Eight-time top 10k finisher Zophar hosts his weekly Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Q&A ahead of Gameweek 16. Here, topics include the best Daniel Munoz (£6.0m) replacements and should managers sell Yankuba Minteh (£6.2m)?
You can find his weekly team reveal here.
Q: If you don’t want David Raya (£6.0m) taking up an Arsenal spot, who is the best goalkeeper to pick? Can Robin Roefs (£4.7m) keep it up, or is Jordan Pickford (£5.5m) the best choice?
(via Pompel)
A: Apart from Raya, the goalkeeper options I’d consider are Bart Verbruggen (£4.4m), Caoimhin Kelleher (£4.5m), Robert Sanchez (£4.9m), Matz Sels (£4.7m) and Pickford. There are even rumours that Nick Pope (£5.1m) could make his comeback from injury earlier than expected.
As the above image shows, Chelsea are ranked fifth for expected goals conceded (xGC) over the last six Gameweeks, so Sanchez could be the standout pick. The upcoming fixture run for the Blues is mixed; there are some tougher away games against Newcastle United and Manchester City, but the home matches against Everton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth could all bring clean sheets. But I do worry about rotation across the backline over the Christmas period, with Wesley Fofana (£4.4m) and Reece James (£5.6m) struggling to play three times a week.
Verbruggen’s appeal is primarily the rotation with Martin Dubravka (£4.0m), as you can bench the Dutchman when Brighton and Hove Albion travel to Liverpool and Arsenal. The Seagulls are still not a defence I really trust though, and that’s a move really if you need to invest the funds elsewhere.
I do like Kelleher; Brentford’s short-term fixtures are great, but they have only kept two clean sheets all season. Sels, meanwhile, has some injury concerns and wasn’t in Nottingham Forest’s Europa League squad last night, so that situation needs monitoring.
I still like Pope if he returns to the Newcastle side. In my previous articles, I had mentioned how he is very good for Baseline BPS, and after the next 2-3 fixtures, it’s a good run for Eddie Howe’s side.
In short, Sanchez is your man. I like Pickford if you can stretch to him too, as his run from Gameweek 18 onwards is great.
Q: Who would you replace Daniel Munoz with?
(via RamaJama)
A: The loss of Munoz has been really disappointing, and it’s a problem I’m facing in my own team. Some of my most memorable hauls have come from attacking wing-backs, like Marcos Alonso and Reece James’ 21-pointers against Leicester City and Newcastle, respectively.
Anyway, his length of absence means that he has to be replaced. There are a few options – you could switch to another Crystal Palace defender like Marc Guehi (£5.2m) or Maxence Lacroix (£5.1m). Alternatively, you could opt for someone cheaper, such as Joachim Andersen (£4.6m) or Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m). That could be useful if you want to push money further forward, maybe to upgrade Minteh to Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m), for example.
Personally, with Palace’s fixture congestion and depleted squad due to injuries and the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), I think I like the idea of taking on their highly-owned defence. The fixtures aren’t that easy either over December, as they play Man City, Leeds United (at Elland Road) and Tottenham Hotspur, who are all sides capable of scoring.
Andersen is great for the next three Gameweeks, but after that, the fixtures turn. However, if you are eyeing him up as a fourth/fifth defender as part of a rotation, he’s a fantastic pick. The same applies to van den Berg, as you ideally only want to play a Brentford defender in their home matches.
As somebody who doesn’t own Raya and has only two Arsenal players, Jurrien Timber (£6.5m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.2m), I am looking at Piero Hincapie (£5.4m). I am aware that this could be a short-term move with Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m) potentially back towards the end of December, but in a luxury position of five free transfers and no moves elsewhere, I think it makes sense to take the points available now. Arsenal do play Everton, Brighton and Aston Villa after Wolverhampton Wanderers, but I think the Gunners’ defence is elite and capable of shutting each of these opponents out.
I’m not really gaining anything by owning one Arsenal defender anyway, so having two is the only way to profit. I also like what I’ve seen of Hincapie so far. He came close to scoring twice against Club Brugge and does have a good goalscoring/assist record from his time in Germany, although that was mostly at full-back. Either way, Arsenal’s prowess at set-pieces means their centre-backs always have a chance for a goal. His aggressive style of play could be good for defensive contributions (DefCon), too.
