FPL notes: Slot explains Ekitike benching + Richarlison threat

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Price Change Predictions

Risers

Fallers

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Bowen	WHU	7.5m	89.0%	Unlikely
Lammens	MUN	5.0m	88.6%	Unlikely
Petrović	BOU	4.5m	87.5%	Unlikely
Mainoo	MUN	4.6m	83.6%	Unlikely
Henderson	CRY	5.0m	82.8%	Unlikely
Garner	EVE	5.2m	82.3%	Unlikely
Kayode	BRE	4.5m	80.5%	Unlikely
Szoboszlai	LIV	7.0m	75.9%	Unlikely
Alderete	SUN	4.1m	74.5%	Unlikely
Gakpo	LIV	7.3m	74.0%	Unlikely
Rodon	LEE	3.9m	73.0%	Unlikely
A.Becker	LIV	5.4m	72.1%	Unlikely
Thiaw	NEW	5.1m	70.7%	Unlikely
Anderson	NFO	5.5m	68.7%	Unlikely
Leno	FUL	4.9m	68.9%	Unlikely
Wan-Bissaka	WHU	4.1m	66.2%	Unlikely
Mitchell	CRY	5.0m	63.6%	Unlikely
Aït-Nouri	MCI	5.7m	61.1%	Unlikely
Igor Jesus	NFO	5.8m	58.7%	Unlikely
Justin	LEE	3.9m	55.6%	Unlikely
Frimpong	LIV	5.7m	54.9%	Unlikely
Thiago	BRE	7.3m	51.9%	Unlikely
Damsgaard	BRE	5.6m	49.2%	Unlikely
Kelleher	BRE	4.8m	48.5%	Unlikely
Sarr	CRY	6.3m	48.1%	Unlikely
Aaronson	LEE	5.4m	47.9%	Unlikely
Bassey	FUL	4.4m	47.0%	Unlikely
Cucurella	CHE	6.0m	46.6%	Unlikely
Richards	CRY	4.4m	43.8%	Unlikely
Shaw	MUN	4.5m	42.5%	Unlikely
Gravenberch	LIV	5.5m	40.3%	Unlikely
Barry	EVE	5.7m	40.1%	Unlikely
Senesi	BOU	5.1m	39.4%	Unlikely
Amad	MUN	6.2m	38.4%	Unlikely
Robinson	FUL	4.9m	38.1%	Unlikely
Aina	NFO	4.7m	37.8%	Unlikely
Saka	ARS	9.8m	35.1%	Unlikely
Adli	BOU	5.4m	34.6%	Unlikely
Ndiaye	EVE	6.2m	33.7%	Unlikely
Iwobi	FUL	6.4m	34.2%	Unlikely

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Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Rogers	AVL	7.5m	99.5%	Likely
Chalobah	CHE	5.5m	97.1%	Maybe
Tchaouna	BUR	4.9m	94.3%	Unlikely
Lucca	NFO	5.5m	94.0%	Unlikely
Summerville	WHU	5.6m	93.5%	Unlikely
Abraham	AVL	6.0m	93.3%	Unlikely
Lewis-Skelly	ARS	5.1m	92.8%	Unlikely
Marc Guiu	CHE	4.1m	91.8%	Unlikely
Diakité	BOU	4.2m	90.7%	Unlikely
Benitez	CRY	4.0m	89.8%	Unlikely
Pope	NEW	5.1m	89.6%	Unlikely
Bruun Larsen	BUR	5.3m	88.2%	Unlikely
Lamadrid	WHU	5.0m	88.1%	Unlikely
Gvardiol	MCI	5.9m	83.5%	Unlikely
Malacia	MUN	3.8m	82.9%	Unlikely
Ramsay	LIV	3.8m	82.1%	Unlikely
Valdimarsson	BRE	3.9m	82.2%	Unlikely
Burrowes	AVL	4.4m	80.8%	Unlikely
Weiss	BUR	4.3m	80.4%	Unlikely
Spence	TOT	4.2m	79.6%	Unlikely
Kevin	FUL	5.8m	79.2%	Unlikely
Gyökeres	ARS	8.8m	79.1%	Unlikely
McAidoo	MCI	4.5m	78.6%	Unlikely
Areola	WHU	4.3m	78.2%	Unlikely
Strand Larsen	CRY	6.1m	77.5%	Unlikely
Enzo	CHE	6.6m	74.8%	Unlikely
Keane	EVE	4.6m	74.6%	Unlikely
Travers	EVE	4.3m	72.8%	Unlikely
Merino	ARS	5.4m	72.6%	Unlikely
Longstaff	LEE	4.8m	71.8%	Unlikely
Emenalo	CHE	4.5m	72.1%	Unlikely
Salmon	ARS	4.0m	71.6%	Unlikely
Piroe	LEE	4.9m	71.1%	Unlikely
Ekitiké	LIV	9.3m	68.1%	Unlikely
Trafford	MCI	4.5m	67.4%	Unlikely
Cullen	BUR	4.9m	66.5%	Unlikely
Grealish	EVE	6.3m	66.1%	Unlikely
Slonina	CHE	3.9m	65.2%	Unlikely
Johnson	CRY	6.5m	65.6%	Unlikely
Gusto	CHE	4.9m	66.0%	Unlikely

