If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 22.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 22 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 11:00 GMT on Saturday 18 January.
PALMER, SARR + COLWILL DOUBTS
As soon as uncertainty over the status of Alexander Isak (£9.4m) and Joao Pedro (£5.7m) died down, with both playing 77 minutes in midweek, a new set of notable doubts emerged for FPL managers.
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Isak + Cunha minutes, Palace assets deliver
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Amad overtakes Bruno, Dibling injury + Pedro blank
In his Friday press conference, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca placed doubt upon Cole Palmer (£11.4m), Enzo Fernandez (£5.0m) and Levi Colwill (£4.6m).
“We have Cole [Palmer] who is not in the session today. Levi [Colwill] was not in the session today. Enzo [Fernandez] was not in the session today. Romeo [Lavia] was not in the session today. We have three or four players who are doubts for Monday’s game because of the last game, they had some problems.
“Cole, first half they kick him. He didn’t train today, we don’t know if he’s going to train tomorrow or in two days. The same situation for Enzo, Romeo and Levi.” – Enzo Maresca
Of course, Maresca could just be venting his frustration at rough opponents, seeing as all three lasted the whole match. And the Blues don’t play until Monday, giving plenty of time for sessions to be joined.
Perhaps the more concerning situation relates to Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr (£5.9m). The attacker is in 14.61% of the top 100k squads but there seems to be a minor hamstring issue.
“We’ve a little small question about Ismaïla Sarr. He’s suffering a little bit with tightness in his hamstring, but we will take the final decision tomorrow.” – Oliver Glasner
EARLY ASSISTANT MANAGER IDEAS
As mentioned last week, we now know the price tag for each Premier League side’s head coach when using the brand-new Assistant Manager chip.
It can be activated from Gameweek 24 onwards, bringing in extra points based on that team’s results, goals and clean sheets over three successive Gameweeks.
Our Pro Pundits have already come up with some early ideas on how to best use it. For example, Lateriser investigates putting it immediately on Liverpool or Everton, as they have a Double Gameweek 24.
However, FPL Family’s Sam doesn’t want to use it on Arne Slot. She’s provided statistics on how many 2024/25 points each manager would theoretically be on, plus the best three-Gameweek blocks so far.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 22 CAPTAIN
Before we heard of these Cole Palmer doubts, he was the recommended armband recipient of our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm.
Now, Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) narrowly leads the way. Not a bad fallback option, right? FPL’s leading scorer by a long way, the elite Liverpool star goes against a Brentford defence that’s conceded the second-most attempts (376) and shots on target (131).
Captain Sensible writer Hibbo likes him, too.
Alexander Isak is the leader of our captain poll, though!
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – focuses on Nottingham Forest, as it’s their turn to face Southampton. Owning Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m) and Amad Diallo (£5.5m) against the Saints has proved fruitful over the last two Gameweeks.
Imagine what Chris Wood (£6.9m) and the league’s clean sheet leaders could do.
In addition, team-mate Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.4m) is one of this week’s more interesting differential picks.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 20 Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 22!
