Best FPL differential XI so far

Will from Fantasy Football 92 is back. However, instead of a differential XI for the upcoming gameweek, he looks at the best FPL differentials so far.

We’ve all seen the “template XI” and will, no doubt, have figured out which elite assets we’re going to jump on this season.

Whether you’re on the Salah train or the Haaland bus (or both), you’re going to be needing some handy differentials . These players will ensure you’re always one step ahead of your mini-league rivals and can climb up those world rankings!

With the international break upon us, now is the perfect time to assess which differentials have shot FPL managers ahead. Here are my best FPL differentials so far.

Goalkeeper:

Nick Pope – Newcastle United – £5.2m

New club but same old story for Nick Pope. The Burnley stopper swapped claret for black and white over the summer. But he’s still the joint busiest Goalkeeper in the league having made 30 saves over the first seven weeks. Throw in three clean sheets and he’s the top scoring goalkeeper. However, few started the season with him thanks to a £5.0m pricetag. He’s pretty popular now though.

Defenders

William Saliba – Arsenal – £4.9m (44 points)

Max Kilman – Wolves £4.5m (28 points)

Eric Dier – Tottenham – £5.1m (33 points)

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joao Cancelo, Andy Robertson, Reece James. All valid guesses for the current top scoring defender. But would you have guessed William Saliba? The young Frenchman has finally broken through at Arsenal and his top performances have transferred into fantasy points. The commanding centre back has scored a massive 44 points largely thanks to two goals, one assist and three clean sheets. That’s even with an own goal in week two.

Eric Dier is the least fashionable of all of the Spurs defensive picks. But has scored the most points so far and is still only 6.7% rostered. Whilst, Wolves centre back Max Kilman still fits the differential criteria at 1.7% ownership. Kilman is priced at £4.5m but is trundling along quietly as the ninth best defender so far.

Midfielders

Pascal Gross – Brighton – £6.0m (42 points)

Alexis Macallister – Brighton – £5.6m (39 points)

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – Tottenham – £5.5m (33 points)

Marcus Rashford – Manchester United – £6.6m – (40 points)

Rodrigo – Leeds United – £6.3m (38 points)

While Saliba top scores among defenders, the midfield position is dominated by Brighton. Despite playing one less fixture than the majority of the field, differential favourites Pascal Gross and Alexis Mac Allister sit at second and fifth respectively in the midfield top scorers. Only Kevin De Bruyne is above the aforementioned German. 

It remains to be seen what effect Graham Potter’s departure will have on Brighton assets. But Gross and Mac Allister have enjoyed their hot start to the season so far!

Marcus Rashford’s career has been revived under Erik Ten Hag. His goal against Liverpool kickstarted a decent run of form for the Englishman who had struggled for form. Playing out of position as a forward and priced at £6.6m, make Rashford a great differential.

Making up our five man midfield are the injured Rodrigo and the previously unfashionable Pierre Emile Hojbjerg. Leeds’ Rodrigo was this season’s “out of nowhere” star of the early season. Four goals and an assist over the first four games saw the Spaniard’s popularity skyrocket. However, he departed after 30 minutes through injury against Everton in Gameweek 5. A massive 509,864 managers had transferred him in for that game as well as the 1,332,069 who had done the same the week before. Can you name anything “more FPL” than that?

Meanwhile, Danish enforcer Hojbjerg is proving to be excellent value at £5.5m. All the talk pre-season was around Pedro Neto and Leon Bailey for that slot. However, the Tottenham man has comfortably outscored both of them thanks to two goals and an assist. He’s still only rostered by only 2.9% of managers.

Forwards

Ollie Watkins – Aston Villa – £7.2m (26 points)

Bryan Mbuemo – Brentford – (24 points)

Our forwards are ranked seventh and eighth respectively in their position. But still sit comfortably below the differential threshold of 5% ownership. Work that one out!

They’re hardly setting the world alight at the moment but Ollie Watkins and Bryan Mbuemo have score 26 and 24 points respectively while still only being rostered by 2% and 1.8%. Aston Villa in particular have a few nice fixtures to come so getting Watkins in now ahead of plenty of potential points could be a smart play if you need a differential on your Gameweek 9 wildcard!