The international break is almost over and Premier League football is back, and of course, so is FPL. The return of club football brings with it two tasty derbies to feast upon – the Manchester Derby and the North London Derby.
And then there are a host of other matches that are bound to bring back the headache of who to sell and who to buy. Worry not, for we’re about to make this debate a little simpler for you.
Who To Buy?
James Maddison (£7.9m)
Maddison has three goals and one assist in six games, all despite Leicester’s horrendous form.
Still, with only 6.5% of teams, the midfielder is bound to find his way into many more teams given the easy fixtures coming up.
And the interest in only going to go up if he performs against NFO, who have had a leaky defence, to say the least.
Wilfried Zaha (£7.2M)
Maddison’s mid-price midfield rival, Zaha, has 4 goals in 5 starts and is attracting a lot of attention.
Already in 15.5% of the teams, he faces Chelsea next, which should not be seen as a negative for potential owners as the fleet-footed player has already scored against Liverpool this season and typically enjoys high-pressure games.
Ivan Toney (£7.3M)
Much has already been said about the striker’s scintillating start to the season.
5 goals and 2 assists in 7 games and with Bournemouth, Newcastle and BHA next, Ivan is a solid buy for anyone who can fit him in their team.
Furthermore, the striker is well rested, compared to Mitrovic or Isak, who either played during the break or were left injured.
Differential Picks
Dominic Solanke (£5.7M)
Solanke has recently gained a lot of traction on Twitter due to the favourable run of fixtures coming up.
However, this social media traction is yet to translate into anything meaningful, as the player is in only 0.6% of teams as of now.
At a budget price, Solanke is a good option for a team trying to fit higher-priced players like KDB, Son or Salah.
Kurt Zouma (£4.5M)
West Ham defensive duo Zouma and Coufal are on everyone’s radar given their next few fixtures: Wolves, Fulham and Southampton.
Despite Hammers’ bad form, which has seen them concede 9 goals in 7 games, there is hope that the team will turn it around and start conceding less.
There is very little to choose between Zouma and Coufal.
Both have returned similar points, are priced at a similar price and are owned by almost equal teams. Zouma’s 3 extra BPs win it for us.
Marc Guehi (£4.3M)
Here’s a name you’re probably hearing for the first time. Guehi has been an ever-present in the leaky Palace defence that has thus far conceded 9 goals.
It is, however, worth noting that 7 of these have come against Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.
The defence shipped only 2 goals in the other three games, which were from clubs outside the Big 6.
After Chelsea, who have also had their struggles offensively this season, Palace has a very straightforward run till the World Cup break, making the defender a lucrative option.
Who To Sell?
Newcastle’s record signing will miss out on the next game due to injuries sustained on international duty.
With better alternatives out there, Isak should be sold to avoid being a victim of price reductions.
Nathan Patterson
The Everton fullback is expected to be out for four to five weeks following his injury during the break.
Managers should look to replace him with one of the alternatives to avoid price drops.
Liverpool have not had the best start to the season, defensively speaking.
Alisson and co. have managed only 2 clean sheets and prospects do not look great going ahead with Arsenal and Man City coming up after BHA.
The 14.4% of teams still owning him can do a much better job with one of these instead.
Captain Picks
The two derbies this week have given managers a lot to think about in terms of captain picks.
Harry Kane and Haaland, two of the most captained players in recent weeks, face Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.
However, the pair has also not blanked for six weeks in a row. So unsurprisingly, going ahead with either player is a relatively safe bet.
If in need of a differential captain, look no further than Sinisterra. Back-to-back matches with goals and facing Aston Villa next, captaining the midfielder can be a very high-risk high-reward strategy.
The risk may however be too big for players, as any sort of returns from Kane or Haaland would mean a big drop in rank for teams not captaining them.
Can’t wait to see what kind of storylines and controversies this matchday throws at us.