Heavy rotation has struck Fantasy Premier League managers once again as the gap between Gameweeks 15 and 16 takes its toll.
Owners of West Ham and Brighton assets are suffering the most from Tuesday’s team selections while Southampton and Leeds have proved the more reliable squads to rely on.
David Moyes has dropped Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m), Jarrod Bowen (£6.4m), Issa Diop (£4.3m) and Ben Johnson (£3.9m) to the bench, where they are joined by the returning Michail Antonio (£6.2m).
Sebastien Haller (£6.1m) still leads the line supported by Pablo Fornals (£6.1m), Manuel Lanzini (£6.4m) and Andriy Yarmolenko (£5.5m) in attacking midfield, while Ryan Fredericks (£4.2m) occupies Coufal’s right-back berth.
By contrast, a relatively unchanged Southampton have kept key Fantasy assets such as Che Adams (£6.1m) and Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.8m) in the starting line-up, where there is also a relatively surprise return of Danny Ings (£8.3m), who missed the last match with a hamstring problem.
Marcelo Bielsa has gone for a similar approach for Leeds’ trip to West Bromwich Albion naming a completely unchanged side, which means another start for Patrick Bamford (£6.5m), Raphinha (£5.4m), Stuart Dallas (£4.8m) and Illan Meslier (£4.6m).
West Bromwich Albion line-up in a 4-4-2 formation with Callum Robinson (£5.4m) and Karlan Grant (£5.8m) leading the line.
FPL midfielder Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.4m) returns to the Arsenal line-up for the first time since sustaining an injury ahead of Gameweek 14.
The Arsenal star is set to lead the Gunners’ line ahead of attacking midfield trio Gabriel Martinelli (£4.9m), Emile Smith-Rowe (£4.4m) and Bukayo Saka (£5.2m).
Aubameyang is the sole change to Mikel Arteta’s line-up from the 3-1 win against Chelsea in GW15, as Alexandre Lacazette (£8.2m) drops to the bench.
A positive Covid test rules Gabriel (£5.0m) out of Gameweeks 16 and 17, at least.
Graham Potter has made six changes from the XI that began the 2-2 draw at West Ham on Sunday.
Alexis Mac Allister (£5.3m), Pascal Gross (£5.8m), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (£5.4m), Davy Propper (£4.8m), budget defender Bernardo (£3.9m) and Joel Veltman (£4.3m) are all drafted in for the Seagulls.
Adam Lallana (£6.2m) misses out through injury while Ben White (£4.4m), Solly March (£5.0m), Leandro Trossard (£5.8m), Neal Maupay (£6.1m) and Danny Welbeck (£5.5m) are all on the bench.
Tariq Lamptey (£4.7m) is still sidelined with a hamstring injury. On Sunday, Potter said of the right-back:
“Tariq is going to be a few days, maybe weeks. He won’t be ready for the next game [Arsenal].” – Graham Potter
Chris Wilder has made just one change to the Sheffield United XI for their clash with Burnley at Turf Moor.
Lys Mousset (£5.8m) replaces budget midfielder Oliver Burke (£4.4m), with the Scot only fit enough for the bench due to an ongoing back issue.
That means Rhian Brewster (£4.5m) earns a third consecutive start in the Sheffield United forward line.
Having announced today that they recorded a number of positive Covid-19 tests, the Blades name seven substitutes out of a maximum of nine.
The Clarets also show just one alteration to their Gameweek 15 line-up, as Robbie Brady (£5.0m) replaces Josh Benson (£4.5m) at right-midfield.
Sean Dyche had hoped to also have Dwight McNeil (£5.7m) available, though the winger is not even fit enough to make the Burnley bench.
On the two widemen, the Burnley boss said in his pre-match press conference:
“With the two games in three days, we had to make a judgement call. We think they both have a chance [of facing Sheffield United] but we just felt the fatigue element of two games and what it might do, when you are coming out of a minor injury, we just had to make a decision.” – Sean Dyche
Gameweek 16 Line-ups
Brighton and Hove Albion XI: Sanchez; Burn, Dunk, Webster; Bernardo, Propper, Bissouma, Veltman; Mac Allister, Gross; Jahanbakhsh.
Arsenal XI: Leno; Tierney, Mari, Holding, Bellerin; Xhaka, Elneny; Martinelli, Smith-Rowe, Saka; Aubameyang.
Burnley XI: Pope; Taylor, Mee, Tarkowski, Lowton; Pieters, Westwood, Brownhill, Brady; Wood, Barnes.
Sheffield United XI: Ramsdale; Robinson, Egan, Basham; Stevens, Osborn, Ampadu, Baldock; McGoldrick, Mousset, Brewster.
Southampton XI: A McCarthy; Bertrand, Bednarek, J Stephens, Walker-Peters; Walcott, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo; Adams, Ings.
West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Cresswell, Ogbonna, Dawson, Fredericks; Rice, Soucek; Fornals, Lanzini, Yarmolenko; Haller.
West Bromwich Albion XI: Johnstone; Gibbs, Ajayi, O’Shea, Furlong; Diangana, Gallagher, Sawyers, M Phillips; C Robinson, Grant.
Leeds United XI: Meslier; Alioski, Ayling, Struijk, Dallas; K Phillips; Harrison, Klich, Rodrigo, Raphinha; Bamford.
Article written by David Munday and Colm Hayes.
