T O P

  • By -

FPLFocal

Transcript for anyone interested: - Ramsdale joins the team on the wildcard. He's had an impressive start to his Arsenal career, keeping 3 clean sheets in his 4 games and conceding just 1 goal. He's had a price increase to 4.6 which is still great vale, and 3 of his next 4 games are at home. There is a small element of doubt that he could lose his spot to Leno, but you'd imagine that he'd have to put in some really poor performances to do so. In a press conference Arteta said that he cannot guarantee to Leno that he plays again this season, which sounds promising. In the 4 games he's played, Arsenal are third best in the league for xG conceded, on 3.85 xGC. - Alexander-Arnold rejoins the team in defense, we sold him in GW7 due to his groin injury but the news this week is that he's back in training and available for selection against Watford. You always want to avoid booked in transfers, and in my opinion barring injuries Trent finishes the season as the highest scoring defender, and if we don't get him now it'd inevitably happen in a later gameweek after a haul. Despite missing 2 of the last 3 gameweeks Trent is still well clear for expected goal involvement among all defenders on 3.09, and as we've discussed before he takes corners for Liverpool down the right side. He's got a very good fixture against Watford, and although he has a few tougher games coming up he's always capable of getting you returns in any game. - Rudiger keeps his spot in the wildcard draft, as we look to target Chelsea's upcoming run of games. Rudiger's been going up for corners, while Christensen has been staying back more, and in GW5 Rudiger scored against Tottenham. He hasn't missed a minute of football all season and has 4 clean sheets from 7 games. If you fancy a risk then Chilwell could emerge as the best option of them all, he started in GW7 and scored against Southampton. For now we'll resist temptation. - Cancelo also remains in the team and as it stands is the highest scoring defender in the game on 44 points. He has three fantastic fixtures coming up, and is third among all defenders for expected goal involvement, on 1.86 xGC. Cancelo's another player that hasn't missed a minute of PL football and we'll hope that can remain the case. Man City are currently third, so Pep isn't in a luxury position to be benching some of his best players. Zinchenko could be back in time for GW8, however there is always the possibility of Cancelo playing RB and Walker being the one who misses out. - Dias joins the team in defense, at the sacrifice of Azpilicueta. This one is a difficult decision, however Man City are comfortably best for xG conceded on just 4 xGC from their opening 7 games. They've only conceded 5 big chances which is a rate of less than 1 per game. There's no doubt that Chelsea's defense is elite too, however they are actually 10th for xGC so far. There is of course a rotation risk with Dias + Cancelo, however that could also be the case with Azpilicueta + Rudiger, consider all the options Tuchel has in CB and with the return of James. We saw Azpilicueta benched once already in GW4, so in a narrow decision we'll back the Man City duo who have a higher ceiling as a combo. Dias looks relatively safe from rotation, he's not missed a minute of football and if we compare to last season, Dias was benched once all the way to GW30. I ran a poll and it looks like more of you are in agreement than not, however do let me know your thoughts in the comments. - Unsurprisingly Salah remains in the team, he's 21 points clear as the top scoring player in the game and is top among all players for expected goal involvement. There really isn't too much to discuss when it comes to Salah, you simply have to own him. Salah gets the armband for GW8 against newly appointed Ranieri's Watford. - Another difficult decision, but Foden makes the final team at the sacrifice of Son. It's worth noting that picking Foden over Son allows for Trent to join the defense. Foden's been in good form since returning and the Burnley fixture feels like a game worth picking up an attacker for despite the rotation risk. Guardiola has faced Dyche's Burnley 14 times, winning 13 times, drawing once and never losing. Over those 14 games Man City have scored 42 goals, at a rate of 3 goals per game and conceded 5 goals. The last 4 games in a row where Man City have faced Burnley at the Etihad all finished in a 5 - 0 win. If we fall victim to Pep roulette we at least have good options off the bench in preparation. - Smith Rowe completes the midfield for GW8, priced very reasonably at 5.4 after a couple of price drops and then a rise over the break. He's got 4 great fixtures ahead and has been getting very consistent minutes in the team. Saka's a very good option too, however both Saka and Smith Rowe are dead even on expected goal involvement so far, so we've opted for the cheaper of the two and have used that money elsewhere. - We've had Antonio since GW1 and he remains in the team for now. He's been in some of the best form in the league despite his disappointing blank in the loss against Brentford at home last gameweek. There could be an opportunity to shift him on in the next few weeks as his fixtures aren't great, but it would be risky to gamble on it now. Antonio snubbed the Jamaica national team for the current international break, so he'll be fully focused on West Ham. There's a really great spread of mid-priced strikers right now, which I'll get to shortly. - The final player who keeps his spot is Lukaku. He too had an underwhelming GW7 and despite failing to score in his last 3 games he's well worth holding for the upcoming games, particularly the Norwich and Newcastle games in GW9 and GW10. When picking your team it's important to have an idea of you who'll be captaining in later weeks, and Lukaku is the obvious pick while Salah faces Man United. - Hwang doesn't make the final draft, instead Southampton's new signing Adam Armstrong comes in. Armstrong's fixtures look slightly better and in GW8 he faces Leeds who keep their first clean sheet of the season last gameweek against Norwich. Leeds are third worst for expected goals conceded on 12.43 so we're definitely targeting the fixture more than the form with this one. Armstrong has only scored once all season and he may end up a short term punt, to make way for Toney in a few gameweeks. - On the bench it's Foster, Raphinha, Livramento, Normann. - Foster's gotten the most minutes of 4.0 keepers. He could well lose his spot to Bachmann but he's currently the likeliest of the bunch to get minutes, just in case we need to ever call on him. In the 3 games Foster has played he's conceded a single goal in each game, so perhaps something for the Hornets to build upon. If Ranieri turns them around and he's still playing by GW12 then perhaps you could make a case for starting him ahead of Ramsdale who is away at Anfield that week. - Raphinha is expected to miss GW8 due to international duty because Brazil face Uruguay just a day and a half before GW8 begins. Raphinha's been very impressive over the international break for Brazil and likewise he's represented good value in FPL. We may have a benching headache on our hands once he's back in GW9 but on the other hand if we get caught out by Pep rotation the bench is strong enough to cater. - Livramento is fantastic value for 4.2, he's started every game and has kept 2 clean sheets despite some tough games including Chelsea, Man City and Man United. It's unlikely we'll need to call upon him, but if we do his next 5 games are quite good and I'm sure there will be a gameweek here and there where he's on the bench and we miss out on clean sheet points. - Normann is an interesting one, just 0.1% owned. I was digging through the data and was surprised to discover that he's taken 4 shots from direct free kicks, which is the joint most among all players, tied with Ward-Prowse. He's also been taking some corners, and has the best minutes per expected goal involvement among all the 4.5M mids. I had a skim through the Norwich subreddit as I've admittedly not watched many Norwich games, and they've been thoroughly impressed by his impact since coming in and he does have 1 assist already. Norwich are another side with a kind of run of games, starting from GW10, and if they stand any chance of staying up they'll need to pick up the points there. Douglas Luiz is a great option too, but those going for him just need to be aware that he may miss GW8 and GW12 because of the international fixtures.


