Rankings for Gameweek 16...
Last FPL weekend before the World Cup!
Hello and welcome to the Fantasy Gameweek rankings for Gameweek 16 of the Fantasy Premier League season. This is it - the last Gameweek before the World Cup. After this weekend we get unlimited transfers until the season restarts on December 26. So, more than ever, target teams and players with attractive fixtures this Gameweek - it’s a one-off weekend, be aggressive.
Our rankings of the players, the best attacks and the best defences will help you do that. A reminder, the deadline to make transfers and set your line-ups this week is 11am UK time on Saturday.
With that, let’s get into the rankings. Firstly it’s the players - who we rank on value, upside and opportunity this week. Then it’s the attacks and defences - which we rank using FiveThirtyEight’s rating for each team and their opposition this week. The rankings are included in PDF form so you can download them…
Let’s start with some quick thoughts on the players before the rankings themselves.
Forwards
1. Haaland
2. Firmino
3. Solanke
4. Wilson
5. Jesus
As you may already know, news about Man City’s team (and Erling Haaland not starting) leaked before the deadline last week. This sparked a rush of people trying to make transfers on the FPL website… and it crashed. There were lots of frustrated FPL managers who weren’t able to make transfers, including Andy Murray
Anyway, guess what? Man City v Brentford is the early game this week so news could leak out again before the 11am deadline. Follow this account on Twitter for potential leaks and team news. Given that Haaland came on and scored against Fulham, there has been no fresh injury news, he didn’t play in the EFL Cup in midweek, and this is the last game before the World Cup (and he isn’t playing in that), a start for the Norwegian looks logical. However, this is Pep Guardiola, so take nothing for granted. Haaland tops our rankings, as does the Man City attack, against a Brentford team that has quietly become one of the worst defences in the league. Brentford have conceded 24 goals this season - the joint-fourth highest - including seven in their last three matches…
Roberto Firmino ranks second as Liverpool host lowly Southampton and their new manager Nathan Jones. A word of caution here. Firmino hasn’t scored since Gameweek 10 and Southampton could benefit from a new-manager bounce. Darwin Nunez is also worth considering and ranks as the 11th-best forward on our list. Nunez is fourth in the league for expected goals (xG) per 90 minutes behind only Haaland, Patrick Bamford, and Callum Wilson, according to data from FBref. He has only three goals and two assists so far, but has started just six games. Nunez is likely to start at the weekend and at some point this season is going to explode…
Dominic Solanke and Wilson make the top-five of forwards with attractive home fixtures and both offer value at their respective prices… Lastly, Gabriel Jesus hasn’t scored since Gameweek 9, but remember that assists are only worth one point less than goals for forwards - and the Arsenal man has three of those in recent weeks and six for the season…
Midfielders
1. Almiron
2. Gross
3. Trossard
4. Foden
5. Odegaard
Miguel Almiron, Leandro Trossard, and Phil Foden all make the top five midfielders again despite mixed results last week. Almiron scored, Trossard got an assist and Foden didn’t start. All three - plus Trossard’s teammate Pascal Gross - have attractive home fixtures this week. The fact Foden remains so high in the rankings shows the power of single-week hauls over the course of a season. He scored 30 points in Gameweeks 9 and 10 combined but then just 5 points across the next four weeks. His place in the rankings suggests that those low-scoring weeks are worth the pain given the upside he is capable of delivering. The good news is that Foden stayed on the bench during City’s EFL Cup win against Chelsea, making a start this weekend more likely. Again, pay attention to team news…
Tom did a great piece on midfielders in his latest article, which you can read here. To back-up what he said about the quality of low-priced midfielders this season, Foden is the most expensive player in the top-five and he costs just £8.3 million. Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah are the only midfielders who cost more than Foden who are in the top 100 of our rankings, which is remarkable...
Martin Odegaard has lived in the shadow of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli in FPL teams. The Norwegian is in 12.8 per cent of teams compared to 17.2 per cent for Saka and 49.3 per cent for Martinelli. However, Odegaard has offered real value with four goals, two assists and eight bonus points and is at the centre of everything Arsenal do….
Defenders
1. Saliba
2. Gabriel
3. Cancelo
4. Trippier
5. Zinchenko
There are three Arsenal players in the top-five defenders, as well as one in the midfielders, one in the forwards and one in the goalkeepers. This really fits with Tom’s suggestion that every FPL team should have three Arsenal players right now. The Gunners play Wolves away this weekend, who may also benefit from a new-manager bounce following the appointment of Julen Lopetegui. However, Wolves are also in limbo given that Lopetegui doesn’t officially start until Monday. Either way, Wolves have scored just eight goals all season, the worst in the league, so start your Arsenal defenders with confidence. This includes Oleksandr Zinchenko, who in six starts this season has one assist, three clean sheets and four bonus points. He is now fit again…
Joao Cancelo and Kieran Trippier speak for themselves in this list. They play in two of the best defences in the league and offer an attacking threat. Cancelo served his suspension for getting sent-off against Fulham by missing the EFL Cup, so should play against Brentford. Meanwhile, only Haaland and Harry Kane have more FPL points this season than Trippier…
Goalkeepers
1. Alisson
2. Ramsdale
3. Henderson
4. Pickford
5. Ederson
Liverpool have had problems at the back this season but Alisson has racked up seven bonus points, saved a penalty and made 42 saves, which means he is the second-top scoring goalkeeper behind Nick Pope.
For Aaron Ramsdale, see the words on the Arsenal defence above - in short, Wolves is a great fixture.
Dean Henderson and Jordan Pickford are cheaper alternatives who have better-than-usual chances to get clean sheets this weekend. Henderson’s Forest play Palace at home, Pickford’s Everton play Bournemouth, who have the lowest xG per 90 minutes in the league at 0.66. They also offer bonus-point potential - only David Raya with 59 saves has made more saves than their 55 and 52 respectively. Furthermore, Henderson has racked up 11 bonus points for the season, four more than any other goalkeeper and joint-fifth among all players…
Here are our rankings in full. We start with the players, then the attacks, then the defences….
Attacks to target and avoid (best first)
Man City
Liverpool
Man United
Tottenham
Arsenal
Brighton
Crystal Palace
Chelsea
West Ham
Everton
Newcastle
Leeds
Leicester
Aston Villa
Fulham
Bournemouth
Southampton
Brentford
Forest
Wolves
Defences to target and avoid (best first)
Arsenal
Man City
Crystal Palace
Liverpool
Everton
Brighton
West Ham
Man United
Tottenham
Chelsea
Newcastle
Leicester
Bournemouth
Aston Villa
Forest
Wolves
Leeds
Fulham
Southampton
Brentford
That’s it for this week. Best of luck for Gameweek 16. We will be back next week with a special edition of “What we learned” and a wrap-up of the season so far. Until then, enjoy your weekend…