Scout’s General Manager and one half of FPLFamily, Sam, has her Wildcard active. Here she discusses why she is going without Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) ahead of Gameweek 6.
Every Wildcard has a different conundrum. This one is no different.
On Sunday, when I hit the button, I didn’t expect this one to be about whether to stick or twist on Mohamed Salah (£14.5m). Over the last five seasons or so, Salah has pretty much been an ever-present in my team. Unless the Egyptian has been away at AFCON or injured, he has been in my team. Not having him always feels like a risk I have been unwilling to take.
When I first hit the Gameweek 6 button, and even despite a difficult start to the season, his inclusion felt like a non-negotiable. I had both Salah and Erling Haaland (£14.3m) and, as a result, there were some compromises, but this felt like the right strategy for me.
Fast forward to 9:47pm or thereabouts on Tuesday evening and Hugo Ekitike (£8.7m) whipping off his shirt. His red card and subsequent suspension means that suddenly things felt a little different. Rather than being tied to the £28.8m I was investing in Salah and Haaland, it felt possible to go earlier on a player that I already knew I would want at some stage.
Isak time?!
When Alexander Isak (£10.5m) eventually made the move from Newcastle to Liverpool, I knew eventually I would want him. It all just felt like a question of time.
The easing of the Liverpool forward back to match fitness as a result of his missed pre-season has delayed this. Isak is yet to start in the Premier League; in fact, the forward has only played 23 league minutes for Liverpool. However, he has started in both the Champions League and League Cup. The way the rotation was falling, I was expecting Ekitike to start in Gameweek 6, with Isak starting in the Champions League.
The red card, I think, has altered that path. I am now expecting Isak to start in Gameweek 6 and Ekitike in the Champions League. This makes it more likely that Isak starts again in the league in Gameweek 7 as Slot builds his match fitness.
In his Gameweek 6 presser, Slot said:
“Yeah, he’s able to make minutes again. I still feel 90 – [it] depends also on the pace and the intensity of the game – might be a bit too much. But not only that, also for the long term. So you can maybe give one, I would call, stupid hit to bring him to 90 and then you brought him too far over the line. So, I don’t think it’s smart to play him 90 yet. But he’s further into his pre-season now and normally after two or three weeks in pre-season players go to 60, 70 minutes, and in some clubs they even bring them to 90. But if you look at our pre-season, we mainly bring them to 60 to 70 minutes then.” – Arne Slot on Alexander Isak
I am expecting a build of minutes. Isak registered an hour in the League Cup where he scored his first goal for the Reds. I hope for somewhere around 70 minutes in this one.
Isak v Salah
