Gabriel Magalhaes’ injury in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool caused alarm bells to go off in the Fantasy Premier League community.
Having been selected by over 25% of the manager, he’s been the source of high returns thanks to the Gunners’ defensive record and his impressive goal-scoring potential.
The Brazilian centre-back picked up a knee injury and was later seen with an ice pack wrapped around his knee.
That caused tensions to mount up on players being unable to decide whether to keep him or transfer the centre-back out.
Amid all this, Mikel Arteta has given a rather interesting update on the defender.
When asked about the centre-back’s injury setback, the Spaniard replied: “We’re still assessing him. It doesn’t look that bad. He was much better the next day. Too soon to say when he’ll be out.”
Should You Stick With Gabriel Magalhaes?
This statement almost makes it seem that Gabriel might be in contention to return very soon.
But FPL users know all well not to completely believe what the Arsenal gaffer has to say about injuries.
He had seemingly ruled out Bukayo Saka for the recent game against Liverpool, only to start a fully-fit winger who went onto score a goal too.
Gabriel recently posted a picture on his Instagram of him wearing a protective cover over his knee. That is normally taken as a sign of a bad injury.
But last season, Bruno Fernandes had also posted the same thing after picking up a knock, only to play for Manchester United days later.
Gabriel has the fourth-highest points for any defender in FPL so far (after nine game-weeks) and that makes transferring him out to be tricky for some.
Moreover, it’s his goal threat that helps him stand out among centre-back options in FPL.
He often gets at the end of Arsenal’s dangerous corners with ease, and has already scored two important goals.
That is why some people are thinking about potentially sticking to him and potentially risking him being swapped out with their substitute defender in their FPL team.
But for users who lack quality options on the bench and have weaker teams’ players as substitutes, it’d probably be wiser to swap him out.
Gabriel is not 100% to start the next few games and Arsenal also have a tricky schedule over the next few weeks.
Two of their next three games are against Newcastle United, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest and it’ll be tough for them to keep a guaranteed clean sheet against them, especially with left-back Riccardo Calafiori ruled out.
Possible Alternatives To Gabriel Magalhaes
There are alternatives to Gabriel that fans can opt to choose from in the upcoming games.
An ideal like-for-like replacement in the same price-range would be Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk.
The Reds have the best defensive record in the Premier League (four conceded from nine games) and the Dutchman has helped them keep five clean sheets already.
Liverpool have home games against Brighton and Aston Villa as well as a trip to Southampton for their next three games.
Seeing their defensive fortitude, you can bet on Van Dijk raking up some decent point returns by helping them keep clean sheets. He also possesses the set-piece threat and even scored against Arsenal recently.
Josko Gvardiol (6.2) is another solid option.
He’s a regular in Manchester City’s backline and his attacking role gives him a high chance of goal contribution, with the defender already having scored twice this season.
Diogo Dalot (5.1m) might profit from Manchester United’s potential new-manager bounce if Ruben Amorim arrives quickly.
The Red Devils have a favorable schedule through November (Leicester City home, Ipswich Town away) after the Chelsea clash and they’ve also kept four clean sheets from nine games this season. Dalot is a regular and is at least defensively solid, despite his trouble in front of goal.
Sticking to Gabriel can be a risky step. Taking a risk for a 6.3m player might be extremely costly for FPL managers, which it’ll be logical to swap him out for now and potentially bring him back into the team once the centre-back is fully fit and Arsenal have a favorable fixture schedule.