FPL Challenge Gameweek 23 Tips and Team Reveal

In this article, we present to you our FPL Challenge Gameweek 23 tips and team reveal. As well as picking out some of the best players for the round ahead specific to the Challenge structure we also bring in @FPLReaction to share his team and thoughts ahead of the new round.

FPL Challenge Gameweek 23 is here. With exciting new badges to earn and prizes to win FPL Challenge have made some massive changes. With that in mind our tips and team reveal could be exactly what you need to have success.

What is the Challenge this week?

FPL Challenge Gameweek 23 Tips and Team Reveal

The Challenge for Gameweek 23 is ‘Instant Impact’.

Players signed in the January transfer window earn double points.

Budget is unlimited and Challengers have to select five players.

Transfer Focus

Over at Fantasy Football Scout, we have been keeping track of all incoming transfers.

At the time of writing, all of the incoming transfers are pictured in the image below.

Unfortunately nearly all of the players pictured above, will not play in the round ahead, and the ones that will, have tough fixtures.

For that reason, targeting players with good fixtures alone, could be the best way to attack the Challenge this week.

Top Picks – Goalkeepers

Taking into account the fact Challengers have an unlimited budget this week, Liverpool could be a great option for picking out a goalkeeper. The Reds rank joint top for total clean sheets this season, and they come up against an Ipswich side next, who rank among the worst three sides for total goals scored. This makes Alisson Becker a prime candidate.

Another side with a home tie this week is Brighton. With two clean sheets in their last five, the Seagulls have proven they can be defensively sound. A lot of their appeal this week comes from their fixture against Everton. Although under new management, it doesn’t take away that they failed to score in four of their last six matches. So, it could be a good opportunity for Bart Verbruggen to keep a clean sheet.

Challengers could also look to Nottingham Forest’ Matz Sels for his game against Bournemouth, Newcastle’ Martin Dubravka as he clashes with Southampton, and Arsenal’ David Raya for his fixture against Wolves.

Defenders

The lack of new signings likely to play this week, unlimited budget and fixtures, suggests we could see a strong template this week. In that template should be Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Liverpool full-back has scored and assisted in his previous four league matches, so a game against Ipswich could see him continue that attacking output.

Newcastle are another side likely to gain appeal this week. Southampton are without a doubt the worst side in the league and the Magpies have collected an impressive four clean sheets in their last five matches. Likely to benefit from a potential clean sheet is full-back Lewis Hall, who has registered four assists in his previous seven league outings.

For those convinced that Arsenal can turn their underlying defensive data into a clean sheet against Wolves this week, then Gabriel remains a great option. The Brazilian clearly has a unique ability to score from set plays – something he has done on six occasions this campaign already.

There are several other great defender picks you could opt for this week, including Brighton’ Pervis Estupinan against Everton, Tottenham’ Pedro Porro for his clash against Leicester, and Fulham’ Antonee Robinson v Manchester United.

Midfielders

Liverpool continue to dominate among the top picks this week. This time we focus on their frontline rather than their defence. Only Southampton have conceded more big chances this season than Ipswich, and that is likely to play into the hands of the relentless Mohamed Salah. The unlimited budget and his overall form this season not only makes him an easy addition but arguably the best captaincy option.

As highlighted above, Southampton have produced some very poor underlying defensive metrics this season. This makes them a prime target with Newcastle attackers this week, attackers like Anthony Gordon. Gordon has gathered momentum recently – returning at least once in five of his previous six games.

Opening up a positive fixture turn for Brentford, is an away match against Crystal Palace. One player likely to gain more and more attention in the main game is penalty taker Bryan Mbeumo. Mbeumo could well add to the 13 goals and two assists he has already managed this season.

Playing against his former club, Cole Palmer could be another good pick for Gameweek 23. His inclusion may seem obvious, but Manchester City’ recent form could well put Challengers off picking him this week.

Other considerations in midfield include Liverpool’ Luis Diaz, Arsenal’ Gabriel Martinelli, Crystal Palace’ Eberechi Eze and Tottenham’ Son Heung-Min.

Forwards

The standout striker for Gameweek 23 is of course Alexander Isak. With goals in seven of his last eight matches, the Newcastle penalty taker is in the form of his career seemingly. Southampton lay ahead, which could be the perfect opening to continue his purple patch.

After his brace in Gameweek 22, there is a good chance Darwin Nunez leads the line for Liverpool against Ipswich. Benefitting from the Liverpool goals could be difficult considering Salah’ likely ownership, so picking either him or Code Gakpo, whoever starts, could be rewarding.

Bournemouth have proven tricky opposition for several ‘big’ sides this season, but Nottingham Forest have been in excellent form. Leading their attack, penalty taker Chris Wood has already racked up 13 goals in the league so far.

@FPLReaction Team Reveal

Firstly, the Challenge is a good one, but the lack of January transfers means we just get a free hit with unlimited budget.
I have gone with an aggressive, potentially template team this week.
I think Liverpool and Newcastle have the potential to win and win well against promoted sides this week, so going heavy on them makes sense.
The only position I am debating is Anthony Gordon. But, everyone will own Isak this week so to actually benefit from their goals, picking him makes sense.
Captaincy could change however. I think we are sure to see Salah’ minutes managed soon, surely? If I get a sniff that might happen, then I’ll just captain Isak.

Gameweek 22 Challenge Review

Last week was a very good week overall. This was largely due to the fact I prioritised Chris Wood as my captain and he picked up a huge 24 points.
To enable Wood I brought in Dubravka, Murillo and Castagne, but it was only the latter that returned.
I also had Enzo Fernandez for the Monday night match, but he didn’t start. This left me in a position where I had £5m for a midfielder. With four viable options, I opted for Sarabia (after he won a poll I put on X – for a bit of fun). Either way, that two points he returned gave me a good bump up in rank.
This week I hit 32 points, which gave me a round rank of 2.8k. That round rocketed me up to 862nd globally, which I’m of course very happy about.