Lukasz Fabianski (£4.1m) lost his place in goal at Villa Park on Sunday.
In a significant development for his 16.7% ownership, the Polish shot-stopper was replaced by Alphonse Areola (£4.2m), who returned to the starting XI after sitting on the bench in Gameweek 22.
Explaining his decision prior to kick-off, Graham Potter said:
“We’re fortunate that we have got experienced keepers and talented keepers. I just felt Alphonse was the right choice today. Who knows what happens in the future?” – Graham Potter
Potter has a preference for ball-playing goalkeepers, and while Areola isn’t exactly Manuel Neuer, he is better with his feet than Fabianski, who is often slow with his distribution.
Areola did well on the occasions he was called into action at Villa Park, even if they were few and far between.
If Fabianski has been dropped permanently, it could potentially put some Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers off going for Alisson Becker (£5.5m) in Double Gameweek 24, given that Liverpool will blank in Gameweek 29 if they reach the Carabao Cup final.
POTTER’S WING-BACK THREAT
West Ham didn’t get the win on Sunday but there were lots of positives for Potter to take from this performance.
After a slow start, the Hammers – who had a full week to prepare for this game – began to create more opportunities and got a deserved equaliser in the second half, when Emerson Palmieri (£4.4m) powered in a header at the far post.
Both of West Ham’s wing-backs had plenty of attacking freedom at Villa Park, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) particularly aggressive with his movement down the right flank.
In fact, he ended the match with 35 final third touches, the most of any other player on the pitch.
The fluid front three of Lucas Paqueta (£5.7m), Mohammed Kudus (£6.2m) and Carlos Soler (£5.0m) also caused problems.
Paqueta posed a real threat in a false nine role, firing wide on a couple of occasions. He also had the ball in the back of the Villa net late on, only for an offside flag to deny him.
“He was a real handful. You can play into him because he’s so strong. Really pleased for him, really good performance and he worked so hard for the team.” – Graham Potter on Lucas Paqueta
DIGNE AT CENTRE-BACK
Aston Villa’s defensive options are starting to look extremely thin after Tyrone Mings (£4.4m) limped off with a knee issue during Sunday’s draw with West Ham.
With Pau Torres (£4.2m) also out injured and Diego Carlos recently leaving to join Fenerbahce, Ezri Konsa (£4.4m) is the only fit senior centre-half at present.
Unai Emery did at least suggest Mings’ injury didn’t look too serious in his post-match presser, something backed up by the player himself on Instagram.
“I don’t know. Tomorrow we will test him and hopefully, it is not a lot. Things like that are punishing us.” – Unai Emery on Tyrone Mings
The loss of Mings, who has only just returned to action from an ACL injury, forced a defensive reshuffle, with Lucas Digne (£4.6m) surprisingly moving inside alongside Konsa to centre-back, rather than Lamare Bogarde (£4.0m).
“I was a little upset because we are without Pau [Torres] and we haven’t yet replaced Diego Carlos. Lamare Bogarde can play centre back on the right but playing on the left, with our build-up, I decided for Lucas [Digne] because he has experience, he has a left foot.” – Unai Emery
It certainly rocked Villa’s stability, with West Ham successfully targeting the void on the left after the break.
It did at least start well for the home side on Sunday, with Jacob Ramsey’s (£5.4m) clinical strike after a lovely one-two with Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) putting them ahead.
Morgan Rogers (£5.5m), back in a No 10 role, also had the ball in the net two minutes later. Like Paqueta, an offside flag thwarted him.
Overall though, Villa looked drained and they don’t have long to recover either, with Celtic in town for a crucial UEFA Champions League clash on Wednesday.
MARTINEZ SEALS WIN
In a low-quality contest at Craven Cottage, Lisandro Martinez’s (£4.4m) deflected strike was enough to win it for Manchester United.
