If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s what you need to know about Gameweek 21 in brief.
Gameweek 21 incorporates a winter break so will be split across two weekends. This means we will be going into it with the latest team news from only half the Premier League clubs.
WHEN’S THE GAMEWEEK 21 DEADLINE?
Get your transfers and team sorted before 18:15 GMT on Friday 12 January.
WHAT’S THE LATEST ON HAALAND + DE BRUYNE?
Pep Guardiola has confirmed Erling Haaland (£13.9m) will not feature in Gameweek 21, having not played since early December because of a foot injury.
However, the champions have been boosted by the news Kevin De Bruyne (£10.3m) is ready to start.
“Yes [he’s in a position to start]. What I see yesterday, he feels really good and dynamic. The minutes he played were really good, better than the training sessions before the Huddersfield game.
“The important thing is he’s getting better. Now we have a game, after we have a few days off, he will train a little bit, then after we go all together with the good weather conditions to make four or five training sessions in Abu Dhabi. That will help him to be better for the next games, the next months.” – Pep Guardiola on Kevin De Bruyne
WHAT’S THE LATEST ON ALEXANDER-ARNOLD + BOWEN?
Jurgen Klopp and David Moyes won’t face the media until next week, long after Friday’s FPL deadline.
So, in the absence of any press conferences, here’s what we know:
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. This was the timeline set by Liverpool assistant boss Pep Lijnders in Tuesday’s pre-EFL Cup press conference. 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.
Jarrod Bowen (£8.1m) suffered an ankle injury in Sunday’s FA Cup draw against Bristol City, meanwhile. Estimates on his absence have ranged from 2-3 weeks to a minimum of a month.
WHEN WILL SALAH + SON RETURN?
Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) and Son Heung-min (£9.8m) are red-flagged due to AFCON and Asian Cup duty.
The extent of their absence hinges on how far Egypt and South Korea progress.
Should they go all the way to the final (or even the semi-final in Salah’s case due to there being a 3rd-4th-place play-off), they won’t return until Gameweek 25.
- READ MORE: How AFCON and the Asian Cup will affect FPL
BEST REPLACEMENTS FOR SALAH + SON
The Wire co-host Pras has recently cast his eye over some potential replacements for Son and Salah, from long-term purchases to short-term punts.
You can read his thoughts here.
IS IT TIME TO WILDCARD?
With many well-owned players flagged as doubts or unavailable, the idea to Wildcard has been gaining traction as the week has gone on.
This has only been amplified by Friday’s Double Gameweek 25 announcement.
See the pros and cons of Wildcarding in Gameweek 21 here, alongside a couple of drafts.
TEAM REVEALS
- FPL General’s Gameweek 21 team, transfer + captain
- Zophar’s FPL Gameweek 21 team + transfer plans
- Tom Freeman’s FPL Gameweek 21 team + transfer plans
WHO SHOULD I CAPTAIN?
Just over 30% of the responders in our on-site poll favour Cole Palmer (£5.7m), Gameweek 20’s highest points-scorer.
He gets the chance to build on his excellent points-per-start average of 7.3 against a Fulham side that has shipped 16 goals – and kept no clean sheets – in their last six away matches.
Bukayo Saka (£9.1m) is his closest rival with 21% of the vote. The Arsenal winger enjoyed his best score (18 points) last season against Gameweek 21 opponents Crystal Palace.
Hibbo takes a detailed look at all the armband candidates in his weekly Captain Sensible piece.
GAMEWEEK 21 SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – includes Brentford’s Ivan Toney (£7.9m) ahead of his return.
Meanwhile, our three differentials – FPL picks owned by fewer than 5% of managers – are Pedro Neto (£5.6m), Diogo Jota (£7.8m) and Willian (£5.3m).
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve got predicted line-ups for all 20 Premier League sides here, which is more important than ever given the lack of team news.