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Watchlists

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Kelleher	BRE	C
No Change	Raya Martin	ARS	B
No Change	Martinez	AVL	C, Vs
No Change	Darlow	LEE	C, Vs, £

Last updated: 20 Mar, 2026 6:02pm

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	van Dijk	LIV	B
No Change	Gabriel Magalhães	ARS	A
No Change	Hill	BOU	A, £
Up	Thiaw	NEW	B
No Change	O’Reilly	MCI	A, OoP
No Change	Andersen	FUL	B
No Change	Muñoz	CRY	C
No Change	Kayode	BRE	B
No Change	Cash	AVL	C, Vs
No Change	Rodon	LEE	B, Vs, £

Last updated: 20 Mar, 2026 5:57pm

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Bruno Fernandes	MUN	A
Up	Palmer	CHE	C
Up	Gordon	NEW	B
No Change	Wilson	FUL	A
Down	Semenyo	MCI	B
No Change	Dango Ouattara	BRE	B
No Change	Rogers	AVL	C, Vs
No Change	Ismaila Sarr	CRY	B
No Change	Rice	ARS	C
No Change	Tavernier	BOU	B, £
No Change	Anderson	NFO	B, £
No Change	Stach	LEE	B, Vs, £

Last updated: 20 Mar, 2026 6:01pm

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Haaland	MCI	B
No Change	Thiago	BRE	B
No Change	Ekitiké	LIV	B
No Change	João Pedro	CHE	A
No Change	Bowen	WHU	B
No Change	Calvert-Lewin	LEE	C, Vs

Last updated: 20 Mar, 2026 6:03pm

Scout Notes

FPL notes: Slot explains Ekitike benching + Richarlison threat

16 March 2026 42 comments

avfc82

Hugo Ekitike (£9.2m) and Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) were both benched for Liverpool on Sunday, as a late Richarlison (£6.3m) strike earned Tottenham Hotspur a surprise point at Anfield.

READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 30: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
READ MORE: FPL notes: Timber injury, Gabriel DefCon + Moyes coy on absences
READ MORE: FPL notes: Jorgensen injury update + ‘OOP’ Gordon “magnificent”
READ MORE: FPL notes: Pep on Haaland’s groin + his “bad selection”
READ MORE: FPL notes: Brilliant Bruno + why Barkley got maximum bonus

SLOT ON EKITIKE

Arne Slot made five alterations to his Liverpool line-up on Sunday, with Ekitike and Salah among those dropping to the bench.

The Dutchman, who clearly had one eye on Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League encounter with Galatasaray, explained his decision to start youngster Rio Ngumoha (£4.3m) and bench Ekitike prior to kick-off.

