Players To Pick
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
Bruno Fernandes (8.3m) was key in Manchester United’s strong away performances against Liverpool in the league and Arsenal in the FA Cup. The Portuguese has provided an assist and scored in these last two games and now faces a Southampton side who conceded five in their previous game.
Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
Crystal Palace’s fixtures take a nice turn in difficulty with only one of their next eleven fixtures ranking four on the Fixture Difficulty Rating. After providing an assist against Chelsea, FPL managers should be convinced that Eberechi Eze (6.6m) has the potential to generate good returns in these bunch of fixtures.
Raúl Jiménez (Fulham)
With Rodrigo Muniz (5.5m) sustaining a back injury, this could mean that Raúl Jiménez (5.7m) will get more minutes to build on the brace he scored against Ipswich. Both of these goals were penalties, showing that the Mexican is top of the list for penalties at Fulham.
Amad Diallo (Manchester United)
After a few blanks and Manchester United’s faltering form, many FPL managers would have been tempted to transfer Amad Diallo (5.4m) out. However, we were reminded of his quality as Diallo scored an important equaliser against Liverpool in his previous game.
Differentials
Jacob Murphy (Newcastle United)
Jacob Murphy (5.1m) will probably always be a differential because of the appeal of Alexander Isak (9.3m) and Anthony Gordon (7.5m). However, it is getting more difficult for FPL managers to overlook Murphy as a budget midfielder after his assist against Spurs. Murphy now has three goals and five assists in his previous six.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace)
Like Eze, Jean-Philippe Mateta (7.2m) will be looking to take advantage of Crystal Palace’s kind run of fixtures after scoring in his previous appearance. We know Mateta is capable of a scoring run as evidenced from last season. With just a 3.5% ownership, this makes Mateta a big differential.
Liam Delap (Ipswich Town)
Liam Delap (5.6m) has returned in his previous two against two top half teams in Fulham and Chelsea, getting goals and assists. This shows that Delap has the potential to reward managers against any level of opposition, making the forward worth the punt against Brighton.
Fabian Schär (Newcastle United)
Newcastle’s defensive resilience has really stepped up in recent weeks and Fabian Schär (5.4m) has been a key part of this. The defender has earned four clean sheets in his last five league games and also earned a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup against Arsenal.
Captaincy Options
If fit enough to play, Alexander Isak will be the front runner for captaincy this week. The Swede has been consistently scoring for several games, not blanking since Gameweek 13. Newcastle face a Wolves side in the middle of a relegation scrap.
Cole Palmer (11.4m) will be a popular candidate after his goal against Crystal Palace. His ten points last week was his seventh double digit haul of the season.
FPL managers may want to stick with Mohamed Salah (13.7m) despite their tough away encounter with Nottingham Forest. It could be argued that Salah is probably the safest option, considering the Egyptian hasn’t blanked for 18 out of the 20 Gameweeks.
