If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 23.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 23 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 11:00 GMT on Saturday 24 January.
WHO’LL PLAY FOR MAN CITY?
Gameweek 22 was another bad one for ‘template’ picks, including Manchester City attacking duo Phil Foden (£8.6m) and Erling Haaland (£15.1m).
That’s six consecutive blanks for Foden, withdrawn at half-time because of a hand injury, while Haaland has reached eight matches (in all competitions) without an open-play goal. We’ve tried to discover the reason for this.
Their underlying stats are still good enough to make our Goals and Assists Imminent tables, plus the odds heavily back Pep Guardiola’s side for a clean sheet and attacking returns versus last-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But will Foden and Haaland even start this one? Especially now that Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) is amongst the final batch of African Cup of Nations returnees.
Antoine Semenyo (£7.7m) and fellow new signing Marc Guehi (£5.2m) should play, though. Neither were eligible for Man City’s Champions League defeat to Bodo/Glimt, explaining why they’re both unanimous Scout Squad picks.
WE DO TALK ABOUT BRUNO
Similarly, Bruno Fernandes (£9.3m) is part of all our suggested Gameweek 23 Wildcard drafts. The all-rounder was unlucky not to bring in a massive haul last week, playing the number 10 role.
‘Buy, Keep or Sell’ has him as an essential purchase either now or after the trip to Arsenal. Many have already ditched Foden for him, whose 100% ownership within ‘The Great and the Good’ is surely about to tumble. Expect this to continue beyond Saturday’s deadline.
THE MIDFIELD DILEMMA
He and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m) combined for the first derby goal, inspiring Lateriser to write about FPL’s best midfielders to buy.
It’s good timing, because Bruno Guimaraes (£7.3m) is an injury doubt, Cole Palmer (£10.4m) is always nursing a knock, Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) was limited to a cameo role in Gameweek 22, Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) once again didn’t start, and Morgan Rogers (£7.7m) keeps missing chances.
Zophar’s Q&A spends a lot of time on the midfield situation. If he were to Wildcard right now, both Fernandes and Mbeumo would be chosen, while he also likes Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah (£5.6m).
His next opponents are low-scoring Crystal Palace, a team that centre-backs regularly secure defensive contribution (DefCon) points against. Speaking of which, check out our fun quiz about this season’s best DefCon performances.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 23 CAPTAIN
Despite his recent struggles, neither Captain Sensible nor our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm can resist recommending Erling Haaland for the armband, considering he’s at home to Wolves.
Both have Bukayo Saka in their top three, where Igor Thiago (£7.2m) and Rayan Cherki (£6.7m) also get mentioned.
TEAM REVEALS
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – goes all-in on Man City assets, alongside double coverage of Chelsea, Arsenal and Brentford.
Another good pick from the Bees is Kevin Schade (£7.1m). He’s this season’s joint-best midfielder for shots inside the box (37) and big chances (13), making him one of several tempting differentials.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 20 Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 23!
