Liverpool come into Gameweek 13 with yet another budget defender in their starting line-up, this time to face Tottenham Hotspur.

Centre-back Joel Matip (£5.4m) sustained an injury against Fulham and misses out on a place Wednesday evening’s matchday squad, replaced by Rhys Williams (£4.0m).

He joins the more familiar names in Liverpool’s back-four, which features Andrew Robertson (£7.2m), Fabinho (£5.4m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m).

All of the premium attackers retain their berths for this table-topping clash, Mohamed Salah (£12.3m) and Sadio Mané (£11.9m) flanking Roberto Firmino (£9.2m).

It is the same story for Spurs, who feature a front-four of Son Heung-min (£9.6m), Giovani Lo Celso (£6.9m) and Steven Bergwijn (£7.0m) in support of Harry Kane (£10.9m).

However, Sergio Reguilón (£5.7m) misses out, dropping to the bench for Ben Davies (£4.6m) to come in and provide a little bit more defensive nouse and aerial ability.

Fabian Balbuena (£4.5m) appears to have been the mystery injury that David Moyes referenced in his pre-match press conference.

The centre-back is not part of the West Ham squad for their home clash with Crystal Palace, with Issa Diop (£4.4m) drafted into the Hammers’ back four.

“Fabian Balbuena just felt his groin slightly. If it was a one-off game and we weren’t in a busy period, we could have probably taken a risk with him, but I just felt with the amount of games coming up, we’re trying to keep the injuries to a minimum if possible.” – David Moyes

West Ham have confirmed that Balbuena misses out in Gameweek 13 with a “minor groin injury”.

The Irons are otherwise unchanged in their new-look 4-2-3-1 system. That includes a fluid attacking-midfield trio of Pablo Fornals (£6.3m), Saïd Benrahma (£6.0m) and Jarrod Bowen (£6.4m). 

Sebastian Haller (£6.1m) continues up-front as Michail Antonio (£6.2m) remains absent. 

“Michail is coming on, he is back on the grass. I think the game tomorrow [vs Palace] might come too early for him. He is coming on and we are getting him closer. We want to get him right, be correct with him.” – David Moyes 

Arthur Masuaku (£4.5m), meanwhile, is set for an extended spell on the sidelines following a knee operation. The wing-back’s absence looks to have led Moyes to moving from 3-4-3 to 4-2-3-1.

“Arthur will probably be out for a few months. He has had a knee operation which I think will keep him out for three months but I am not a doctor. That is my guess.” – David Moyes 

Roy Hodgson has left Gameweek 12 goalscorer Jeffrey Schlupp (£5.4m) on the bench at the London Stadium.

Andros Townsend (£5.8m) replaces Schlupp, while Scott Dann (£4.4m) and Joel Ward (£4.3m) come into Hodgson’s back-four.

Neither Gary Cahill nor Nathaniel Clyne (both £4.5m), who started in GW12, are part of the Palace matchday 18. That frees up a space on the bench for budget defender Tyrick Mitchell (£4.0m).

“We are concerned about Gary, in particular with the three games where he came back and did so well after the hamstring injury he picked up in the post-lockdown period. So I suppose that’s precautionary and to some extent the same with Nathaniel Clyne, as well. Jeff Schlupp took quite a nasty kick in the Tottenham game. It’s true, he could have probably played and he can play in the game but with Andros Townsend fully fit and ready to go, I thought it was the right decision to make that change.” – Roy Hodgson

Fulham are unchanged from the side that drew with Liverpool in Gameweek 12, which means yet another out-of-position start for penalty-taking FPL midfielder Ivan Cavaleiro (£5.3m).

Ademola Lookman (£5.0m) and Bobby De Cordova (£5.3m) provide the width either side of Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.9m) with André-Franck Zambo Anguissa (£4.5m) and Harrison Reed (£4.4m) the anchor men in midfield.

Brighton continue to search for a winning formula with Robert Sánchez (£4.4m) coming in for Mat Ryan (£4.4m) and Tariq Lamptey (£4.8m) returning at right wing-back.

Graham Potter has left Neal Maupay (£6.1m) and Pascal Groß (£5.8m) on the bench so Leandro Trossard (£5.8m) and Adam Lallana (£6.2m) are the attacking midfielders backing up Danny Welbeck (£5.5m), who makes his sixth successive Premier League start.

Gameweek 13 Line-ups

Fulham XI: Areola; A Robinson, Adarabioyo, Andersen, Aina; Zambo Anguissa, Reed; Lookman, Loftus-Cheek, De Cordova-Reid; Cavaleiro.

Brighton and Hove Albion XI: R Sánchez; Dunk, Webster, White; March, Bissouma, Alzate, Lamptey; Trossard, Lallana; Welbeck.

Liverpool XI: Alisson; Robertson, Fabinho, R Williams, Alexander-Arnold; C Jones, Wijnaldum, J Henderson; Mané, Firmino, Salah.

Tottenham Hotspur XI: Lloris; B Davies, Dier, Alderweireld, Aurier; Højbjerg, Sissoko; Son, Lo Celso, Bergwijn; Kane.

West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Cresswell, Ogbonna, Diop, Coufal; Rice, Soucek; Fornals, Benrahma, Bowen; Haller.

Crystal Palace XI: Guaita; Van Aanholt, Dann, Kouyaté, Ward; Eze, McArthur, Milivojevic, Townsend; Zaha, Benteke.

Written by David Munday and Colm Hayes

Lessons learned from FPL Gameweek 13

• Wolves 2-1 Chelsea
• Manchester City 1-1 West Bromwich Albion
• Arsenal 1-1 Southampton
• Leeds United 5-2 Newcastle United
• Leicester City 0-2 Everton
• Fulham 0-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
• Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
• West Ham United 1-1 Crystal Palace
• Aston Villa 0-0 Burnley
• Sheffield United 2-3 Manchester United