We’ve updated The Watchlist for Gameweek 10 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and beyond.
In this article series, we take a look at the stand-out players over the medium term.
This is in contrast to the Scout Picks, which deals only in the upcoming Gameweek.
We may make further tweaks to both The Watchlist widget on the sidebar and the article itself over the next 24 hours, as significant injury news could still land on Thursday and Friday.
Gabriel Jesus (£7.9m), for instance, will be removed if Mikel Arteta rules the Brazilian out for any significant length of time in his pre-match press conference.
MORE ABOUT THE WATCHLIST
We rank players according to factors such as club injuries, form (last four Gameweeks), underlying numbers, 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 increased in appeal or fallen in our reckoning since the previous Gameweek or if they are a new entry into the tables.
The key for the factors you’ll see in the below tables is as follows:
THE WATCHLIST: GAMEWEEK 10 RANKINGS
THE WATCHLIST: NOTABLE CHANGES
BRIGHTON ON THE RISE
Brighton and Hove Albion’s tricky Gameweek 3-10 run culminated in a 2-1 defeat at the Etihad at the weekend.
The Seagulls now rise to the top of our Season Ticker for fixture difficulty over the coming seven Gameweeks, avoiding any of last season’s top eight in that period.
Newly promoted Sheffield United and Burnley visit the Amex, as do midtable Fulham and Brentford.
Looking even longer ahead, Roberto De Zerbi’s troops have been granted the most generous recovery period over Christmas and New Year, even getting a full week’s rest in between Gameweeks 18 and 19.
Rotation is still the main danger with the Seagulls, who also have four UEFA Europa League fixtures to contest between now and mid-December.
While not completely rotation-proof (nobody is), Lewis Dunk (£5.0m) and Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) are starters more often than not in the Premier League. The pair, indeed, have started more league matches (nine and eight respectively) than any other Brighton player this season.
Dunk is second only to Matty Cash (£5.1m) among FPL defenders for goal attempts in 2023/24, and he’s a good placeholder for when the identically priced Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) is back fit. That shouldn’t be too much longer, with the left-back pictured on the grass this week.
No clean sheets have arrived for the Seagulls yet but, as we pointed out earlier this week, few clubs can claim to have had a tougher schedule over the last two months.
Mitoma is joint-second among FPL midfielders for ‘big chances’ despite that tricky-looking run.
Evan Ferguson (£6.0m) is added to our forwards’ Watchlist, meanwhile, with the caveat that he remains a rotation risk.
It’s not just favourable fixtures but a long-term injury to Danny Welbeck (£5.8m) that has raised his stock, with De Zerbi saying this week that the young Irish striker will now be even more important to his side.
SPURS FACING TRICKIER TESTS
We haven’t lost faith in Spurs assets – far from it. They’re top of the league, don’t have any remaining cup distractions at home or abroad in 2023, and are playing a brand of attacking football that has seen them score twice against even Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.
But there is still an acknowledgment that their upcoming fixture run contains some tougher-on-paper tests, with five of the next seven matches against clubs in the top half. Newcastle United, Manchester City and Chelsea are all in the top four for lowest expected goals conceded (xGC) this season, while Gameweek 10 opponents Crystal Palace usually offer more resistance than they did on Tyneside last weekend: they’d conceded only 18 goals in as many matches under Roy Hodgson before that point.
Son Heung-min (£9.5m) still sits in a lofty third in our subjective midfielder rankings, with Pedro Porro (£5.1m) remaining highly rated among defenders, but their positional rivals at Arsenal – namely Gabriel Magalhaes (£4.7m) and Bukayo Saka (£8.5m) – are an example of assets that should be outscoring them in the short to medium term.
CHEAP DEFENDERS AT ARSENAL + LIVERPOOL
Speaking of Gabriel, the Brazilian and Kostas Tsimkas (£4.5m) are new-ish entries.
They’ve replaced the more expensive Ben White (£5.6m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.9m) at their respective clubs, even if those deposed defenders offer that bit more attacking threat.
Alexander-Arnold’s creativity isn’t what it was, though: in five of his seven appearances this season has he supplied zero or one chance in a game. For £3.4m cheaper than Alexander-Arnold, and with a share of set plays to boot, Tsimikas ought to be starting more games than not for Liverpool over their upcoming favourable run.
White, meanwhile, has done us proud in the Watchlist over the last couple of months. He’s contributing occasional attacking returns from the right-back role he has become reacquainted with and remains a top pick on his own merit. But with Gabriel now available at such a low price and presumably now back in favour after a run of six successive league starts, the saving is significant. Gabriel carries his own substantial goal threat from corners, having scored on eight occasions over the last two seasons. If Thomas Partey (£4.8m) really does have a new injury, then Gabriel’s place looks even more secure given what happened in the opening three Gameweeks.
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