Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers who were thinking about keeping Lewis Hall (£5.0m) through Newcastle United’s Blank Gameweek 29 will have to think again…
After rumours emerged on Tuesday night that Hall would miss the EFL Cup final in mid-March, a more devastating – and this time official – blow was confirmed on Wednesday morning.
Lewis Hall will miss the rest of the 2024/25 season after sustaining an injury to a bone in his foot.
Following a scan and advice from a specialist, Lewis will undergo surgery before a period of rehabilitation with the club’s medical team.
Wishing you all the very best for your… pic.twitter.com/n7BX0lUSD8
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) March 5, 2025
A number of FPL managers were already wondering what to do with their Newcastle, Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa assets with the upcoming blank in mind.
So, in many respects, this news will have helped make their minds up.
The key is to sell Hall before his price drops too much. But the question is: who should take his place?
Here are five of the leading candidates…
Daniel Muñoz (£5.0m)
The first player who springs to mind is Daniel Muñoz. Since Gameweek 21, no defender has produced more attacking returns than the Crystal Palace full-back (four). Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) is the only defender to have delivered more than the Palace wing-back’s 45 FPL points in that time.
Over the season, only three defenders have had more shots than Muñoz’s 26.
The only issue is he blanks in Gameweek 29, so the move for Muñoz is highly dependent on the make-up of your team.
If you already have a surplus of players who blank in Gameweek 29 then replacing Hall with Muñoz will not untangle that particular knot. If you plan to Free Hit in Gamewek 29 anyway, or have enough wriggle room to buy Muñoz and bench him in Gameweek 29, then it’s a good strategy, particularly as Palace have a Double Gameweek 32.
A word of caution, though: from Gameweek 32 Palace’s fixtures take a serious turn for the worse. Ipswich at home and Southampton away either side of the blank Gameweek might be alluring short-term fixtures, but thereafter Wolves at home is the only respite from a brutal run including six of the top seven.
There won’t be many clean sheet points coming from the run-in so this play is a stop-gap before deploying a second Wildcard.
Rayan Aït-Nouri (£4.7m)
Aït-Nouri has been one of the best defenders for attacking returns in Fantasy this season. Among players in his position, only Antonee Robinson (£5.0m) has produced more than the Algerian (eight).
Only Josko Gvardiol (£5.9m) has scored more goals and no one has attempted (83) or succeeded with (43) more take-ons.
Aside from his impressive attacking output, Wolves have looked steadier at the back in recent matches too. Aït-Nouri has returned two clean sheets in the last four Gameweeks and the next four fixtures are all appealing.
The big attraction here is Southampton in Gameweek 29, a fixture that offers opportunities galore for a player who, owned by only 6.1% managers, will be a major differential.
After Gameweek 31, the level of opponents does ramp up a few notches but this should see you right until your second Wildcard comes into play – if you have one, of course.
Josko Gvardiol (£5.9m)
Josko Gvardiol (£5.9m) is a defender of great calibre, capable, as we saw this time last season, of going on a huge scoring tear. This season he has been hampered by City’s disastrous campaign, yet no defender has scored more goals (five) or produced more penalty area touches (84).
Since Gameweek 17, Gvardiol has had twice as many big chances (six) as the next-closest defender.
Pep Guardiola’s side are also showing signs of life, which suggests hauls beckon for the Croatian, who is City’s second-highest-scoring FPL asset. Gvardiol has produced four returns in the last six Gameweeks in the form of three clean sheets and a goal.
If Gvardiol is a bit too pricey, fellow City defenders Rúben Dias (£5.5m) or Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.0m) make for decent cheaper alternatives. Dias is a proven performer, who finally seems over his injury problems, while Khusanov has recovered from his nightmare Premier League debut to establish himself as a regular in the side.
Neither Khusanov nor Dias offer anything like Gvardiol’s attacking output but they have both recorded two clean sheets in their last three appearances and look assured of starts until the popular Gameweek 30/31 Wildcard window. Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji (all £5.3m) are injured for the foreseeable future.
With favourable fixtures and no midweek European distractions, there could be life in City yet.
Milos Kerkez (£5.0m)
Milos Kerkez (£5.0m) has been one of the revelations of the season and an integral reason for Bournemouth’s fairytale campaign. Since Gameweek 17, only four defenders have produced more attacking returns and only six have produced more FPL points.
The full-back is playing in an attacking role for an offensive team and has produced five returns in his last eight appearances.
His next opponents are Spurs, Brentford, West Ham and Ipswich, all of whom will offer up opportunities for him to add to his attacking numbers, before the time comes for many to activate the second Wildcard.
If Kerkez is too expensive, his team-mate Dean Huijsen (£4.5m) is worthy of consideration. As a centre-back he does not offer the same level of open-play offensive threat as Kerkez, but he is enjoying a standout season and is always a threat on set-pieces.
He can be a bonus magnet, too,
Aaron Wan-Bassaka (£4.4m)
Wan-Bissaka has been excellent in recent matches, collecting 19 points across West Ham’s last two Gameweeks. Julen Lopetegui and now Graham Potter have unleashed a more attacking version of a full-back once better known for his defensive strengths.
The Hammers face a Newcastle side who are racking up injuries by the barrel load and whose focus is very much trained on the League Cup final – their first chance of domestic silverware in 70 years.
Wan-Bissaka will look to exploit Newcastle’s left flank, which is now devoid of the excellent Hall, and should be able to keep out an attack likely to be spearheaded by Callum Wilson (£6.9m) as opposed to the irreplaceable Alexander Isak (£9.4m), who one suspects might be wrapped in cotton wool for this one due to an ongoing injury concern.
After Newcastle, West Ham face a Wolves side blunted by the absence of the suspended Matheus Cunha (£7.0m), which suggests more points should beckon for the extremely well-priced Wan-Bissaka before it’s Wildcard time.
