Yahoo Sports Twist or stick on double gameweek players? FPL team of week
The first double gameweek of the Fantasy Premier League season is here and managers will need to decide whether to go big or play it cautiously.
Everton host Liverpool in this week's extra game, so their fixtures look like this:
Everton: Leicester (h), Liverpool (h)
Liverpool: Bournemouth (a), Everton (a)
It is also the first gameweek when your Assistant Manager chip is available and there are so many things to consider.
Do you go for three Liverpool players or bring in Arne Slot as Assistant Manager?
Is it worth triple-captaining Mohamed Salah?
Aside from Salah and Virgil van Dijk/Trent Alexander-Arnold, which Liverpool players are the safest options?
Everton players - one, two, three or zero?
And is a -4 worth it to bring in a double gameweek player?
All these questions will be answered, kind of, in the latest team of the week!
The team of the week is selected based on current FPL prices to fit within a £100m budget, as if you were playing a Free Hit.
How did last week's team do?
The usual suspects - Alexander Isak, Salah, Alexander-Arnold - returned and the differentials didn't, leading to a below-average but not terrible 54 points.
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Keeper and defence
Jordan Pickford, Everton, goalkeeper, £5.1m - Leicester (h), Liverpool (h)
Pickford is a no-brainer pick this week, with two games and a good clean sheet chance against Leicester City.
He was last season's best goalkeeper and is only four points behind Nottingham Forest's Matz Sels this season. However, you can't predict where his points are coming from.
In almost a mirror image of the start of 2023-24, Pickford got just 10 points from his first six games.
Since then he has had a 15-pointer against Newcastle and got eight, seven and nine points in consecutive weeks - against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City!
So sign him this week and you can play him for the rest of the season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool, £7.3m - Bournemouth (a), Everton (a)
If you have the money, then plump for Alexander-Arnold over Van Dijk this week.
Van Dijk is a goal threat from corners but Alexander-Arnold is the one defender in the game who could get back-to-back double-digit hauls and it would not be a surprise.
Last week against Ipswich, he was a last-minute conceded goal and the width of a post away from what would have been 20 points or more.
Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton, £4.8m - Leicester (h), Liverpool (h)
Don't expect a clean sheet from the Liverpool game, but Branthwaite is often sniffing around bonus points when Everton do keep it tight.
Doubling up on Everton defence is a safer option this week, given their lack of reliable attacking options.
However, I would not take a hit to bring an extra Everton defender in - stick with what you have.
Ola Aina, Nottingham Forest, £5.1m - home to Brighton
Hard to ignore FPL's top-scoring defender in a home game against a Brighton team struggling for goals.
Midfield
Mohamed Salah (captain), Liverpool, £13.7m - Bournemouth (a), Everton (a)
Triple-captaining Salah this week is probably the way forward.
No, it is not very exciting given a lot of FPL managers will do the same and almost everybody in the game will at least captain him.
And, if you are chasing in your mini-league, saving the chip for a differential, high-upside punt later in the season might be a good idea.
But we are talking about the best player in the game, in the middle of a historic FPL season, who could easily put up 20-30 points across the two games and you would not be surprised.
Playing the Assistant Manager chip on Arne Slot this week instead would give you these two games, Wolves at home and Manchester City away, so it is a longer-term play than Triple Captain.
It feels safe but with even less upside. For context, Liverpool could win both gameweek 24 matches 2-1 and your Assistant Manager chip would only earn you 16 points.
There is more upside with Triple Captain and there are likely to be at least two more bigger double gameweeks this season where your Bench Boost and Free Hit chips will work better.
Bryan Mbeumo, Brentford, £7.8m - home to Spurs
The Cameroon attacking midfielder has not been in this team for three weeks but he is not a player you can leave out for long.
He's Salah-light - his team's talisman, is on penalties, is consistent and loves a double-digit haul.
Home to leaky Tottenham is too juicy a match to pass up.
Cole Palmer, Chelsea, £11.3m - home to West Ham
Palmer's last six gameweeks: 10, 2, 10, 10, 2, 2.
You know what you are getting with the England playmaker at this point and it is hard to ignore him in a home game against any team.
Mikkel Damsgaard, Brentford, £5m - home to Spurs
Tottenham's defence is so suspect that a second Brentford asset makes the team this week.
With Kevin Schade carrying a knock and no space for Yoan Wissa up front, Denmark's Damsgaard comes in.
He seems to be growing in importance for the Bees with every game. In the past six games, Damsgaard has three assists and more key passes and big chances created than any other Brentford player.
Strikers
Alexander Isak, Newcastle, £9.5m - home to Fulham
Will Isak get to 30 league goals this season? He has 15 games to score 13 times.
Will he ever leave the team of the week line-up? Well he has Manchester City and Liverpool away coming up, so there will be a choice to be made then - but for now he is the second name on the team sheet after Salah.
Cody Gakpo, Liverpool, £7.6m - Bournemouth (a), Everton (a)
Gakpo gets the nod over Luis Diaz if you are going for a third Liverpool player this week.
The Dutchman feels slightly more reliable for minutes at the moment than Diaz, although if it is easier for you to make space in midfield then plump for the Colombia forward instead.
The main issue is the 11 days between games for Liverpool, with FA Cup and EFL Cup ties in between. So any Liverpool forward option outside of Salah is going to be a slight risk.
The upside is there - look at Gakpo's 16 points last week against Ipswich - but don't be shocked if you only get one start!
Worth a -4 for a third Liverpool player? Yes - they have Wolves at home the week after, so it makes sense to take a punt.
Iliman Ndiaye, Everton, £5.5m - Leicester (h), Liverpool (h)
Ndiaye is the only Everton attacking option worth signing.
He is a decent budget enabler who could sit on your bench for the longer term and, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin presumably injured, he will be on penalties.
You would hope Everton will score a few against Leicester and sneak a goal in the Merseyside derby.
He is not worth a -4 though, unless you are signing him to create cash for more double gameweek players elsewhere in your team.
The overall message is do not force Everton players into your team this week for hits.
Subs bench
Matt Turner, Crystal Palace, goalkeeper, £3.9m - home to Brentford
Ethan Nwaneri, Arsenal, midfielder, £4.5m - home to Manchester City
Neco Williams, Nottingham Forest, defender, £4.4m - home to Brighton
Jan Bednarek, Southampton, defender, £4m - away to Ipswich
Total team cost: £99.5m
Player to watch
Lucas Paqueta, West Ham, midfielder, £5.7m
Since Graham Potter took over as manager, Paqueta has had the most shots of any West Ham midfielder - six - and an expected goals (xG) of 1.12.
With no recognised striker and Jarrod Bowen injured, Paqueta seems to be emerging as more of a goal threat for West Ham and they have nice fixtures from the next gameweek onwards.
Team to target
Bournemouth - Liverpool (h), Southampton (a), Wolves (h)
The Cherries are on fire, having scored nine in their past two games, and have a sensational run coming up.
There is just the small matter of taking on Liverpool first, so possibly wait a week before looking at Bournemouth assets.
