Five-time top 1k finisher Tom Freeman hosts our weekly Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Q&A, answering your burning questions.
Q: Iliman Ndiaye (£6.0m) – keep or transfer out? If the latter, which players would you recommend in a similar price bracket?
Via Ian Hart
A: Iliman Ndiaye has swapped Merseyside for Manchester this week, in a deal which could rise to £65m.
It’s a tricky situation for owners, myself included.
Longer term, I think he’s a sell.
Firstly, he won’t be on penalties anymore, certainly not with Erling Haaland (£15.5m) around.
I don’t think he’ll be a nailed-on starter, either, given Manchester City’s squad depth, which you can see below via the excellent @4lex_mcfc.
Even when Ndiaye does start, he probably won’t play the full 90 minutes, which will subsequently impact his ability to hit the defensive contribution (DefCon) threshold. Regardless of minutes, City’s wingers don’t have as much defensive work to do anyway.
Looking ahead, I think there’ll be too much week-to-week uncertainty to own Ndiaye, unless a positional rival suffers an injury.
This week, at home to Coventry City, you’d think he’ll start on the bench. But with Porto on Tuesday, in Portugal, plus the Manchester derby next weekend, we could see some early substitutions, particularly if City have established a comfortable lead.
Is Ndiaye worth keeping for potentially 20-25 minutes v Coventry, then? Probably not, but I do think we should carefully monitor Enzo Maresca’s Friday presser before we reach any final decisions.
As you can probably tell, I’m still mulling this one over!
If you do want to transfer Ndiaye out this week, I like Anton Stach (£6.0m), Mamadou Sangare (£5.7m) and Pascal Gross (£5.5m), mainly due to their multiple routes to points.
Stach, for example, is top among midfielders for DefCons so far, with 32. He is also Leeds United’s primary set-piece taker.
Q: Triple Captain Erling Haaland (£15.5m) – yes or no?
Via ViperStripes
A: I’ve already looked at some of the pros and cons in a standalone article, which you can read here.
Overall, however, I like this approach.
Personally, I don’t think Coventry will offer much resistance at the Etihad Stadium, especially if we use the trip to Arsenal in Gameweek 1 as a blueprint.
The Porto fixture on Tuesday isn’t ideal, but Haaland is in good physical condition. There will have been seven full days’ rest between the Crystal Palace and Coventry games, too.
I’m planning to Wildcard in Gameweek 4, which rules Cole Palmer (£9.6m) out as an option at home to Hull City.
I also don’t want to leave it until mid-December, when Haaland plays Hull, so I’m pretty sure I’ll Triple Captain Haaland in Gameweek 3.
Q: Who are the best £4.5m defender options over the next few Gameweeks, excluding Ezri Konsa (£4.4m)?
Via IAWC (It’s a Wonderful Cruyff)
A: It’s still early days, but outside of Konsa, I like Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) the most in this price bracket.
He is one of just four defenders who have banked DefCon points in both Gameweeks so far, and should continue to be a decent option while Sepp van den Berg (£4.9m) is out injured, perhaps longer.
Due to his DefCon potential, I’d be happy to play Ajer in any of these fixtures:
Amar Dedic (£4.5m) meanwhile has started really well at Newcastle United. I don’t see any reason why Tino Livramento (£4.9m) would take his place for now, but he is back in training, which gives me some hesitation about picking him out.
Instead, Nico Elvedi (£4.5m) could be a nice cheap route into the Leeds United defence, given Joe Rodon’s (£4.5m) 8-10 week absence due to a hamstring injury. I think he’ll chip in with DefCons and the odd attacking return.
Above: Teams sorted by expected goals conceded (xGC) in 2026/27
Q: Are Rayan Cherki (£7.7m), Phil Foden (£7.0m) and Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m) still good options given Manchester City’s new arrivals?
Via Under My Cucurella
A: Cherki, Foden and Semenyo are all really nice options this week, for obvious reasons.
If I had to pick one for Gameweek 3 in isolation, I’d slightly favour Foden.
He supplied a couple of assists at Selhurst Park last week. He also missed two big chances and generated the highest expected goals (xG) of any Man City player, with 0.87.
“Phil is adapting a little bit wide. We know that he’s not a winger but we are trying to find a solution. I think, when [it was] the last 10 minutes, 15 minutes, he was inside, you can see that he was enjoying a little bit more. But again, the attitude was very good and this is what we need.” – Enzo Maresca on Phil Foden
In light of the above, I think Foden will probably end up competing with Cherki for the No 10 role, with Semenyo, Jeremy Doku (£7.4m) and Ndiaye the primary options on the flanks.
With the Champions League getting underway next week, all of them could be subject to rotation.
We subsequently need much more time to assess it all.
Once everything settles down, I wouldn’t be surprised if Enzo Fernandez (£6.9m) emerges as the second-best City attacker after Haaland, but let’s see how it unfolds in the coming weeks.
Q: What impact might Matias Fernandez-Pardo (£6.0m) have on Yoane Wissa (£6.1m) at Newcastle United?
Q: Do you prefer Lewis Hall (£5.1m) or Malick Thiaw (£5.0m)?
Q: Is getting all three of Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga (£6.1m) and Hall a bit too much Newcastle United, despite their good fixtures?
Via Better off with a pin and a blindfold, F4L + Lost for Wirtz
A: You’d think Fernandez-Pardo will be eased in gently. That should allow Wissa to continue up top, certainly against Bournemouth in Gameweek 3.
Longer term, Fernandez-Pardo could potentially lead the line, with Wissa in the ’10’.
It’s the same position Wissa played against Liverpool in Gameweek 1. He produced four shots in that game, so I don’t think a slightly more withdrawn role would blunt his appeal, especially if he’s on penalties.
As for the defenders, I’d pick Hall, mainly due to his all-round points potential, including open-play attacking threat, set-pieces and DefCons.
Finally, Elanga has started the season really well. However, I remain a bit sceptical, particularly with matches against Leeds United, Hull and Coventry coming up, where there will naturally be less space for him to exploit.
Personally, I’d prefer Stach, Sangare and Gross.
