Our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers are writing about all things Fantasy Premier League (FPL) in 2023/24. Next up, seven-time top 10k finisher Zophar takes his usual weekly FPL Q&A.
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Q: For managers not using a Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 29, is Leon Bailey (£5.6m) or Douglas Luiz (£5.5m) the way to replace Cole Palmer (£5.8m)? Or should we just forget about the blank and play the immediate Wolverhampton Wanderers fixtures? I know you’ve mentioned recently about looking at the fixtures straight ahead.
(via @AlanHooly)
A: It’s very difficult to be deterministic with chip strategy right now, as so much depends on next week’s FA Cup results and subsequent draw. Any plans you draw up this week could be binned by the next. I think the key is to be flexible in any approach and keep options open.
Also, I think there are enough upside fixtures in the immediate Gameweek 26 that we can attack. I will discuss some of the midfield options below but the general theme in this piece is to attack what we know so far, before being more deterministic once we know the FA Cup situation.
Q: Best Diogo Jota (£8.3m) replacements?
(via CAMZY)
A: I think the best teams to target this week are Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United and Aston Villa. You could add Brighton and Hove Albion to this list as well but they’re even less likely to feature in Blank Gameweek 29 due to Manchester City’s high likelihood of FA Cup progression. That’s why I’m not including Pascal Gross (£6.5m), Simon Adingra (£5.0m) or Kaoru Mitoma (£6.4m). All are decent picks with not much to split them.
- READ MORE: Who are the best Jota replacements in FPL?
Hwang Hee-chan (£5.6m) or Pedro Neto (£5.8m): Scout did a piece earlier in the week that compared these two Wolves midfielders and it’s quite clear from the numbers that Neto is the creator with Hwang the goalscorer. This dynamic is likely to be strengthened further with Matheus Cunha‘s (£5.6m) injury and Hwang playing up front. So I prefer Hwang’s higher ceiling.
Martin Odegaard (£8.4m): Most of us already own Bukayo Saka (£9.1m) but Odegaard is also a fantastic option. My only problem with him is that there are so many good midfield options that can deliver similar points. In general, options are so sparse at the back that I think the third Arsenal spot should go on another defender. If you don’t own Saka, just get him in irrespective of the possible Blank Gameweek 29.
Alejandro Garnacho (£5.0m): Fulham are without Joao Palhinha (£5.0m) this weekend and they often struggle without their midfield lynchpin. Meanwhile, Garnacho has been posting great numbers and the low price allows you to invest funds elsewhere. Another upside is that, if an FA Cup upset sees Man United eliminated, they’d have the best Gameweek 29 fixture.
Midfielders of Aston Villa: Honestly, I don’t like any of the Villa options. Bailey’s minutes and fitness worry me knowing there are Europa Conference League matches on either side of Gameweek 28. Neither John McGinn (£5.5m), Youri Tielemans (£5.6m), Moussa Diaby (£6.4m) or Jacob Ramsey (£5.9m) look investible.
As for Douglas Luiz – third amongst midfielders for points in home matches – we saw against Fulham that he is still getting forward to join attacks with McGinn playing the deeper role. However, he’s had only 15 penalty area shots all season and his main output comes from set pieces and penalties. Nailed for 90 minutes, I’d only really invest if you are completely set on not Free Hitting in Blank Gameweek 29.
Q: Alex Moreno (£5.2m) or Pau Torres (£4.6m)? And on what grounds?
Q: Budget defenders to navigate Gameweeks 26 and 29?
Q: If you don’t plan to Free Hit in Gameweek 29, which defender would you rather buy this week – an Arsenal, Aston Villa or Brentford name? And would you transfer out Pedro Porro (£5.7m)?
(via @kurtev_s, @vardyboys and JOLETOURISTE)
A: I think if you don’t have a second Arsenal defender, that should be your priority. I don’t particularly like the clean sheet prospects of either Aston Villa or Brentford in Blank Gameweek 29 (away to West Ham United and Burnley respectively), so would rather go with the league’s best defence for the three games beforehand.
If you are specifically looking at those two Gameweeks, based on current information, I would probably go for Sergio Reguilon‘s (£4.4m) attacking upside. With Villa, the only option you can really now go for is Pau Torres but he has limited upside and their defence looks weaker without Boubacar Kamara (£5.0m) in front. Lucas Digne (£4.6m) could come in for Moreno at any time and Matty Cash (£4.6m) is now playing as a third centre-back rather than bombing forward.
I’d still try to hold onto Porro. Spurs could come back rejuvenated from their two-week break and we know they’ll definitely play in Blank Gameweek 29.
Q: I only have nine players this week with just one free transfer. Are Jota and Darwin Nunez (£7.6m) both must sells? The nine includes Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) – is he worth a transfer out too?
(via @aurom1986)
A: With the way fixtures have panned out, I think the frontline of Ollie Watkins (£8.7m), Dominic Solanke (£6.9m) and Erling Haaland (£14.4m) almost picks itself over the short-term. Aston Villa have great fixtures, a confirmed Gameweek 29 plus a great Gameweek 30 outing, so Watkins is a hold.
Solanke has Burnley in Gameweek 27 followed by a double in Gameweek 28, making him an auto-pick. It’s therefore difficult to see how you can accommodate Darwin, which means it makes sense to sell him. Jota is also out for an extended period, so there’s no point holding on.
Estupinan is a bit trickier because there are limited options you can go to. If he’s your third defender and you plan to play him in Gameweeks 26, 27 and 28 then I’d sell for a more stable pick. His minutes are too unpredictable at the moment and it’ll only get murkier once the Europa League resumes.
We discussed all these topics and more on this week’s episode of The FPL Wire, below.
