An early look ahead to Gameweek 12
| Saturday | 12:30pm | Leicester v Chelsea | ||||
| Saturday | 3:00pm | Aston Villa v Brighton Norwich v Southampton | Burnley v Crystal Palace Watford v Man United | Newcastle v Brentford Wolves v West Ham | ||
| Saturday | 5:30pm | Liverpool v Arsenal | ||||
| Sunday | 2:00pm | Man City v Everton | ||||
| Sunday | 4:30pm | Tottenham v Leeds |
Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline is 11:00am (GMT) on Saturday 20th November
STRONG FIXTURE
Tottenham
Putting faith in Spurs seems very dangerous and it’s an uncomfortable feeling. However, in a weekend where weaker sides are facing each other just like the in-form teams are, their home meeting with Leeds is being targeted by FPL managers around the world. Having Antonio Conte in the dugout is a huge coup for Spurs but his first league match in charge was a 0-0 stalemate at Everton – promising for their defensive assets but not for Son Heung-min and Harry Kane, with the team failing to produce a shot on target for two successive matches. Leeds’ defence has had a poor season, so this may be an occasion to put blind faith in a pair of established FPL premiums.
Crystal Palace
Following consecutive 2-0 wins against Man City and Wolves, people are talking about Patrick Vieira’s side. Having only lost twice all season, their weakness until recently had been an inability to convert draws (six so far) into victories. Their defence has only been bettered by Chelsea’s for shots conceded, attempts on target and expected goals conceded (xGC) over the last three gameweeks, whilst Conor Gallagher is the fifth highest-scorer in FPL with 62 points. Wilfried Zaha is back amongst the goals, Odsonne Edouard threatens and Christian Benteke is also impressing. They will fear neither the trip to Burnley, nor the form of Maxwel Cornet.
Newcastle
This pick is based on a managerial bounce in front of a buoyant home crowd, versus an out-of-form opponent. It certainly isn’t because of winless Newcastle’s season so far. Yet the arrival of Eddie Howe has refreshed a football club that is in desperate need of some love and attention. Up first is a must-win hosting of Brentford – a side who impressed many, to the point where Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo have been bought en masse. But the losses to both Burnley and Norwich adds to the possible absence of creative midfielder Mathias Jensen. Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin can capitalise on this to begin the Howe tenure with a win.
INJURIES / BANS
Here is a round-up of the injuries we know of, alongside those serving or nearing a suspension.
TRANSFERS SO FAR
As of Monday afternoon, these are the most transferred in and out players of the week.
These tend to remain very similar by deadline, unless a major injury or return develops.
The four goals and four assists of Gallagher have led to several price rises and a well-deserved England call-up. It seems like the FPL community have decided he and Emile Smith Rowe are the cheap midfielders of choice, rather than Mbeumo. Third-highest defender Reece James continues to gain a following, ranking highly despite only completing 60 minutes in four of Chelsea’s 11 league matches. He provides much attacking threat from the back, as does Joao Cancelo at Man City. Michail Antonio blanked for the fourth time in five matches yet is still gaining new owners.
No player has yet had a significant number of sales, although the suspended Robert Sanchez leads the way with over 165,000. Marcos Alonso and Danny Ings are lacking game time, while the trolling from Jamie Vardy is losing owners. Five goals from a run of four matches brought in 1.3 million new managers once Romelu Lukaku got hurt, yet the Leicester forward has totalled just four points in the three games since.
