Risers and Fallers
Who is up and who is down for Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 7
Hello and welcome to Risers and Fallers, your weekly guide to the players we like and the players we’re a bit cold on in FPL. As the Gameweek 7 transfer deadline approaches, injuries to a number of key players are giving FPL managers around the world a significant selection headache.
When making those selections, it’s vital you focus on both value and the potential points return. That’s what this column aims to help you do.
We kick off with a player on the fringes of the top 10 points scorers in FPL this season, who costs less than £6m and is in fewer than 5% of FPL teams…
Risers
Pedro Neto (MID, £5.6m)
Midfielders have been money in FPL so far this season, with six of the top seven points scorers coming from that position group. Erling Haaland, predictably, sits top of the pile after six Gameweeks.
Winning your fantasy football mini-league is, of course, about squeezing as many points as possible out of your £100m budget over the course of the season. In short: getting value for money is really important. With that in mind, the form of Wolves winger Neto – priced at just £5.6m – is extremely interesting.
Neto is the 13th top scorer in FPL so far this season, delivering one goal, four assists and 34 points. All of those attacking returns have come in the last four Gameweeks.
His underlying data provides a note of caution, with his Impect scores middling across the season – although that is dragged down by two poor outings to kick off the campaign. He has been much better in the last four fixtures.
A trip to Manchester City in Gameweek 7 isn’t one you’d be targeting, but after that things get a bit less intimidating. Anyone looking to scale up other positions – for example by bringing in Newcastle’s Kieran Tripper in defence – could do a lot worse than saving a bit of cash by downsizing (but not necessarily downgrading) to Neto in midfield.
Anthony Gordon (MID, £5.6m)
Newcastle’s Gordon offers similar upside at a bargain £5.6m. The winger was sensational as the Magpies obliterated Sheffield United 8-0, scoring one belter and setting up another on his way to 12 FPL points in Gameweek 6. Gordon now has two goals and three assists this season and, crucially, has started every Premier League fixture.
His Impect data compares favourably to others in his position group across the games so far. His Offensive Impect score, which measures attacking effectiveness, is better than around 90% of outfield players, and against Sheffield United he was the best player on the pitch.
The combination of his form and an injury to fellow wide-man Harvey Barnes means Gordon will more than likely retain his place in the starting XI for the foreseeable future. That’s good news as all of Newcastle’s next four fixtures are eminently winnable.
Matty Cash (DEF, £4.8m)
Cash is a buccaneering full-back in a Villa side that has impressed and appears to be a guaranteed starter. Those are the ingredients for strong FPL returns and a quick look at the fixture list suggests now might be the time to buy before his price rockets. Brighton at home in Gameweek 7 isn’t easy but after that it’s Wolves (A), West Ham (H), Luton Town (H), Nottingham Forest (A) and Fulham (H).
Abdoulaye Doucoure (MID, £5.5m)
Everton’s performances have been better than their results this season and Doucoure keeps getting himself into excellent goalscoring positions. He might not be the most efficient finisher but he still has two goals in three games ahead of appetising home fixtures against Luton Town and Bournemouth. What’s more, a post-shot xG of over 3.5 suggests he should add to his goal tally in the coming weeks.
Son Heung-min (MID, £9.2m)
Son and James Maddison are building a rapport to rival Son and Harry Kane. Maddison laid on another two assists to the South Korean in the North London derby on Sunday, making a strong case for including both in your FPL team. Spurs under Ange Postecoglou are an elite attacking unit, Son leads that unit and after a blockbuster match-up with Liverpool on Sunday they face Luton (A), Fulham (H) and Crystal Palace (A). Son is the third-top points scorer in FPL so far this season and while he’s outperforming his expected goals (xG), that reflects the quality of his finishing more than anything.
Fallers
Raheem Sterling (MID, £7.1m)
England forward Sterling appears to be a guaranteed starter at Chelsea and has looked good at times, but the dysfunction and injuries at Stamford Bridge are seriously limiting his upside. He only has two attacking returns this season and both were against Luton in Gameweek 3. Trips to Fulham and Burnley in the next two Gameweeks might be enough for you to keep the faith, but the availability of high-performing midfielders for less money in FPL means he’s very much in the last chance saloon.
Ben Chilwell (DEF, £5.6m)
To justify being a premium-priced defender in FPL, you need to be a guaranteed starter, have a strong chance of keeping clean sheets and offer attacking upside. Chilwell offers none of these at the moment. His time may well come this season, but for now you should invest your valuable budget elsewhere.
Mark Flekken (GK, £4.5m)
The decline of Brentford is now becoming a serious issue in FPL. The injury to Ben Mee has hurt them defensively, while the unfortunate Rico Henry is now also out for the rest of the season. That has to impact the value of Flekken, who has only kept one clean sheet so far and conceded three at home against Everton in Gameweek 6.
Martin Odegaard (MID, £8.5m)
Odegaard is a brilliant player but there is little doubt his attacking threat has dropped off at the beginning of this season, possibly as a result of his new midfield partnership with Declan Rice. He also appears to have lost penalty duties to Bukayo Saka (although there is some uncertainty over exactly how penalty-taking decisions are being made at Arsenal).
Aaron Ramsdale (GK, £4.9m)
It now seems crystal clear David Raya is either the Arsenal No.1 or, at the very least, Ramsdale will have to regularly rotate places with the former Brentford goalkeeper. Get out now before his price drops even further.
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Cheers
Tom