If you’ve not got time to take in all of our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweek 17 content, here’s a bitesize version of everything you need to know ahead of Friday’s deadline.
WHEN’S THE GAMEWEEK 17 DEADLINE?
You need to get your transfers and team selection in before 18:30 GMT on Friday 15th December, so make sure you don’t get caught out by the earlier deadline.
WHAT’S THE INJURY LATEST ON HAALAND?
Erling Haaland (£14.0m) looks set to miss out on the clash with Crystal Palace this weekend but Pep Guardiola is hopeful of having the Norwegian striker back for the upcoming FIFA World Club Cup.
“He arrived today and the doctors will see him. We’ll see how he feels.
“He has been in treatment away.
“Hopefully he can travel to Saudi. He’ll arrive tomorrow after the game and I think he’s going to travel with us. And after, we’ll see if he is able to play the first game, or the second, or when we come back.
“I don’t think [he’ll play against Palace]. Maybe surprisingly they’ll tell me something new but I don’t think so.
“No, [I’m not worried about the injury]. It’s not a fracture, it’s just stress. Sometimes players recover quicker, sometimes longer. The doctors say day by day, week by week, how he feels. The moment he doesn’t have symptoms and doesn’t feel pain, he will be ready to play again.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland
WHAT TO DO WITH HAALAND?
Manchester City are without a fixture in Gameweek 18 due to their participation at the FIFA World Club Cup, so Haaland could be out of action for at least the next two Gameweeks.
As a result, many Fantasy managers are choosing to sell the Norwegian.
Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) and Dominic Solanke (£6.7m) look like the best replacements, which we covered in an article earlier this week. The pros and cons of selling Haaland are also discussed.
WHAT’S THE LATEST ON GORDON’S INJURY?
Eddie Howe could not confirm whether Anthony Gordon (£6.2m) will be fit for Gameweek 17, only saying the winger will be assessed in training on Friday.
“Anthony, usually is a very quick recoverer of different things, so we will see how he is today.” – Eddie Howe
WHO SHOULD I CAPTAIN?
With Haaland a doubt, most of our on-site users are handing Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) the captaincy.
The Egyptian racked up a huge 21-point haul in the corresponding fixture against Manchester United last season and tends to deliver against Liverpool’s old rivals.
Tom Freeman took a detailed look at all the armband candidates in Captain Sensible.
WHO IS SUSPENDED?
A whopping nine players will be suspended for Gameweek 17 as a result of yellow card accumulation.
Kieran Trippier (£6.9m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m), Lucas Digne (£4.7m), Douglas Luiz (£5.6m), Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.1m) and Charlie Taylor (£4.0m) are the most significant, but it’s worth noting they are only one-match bans and will return in Gameweek 18.
BEST DEFENDERS
With Trippier suspended, Joachim Andersen (£5.0m) facing a tough run of fixtures and Matty Cash (£4.8m) no longer a guaranteeed starter, many FPL managers are in the market for a new defender.
There aren’t too many stand-out candidates to replace them but Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.2m) and Pedro Porro (£5.4m) are the best of them.
If your budget won’t stretch that far, consider Aston Villa’s Pau Torres (£4.7m). He has home fixtures against newly-promoted sides on either side of Christmas.
GAMEWEEK 17 SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – features double-ups on Bournemouth, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
Meanwhile, our three differentials – owned by fewer than 5% of managers – are Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m), Richarlison (£6.6m) and Milos Kerkez (£4.4m).
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We can’t offer you ‘in the know’ team leaks but we’re the best in the business for predicted line-ups and we’ve got one for each Premier League side here.
HOW MANY POINTS WILL MY TEAM SCORE?
We can’t tell you this, of course, but we can at least point you towards our projected points for Gameweek 17 and beyond.