“Why now? Because he [Ngumoha] started training with us this season, and he’s improving, improving, improving. His game time has gone up, up, up, and then usually the next step is starting, and that’s today.
“First of all, because he did so well against Wolves, first of all because he’s developing well. Second of all, Hugo Ekitike trained for the first time with us yesterday, but missed out the day before.
“But mainly because Rio has shown that he’s ready for it now. He has to show it today, maybe, but if you look at what he did till now, I think the next step is starting, and that’s what he does today.” – Arne Slot

NGUMOHA PRAISE

With Ekitike and Salah benched, Ngumoha consequently started his first Premier League game on the left, with Florian Wirtz (£8.3m) the ‘10’ behind Cody Gakpo (£7.3m).

Ngumoha was easily Liverpool’s best attacker, while Gakpo hit the post in the first-half, but overall, attacks often fell apart at the crucial moment.

Still, for Ngumoha, this was a really promising display, with the 17-year-old firing off three shots.

“He enjoyed it as well and I enjoyed it also. He has developed very well throughout the season. He is 17 and now he has had his first Premier League start. He was a constant threat and that was definitely one of the positives to take from the game today.” – Arne Slot on Rio Ngumoha

As for Ekitike and Salah, they were sent on just after the hour mark and racked up a combined five shots, but the quality wasn’t always there.

SZOBOSZLAI HAUL

Instead, Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) scored Liverpool’s only goal direct from yet another free-kick.

4 – Dominik Szoboszlai has scored four direct free-kick goals in the Premier League this season, the most ever by a Liverpool player in a single campaign in the competition, with only David Beckham in 2000-01 and Laurent Robert in 2001-02 (both 5) netting more. Fantastic. pic.twitter.com/X3Arm4yD8x
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 15, 2026

Deployed at right-back, with Jeremie Frimpong (£5.7m) in front of him, the Hungarian also stuck to his defensive tasks and racked up 14 defensive contributions (DefCon), hitting the DefCon threshold for the fourth time in six matches.

It resulted in a tidy 11-point haul for his 12.2% ownership.

But some sloppy defensive play cost Liverpool in the latter stages once more.

It’s now just two clean sheets in nine league matches for Arne Slot’s men.

“We have conceded far too many goals to pick up the amount of points that this club and I am used to. We have so much attacking quality but if you don’t score enough, you have to keep a clean sheet and we haven’t done that enough this season.” – Arne Slot

RICHARLISON THREAT

This was obviously Tottenham’s best display under Igor Tudor thus far.

Despite being without 13 players due to injuries and suspension, Richarlison led the line superbly, as Tudor surprised everyone by lining his troops up in a 4-4-2.

The Brazilian struck late on to earn Spurs a crucial point and racked up five shots in total, the most of any player on the pitch.

FPL notes: Slot explains Ekitike benching + Richarlison threat 1

Above: Richarlison’s shot map (shots on target in green) v Liverpool

“In the first half I missed two chances but in the second half I had the opportunity again and I scored. I like to play against the big teams, I want to stay fit for my team and for my national team for the summer because they need me to be fit.” – Richarlison

Discussing his tactical set-up at Anfield, Tudor said:

“In attack we tried something different. In this moment it’s difficult to work on a structure in attack so we try to simplify it otherwise it can get more difficult. The style of football is what it is, and I think it’s a good start. The team spirit was amazing. This was the main demand. The quality is there. Every point is crucial, we are just going game by game. We hope today is a turning point.” – Igor Tudor

Defensively, Spurs impressed too, with centre-back partnership Radu Dragusin (£4.5m) and Kevin Danso (£4.2m), who was particularly solid throughout, both banking DefCon.

Tottenham remain the only team without a Premier League win so far in 2026, but they can take real encouragement from both the performance and result at Anfield.

Next up: a UEFA Champions League second leg tie against Atletico Madrid, before a real relegation six-pointer at home to Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 31.

