We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points of the day in FPL Daily.
LIVERPOOL WIN CARABAO CUP FINAL
In an entertaining clash at Wembley, Liverpool won a dramatic penalty shoot-out 11-10 after a goalless draw with Chelsea.
The headline news from an FPL perspective was the returns of Diogo Jota (£8.3m) and Reece James (£6.2m) from injury, who both appeared as second-half substitutes.
The latter is of particular interest in light of Chelsea’s potential double-header in Gameweek 28, which you can read more on here.
James is averaging 5.7 points per match this season, and a defensive double-up alongside Antonio Rudiger (£6.1m) is certainly appealing, given the lack of options further forward.
On the injury front, Hakim Ziyech (£7.3m) failed to make the squad for today’s match, along with Andreas Christensen (£4.6m) who has an issue with his achilles. Elsewhere, Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.6m) was forced off shortly before the hour mark with an injury, while Thiago (£5.3m) missed out for Liverpool after picking up a knock during the warm-up.
Chelsea XI: Mendy (Kepa 120), Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta (James 57), Kante, Kovacic (Jorginho 105), Alonso, Mount (Lukaku 74), Pulisic (Werner 74), Havertz
Liverpool XI: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Matip (Konate 90), van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson (Elliot 79), Keita (Milner 80), Salah, Diaz (Origi 97), Mane (Jota 80)
BIELSA SACKED
Marcelo Bielsa has been sacked by Leeds United after a poor run of form that saw his side suffer several heavy defeats.
The Whites have taken just one point from their last six matches (see below) to leave them outside the relegation zone by only two points. During that time, they have conceded a whopping 21 goals and slumped to a 4-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 27.
LEEDS UNITED’S LAST SIX MATCHES:
- Leeds United 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur
- Liverpool 6-0 Leeds United
- Leeds United 2-4 Manchester United
- Everton 3-0 Leeds United
- Aston Villa 3-3 Leeds United
- Leeds United 0-1 Newcastle United
At the time of writing, American coach Jesse Marsch is the bookies favourite to take over, with the club expected to announce their replacement as soon as Monday.
Notably, there is potential for their new manager to hit the ground running, given that they have an appealing run of forthcoming fixtures coming up, which includes a double-header against Leicester City and Aston Villa in Gameweek 28.
READ UP ON ALL OF THE WEEKEND’S FPL ACTION
There is still one match to go in Gameweek 27, with Burnley taking on Leicester City on Tuesday, but you can read up on all of the FPL action so far via the links below.
Aston Villa, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Southampton, Watford and Wolverhampton Wanderers all feature and double in Gameweek 28, with several differential options emerging over the weekend.
Or make vice 1st sub
»Some great changes to FPL, this season. One other announcement I would love to see, scrapping the Vice Captain option (it's too easy to be lazy and get lucky and takes away so much drama around last minute rumours etc etc, keeps you on your toes and doesn't reward casuals..feel it would be a nice balance to these 8 chips).
»Just to clarify for this FPL thicko. Is there a scenario where the last pass played to the goal scorer wouldn't get an assist now? Reading this makes me think that any teammate who touched the ball before the goal scorer gets an assist.
»People really need to start listening to you sooner Virg...
»we've removed the assman but introduced the set piece specialist coach. Double point for every goal from a set piece while you have the chip active
»