Time for FPL managers to consider the world’s greatest defender?

When the Bournemouth team was announced at 11.30am on Saturday morning with no Callum Wilson (£7.0m) to be seen, I knew it was going to be a good Gameweek. The striker has caused me more pain than any other player this season and he almost came back in for Marko Arnautovic (£7.0m) before the deadline. That would have been the final straw.

Trusting Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) with the captain’s armband proved to be the right call. Forty-two points from the Egyptian plus another 50 from the rest of my starting XI fired me up the rankings from 339k to 142k. It was a good week to have a good week. Before his hat-trick, the plan was to move Salah out for Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) this week…

All hail Matt Doherty

The Wolves wing-back is fast becoming an FPL legend. Managers who snapped him up at £4.4m earlier in the season have got themselves an absolute bargain.

Despite the Wanderers failing to keep a clean sheet in their last three matches, the Irishman has registered two goals and one assist, racking up 19 points for his owners.

He’s the gift that keeps on giving. If you don’t have him, sit down and ask yourself: why?

Who ate all the bonus points? Andrew Robertson did.

The Liverpool left-back has made 14 appearances in the league this season and has been awarded bonus points in eight of those matches. The Scot has more bonus points (15) than Arsenal’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos (£5.1m) has FPL points (14). If you own him, you keep him. Simple.

With Liverpool conceding just six goals in their opening 16 games, a defensive double-up looks the way to go. Joel Matip (£4.9m) has joined Joe Gomez (£5.0m) in the treatment room which could see the world’s greatest defender, Dejan Lovren (£4.9m), become a budget-friendly option for the festive period.

The half-time tinkerman

Arsenal manager Unai Emery is proving to be a frustrating character for Fantasy managers. He often makes half-time substitutions which result in the dreaded one-pointer in FPL.

Alexandre Lacazette (£9.6m) was the fall guy in Gameweek 16, being replaced at the break against Huddersfield. His minutes in the last three Gameweeks read 45, 25 and 45. He’s a player we can’t depend on because of his manager’s unpredictable ways.

It could be the turn of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.5m) owners to be left frustrated this weekend.

Time to invest in Watford assets?

The Hornets were impressive against Everton and should have picked up all three points, but Lucas Digne‘s (£4.9m) owners were delighted they didn’t. In the next seven Gameweeks, Javi Gracia’s side face just one of the top six (Chelsea at home in Gameweek 19).

Roberto Pereyra (£6.2m) is back on the radar after his two assists and five goal attempts against the Toffees. Kiko Femenia (£4.2m) could be a nice differential if he keeps his place in the team ahead of Daryl Janmaat (£4.9m), who has recently returned from injury. Up front, Isaac Success (£4.6m) continues to get game-time (starting seven of the last eight), offering managers a route to 3-5-2.

Transfer plans

Having decided against the Arnautovic-to-Wilson move last week, I’ve got two free transfers for the weekend. Owning no Spurs or Man City assets is a worry, so Salah to Sterling is something I’ll be mulling over for the next two days.

Son Heung-min (£8.5m) is another target, but as he played 70 minutes against Barcelona, we could see him on the bench for the Burnley fixture.

Most likely, I’ll just do Arnie to Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.7m) or Javier Hernandez (£6.4m) and roll the other transfer.

Good luck to all in Gameweek 17.

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