42 Comments Login to Post a Comment

_Greg
12 days, 1 hour ago
Bruno best player in the league.
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1. Yank Revolution
  12 days, 1 hour ago
  Oh Captain, my Captain!
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OverTinker
12 days, 1 hour ago
Pickford
Thiaw Keane Hill
Bruno F. Wilson Mbuemo Rogers Semenyo*
Haaland* J. Pedro

Dubravka Timber Gabriel Guiu

3 FT and 1.4 itb

Any suggestions please
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OverTinker
12 days, 1 hour ago
The budget for next season should perhaps be 90 million at this rate
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1. RedLightning
  12 days, 4 mins ago
  It'll always be 100m, but prices should be adjusted accordingly.
  Perhaps they ought also to consider making some big mid-season price adjustments (but would have to announce well in advance that this was going to happen and when).
  And they shouldn't give us so many (if any) additional free transfers for AFCON next time - AFCON had a much smaller effect on our teams than anticipated, and the extra 5 free transfers merely enabled everyone to have similar teams at that point, and negated any advantage that might have been gained by planning for it in advance.
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2. RedLightning
  11 days, 23 hours ago
  The biggest problem is Haaland.
  Many of us are considering selling him, but don't know what to do with all the cash released by this sale, and can get all the players we want without having to make any compromises.
  But they can't reduce his price too much, because even at £14.6m, he still has 58.1% ownership.
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3. RedLightning
  11 days, 15 hours ago
  After further thought, making sudden big price adjustments in mid-season isn't really an acceptable solution.
  Instead, if too many of the premium players underperform again like they did this season while too many of the more popular but less expensive players outperform them, then they could reduce the price difference between the two groups by allowing their prices to change more rapidly (but never by more than 0.1m at a time or more than 0.3m in a Gameweek).
  They could even quietly introduce this in mid-season if they see that the change is required.
  This wouldn't be price fixing for individual players who might be owned by influential people in FPL Towers - it would merely be an adjustment to their secret price-change algorithm affecting groups of players.
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  1. Ausman
    11 days, 14 hours ago
    The issue isn't with money, it's player classification.
    I play another fantasy game called "Supercoach" here in the land of Oz. Biggest difference between the 2 formats is SC has a much larger pool of Forwards and a smaller pool of Mids, and achieve this by having a different classification system. Wingers are Forwards, not Mids, so guys like Saka, Gordon, Semenyo, etc. being in the forwards pool makes it more difficult and adds more variance. You also get a choice of 9 different formations (4-4-2; 3-4-3; 5-4-1 etc.) and you get 44 trades for the season which are given to each participant at the conclusion of GW1. You can use up to 2 per week, but once you use all 44 trades that's it. My first season I got too gung ho and ran out of trades after GW31! Lesson learnt as my rank slid away each week and I couldn't do a thing about it.
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    1. RedLightning
      11 days, 12 hours ago
      Which is the 9th formation?
      FPL has eight (5-4-1, 5-3-2, 5-2-3, 4-5-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-5-2 and 3-4-3).
      Is the maximum number of forwards still 3?
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      1. Ausman
        11 days, 12 hours ago
        2-5-3
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        RedLightning
        11 days, 12 hours ago
        Interesting.
        Back in 2015-16, when FPL first introduced chips (previously there were only Wildcards), one of these chips was All-out Attack, which allowed us to play the 2-5-3 formation in the next Gameweek. But it could only be used once and the 2-5-3 formation had to be specified in advance, so we couldn't specify a formation with 3 or more defenders and then auto-sub in a mid or forward if less than 3 of our defenders actually played.
        It didn't turn out well, since money was tight that season and it was difficult to afford a decent eighth attacker if you only had two defenders, so it often resulted in the 2-5-3 team scoring less than the 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 ones used in other Gameweeks.
        So in 2017-18 it was replaced with the new Free Hit chip.
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Taegugk Warrior
12 days, 54 mins ago
sesko or pedro..?
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1. C0YS
  12 days, 44 mins ago
  Flip a coin
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  1. Taegugk Warrior
    12 days, 40 mins ago
    chance sesko start at gw31..?
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    1. Bob_the_builder
      12 days, 2 mins ago
      Given Mbeumo's struggles, fairly high.
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Clintymints
12 days, 44 mins ago
gordon worth a punt?

have exact funds enzo to him tonight...
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1. C0YS
  12 days, 44 mins ago
  I’d go for it
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  1. Clintymints
    12 days, 35 mins ago
    he's in 😀
    
    Thiaw in too for O'Reilly, had exact cash today
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C0YS
12 days, 44 mins ago
Bowen or Thiago?
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1. Clintymints
  12 days, 35 mins ago
  I Own Thiago and I'd fancy Bowen instead
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SpaceCadet
12 days, 34 mins ago
Best use of FT here? Plan to wc in gw32. 2m itb. Semenyo > Gordon?

