An early look ahead to Gameweek 16
| Friday | 8:00pm | Brentford v Watford | ||||
| Saturday | 12:30pm | Man City v Wolves | ||||
| Saturday | 3:00pm | Arsenal v Southampton | Chelsea v Leeds | Liverpool v Aston Villa | ||
| Saturday | 5:30pm | Norwich v Man United | ||||
| Sunday | 2:00pm | Brighton v Tottenham | Burnley v West Ham | Leicester v Newcastle | ||
| Sunday | 4:30pm | Crystal Palace v Everton |
Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline is 6:30pm (GMT) on Friday 10th December
STRONG FIXTURE
CHELSEA
The European champions slipped down to third after throwing away a 2-1 lead away to West Ham, as the Hammers achieved the same 3-2 win that they inflicted on Liverpool. In response, Thomas Tuchel’s men have a promising home match against Leeds, who needed a late Patrick Bamford equaliser to stave off a home loss to Brentford. Reece James blanked but still offers fantastic points potential at both ends, although there is uncertainty over Marcos Alonso‘s place at left wing-back. Mason Mount again collected a goal and assist, taking him up to 49 points from his last three full matches. However, they still need to secure top spot in their Champions League group, so the midweek team sheet will offer more line-up clues.
MAN UNITED
Eyes were all over Man United’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, desperate to see if Ralf Rangnick’s new system indicated which FPL assets to purchase ahead of a wonderful long-term fixture run that starts at Norwich. Of course, Fred scored the winner and ensured blanks for Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho. But the question is how long do we assess until making a decision? Defensively, this was only their third clean sheet of the season. David De Gea is a strong option, with intrigue over the recent introduction of £4.4m right-back Diego Dalot.
CRYSTAL PALACE
There was an excitement over Crystal Palace after Gameweek 11. Back-to-back 2-0 wins over Man City and Wolves, only two defeats and the brilliant value of Conor Gallagher. Typically, they have one point from the subsequent four matches, where Gallagher only collected ten points and is now one yellow card away from suspension. Yet they will be very happy to face Everton in an attempt to resurrect their season. Their defence still boasts the third lowest expected goals conceded (xGC) in the league, despite recent form, so Vicente Guaita and Marc Guehi still hold an appeal.
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.
Momentum was already building for Bernardo Silva and then he scored twice against Watford, ensuring at least a double-rise for the Man City star. Mount and Jarrod Bowen continue to deliver and their ownerships are rapidly increasing, with the latter about to enter a great fixture run alongside Michail Antonio (not that it has stopped the decline of Said Benrahma!)
Conor Gallagher is being ditched after being unable to maintain his form, with Shane Duffy suspended for one match and Ivan Toney missing at least one more due to Covid. The selling of Raphinha is purely fixture-based, as his form has been very impressive. But away trips to Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool amongst the next four matches is absolutely brutal.
