Eight-time top 10k finisher Zophar hosts his weekly Q&A. Should you sell Erling Haaland for Joao Pedro? Who is the best Gameweek 30 captain? And will Robert Sanchez regain his place? Our pundit answers all of these questions.
You can see his Gameweek 30 team reveal here.
Q: Do you think that Robert Sanchez could come straight back in after that horror show from Filip Jorgensen vs PSG? If you have Sanchez and Martin Dubravka and no Wildcard left, would you use a free transfer to bring in a goalkeeper for Sanchez this week or play Dubravka until there is clarity?
(via lilmessipran)
A: As a Chelsea fan, the goalkeeper position has been one of great annoyance for a while now but Robert Sanchez (£4.9m) looked like he had established himself as the clear number one for a period, only for Rosenior to axe him in favour of Filip Jorgensen (£4.3m) after some mistakes. I don’t think the Spaniard had done enough to warrant being dropped, and Jorgensen was in no way an upgrade; it was just a poor decision all around.
Now, does Rosenior accept that he got it wrong and bring Sanchez back in straight away? I don’t think he will. It will reflect poorly on him as a manager and it is also not ideal for Jorgensen’s confidence. It would feel like poor man management all around. It’s possible, though, and given the uncertain landscape we are in right now with the scheduling of doubles/blanks, I think the value of information is too great to use a transfer on your goalkeeper. Ride it out with Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) and see how it goes.
Q: Would you pick Marc Guehi or Nico O’Reilly to set and forget until the end of the season?
(via SIMBOBIANTHEIII)
A: I think the Champions League showed that Nico O’Reilly’s (£5.1m) position in midfield is better suited to his attributes and we will see more games of Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) at left-back. Now, if Man City do go out of the Champions League, there will likely be less rotation and more scope for Pep Guardiola to play his first-choice XI, which includes O’Reilly in midfield.
Marc Guehi’s (£5.2m) points potential at City, besides clean sheets, is quite limited. DefCon is unlikely and even the bonus points are usually shared between their attackers. O’Reilly may miss the odd game but the potential for a double-digit haul is significantly higher, so despite the reduced expected minutes, I think O’Reilly would be the clear preference for me.
Q: What’s your captaincy ranking this week, between Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike, Igor Thiago, Erling Haaland, Bruno Fernandes, Gabriel Magalhaes and Joao Pedro?
Q. Best captaincy options all round? Name and rate the top five.
(via z13 and @VishalM19121983)
A: Captaincy is a tricky call this week. Two of the three teams that have a six-day turnaround, ie Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday, are staring at a three-goal deficit (Chelsea & Manchester City). How will these teams manage this with their line-ups on Saturday in the league? Will they choose to rest players in the hope of preserving legs to go all out in the Champions League?
Liverpool played on Tuesday, and play on Sunday against Spurs, but their second leg against Galatasaray is on Wednesday, which means the turnaround between the latter two games is still short. So, while starts for their big guns are still likely, I’m expecting early substitutions.
However, Spurs are at an all-time low at the moment and if we do get confirmation that Cristian Romero (£5.0m) and Joao Palhinha (£5.5m) are also unavailable due to concussion, then it’s hard to ignore that fixture.
I think with Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City, we will see the first-choice players such as Joao Pedro (£7.7m), Cole Palmer (£10.6m), Erling Haaland (£14.6m), Antoine Semenyo (£8.3m), Hugo Ekitike (£9.2m), Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) etc all start but that early substitutions and managed minutes will then happen.
No such concern there for Bruno Fernandes (£10.1m). We know he has the routes to points, and Manchester United have had the midweek off, while Villa just played away to Lille on Thursday. All these factors point to him being the top pick but Villa have been alright defensively; they have just struggled to create chances and score goals.
Igor Thiago (£7.2m) is a great player to own but I don’t trust him and Brentford with the captaincy enough. Wolves have shown enough defensive resilience in recent weeks to put me off.
So, to rank the top options this week, in order of my preference, it would be:
- Bruno Fernandes – Safe for minutes, multiple routes to points, probably the highest floor of all the picks.
- Erling Haaland – The Norwegian international has scored 11 goals against the Hammers, more than any other Premier League opposition. I expect Man City to show some sort of reaction after the midweek drubbing and I think Crysencio Summerville’s injury is a big loss to the Hammers’ game plan.
- Mohamed Salah – Salah has been playing so poorly of late. He has had just two big chances over the last six Gameweeks and had only one penalty box touch against Galatasaray. There is a large portion of the Liverpool fanbase calling for Arne Slot to drop the Egyptian, which spooks me. The fact that he was substituted in the 60th minute in midweek can be read in two ways. It bodes well for his potential minutes on Sunday, as he should be more ‘rested’ than the other players, but it is concerning that he was hooked with Liverpool chasing the game. He does have penalties in his locker and higher expected minutes than Ekitike, so if you own him, I would be tempted to captain him.
- Hugo Ekitike – With Ekitike, the lack of any routes to points except from open play is slightly off-putting to me. That’s what would move him lower down the pecking order than the other three options mentioned. But if we do get news that Romero/Palhinha are indeed out, then he would perhaps go over Haaland and even Bruno in the pecking order. It also depends if you are chasing and looking to make up rank, as the first two are likely to be much more popular picks.
- Joao Pedro/Cole Palmer – Both excellent options and I expect starts for both as Chelsea need to keep pressing for European qualification. Just slightly lower than the Liverpool pair, as I rate Newcastle’s defence significantly higher than Spurs’.
All in all, I don’t think any of them is the standout option this week, so go with whoever you fancy.
Q: If doing the Erling Haaland to Joao Pedro move, is it obvious to do Morgan Rogers to Mohamed Salah as well for captaincy?
Q. Erling Haaland to Joao Pedro in Gameweek 30 or wait for Gameweek 31?
Q. A forward line of Hugo Ekitike, Igor Thiago and Erling Haaland is quite template. Would you sell any one of them for Joao Pedro this Gameweek?
(via @alexwaterbaby, @FPLCanuck and FPL Virgin)
A: I still think Haaland is a great captaincy pick this week and I am personally in no rush to move him on for Joao Pedro, unless we hear anything from Pep indicating a benching. The only player who tempts me is Ekitike, and that’s more to do with how bad Spurs have been.
So, unless you’re buying the French international, I’d give Haaland another week, and get more information on how the landscape looks. Given how Man City and Palace’s results go next week, they could have a fixture in Gameweek 31 or a double as soon as Gameweek 32, and then the move becomes chip-strategy dependent.
The Salah captaincy move really is a differential pick, if you need a boost up the rankings. There is little time to chase rank now. Every Gameweek is pretty much 10% of the season, so you have to take your shots now.
Q: How dumb is it not to have Antoine Semenyo?
(via FPL Virgin)
A: I think it has been pretty ‘dumb’, for the lack of a better word, for several of us FPL managers, myself included, to go without Semenyo since his move to Manchester City, by justifying it with the Gameweek 31 blank. He has taken a large chunk of Haaland’s goal share and has only blanked once since Gameweek 23.
Would I buy him now, though, knowing that he – currently – doesn’t have a fixture next week? Nope, unless your squad is already well set up to bench him for that week.
