Alexander-Arnold + Bowen injuries: keep or sell in FPL?

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) will be out for around three weeks with a knee injury he picked up in Sunday’s FA Cup victory over Arsenal.

That was the timeline set by Liverpool assistant boss Pep Lijnders in Tuesday’s pre-EFL Cup press conference.

• READ MORE: FPL team news: Alexander-Arnold out for “weeks”

If accurate, it rules him out for the Gameweek 21 clash against Bournemouth but puts him on course for a return in either Gameweek 22 or 23:

With his absence potentially as short as one Gameweek, is he a hold or a sell?

It’s a question we put to our readers in an on-site poll, as well as a handful of regular contributors.

We also asked our pundits and mods about whether they thought owners should cash in on Jarrod Bowen (£8.1m).

Estimates on the West Ham United attacker’s absence have ranged from 2-3 weeks to a minimum of a month.

SITE POLL RESULTS: KEEP OR SELL ALEXANDER-ARNOLD?

OPINION: KEEP OR SELL ALEXANDER-ARNOLD + BOWEN?

Pras, four-time top 10k finisher and currently sitting at 139k in the world

“Given the initial recovery timeframe of three weeks, we could be looking at 1-3 Gameweeks out for Alexander-Arnold. Liverpool may soon have a Double Gameweek (25) and Blank Gameweek (26), which we will know for sure before the next deadline as the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final takes place between Gameweeks 21 and 22. So, I plan to hold him for a week and take it from there. By this time, I’ll also have a better understanding of his injury timeframe.

“After initial fears of a longer term absence for Bowen, the latest on him is 2-3 weeks out. There is nothing confirmed before the deadline, a situation that is unlikely to change. I think he is again a hold (potentially even gambling a start) as the game is still 8-9 days away. However, if your team is stretched and has other issues, then the longer-term Lucas Paqueta (£6.0m) injury news (someone who is vital for West Ham’s attacking threat) is enough confirmation bias. I can understand if he needs to be sold.”

Lateriser, three-time top 200 finisher, two-time Indian champion and currently ranked 330k

“Fantasy Premier League managers are in quite a conundrum at the moment, with them having to deal with a fair amount of unavailable players. It wasn’t enough that we had the likes of Son Heung-min (£9.8m) and Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) away for their respective international teams; now we have got news that Alexander-Arnold and Bowen are going to be out for some weeks, as well.

“Talking about these players, as well as Son and Salah, this is how I feel about the conundrum. It looks like Liverpool could potentially have a very juicy looking Double Gameweek 25 based on the results of their FA Cup third-round and Carabao Cup semi-final, first leg ties. Add to that the fact that both Alexander-Arnold and Salah could be back in the team before their respective doubles, I would look to sell Son and Bowen first based on your chip plans.

“If you’re of the opinion that you instead want to Free Hit in Gameweek 25 (Manchester City could potentially have a Double Gameweek then, as well), then maybe you sell your Liverpool assets now. So that decision you make is based on whether you commit to a Free Hit in Gameweek 25 – but committing to a particular strategy should ideally be made after the Gameweek 21 deadline as the subsequent cup ties will tell us a lot more on the blanks and doubles in Gameweeks 25, 26 and 29.

“You should also consider that as well as Salah and Alexander-Arnold potentially blanking in Gameweek 26 and 29, they also have a fixture against Manchester City at home in Gameweek 28. They are two of the best assets in the game, of course, so you should weigh out the pros and cons.

“Whether to hold/sell Salah and Alexander-Arnold also depends on your squad make up and how you personally rate the replacements you offer. I currently have Malo Gusto (£4.2m) as my fourth defender, who I was going to bench in Gameweek 21 anyway, which is why I am leaning towards holding Alexander-Arnold and selling Salah. If you don’t have three decent defenders in place, I would considering selling Trent and holding Salah because the Egyptian is a definite captaincy option in Gameweek 25. It is also a good entry point for the likes of Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) and Gusto, if you’re looking for good mid-priced defenders.

“Bowen I would sell immediately as West Ham don’t have a potential double in the future and have lost Mohammed Kudus (£6.9m) to AFCON and Lucas Paqueta to injury, which really weakens the Hammers’ team.”

ZoumasBloomers, currently ranked at 6k and leading the Mods and Cons mini-league. Has three other top 10,000 finishes.

“Personally, I’ll be keeping Alexander-Arnold. The news around his injury hasn’t been clear with timescales yet, but outside of the Tottenham Hotspur full backs – Pedro Porro (£5.8m) and Destiny Udogie (£4.8m) – not many other defenders excite me too much at present. I know I’ll want him back, too. I’m hoping that Charlie Taylor (£4.0m), shoulder permitting, and Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.1m) can cover in the meantime. 

“Unfortunately I also bought Bowen in this Gameweek (first early transfer of the season, probably the last!) so I don’t feel emotionally prepared to sell him. Again, I’d be holding him over Salah and Son if I had those two in my team.”

FPL Brains, now ranked at 9k and second only to ZoumasBloomers in the aforementioned Mods and Cons league

“I’m currently sitting on two free transfers, with three flags in defence. As an owner of Alexander-Arnold, I’ve been weighing up whether to cash in or sell. I’ve decided to keep him as by selling I’m booking another transfer in to get him back, and he’ll likely be back in time for their strong run anyway – plus, money currently isn’t an issue.

“In regards to Bowen, I don’t currently have him but if I did, I’d be keeping him. He might even have a chance to play in Gameweek 21, if the 2-3 week timeline was accurate. And while West Ham face Manchester United and Arsenal in their next four fixtures, those two sides are not keeping clean sheets anyway.

“The flip side is that West Ham are depleted, but Bowen only needs a couple of chances and he’ll likely register something.”