Sanchez
Vvd senesi diouf vdv
Bruno Wilson Szobo Anderson
Pedro Thiago

Dubravka Gabriel Haaland semenyo
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rainy
12 days, 33 mins ago
Price changes 16th March

Rises:
João Pedro 7.8
Šeško 7.4
Gordon 7.3
Thiago 7.3

Falls:
Haaland 14.5
Calvert-Lewin 5.6
Brobbey 5.3
Gnonto 5.1
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1. nanxun
  12 days, 28 mins ago
  thx, rainy! 🙂
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2. The Night Trunker.
  12 days ago
  The trouble with you guys is where are you when I need you.
  You are rarely there in hours of need.
  You are actually a hospital that employs Nurse Ratchett on a regular basis.
  Do One, all of you involved in FFS.
  You think Spurs are 'gonna curl up and die.
  Where were the Rich punts?
  Well.......well the fruit were they??
  Abysmal...as per.
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  1. The Night Trunker.
    11 days, 23 hours ago
    Yer I've a drink OK.
    But it was Nothers day.
    MMM.
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    1. NZREDS
      11 days, 21 hours ago
      He’s back on it!
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  2. rainy
    11 days, 21 hours ago
    "The best thing we can do is go on with our daily routine”
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3. MissouriMarten
  11 days, 15 hours ago
  Haaland to become a differential?
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thetommy14
11 days, 23 hours ago
Muñoz to Thiaw? 1FT
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1. The Night Trunker.
  11 days, 23 hours ago
  What a bloody complicated quest.
  I'm gonna look forward to. All this insight.
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The Knights Template
11 days, 20 hours ago
Best latibulator, Haaland or Watkins?
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1. Ausman
  11 days, 14 hours ago
  Tough question. I'd probably go with Watkins.
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Tibbs
11 days, 20 hours ago
Who are people looking to bring in for a one week punt before WC in 32?
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1. Ha.
  11 days, 19 hours ago
  Fulham because Burnley
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2. Bobby Crush
  11 days, 19 hours ago
  Not sure if I will WC yet. Waiting for the European games results first.
  
  But if I am, Gordon is tempting, Wilson a must if you don’t have him,
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Ha.
11 days, 19 hours ago
2FT (WC next week)

Munoz > Andersen
Haaland > Sesko
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Weasel51
11 days, 19 hours ago
Have this for GW31:

Sanchez
Rodon Alderete VVD
Wilson Mbuemo Bruno(c) KDH
Thiago Ekitike

Guehi, Gabriel, Semenyo + Haaland with no fixture.

————————

What’s the best play here for 1 week before a Wildcard? Would like Gordon in but lose 0.4 selling Semenyo who I’ll want straight back.

A) Semenyo > Gordon
B) Haaland > Watkins/Richarlison
C) Guehi > Hall/Andersen
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cescpistols1
11 days, 19 hours ago
What moves do you recommend?

2FT, 0.1 ITB. WC already used. Planning BB33 & FH34.

A. Richards -> Andersen/Van Den Berg
B. Haaland -> Bowen & then Rogers -> Salah in GW32
C. Semenyo -> Wirtz
D. Semenyo -> Gordon

Dubravka
Virgil Richards Hill Rodon
Bruno(c) Rogers MGW Wilson
J.Pedro Thiago

Raya Haaland Gabriel Semenyo
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1. SpaceCadet
  11 days, 19 hours ago
  D
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SpaceCadet
11 days, 19 hours ago
Best option for bgw31?

A. Ekitike
B. Gordon
C. Iwobi
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1. Miguel Sanchez
  11 days, 18 hours ago
  c - Gordon is tempting but chance he could get a red in a fiery derby too
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Warblers
11 days, 13 hours ago
What a strange season this is. I have Haaland, does nothing of late, yet there’s no point in selling him because 1) there isn’t really anyone bring in his stead that is any more reliable nor 2) there isn’t anything to do with thew funds that might be released.
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