Bryan Mbeumo (£7.1m) will miss Gameweek 16 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and more matches beyond that.
The Brentford attacker limped out of his side’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday night, having earlier put the Bees ahead from the spot.
Here, we identify a few possible FPL replacements now that Mbeumo is ruled out.
We also look at how Brentford will line up in his absence and who may take over penalty-taking duties.
MBEUMO’S INJURY: WHAT’S KNOWN AND BEEN SAID
Mbeumo hit the turf at the Amex in the latter stages of the first half, staying down for some time before being helped off the pitch by two of Brentford’s medical team. He was then substituted.
Speaking immediately after full-time, boss Thomas Frank couldn’t offer much insight other than to confirm that Mbeumo had twisted his ankle.
However, the Brentford manager’s subsequent pre-match press conference on Thursday shed a lot more light on the severity of Mbeumo’s injury.
“It is bad. I don’t know how bad. We don’t have the exact number of weeks. He will definitely be out for Saturday and for weeks.” – Thomas Frank on Bryan Mbeumo’s injury
HOW COULD BRENTFORD LINE UP WITHOUT MBEUMO?
Frank tends to use a 3-5-2 against more difficult opponents and a 4-3-3 against the rest of the division, although we did see a bespoke 4-4-2 set-up against Brighton in midweek.
Next up for Brentford is bottom club Sheffield United, so it is assumed that the 4-3-3 will be back in operation at Bramall Lane.
With Kevin Schade (£5.3m) and Ivan Toney (£7.9m) out until January, Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.7m) will be the favourite to benefit from Mbeumo’s absence.
Rookie Michael Olakigbe (£4.5m) and Mikkel Damsgaard (£4.8m), who is just back from a four-month injury, are alternatives out wide.
The expected minutes of Neal Maupay (£4.9m) and Yoane Wissa (£5.9m) look set to be given a short-term boost too, with one fewer attacking alternative.
WHO WILL TAKE BRENTFORD’S PENALTIES IN MBEUMO’S ABSENCE?
Maupay and Wissa will have their eyes on spot-kick duties, at least until regular taker Toney returns in Gameweek 21.
Wissa has a career record of 11 scored and two missed, with Maupay on a similar 12/15 strike rate.
Toney and Mbeumo are the only players to have ever taken a Premier League penalty for Brentford.
In the EFL Cup second-round tie against Newport County earlier this season, Lewis-Potter and Wissa – along with Mbeumo – stepped up to take one of the shootout penalties.
MBEUMO: FPL REPLACEMENTS
For this section, we will look at midfielders under £8.0m.
