An extraordinary weekend of football saw Manchester City lose an unprecedented three league games in a row as they were thrashed 4-0 in their own backyard by Tottenham Hotspur — and Erling Haaland (£15.1m) blanked yet again. He now has two goals in his last eight league games.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) scored two in his side’s 3-2 win at Southampton, taking Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the league and his Fantasy Premier League returns tally to 10 goals and six assists this season.
From Gameweek 10 to Gameweek 12 (so far), if you’d captained Haaland, you would have gained 18 points. In the same period, if you’d captained Salah, you would have collected 72 points from the Egyptian. That’s a difference of 56 points — a harsh swing, but that’s FPL for you!
Gameweek 12 concludes today with Newcastle hosting West Ham (8pm GMT; 3pm ET), but as ever, here we will cover the main talking points from the weekend’s action from an FPL perspective.
It’s not just Haaland — Manchester City players are just not worth it
It’s not only Haaland that has been struggling. Manchester City have really been out of sorts and this seems less like a blip and more of a bigger issue. They have lost their last five games in all competitions, the first time this has happened in Pep Guardiola’s career.
I think we need to talk about Haaland again, first of all. If you still have the Norwegian, I think the switch to Salah is a good move and this is a nice week to do it as they come up against Liverpool (A) next. He is simply too expensive and the money you save can really help your overall squad.
Plus, City are probably in the worst form they have ever been in under Guardiola and are nowhere near the difficult fixture they usually are.
In fact, it’s time to move away from any of their assets. They have only kept two clean sheets this season with an xGC (expected goals conceded) of 15.5 (10th-best in the Premier League).
With Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa in their next five games, I don’t see many clean sheets.
If you have Josko Gvardiol (£6.3m) or Rico Lewis (£4.8m), I would be looking to offload them for Arsenal defenders.
Josko Gvardiol and his fellow Manchester City defenders are in poor form (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s defence is worth your attention
Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at home and are clearly a much better attacking side with Martin Odegaard (£8.2m) in their starting XI.
I would really be looking to target their assets in the coming weeks, especially from their defence. They have conceded 12 goals (the third-least in the league) with an xGC of 12.3 (second-best). They are still the best defence in the league and will likely keep the most clean sheets come the end of season.
They have good fixtures on the horizon, too, and a double-up in defence is a great shout and will be a nice differential.
Gabriel (£6.1m) and William Saliba (£6.0m) are the most nailed and should play every game over the busy festive period. However, if you are strapped for cash, then Jurrien Timber (£5.5m) is a great buy.
With Ben White (£6.2m) ruled out “for a few months” by his manager after undergoing surgery and Takehiro Tomiyasu (£4.8m) still out, Timber should get a prolonged period in the starting XI. Mikel Arteta has used Thomas Partey (£5.0m) as a makeshift right-back recently, but I can’t imagine this happening again with Timber fit.
Bukayo Saka (£10.2m) is the one to go for in attack and I would look to get him in as soon as possible. He now has four goals and eight assists this season and is Arsenal’s clear talisman. As long as he stays fit, he is exactly the reliable type of player you want during the next few months.
Cheap forwards are ruling the roost
We have an array of good forward options this season, but the two who should be at the top of our list are Matheus Cunha (£6.9m) and Joao Pedro (£5.6m).
The former is now the second-highest-scoring forward in the game with seven goals and three assists. The Wolves man has a great run of fixtures, playing Bournemouth (H), Everton (A), West Ham (A), Ipswich (H) and Leicester City (A) next.
He is the most nailed attacker for his side and could very well be their first-choice penalty taker.
Matheus Cunha is the highest-scoring player in Gameweek 12 so far (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Brighton’s Joao Pedro has been eased in the last two games after returning from injury, but that hasn’t stopped him getting a couple of double-digit hauls. He has two goals and two assists since his return and, at his price, he looks almost essential — especially if you see the fixtures coming up.
Fabian Hurzeler’s side play Southampton (H), Fulham (A), Leicester (A), Crystal Palace (H), West Ham (A) and Brentford (H) in their next six.
Joao Pedro played 63 minutes in Brighton’s 2-1 win at Bournemouth on Saturday and should get more minutes going forward. The Brazilian is also his club’s first-choice penalty taker.
Both Cunha and Pedro are great enablers, too, if you have Haaland and want to make the switch to Salah.
Bide your time before going for Manchester United players
Ruben Amorim’s first match in charge of Manchester United ended in a 1-1 draw. He couldn’t have asked for a better start as Marcus Rashford (£6.9m) opened the scoring inside the first few minutes. It wasn’t too great after that as Ipswich equalised and had the better chances in the game. It is clear there will be a transitional period, but his formation at Portman Road has given us an indication of how he plans to line up.
Rashford played as the number nine, with Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) and Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m) making up the front trio in a 3-4-3.
Amad Diallo (£4.9m) played as a right wing-back and although he played well, making a great run to set up the first goal, this position isn’t good for his FPL prospects.
Fernandes dropped deep again once Amorim brought on Joshua Zirkee (£6.6m) and Rasmus Hojlund (£6.9m) and this isn’t ideal FPL-wise as you would prefer him closer to goal, but he should still get a fair amount of minutes in the front three.
Going forward, this is the formation the manager will likely play, but the only outfielder who is truly nailed is Fernandes. Rashford should keep his spot after his goal, but he has competition in that position, so he could be one for the future.
In this system, I think there can be good value options like Rashford if he continues up front, as he is classified as a midfielder in FPL, but on the whole, I think United’s assets should be avoided until we see an improvement.
They have a decent run of games from Gameweek 17 onwards, so we could asses them again at that point.
(Top photo: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
