The FPL Watchlist: Who are the best medium-term player picks?

The Watchlist takes a medium-term look at the more desirable Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfer targets, rather than concentrating on just the upcoming Gameweek as the Scout Picks does.

With the Blank Gameweek 28/32 picture clearer after this week’s FA Cup ties, there is quite a bit of change to report.

MORE ABOUT THE WATCHLIST

Players are selected and ranked according to factors such as form, club injuries, forthcoming fixtures, Rate My Team’s points projections and whether or not the player in question is likely to be a bargain in FPL.

Arrows before the name indicate whether a player has climbed or fallen in our reckoning since the previous update or if they are a new entry into the tables.

We typically toe the line with FPL’s definition of ‘form’ (average points accrued in matches played over the last 30 days), which in this case incorporates Gameweek 22 onwards.

The key for the factors you’ll see in the below tables is as follows:

THE WATCHLIST: BEST FPL GOALKEEPERS

Gone are the likes of Ederson (£5.4m) and Aaron Ramsdale (£4.9m) from the Watchlist in favour of mostly sub-£5.0m options who can see us through this rocky period of blanks and doubles.

David Raya (£4.8m) is the undisputed number one when looking purely at stand-alone appeal rather than as part of a goalkeeper pairing, with six fixtures to come over the next four Gameweeks; Manchester City have three, in comparison.

Raya is our Rate My Team tool’s top projected scorer over the next six Gameweeks but Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.7m) just about trumps him for value.

Robert Sanchez (£4.6m) could have as many as five Double Gameweeks to come over the next 13 Gameweeks but with a blank in Gameweek 28 and likely in Gameweek 32, as well, he’s less of a set-and-forget than Raya unless he’s part of a rotating pair. He’s also made fewer than half the saves that the Brentford man has, so his appeal is dented somewhat as a consequence.

Fraser Forster (£3.9m) will slip out of the reckoning sooner rather than later but is a decent hold for non-Wildcarders until the March international break and the return of Hugo Lloris (£5.4m), whereby Danny Ward (£4.0m) becomes the go-to bargain-bin stopper once again – despite no clean sheets arriving for Leicester since the restart.

THE WATCHLIST: BEST FPL DEFENDERS

There are similar rises for the Brighton and Brentford defenders who offer the highest attacking threat to go with their abundance of ‘doubles’, with a fresh injury scare for Reece James (£5.8m) damaging his appeal ahead of a great run of matches for Chelsea. Even if he’s only out for one game with hamstring tightness, he’ll likely have missed the Wildcard bus.

Assets from Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest not only have a guaranteed fixture in Blank Gameweek 28 but a double straight after it, with Fabian Schar (£5.1m) – the leading defender for shots this season – joining teammate Kieran Trippier (£6.0m) in the above list. Just be wary about the Swiss centre-half’s non-appearance in training images this week, although many new and prospective owners are likely benching him in Gameweek 26 anyway.

Tyrone Mings (£4.3m) and Joe Worrall (£4.2m) are the unsexy-but-safe budget-freeing picks from their respective sides, with either rotation or injury at full-back leading us to the less-glamorous centre-half pair.

THE WATCHLIST: BEST FPL MIDFIELDERS

No great surprises to see the Brighton wide-midfield duo climbing the ranks this week, with Solly March‘s (£5.1m) better underlying numbers narrowly giving him the edge over the more clinical Kaoru Mitoma (£5.4m).

Alexis Mac Allister (£5.4m) deserves to be in the conversation too, of course, but we’ve opted against his inclusion in this ‘medium-term’ outlook until it seems certain that he’ll continue operating in the number 10 role, which vastly boosts his FPL appeal.

A ludicrous record of 35 attacking returns in 36 starts means that James Maddison (£8.1m) is never far from our thoughts, and his impending double and surprise Gameweek 28 fixture (only confirmed this week after Blackburn dumped the Foxes out of the FA Cup) only sees his stock rise further. If it wasn’t for a bothersome knee, he’d be even higher in the reckoning.

THE WATCHLIST: BEST FPL FORWARDS

We’re not advocating dumping Erling Haaland (£12.2m) but similarly, it’s worth acknowledging that Harry Kane (£11.7m) avoids the blanks that Manchester City face in Gameweeks 28 and 32 and is projected to outscore the Norwegian over the coming six/seven rounds, not to mention offer the stand-out captaincy pick in Gameweek 28.

Ivan Toney (£7.7m) is a feature of many Wildcard squads but for those FPL managers spooked by the possibility of a lengthy suspension or a two-match ban, we’ve also included striking partner Bryan Mbeumo (£5.8m) as an alternative: he’ll deputise for Toney on penalties if his teammate does face the wrath of the Football Association and has quietly risen to sixth in the FPL forwards’ standings.

Eddie Nketiah (£6.8m) is among the high-profile names to bow out of the Watchlist this week, with his 75% flag the mere tip of the iceberg. Two successive benchings have completely drained all appeal he had little more than a week ago, and he’s realistically only got three more matches anyway until Gabriel Jesus (£7.9m) comes into contention once again.