Remarkably, that was United’s only shot on target of the game. Neither side showed much ambition in attack:
As for Martinez, he now has three attacking returns in his last seven games under Ruben Amorim, with the Portuguese discussing his role after full-time:
“Yes, they are nowadays sometimes the midfielders because you don’t often have a lot of space between the lines and you have to find this space. They are the players who have the game in front and they have to be the midfielders, so it’s really important. I think when the centre defenders play well with the ball, we play well. It’s something that Licha does really well, he can take the ball. He has to continue and the other guys have to improve also in that area.” – Ruben Amorim on Lisandro Martinez
Elsewhere, Amad Diallo (£5.6m) had a goal ruled out for a tight offside, while Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) struggled to make much of an impact in a deeper midfield role, registering just two shots (both outside the box), one penalty area touch and one key pass.
Alex Iwobi (£5.8m) and Antonee Robinson (£5.1m) asked most of the questions for Fulham as usual.
In fact, 42.9% of Fulham’s chances came from the left, compared to just 14.3% on the right.
An injury to Harry Wilson (£5.2m) is a concern then, given that the Welshman was just starting to pick up some form on the right of Fulham’s attack.
“We have to assess him, it’s difficult for me to say now how long he could be out or not. Let’s hope nothing serious.” – Marco Silva on Harry Wilson
1 FT and 2m ITB. Not a fan of hits but C allows me to attack the Brentford v Spurs fixture and sets me up to do Sarr > Bournemouth mid (Kluivert) next week
A - Raul > Wissa B - Sarr > Mbeumo C - Gordon & Raul > Mbeumo & Wissa for -4
Allison Gabriel - TAA - Munoz Salah - Palmer - Gordon - Sarr Isak - Wood - Raul
This is a constant bug-bear of mine and it only gets worse now with the AM chip.
Let me explain using the Salah vs Slot example for this GW....
Triple Captain: Note, Salah scores 10ppg currently.
If Salah score 10+10 that is 20 PTS. Triple captain makes that 60pts.
Total value of chip = 20 PTS
Note, the value is not 60 or 40 as widely gets stated! This is because you would obviously captain him anyway meaning you gain the difference between captain points (40) and triple captain points (60).
Also, this is the absolute value of the chip. The relative value of using the chip in a DGW (Vs SGW) is only 10 PTS. (As you gain an extra 20 PTS as opposed to 10)....based on 10ppg and assuming you would captain Salah anyway.
Assistant Manager: Note, Slot scores 10 points per game (roughly) - quite helpfully the same as Salah
AM is a little trickier than TC but essentially you gain 1/3 of the the expected Slot points by using it in a double gameweek (or technically speaking over a 4 game period as opposed to a 3 game period).
Therefore, if Slot is expected to score 30 points over an average 3 games period and instead scores 40 points over a period that includes a DGW (ie 4 games in total) then the value of using it in a DGW is 10 PTS (40 - 30).
In simple terms, using either chip in a DGW as opposed to a single gameweek will get you an extra game out of Salah/Slot and in both cases the expected relative value is 10pts.
The question is then about who will deliver the 10ppg with greater certainty and who has the most upside / downside etc. Slot has a lower ceiling but arguably a higher floor and vice versa for Salah.
Sorry for the rant but the article on the FPL website about this same subject is truly awful
I appreciate I have oversimplified it by assuming 10ppg for each.
Clearly I am not viewing the decision with that level of certainty but I wanted to make the point that TC is never worth 60 points in this example. That is the bit that kills me the most
Well…….think I’ve made a huge rookie error without even realising. Last night I brought Mbuemo in for Enzo for a hit.
However, this now leaves me with 0.3ITB. Have every intention of playing AM this GW with Moyes (then switching to Iraola). Moyes costs 0.5, so does this now mean I can’t afford him?
Think I’m gonna have to take a -12 now, my god, feel like such a clown!
For reference, team now is:
Sels Gabriel - TAA - Aina Gordon - Salah - Palmer - Mbuemo Wissa - Gakpo - Isak ______________________________ Fabianski: Rogers: Huijsen: Lewis
Indeed I am, what a pain! I should have removed Gordon to raise the funds. I think I’m still gonna play it though, hopefully it can offset the hit damage slightly.
