Expected goals and assists, form vs overperforming players, luck in FPL, personality types, they’ve all been debated to death during the international break. It’s been a long two weeks.
We need the Premier League back for our sanity. Three international breaks before December is not good for the health and well being of a fantasy manager. Thankfully, the next one is not until March.
This break will be remembered as ‘the flag break’. FPL teams are littered with yellow flags due to a contagious outbreak of the ‘international injury’.
The remedy for such an injury is usually two weeks of rest and relaxation with a full recovery expected within two weeks.
The press conferences are going to be more important than ever this week to find out if any of the flagged players are indeed injured.
Benjamin Mendy (£6.4m) is one confirmed casualty ahead of Gameweek 13 after undergoing knee surgery. His first thought after the operation was his owners…
Mendy replacements
The Frenchman is in a lot of teams with managers now looking for a replacement. The obvious move is to switch him for his team-mate Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m) who has played every minute of Manchester City’s league matches this season, racking up seven clean sheets. As City’s only left-footed centre-back, his place in the team looks secure, maybe even more so now with Mendy out.
For those who don’t own Marcos Alonso (£7.1m) or Andrew Robertson (£6.5m), the Mendy injury offers a route to one of them (depending on space in the budget for Alonso).
Taking money out of defence is another option. Matt Doherty (£4.9m) has been excellent for Wolves this season bombing forward from right-wingback. He’s got more shots on target than any other defender this season (8). Wolves face Huddersfield (home) and Cardiff (away) next.
Everton’s Lucas Digne (£4.8m) is another who could prove to be good value. Only Jose Holebas (£4.8m) has created more chances than the Toffees left-back this season when it comes to defenders. Marco Silva’s side has three favourable home fixtures in their next four.
Managerial change at Craven Cottage
Slavisa Jokanovic became the first manager to lose his job this season during the break. He was swiftly replaced by Claudio Ranieri. Will we see an instant improvement from the Cottagers this weekend?
For those who own the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.6m) or Andre Schürle (£5.9m), it might be worth holding on to them for the Southampton fixture on Saturday.
For non-owners, it’s a case of ‘wait and see’ with Fulham to assess how they set up under the Italian.
The likes of Tom Cairney (£4.8m) and Ryan Sessegnon (£6.0m) could become options for the festive fixtures.
Gameweek 13 captaincy
It’s going to be an interesting Gameweek with no standout captaincy option.
A lot of managers have had twelve consecutive returns from their captaincy decisions largely down to the home/away rotation of Sergio Aguero (£11.4m) and Mohamed Salah (£13.0m).
It could be a case of ‘unlucky for some’ #13 with the armband decision this week.
Richarlison (£6.9m) is currently leading our poll but will those managers be brave enough to follow through with it by the time Saturday rolls around?
Transfer plans
When I make my moves on Friday night, it will have been twenty-one days since I last made a transfer. There should be a reward for that kind of patience because it’s painful.
I’ve had to look at Ross Barkley (£6.0m) in my team for those twenty-one days. Shipping him for Richarlison will feel good.
Kieran Trippier (£6.2m) to Matt Doherty (£4.9m) is likely to be my second free transfer but a lot can change between now and the deadline with doubts over the likes of Danny Ings (£5.5m) and James Maddison (£6.8m).
Good luck to all in Gameweek 13.
You can follow the FPL General on Twitter HERE. He has achieved three top 500 finishes in the last four seasons.
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