Our team of Pro Pundits, Hall of Famers and guest contributors offer their Fantasy Premier League (FPL) insight, tips, team reveals and advice throughout the season, with only Premium Members able to access every single article they write.
Next up is five-time top 1k finisher and Scout’s Deputy Editor, Tom Freeman.
I think a lot of FPL managers are facing a big decision ahead of Gameweek 12, given that Manchester City and Arsenal blank. For my own team, that affects four players: Joao Cancelo (£7.2m), Phil Foden (£8.1m) and Erling Haaland (£12.2m) from Man City, plus Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli (£6.6m). In an ideal world, I’d keep all four, given their respective fixtures from Gameweek 13 onwards (see below), but I also think it’s important I put out a full XI in Gameweek 12, so something has to give.
That raises the question, who should I sell out of Cancelo, Foden and Martinelli (Haaland isn’t going anywhere for obvious reasons), and when is the best time to make the transfer?
Foden continued his excellent form with his first career hat-trick in Sunday’s win over rivals Manchester United. The 22-year-old earned me 19 points and has now blanked just once in his last five league outings, scoring four goals and assisting two. He is also one of only four City players to have started every league game so far, alongside Ederson (£5.5m), Cancelo and Haaland, underlining his importance to Pep Guardiola. When asked about Foden in his UEFA Champions League pre-match news conference earlier this week, Guardiola said:
“Exceptional player, grew up a lot. He’s reliable in his physical condition, so intense and clever in everything. He can play every three days. Both [Foden and Haaland] know they can do better and hopefully they can do it.
The impact when I arrived was ‘wow’. The second [season], he started to play important games. He doesn’t feel pressure – like Bernardo [Silva]. On the biggest stage he behaves better. He can do many things. Every year, the more games you play, you’re a better player.” – Pep Guardiola on Phil Foden
Foden has typically lined up in a wide attacking position in 2022/23, mostly from the left. However, in his two most recent fixtures v Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United, he has been positioned on the right, a period which has seen him record nine goal attempts, eight shots in the box and two big chances, which is more than any other City player in that time, including Haaland.
Foden has done exceptionally well for me so far, but Wilfried Zaha (£7.3m) is a player I don’t own and want, so I am considering a Foden > Zaha transfer ahead of Gameweek 11 or 12. For context, I’ve included my current midfield setup below.
Personally, I’m not keen on selling Cancelo given that Man City’s key centre-backs are now fit, plus Rodri (£5.8m), so if I don’t want to lose Foden, it has to be Martinelli. However, I do have reservations, given that I signed him for just £6.0m and he continues ticking along, producing three goals and two assists in eight league appearances. I also believe the addition of Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.1m) makes Arsenal more secure down that left side, which in turn hands Martinelli further freedom in the final third.
Next up for Martinelli is a home meeting with Liverpool, another side I am keeping a close eye on with Gameweek 12 in mind, mainly for captaincy purposes. Jurgen Klopp switched to a 4-2-3-1/4-4-2 formation against Rangers in midweek, with Mohamed Salah (£12.8m), Luis Diaz (£8.1m), Diogo Jota (£8.9m) and Darwin Nunez (£8.8m) all starting together.
“It was like a 4-4-2 but Jots [Jota] played a little bit off Darwin. So it was kind of a 4-2-3-1 with two sixes. And we had proper out-and-out wingers, rather than inside-outside forwards that we normally play with. We got four attackers on the pitch, so that means when we had control of the ball and we had possession, and we were able to find them, they were able to link up play well. It moved fluidly. You could see it looked like all four of them were out there having fun.” – Trent Alexander-Arnold
With the backline shielded by a double-pivot – Jordan Henderson (£5.3m) and Thiago (£5.2m) – Liverpool recorded only their third clean sheet of the season in all competitions.
“That was vitally important. That was something that we’ve been lacking and something that we’ve been working on. We changed the system today and that was the main thing, being compact defensively, everyone buying into what we needed to do to get the win. I think it showed out there today.” – Trent Alexander-Arnold on his side’s clean sheet
What does it mean for FPL? Well, we’ll all have our own interpretations. For example, in a 4-2-3-1, Liverpool’s clean sheet potential probably goes up a notch, given their use of two defensive midfielders, but it could also have implications for Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m), who could be asked to sit a bit deeper.
It remains to be seen if this new set-up sticks, but if it does, I do wonder if Diaz and Darwin will become viable options over Salah in my own team, given that I’ll captain Haaland in Gameweeks 13-16. In that scenario, captaincy in Gameweek 12 might pose a problem, but we do at least have three fixtures – Arsenal (a), Rangers (a), Man City (h) – to scout Liverpool before having to decide, which is useful.
GAMEWEEK 10 PLANS
SIGN UP HERE FOR ALL THE TOOLS YOU NEED TO WIN AT FPL!
