Top Picks for Gameweek 17

Filling in for David Munday’s regular look at the Gameweek’s top picks is Marc Jobling. Here, Marc selects who he thinks will be three of the top players for Gameweek 17.

The six-week World Cup break is almost over and all FPL managers have unlimited free transfers to make. Alongside the Christmas excess of food and presents is a chance to completely re-do your squad and possibly rectify a poor start.

So I’ve picked out three top picks that could have a solid impact on your team this week.

KEVIN DE BRUYNE

It would’ve been too easy to say Erling Haaland, given his ownership. He was born in Leeds and supports Leeds, so let’s predict a resumption of his great partnership with Kevin De Bruyne.

One is already on 18 league goals, the other has ten assists – it’s frightening how quickly these have formed a connection.

Furthermore, Haaland is fully-rested from not being at the World Cup whilst De Bruyne was poor during Belgium’s group elimination. Determined to prove a point, it took him five minutes to score against Girona in Saturday’s friendly.

Considering their opponent’s 26 goals conceded are amongst the league’s worst, it could be wise to double-up on City’s attack.

ANTHONY MARTIAL

Unfortunately, the 27-year-old is one of those injury-prone players that can never be fully-backed in FPL. He’s only played 200 minutes of this league campaign but is about to overtake his 207 of last season.

Yet this period of unlimited transfers allows managers to build a long-term squad base, sprinkled with a risk or two. Martial is currently fit, about to face Nottingham Forest (H), Wolves (a) and Bournemouth (H).

For those unable to fit in Marcus Rashford or afford Bruno Fernandes, perhaps forward Martial is the best way to access these superb fixtures.

MASON MOUNT

Finally, the Chelsea midfielder is back from Qatar but he is having an under-par season. His previous three have each improved on the last one but just two goals and three assists have arrived so far.

He’s purely being picked because of Chelsea’s great early fixture run that includes a Double Gameweek 19, whilst he’s also the most reliable for playing time under Graham Potter.

His 1,031 minutes are only bettered by defender Thiago Silva, making him a strong, logically-backed differential.

However, be aware that Chelsea’s underlying attacking stats are poor. No team has a lower non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) over the last six matches.