madueke appears as Maresca’s favorite. So the majority of FPL managers with him cannot exactly be blamed for seeking replacements only after the first two game-weeks.
Nkunku’s value has already fallen by £0.1m and it’s smart to replace him before it sky-dives even further. Incidentally, a suitable replacement for the Frenchman on FPL is Madueke!
The Englishman is actually rated at just £6.5m after his heroics against Wolves and can be a great option with FPL managers with some extra money in their budget.
There are also some attractive options cheaper than Nkunku’s value that can be brought in as his replacement in FPL.
A smart pick could be Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers, valued at only £5m. Rogers has looked really sharp in their first few matches and looks ready to burst with goal contributions, as he often tends to burst into key areas and create big chances for Emery’s side.
Evne Fulham midfielder Emile Smith Rowe seems a good replacement for Nkunku after scoring his first goal at the weekend. At £5.6m, the Englishman is a smart pick as he plays as Fulham’s no.10 and has that goal-scoring potential.
Nottingham Forest winger Morgan Gibbs-White can be another one to replace Nkunku with, even though he’s slightly higher priced at £6.5m.
The bottom line is that the French winger isn’t one to gamble with anymore in FPL.
He seems to be quite behind in the pecking order of Chelsea’s attacking players and keeps being overshadowed by Cole Palmer, limiting his game-time and making him a waste of money in FPL terms.
