There’s a quick turnaround in Fantasy Premier League this week with Crystal Palace and Tottenham getting Gameweek 10 off to an early start on Friday night.
There are a few obvious fixtures to target when planning your transfer moves this week.
Arsenal vs Sheffield United is an obvious place to start given their respective positions in the Premier League table with the Gunners currently 2nd and the Blades rock-bottom in 20th. Arsenal’s performances have been stodgy but this is surely an optimal game for them to rediscover their free-flowing best.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa’s 4-1 victory over West Ham on Sunday extended their winning run at Villa Park to 11 games and Unai Emery’s side welcome 17th-placed Luton to their fortress on Sunday, while Liverpool host Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
i‘s top scorers in Gameweek 9
- Mo Salah – 16 points vs Everton: Salah wasn’t at his best in the Merseyside derby but still came away from it with a big score after a late penalty and even later breakaway goal.
- Son Heung-min – 14 points vs Fulham: A goal and assist for Tottenham’s captain ensured a third double-digit haul of the campaign already.
- Ollie Watkins – 11 points vs West Ham: The in-form forward added his fifth goal and fifth assist of the campaign as Villa extended their winning record at Villa Park to 11 games.
FPL managers who entrusted Mo Salah with the captain’s armband over Erling Haaland last weekend were rewarded as Liverpool’s main man outscored his counterpart at Manchester City by eight points.
Salah is arguably the standout armband option again with Haaland having – in theory – a trickier game away at Manchester United. In fact, Haaland isn’t even included in our side this weekend…
Remember to set your alarm as this weekend’s deadline is at the awkward time of 6.30pm on Friday night.
Gameweek 10 fixtures
Friday 27 October
Crystal Palace vs Spurs (8pm)
Saturday 28 October
Chelsea vs Brentford (12.30pm)
Arsenal vs Sheffield United (3pm)
Bournemouth vs Burnley (3pm)
Wolves vs Newcastle (5.30pm)
Sunday 29 October
West Ham vs Everton (1pm)
Aston Villa vs Luton (2pm)
Brighton vs Fulham (2pm)
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest (2pm)
Man Utd vs Man City (3.30pm)
Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
Liverpool’s defence has been shaky so far this campaign, but they have a strong schedule coming up. From now until Gameweek 17 they play six teams in the bottom half of the table: Nottingham Forest (h), Luton (a), Brentford (h), Fulham (h), Sheffield United (a) and Crystal Palace (a) with Manchester City (a) – in Gameweek 13 – the only anomaly.
Alisson Becker made only one save against Everton – from Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the opening minute – but he still scooped two bonus points due to his high pass completion.
Price: £5.5m Points: 36 Gameweek 10 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Matty Cash (Aston Villa)
It has been a disappointing couple of weeks for Matty Cash owners with the Aston Villa right-back managing back-to-back blanks, but this weekend’s fixture could help him get back on track.
Although Cash had an unusually quiet performance against West Ham – he didn’t attempt a shot or create a chance – he remains top of the expected goals charts for defenders by a considerable margin.
A lack of in-form alternatives means he remains one of the best defenders in the game despite a couple of frustrating outings.
Price: £5.1m Points: 38 Gameweek 10 fixture: Luton (h)
Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal)
After his strange demotion at the start of the season, Gabriel appears to have reasserted himself in Mikel Arteta’s plans by starting all of Arsenal’s last six Premier League matches.
Those who owned Gabriel during his period on the sidelines may disagree, but it has actually worked out quite well for FPL managers as the Brazilian is now valued at just £4.7m.
With Sheffield United the visitors to the Emirates this weekend, Gabriel offers potential routes to points in both penalty areas.
Price: £4.7m Points: 25 Gameweek 10 fixture: Sheffield United (h)
Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)
After failing to provide attacking or defensive returns in any of his opening four appearances, Kieran Trippier has since done so in each of his last five to soar to the top of the FPL leaderboard among defenders.
Trippier’s points tally is eight clear of Joachim Andersen in second and 14 more than Ben White in third. Even more impressively he has accumulated more points (54) since Gameweek 5 than the likes of Salah, Haaland and Ollie Watkins.