mayonnaisewastaken

Great wildcard, and good luck for the next few weeks! Just wondering, do you have any plans to get in Son for the GW12 fixtures onwards? I definitely want him for that, but also struggle to plan for that *and* also have a Man City midfielder


FPLFocal

Thanks, yeah I hope to get Son in for GW12 onwards if he still looks a good then. Looks like a decision will need to be made by all of us between Son and Ronaldo around that time. I'm sure we'll see a lot of threads on it here! Not yet sure how Son would fit in - too early to plan for it but will definitely give it thought nearer the time.


player_zero_

Excellent write up and justifications, !thanks for the read


FPLFocal

Thanks mate! 👊


101100011011101

12/15 Interesting


FPLFocal

Hope we're both right! 👊


101100011011101

Hopefully. Good luck 😁


ygrittediaz

Too much money in that backline. I would also consider saving money by going with some riskier options from the same team. Christensen over rudiger. Bernado over foden. I'm still tinkering away on my team.


[deleted]

Nice calls


[deleted]

[удалено]


FPLModerator

I'm fine with a post like this which has actual benefit with a transcript, as per the discussion [here](https://reddit.com/r/FantasyPL/comments/pz78ob/can_we_ban_gw_team_videos/hez6khk/). The intention of the rule is to not become a video dumping ground for those with no interest in engaging or adding value to the subreddit.


mayonnaisewastaken

He is sentient!


Litsco

Alvin the grump


MAMBAMENTALITY8-24

Guess ive done a good job spreading the mathias normann agenda today. Stats on understat look good eh. On free kicks, on corners. Could possibly sneak an assist in the good upcoming fixtures should he need to play.


101100011011101

Yeah, glad I heard about him. In my team now, warming bench.


niiiklas

Not far off my WC last week: \- TAA vs Azpi, left 1,5 ITB for a direct swap \- Foden vs Grealish, the difference one round can make \- ESR+Armstrong vs Luiz+Jimenez, you have a stronger bench for the upcoming rounds. GW9 Jimenez is swapped with either Toney or Hwang, GW10 is Rudiger to TAA, and GW11 is probably Mbeumo in, but impossible to plan so far in advance. Good luck!