Last week went alright and was all about consolidation following an all-time clanger in Gameweek 6, but despite an above average score, it didn’t stop my team dropping down the global rankings. I’ve taken as much time as possible deciding my plans for this week, and after a lot of soul searching, the decision has been taken to pull the trigger on my first wildcard of the season for FPL Gameweek 8.
My two goalkeepers face tough games this weekend, I have no definite outs with injury, and a number of others that are a rotation risk. My season probably rests on this, and hopefully fortune favours the brave.
I feel that this squad also sets me up nicely for a bench boost in the near future, so that’s another aspect of the game I’m paying close attention to.
Current Global Rank
3,370,143 (DOWN FROM GW7)
Goalkeepers
Bart Verbruggen drops to the bench as Konstantinos Tzolakis replaces Antonin Kinsky and comes straight into the line up. Hull are at home to Brentford this weekend and the threat of a dominant win for their guests is offset by my attacking picks. The Greek stopper also rotates well with Verbruggen between now and Christmas, and is only 0.2m more than I had spent on my original pairing.
Defenders
Maxim De Cuyper is a must have and a despite Brighton’s tricky couple of fixtures on the horizon, the Belgian’s attacking threat offsets anything else, he replaces Luke Shaw to use up whatever budget excess I had.
Ricardo Calafiori and Marc Guehi stay in the side, I have my concerns over Calafiori’s rotation threat, but like De Cuyper, he carries huge attacking threat and is the third most owned player in the game. Guehi also seems the most assured of minutes in City’s defence and his side have looked superb so far, however, I don’t like their clean sheet prospects this weekend so he does drop to the bench.
Tarik Muharemovic is proving to be the Defcon magnet many said he’d be, so he replaces Jan Paul Van Hecke at the back. Leeds have some winnable games but also some tough ones coming up, notably Chelsea and Manchester City away, but the three other defenders can make those weeks easy enough to manage.
Ezri Konsa is at such a price that he rounds out a strong five man defensive unit. At 4.6m, he looks a nailed on started in the best defence in the league, at least until William Saliba returns, and I don’t fancy many of Arsenal’s attacking options, so spending more than I initially did in defence is something I’m prepared to accept. Konsa replace the reliable Bobby Thomas.
Midfielders
The injured Dominik Szoboszlai is the first swap for my midfield, he’s replaced by Marcus Tavernier who has had a brilliant start to the campaign for Bournemouth, who also have some nice fixtures over the next five weeks.
With Antoine Semenyo injured and Phil Foden hitting form in the last couple of games, I’m saving 1m by replacing Rayan Cherki with the England schemer. I feel a City triple is essential, and we all know who the third of their assets is going to be.
Morgan Rogers has been excellent so he remains, so the next replacement in the side is Johan Manzambi, who comes in for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Manzambi has been brilliant lately and an absolute steal at 6.0m.
I’ve been really pleased with Diego Gomez’s contribution, but I have a spare 1.2m now, and that allows me to pivot to Pascal Gros, who keeps delivering and given his set piece duties, just edges out his Brighton teammate into the squad.
Forwards
This remains unchanged, Erling Haaland and Joao Pedro are undroppable, and I like the near-term prospects of Brentford, so Thiago rounds out the attacking trio who all start for me this week.
FPL Captaincy
This week’s captaincy goes to Erling Haaland once again after Enzo Maresca announced he’s available for City’s trip to Villa Park. Joao Pedro takes the vice captaincy for his home fixture against Tottenham.
FPL Watch List
Luka Vuskovic – Just six points fewer than De Cuyper and 0.2 cheaper, the Croatian has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water and warrants a place on this list.
Kevin Schade – The Brentford winger nearly made this squad and is under close consideration for a transfer in should it be required.
Nicolas Jackson – A cheaper alternative to Thiago, when the fixtures turn, the Senegal star is in line to come in.
Check out more at For Foot Sake’s FPL hub here.