It’s a worthy move imo if deciding to go a week early, not like Fulham will be pushovers anyway hehe. I think the AssMan chip is better than TC this GW
Sels (Fab) TAA Hall Huijsen (Timber, Faes) Salah Palmer Rogers Mbeumo Gordon Wood Isak (DCL)
2FTs
What is the best choice this week since I have only 2 Pool and 0 Everton players now with DCL potentially ruled out?
(A) Diaz and Myko for Gordon & Faes (B) Gakpo n Kluivert for Gordon & DCL (C) Myko and Ndiaye for Faes & DCL (D) Pickford & Ndiaye for Sels & DCL
Tempted with Option A instead of Option B since it gives me 3 Pool & 1 Everton player n oso one more week to see which Bournemouth midfielder is the better purchase but not sure if it is the right call.
I have and will possibly move to Silva/Iraola.. Silva puts off a little due to last night, but 6 points for a table bonus draw and 10 for a win is tempting.. Otherwise I think a safe bet is Bournemouth vs Sot/Wolves 25/26
Hmm I'm in over my head trying to assess the reliability of these sources tbh. Seeing suggestions that relevo is just Madrid propaganda..? What do you reckon Sun?
C I think. Actually don't mind hanging onto RAN as he could be useful in 29 (sou). If you can get Mbeumo without sacrificing Gordon I think that's better. Would ideally prefer Pickford to Myko but it's a better compromise than A/B imo & Sels is fine
Guys, I need some advice. I have all my chips in tact and I head my ML...........However I am not convinced that TC on Salah this week has it optimal high side as both Bournemouth and Everton away are not as simple as it would have been a few weks ago......however I know my rivals will play their TC...........I have a slender lead, but feel that there will be better opertunities further down the road........what would you do and please dont say its up to me or play your own game, I understand both those points, I am seeking an opinion.......Thank you.
I feel the same about TC this week so I'm just going to hold it. Pretty confident Pool will overturn the 1-0 v Spurs, which should give them a DGW33 of lei avl - and that looks a lot more appealing to me. Still some backup options (36) if that doesn't materialise
I believe if you C him it’s not a huge loss if you don’t TC.. But maybe surely if your leading you just play it, his EO will be ridiculously high so maybe you might be better off further down the line.. I have no TC but am using Manager chip for the next 3 weeks..
I think that it would be very naive not to be play something this week.
There is a 3 week AM, a WC, TC, FH and BB. That is seven weeks of no other chips, so is a DGW with Liverpool and Salah not in the top 7?
There are a lot of drawbacks to any of them but not to not doing one. I have been intent on TC all season, whilst Salah is fit and in form, but then I don't see Liverpool winning both, or maybe 1-2s at best. I may go for AM just to get rid of it, not be hindered for a three week period and if Liverpool do not win, I will be happy with that outside of FPL.
I'm going for TC on Salah this GW. The reds will always be up for the derby and also I found this on LFC's website:
" Mohamed Salah has scored seven Premier League goals against Everton – only Steven Gerrard (nine) has netted more in the Merseyside derby in the competition".
Plus, the Bournemouth game could be a very open, attacking affair with tons of chances.
One argument against TC Salah would be the increased risk of injury before that Everton game with 11 days and 2 fixtures (almost certainly plays 1 of them) between the GW24 matches. Its still not that likely but you'd be a lot happier from that point of view if they were back to back a 3-4 days apart.
Just my 2 cents.....hard not to play TC chip this GW. Salah has approx 30% more points than anyone else in the game. Two away games is not ideal but vs bou,eve not the worst road games i suppose. No guarantees that Salah will have another DGW going forward.
2 months, 8 days ago1 FT and 2m ITB. Not a fan of hits but C allows me to attack the Brentford v Spurs fixture and sets me up to do Sarr > Bournemouth mid (Kluivert) next week
A - Raul > Wissa
B - Sarr > Mbeumo
C - Gordon & Raul > Mbeumo & Wissa for -4
Allison
Gabriel - TAA - Munoz
Salah - Palmer - Gordon - Sarr
Isak - Wood - Raul
Dubravka - Amad - Milenkovic - O'Shea