The two most-bought forwards of Gameweek 28, Matheus Cunha (£7.0m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m), are now sporting red flags.
Cunha is suspended for (at least) three matches following his red card for violent conduct, while Mateta is set to miss this weekend’s Premier League action through injury.
It’s another headache for owners to manage, particularly with Blank Gameweek 29 just around the corner.
In this article, we look at a few candidates to replace Cunha and Mateta in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with the focus largely on forwards who have a fixture in Blank Gameweek 29.
ERLING HAALAND
An upgrade to Erling Haaland (£14.7m) would probably be the most desirable option if you’ve got the funds.
The Norwegian has plundered 20 Premier League goals in 2024/25, with nine attacking returns in his last eight appearances, despite what has been an overall poor season for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Rate My Team’s best forward over the next four Gameweeks, Haaland is passing the eye test (he was superb against Tottenham Hotspur last time out), with good underlying data plus penalties.
Above: Haaland is second for expected goal involvement (xGI) among FPL forwards in the last six Gameweeks, despite making only five appearances
Manchester City face a stern test on Saturday when they travel to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest, but they host Brighton and Hove Albion in Gameweek 29, before strugglers Leicester City visit the Etihad Stadium in Gameweek 30.
With his knee injury hopefully behind him, it presents an opportunity to bring in and captain Haaland at a time when his FPL ownership will be relatively low.
City are out of Europe, too, helping to alleviate some of the problems caused by late-season fixture congestion.
CHRIS WOOD
Chris Wood (£7.2m) is in the best form of his career and looks more than capable of filling the Cunha/Mateta void.
He’s hit 18 goals in 26 starts under Nuno Espirito Santo this season, averaging 6.3 points per match.
Wood has, by a distance, the best conversion rate in 2024/25, having scored with a remarkable 36.7% of his attempts, as he continues to make the most of what comes his way.
And like Haaland, he’s also on penalties for Nottingham Forest.
There’s a pretty decent run of fixtures to come, too, with three of Wood’s next four opponents – Ipswich Town, Manchester United and Aston Villa – sitting in the bottom five for expected goals conceded (xGC) since the turn of the year.
Above: Chris Wood has scored 8.07 more goals than an average finisher would have done from his chances in 2024/25
YOANE WISSA
Yoane Wissa (£6.4m) has been in fine form for Brentford this season, with his 12 goals bettered by only four other FPL forwards.
He’s scored in each of his last two starts, amassing 17 points.
The underlying numbers are decent, too, with Haaland the only forward who has had more Opta-defined ‘big chances’ than Wissa (11) since the turn of the year.
First up is Aston Villa, whose dismal tally of three clean sheets all season is the worst in the division outside of Ipswich, Southampton and Leicester City.
The downside is the fixtures after, with clashes against Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
However, Brentford are equally comfortable inviting pressure onto them and countering at speed, so it perhaps shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.
Indeed, Thomas Frank’s side put nine goals past those four aforementioned teams in the reverse fixtures earlier this season, with Wissa on the scoresheet three times.
OMAR MARMOUSH
If you can swallow the week-to-week rotation risk, Omar Marmoush (£7.2m) is another candidate to consider.
On the plus side, the Egyptian has fitted seamlessly into Pep Guardiola’s set-up after leaving Eintracht Frankfurt in January, performing at a very high level.
A superb 14-minute hat-trick against Newcastle United in Gameweek 25 was the pinnacle of his City career so far.
We should point out that just four of Marmoush’s 12 shots since joining Manchester City have arrived inside the box.
However, he has taken 12 of City’s 21 corners in that time, plus quite a few free kicks, supplementing his open-play assist potential nicely.
Like we said earlier, the nagging concern is over rotation, something we don’t want from our players ahead of Blank Gameweek 29.
Phil Foden (£9.2m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£9.3m) provide the competition, but it does seem to be Marmoush’s spot for now, having started five Premier League games in a row.
He also got a rest at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, so you can perhaps look at the rotation risk in a positive light.
SUB-£6.0M OPTIONS
Evanilson (£5.6m) got his first goal since returning from injury on Saturday, lasting 67 minutes on his first start in two months. It’s difficult to fully recommend the Brazilian, given that his minutes could still be managed, but Bournemouth do have some decent fixtures – Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford, Ipswich, West Ham United – coming up over the next four Gameweeks.
Beto (£5.0m) is effectively a two-match punt for Wolverhampton Wanderers (a) and West Ham (h), before Everton’s fixtures toughen up considerably. However, his 16 shots under David Moyes have yielded five goals, and he’s at least cheap enough to be benched in trickier tests.
Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.2m) also warrants a mention, especially with teammate Cunha out. He’s got just one goal in his last 12 appearances, but with clashes against Southampton and Ipswich in the next four Gameweeks, could be worth a punt as a differential.
Danny Welbeck (£5.5m) emerged as a substitute to score the winner against Newcastle United on Sunday. However, Brighton and Hove Albion’s fixtures are a bit of a mixed bag, and with Joao Pedro (£5.4m) and Georginio Rutter (£5.1m) also competing for minutes in Fabian Hurzeler’s front two, a move for Welbeck does carry a bit of risk.
FREE HIT IN BLANK GAMEWEEK 29: OTHER OPTIONS TO CONSIDER
If you plan to Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 29, it goes without saying that Alexander Isak (£9.4m) is the key forward to buy. That’s in the unlikely event you don’t own him already, of course. It’s also worth noting there is a little bit of concern about his fitness ahead of Gameweek 28.
Elsewhere, Eddie Nketiah (£5.9m) looks set to deputise for Mateta against Ipswich in Gameweek 28, having scored in each of his last two matches for Crystal Palace. It could prove to be a short-term move, however, depending on how Mateta progresses.
Finally, Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) undoubtedly deserves a mention, with Southampton up next and some tasty fixtures after the blank. At the time of writing, it’s hard to call who will start up top for Liverpool, but minutes accrued against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday could offer clues.