He’s expensive but is certainly providing value for money of late.
Price: £6.9m Points: 59 Gameweek 10 fixture: Wolves (a)
Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa)
Moussa Diaby has made an impressive start to his career in England and been mentioned in a couple of our FPL articles so far this season but on current form, Douglas Luiz has usurped him as the Villa midfielder of choice.
Penalties are a big part of the Brazilian’s appeal with three of his five goals this season coming from the spot, but he is becoming a far bigger goal threat in general play too. Luiz has had 19 efforts on goal, only one fewer than Diaby, and has become the first Villa play to score in six consecutive Premier League home games.
Diaby remains an excellent pick and if you have him already its unadvisable to swap him out for Luiz. But at over £1m cheaper Luiz is arguably the better pick for manager who have neither.
Price: £5.5m Points: 49 Gameweek 10 fixture: Luton (h)
Mo Salah (Liverpool)
It is early days but Salah is doing his utmost to wrestle back his FPL crown from Haaland as he leads the Norwegian by 12 points at the top of the scoring charts.
Salah has been in fine form throughout the season but has stepped up his output recently, recording four double-digit scores in his last five appearances.
The underlying numbers suggest that it is sustainable too: Salah has the highest expected goals and expected assists of any player since Gameweek 5.
Price: £12.7m Points: 75 Gameweek 10 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Bukayo Saka was instantly restored to Arsenal’s starting line-up against Chelsea following a three-week injury lay-off and capped his return with an important assist for Leandro Trossard’s equaliser at Stamford Bridge.
It wasn’t Saka’s best or most influential performance by a long way, but he still looked more dangerous in the final third than Arsenal’s other regular forward players Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.
Despite missing a game, Saka is fifth in the FPL top-scorer charts and will be a popular transfer in this week.
Price: £8.5m Points: 58 Gameweek 10 fixture: Sheffield United (h)
Son Heung-min (Spurs)
More FPL managers are selling Son Heung-min than buying him this week in an attempt to play the fixtures with both Arsenal and Liverpool having a friendlier run of games – on paper – than Spurs. While Salah and Saka, in particular, are excellent options, offloading Son ahead of Friday’s game seems premature.
Son managed his third double-digit haul of the season against Fulham on Monday with the other two coming away from home: 20 points at Turf Moor and 14 points at the Emirates. He has a strong record against Palace too, scoring seven times in 14 league appearances against them.
Price: £9.5m Points: 68 Gameweek 10 fixture: Crystal Palace (a)
Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
A cheap midfielder playing out of position up front who is taking and scoring penalties: Cole Palmer is a gift for FPL managers and someone who should feature prominently towards the top of your shortlist this week.
The 21-year-old has started Chelsea’s last three Premier League matches and provided attacking returns in all of them, with two goals and two assists apiece.
Robert Sanchez’s costly clanger against Arsenal overshadowed what was an otherwise excellent Chelsea performance of which Palmer was the standout.
Price: £4.9m Points: 27 Gameweek 10 fixture: Brentford (h)
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Only three players have been directly involved in 10 or more Premier League goals this season: Salah (11; seven goals, four assists), Haaland (10; nine goals, one assist) and Watkins (10; five goals, five assists). The England international is in esteemed company.
Watkins has been especially productive in home fixtures with all but one of his attacking returns coming at Villa Park. His total of 15 shots at home is the third-best among all players, while he has created more chances (with 10) than any other forward in home fixtures.
Price: £8.3m Points: 70 Gameweek 10 fixture: Luton (h)
Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth)
Saturday’s game at the Vitality Stadium is a massive one for winless Bournemouth and probably a win-or-bust fixture for their head coach Andoni Iraola (assuming he is not dismissed before then).
Despite their struggles, Dominic Solanke has been in good form with four goals in nine games and he will be hopeful of adding to that tally against the league’s second-worst defence.
Solanke’s record of 21 shots in the box is bettered by only four other forwards in FPL.
Price: £6.4m Points: 39 Gameweek 10 fixture: Burnley (h)