In his latest article, two-time Indian Fantasy Premier League (FPL) champion Lateriser has some late-season thoughts regarding attacking defenders, Manchester City and Mohamed Salah (£13.7m).
It’s almost the end of the season, making it a good idea to take down a few pointers for 2025/26, before being able to fully switch off for the summer. For example, a few players that I’m almost telling myself not to forget about.
WAN TO WATCH
One of them is Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.4m). Recent numbers tell a good story, but what’s impressing me the most is his precise decision-making. One of this season’s brightest West Ham United sparks, Wan-Bissaka is finding some right-sided chemistry with Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m).
Ever since Graham Potter’s appointment ahead of Gameweek 21, the 27-year-old has created the highest number of big chances (six) amongst all defenders, while only ranking 11th for both chances created (15) and expected assists (xA, 1.38).
Perhaps that’s related to an adaptation period under Potter. The manager tends to play three-at-the-back in away games, boosting Wan-Bissaka’s potential when on the road. Underlying numbers reflect this.
| Last six at home | Last six away | |
|---|---|---|
| Expected assists (xA) | 0.21 | 0.93 |
| Expected goals (xG) | 0.08 | 0.17 |
| Penalty area touches | 7 | 12 |
| Chances created | 3 | 9 |
| Big chances created | 1 | 4 |
A Potter team generally takes some time to settle down, so I expect them to become better defensively next season. The Hammers already rank a respectable 10th for expected goals conceded (xGC) since his arrival. Hopefully, they’ll stick around the same area or improve once he gets a full pre-season and buys players that suit his philosophy, with time to implement things.
HUNGRY WOLVES
Another team that I want to keep an eye on is Wolverhampton Wanderers. It looks like Matheus Cunha (£7.1m) could be departing and perhaps they’ll end up falling massively in quality, but we’ve seen enough of them without him to suggest Vítor Pereira’s lot will cope absolutely fine.
Between Gameweeks 28 and 32, Wolves were second-best for scoring goals and only five clubs had a higher open-play xG. I believe they’ll have some high-quality replacements so, unless the squad is massively disassembled, these are definitely worth keeping an eye on.
STICK WITH MUNOZ
Meanwhile, since Gameweek 19, Crystal Palace sit second for xG and fourth for xGC. I’ve always thought that Oliver Glasner is a quality coach, which is why I went big for them at the start of the season – including Daniel Munoz (£5.2m).
Unfortunately, the Colombian wing-back didn’t do much early on but he’s now on four goals and six assists, ending 2024/25 as one of FPL’s best picks. This justifies my early fetish for him.
Given Palace’s form and Munoz’s unbelievable engine, he should be a shoo-in next season, as he’s accumulated the highest xG amongst defenders (4.87). Only Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) has higher expected goal involvement (xGI, 8.29). The sole defender with more attacking contributions is the 11 of Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.1m), and it’s just Trent with more overall returns.
REACT TO THE MAN CITY RESET
Another topic we were recently asked about on the podcast was Erling Haaland (£14.9m) and Man City. A deep dive into Haaland is something we’ll save for the summer but, to summarise, not many of us expected their season to be like this.
One big factor for next time is that Rodri (£6.2m) will be fit and available. One of Europe’s most important players, this should give Pep Guardiola a lot of tactical flexibility. Pep always comes into a new campaign with a new approach, meaning you sort of have to wipe the slate clean.
No doubt this reset will allow them to challenge for the title again, but my inkling is that reacting early to Man City and their new formation using initial transfers could be important. Exciting new attacking talent is already being linked to them. I’d certainly not bank on there being a similar struggle to this time so, in my opinion, undermining them will only be to our detriment.
SALAH RACES AHEAD
Last but not least, let’s talk about how Mohamed Salah usually flies out of the traps. Here are his numbers after the first 10 Gameweeks:
- 2024/25 – 93 points (1st overall) – 7 goals, 5 assists
- 2023/24 – 83 points (1st overall) – 8 goals, 4 assists
- 2022/23 – 45 points (17th overall) – 2 goals, 4 assists
- 2021/22 – 112 points (1st overall) – 10 goals, 7 assists
Salah tends to have a gung-ho start and quickly becomes the top FPL scorer. With fewer defensive duties under Arne Slot, he is thriving and there are no signs of that slowing down, even at the age if 32.
“You can see the numbers. Now I don’t have to defend much. The tactics are quite different. I said ‘as long as you rest me defensively I will provide offensively’, so I am glad that I did.” – Mohamed Salah
Anyway, that’s all from me this week. I just thought it would be wise to jot down some conclusions that could be useful during pre-season.
If you want content that is relevant to Gameweek 37, I’ve been chatting to fellow Pro Pundits Pras and Zophar.
