With Gameweek 17 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) nearing, our pundits are starting to finalise their team plans before Saturday’s deadline.
FPL General, who has three top 500 finishes to his name, continues to plough on without Erling Haaland (£15.0m)!
Here, he outlines his two transfers for the week ahead.
Gameweek 16 Review
Gameweek 16 was another great one! Five green arrows over the last six Gameweeks has resulted in a rank rise from 6.9m to 2.3m. Long may it continue!
Four free transfers were used to bring in David Raya (£6.0m), Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m), Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m) and Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m). The players to make way were Nick Pope (£5.1m), Daniel Munoz (£5.9m), Yankuba Minteh (£6.1m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.8m).
The late Arsenal clean sheet wipeout was painful but I’m happy to be doubled up defensively there for the foreseeable future. Szoboszlai blanked and picked up a knock which could see him make a swift exit from the team. The O’Reilly points would’ve been nice but I was never starting him over the other three given their respective fixtures. The Bowen goal and subsequent two bonus points was very satisfying. He’s likely to be on my bench for the Manchester City fixture this weekend with O’Reilly getting a start this time around.
Triple Captain Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) was a success, although it was a rollercoaster! It could’ve been 0, 1 or 2 assists! Thankfully, it worked out in my favour. FPL Towers made me sweat for the 33 points. That’s all the chips used until we get the second batch in Gameweek 20.
Gameweek 17 Bus Team
There’s two free transfers available and £0.1m in the bank. Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m) is going to come in for Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m), that’s always been the plan. I like Semenyo for the next two (BUR/bre). Selling him for Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) when Manchester United face Wolves (home) in Gameweek 19 is the next phase of the plan!
With another free transfer available, I’m not going to be able to resist the Rayan Cherki (£6.5m) temptation. The doubts over Szoboszlai make it a guilt-free move having only got him in last week. I’m playing with more freedom this season and this kind of aggressive play excites me. Not having Erling Haaland (£15.0m) opens the door for the Cherki punt while most others won’t be able to get there due to being tripled up on the Norwegian, Phil Foden (£8.9m) and O’Reilly. When Semenyo and Cherki come in, the midfield will be stacked again.
The Igor Thiago (£7.2m) knock is a concern but I’m not selling him before Wolves (away). The bench cover is sufficient if it’s needed.
Virgil (£5.9m) might end up in the XI over Joachim Andersen (£4.6m), there’s not much in that call. Maybe I should be playing Bowen over both of them! I will give it more thought closer to the deadline.
The captain’s armband will go on Foden for the West Ham (home) fixture. Semenyo and Cherki are very tempting options but Foden has been good to me in recent weeks, he deserves to lead the troops into battle for the third time during this campaign.
Best of luck for the Gameweek folks and enjoy the festive season. May your arrows be green!
Check out this week’s video with Joe on the Fantasy Football Scout YouTube channel and the latest 59th Minute FPL Podcast.