Trevoh Chalobah (£5.3m) is also a decent option. He has started every league game when he’s been available for Chelsea and is also a DefCon monster.
Q: Are any Liverpool options worth buying for the next few Gameweeks?
Q: Is Hugo Ekitike (£8.4m) a genuine pick now?
(via Bggz and z13)
A: Cody Gakpo’s (£7.5m) injury and Mohamed Salah’s (£14.0m) departure to AFCON is bound to present an opportunity for consistent game time in Liverpool’s attack. The Reds switched to a diamond formation in their Champions League game against Inter Milan earlier this week, with Alexander Isak (£10.4m) and Ekitike leading the line, ahead of a midfield consisting of Alexis Mac Allister (£6.2m), Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m), Ryan Gravenberch (£5.6m) and Curtis Jones (£5.4m).
Florian Wirtz (£8.0m) couldn’t start due to fitness, but I do expect him to come back into the team as this system suits his strengths. Would I invest in him right now? No, I would wait to see how this team gels and who the outstanding options are. The next two Gameweeks against Brighton and Spurs should give us a better idea, which is why I like investing in Liverpool from Gameweek 18 when they play Wolves, rather than right now.
However, the two picks I do like are Ekitike and Szoboszlai. I would pick the Frenchman over Isak even if I had the money to afford the latter, as he remains Liverpool’s top scorer this season and just looks sharper in general. I just don’t trust Isak’s fitness to hold up through the congested December period. If you were to ask me for one Liverpool attacker to buy right now, it would definitely be Ekitike.
With Szoboszlai, the set-pieces with Gakpo/Salah missing are an appeal, and he did take a penalty as well midweek, although Isak had been substituted at the time. The threat of his fifth yellow card does loom though, which again is why I prefer waiting till Gameweek 18 to invest.
Q: What should I do with Minteh? Sell or hold? The options in midfield look bleak after Saka, Bruno Fernandes (£9.1m) and Phil Foden (£8.6m).
(via @Karan_G14)
A: I admittedly haven’t seen enough of Brighton this season, but I did watch the entirety of the 90 minutes against West Ham United, and as a non-owner, Minteh really did not give me any frightening moments. He has lost set-pieces to Maxim De Cuyper (£4.3m) and was generally tasked with holding the width, with Brighton’s central players like Georginio Rutter (£5.6m) getting the most space.
But I don’t particularly like any of the replacement options this week. Brentford’s Dango Ouattara (£6.0m) would appeal, but he is off to AFCON soon. Minteh could also get some joy against Liverpool; Milos Kerkez (£5.6m)/Andrew Robertson (£5.8m) are likely to offer him more space than Nuno Espiritio Santo’s deep-lying defence. So I would stick with Minteh this weekend and then reassess.
Q: With Noni Madueke (£6.8m) performing well and eating into his minutes, is it worth using most of your five free transfers and restructuring your team to bring Saka in this week? Or could someone like Declan Rice (£7.1m) provide good cover? Also, would you use a couple of free transfers to sell Semenyo for Saka?
(via FPL Virgin)
A: If you intend to captain Saka this week, I think using two free transfers to sell Semenyo for him makes sense. The England international is just a good long-term pick, and with Semenyo, you would want to move him on after the plum Burnley fixture in Gameweek 17 anyway.
Q: Who is the best cheap enabling forward, who is at least reliable for the odd one or two-pointer?
(via @garr54008)
A: With the injury to Liam Delap (£6.2m), I think Marc Guiu (£4.2m) is going to get minutes almost every match, with the odd start thrown in. Chelsea’s ideal starting lineup now would be Joao Pedro (£7.3m) in the number nine role, with Cole Palmer (£10.3m) behind him. But the England international is still building up his fitness, and it’s unlikely he will start every game over the busy Christmas period.
The alternative for Chelsea in that case would be to play Enzo Fernandez (£6.6m) in the ’10’, with Pedro as a number nine, which is something Enzo Maresca has done earlier this season. However, recently, he has not favoured that setup, as the Brazilian does not seem to be well-suited for the role. So I think we will see regular instances of Pedro playing in the ’10’, with Guiu leading the line. At £4.2m, he is the standout pick.
