All Glitter, No Gold
Pop Quiz! Which team has an xG of over 8 in the last three matches, but only 1 goal to show for it? This week’s visualization is dedicated to this team: All glitter, no gold… All xG, no goal.
Answer: Brighton & Hove Albion
This post brings you FPL advice from this week’s free podcasts:
Topics Covered
🎙️ Team/Players Review
🔁 Barnes Replacements
⭕ BGW29
👑 Captaincy
🎙️ Team/Players Review
Below are some of the brief reviews of a handful of teams.
🐔 Tottenham Hotspurs
Spurs had a really good first game, but not so much the second one. Bale has helped them improve. But their performance against Fulham showed that their attack still cannot be trusted too much.
Son is still a good hold as he has multiple avenues for points and can score big in any game.
While it may be tempting to get Bale, especially if you are thinking to get rid of Mo or Bruno, both the pods believe that he is too punty an option and you should stay clear.
👹 Manchester United
Once on the top of the table, it has been performances like the last two games which have them sat 14 points behind the league leaders. They don’t really set up to play against big teams and are far too inconsistent against smaller teams.
So frustrating have their performances been, FMLFPL folks are seriously considering benching Bruno against the likes of City and Spurs in their upcoming games. However, selling Bruno, who has high ownership and continues to churn points, seems like a step too far for them.
With double clean sheets in his pocket, Shaw continues to seem like a really good defensive asset. Further, his attacking numbers have been really good and point towards an impending haul.
🦚 Leeds United
Leeds, the breath of fresh air that Premiere League has been needing, haven’t really been performing in recent matches. Even their 3-0 win over Southampton in GW25 was because of Southampton being poor than Leeds being good.
Having said that, for their price, Bamford, Raphinha, and Dallas, continue to look good great value.
💲 Worth selling Bruno/Salah?
Given their high price and blanks recently, there are murmurs of managers considering selling the highest and third-highest FPL scoring players.
Bruno has been on bad form and has terrible fixtures coming up, including a blank in GW29. ManU continues to look tired in games and only capitalizes if the opposition slips up. However, he continues to churn out points regularly and has a very high effective ownership. So if you sell him, then every time he scores points, it will significantly impact your rank. Hence, WGTA folks don’t recommend selling him.
Salah hasn’t returned in the last three games, has been playing very far wide thereby limiting his scoring opportunities, and Liverpool seems to continue in their downward spiral. However, his recent underlying stats - xG, non pen xG, shots in the box - are really good. Hence, WGTA folks feel that selling him might be an overreaction.
The bigger question to ask is: Even if you sell them, what are you going to do with that money? There aren’t really any standout premium options available right now. While KDB might be in your thoughts, his performances haven’t been anything to write home about and Gundogan presents a much cheaper alternative.
🔁 Barnes Replacements
Just in case you were not fed up with every pod/article/tweet discussing this topic, here are some more pointers for your leisurely reading.
We live in strange times - a microscopic virus has brought humanity to a halt, digital currencies are touching $50k, and Jesse Lindgard is a viable FPL asset! He has been playing really well, has the same number of shots on target recently as Gundogan, and has some of the most offensive stats of all mids. He is a great pick. However, it is worth noting though that Lindgard won’t be able to play in GW28 as he will be facing his parent club, ManU.
Raphinha is the next pick from both the pods as he is quite cheap and plays quite well. He has good goal and creativity stats, something that you would like to see in your FPL attackers, and plays on one of the most attacking teams in the League.
Some other picks from the pods were Neto - who is nailed and been playing well, Soucek - who makes the late runs in the box and has a tendency to nick a goal, Jota - who is coming back to Liverpool and may play a key role in their revival, and Saka - who is a really talented player and super cheap to get.
⭕ BGW29
For those of you who have their free hit intact and plan to use it in the blank game week 29, kindly stop showing off. For others, below are the players you should target to prepare for that week.
In the attack, Antonio is the standout pick. In the last six games, he is 4th on non-pen xG, 3rd on shots on target and chance, and plays a leaky Leeds defense.
Other attacking options are the usual suspects - Bamford and Watkins, plus the less usual but equally potent pick - Maja.
In mid, as mentioned before, Lindgard and Raphinha are great picks who play in BGW29.
In defense, Dallas and Dawson should be the key target. If you are looking for a really cheap alternative, Jamal Lewis is a punt worth considering as Newcastle have some really good fixtures leading up to GW29 as well.
👑 Captaincy
FPL managers have an eternal love-hate relationship with double game weeks. Extending that relationship further, City assets are the prime consideration for this week’s captaincy owing to their double game week.
While no one can predict Pep’s starting lineups, and no one should even try, Gundogan is a decent shout, especially with his rest last game indicating that he may start the next two.
City defenders are an option too, with Dias most likely to play both games.
If you are wise and don’t trust Pep, Kane and Antonio will be good differential picks this week. Kane plays a defensively poor Palace and Antonio plays the ever leaky Leeds teams.
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