MyFPL is a series where we will go through our thought process before every FPL Gameweek in the 2018/2019 season.
2017/18 Overall Ranking: 9058
Current Overall Points: 420
Current Overall Ranking: 17,069
Last Gameweek Points: 75
My FPL team keeps chugging along and we’re now into the top 20k very early in the season. Keeping faith in Bernardo Silva (£7.6) finally paid off, while fellow GW1 players Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.4) and James Maddison (£6.8) kept showing why I got them in the first place.
I figured this week, I’d return to a popular segment I wrote for a couple of gameweeks last season; Buy Him, Sell Him, Keep Him, Stay Away. The title really says it all. I will recommend a player for you to buy, someone you should look to sell, who you should keep faith in like I did with Bernardo Silva last week and which popular transfer you should stay away from.
I’m not gonna advise you to sell Maddison, even though that is what I personally did for this gameweek. I’m wildcarding in GW9, so I’m possibly looking to bring him back pretty soon, but before then he goes through a sneakily tough schedule where new owners might get slightly disappointed in him. That said, I still don’t feel good about selling him and I might very well regret it, but just like when I sold Salah before GW4, the biggest reason for selling him is who I am getting in. The player I will advice you to buy this week:
Buy Him, Richarlison (£6.7)
Richarlison is back from suspension and a tough game against Arsenal, with perhaps the best possible match-up at home against a Fulham team which concedes in every game. He looked dangerous once again versus Arsenal, even if he got his first full game blank of the season. Perfect for all of us who wanted to wait a week to bring him in.
This is the perfect time to buy him. His ownership is still only 21.1%, affected by his silly red card in GW3. after he looked likely to break out as a star under Marco Silva. Richarlison was essential in the first 2 gameweeks and further boosted his stock with a brace on his full-game international debut for Brazil.
Looking at his next 6 home matches, it should be obvious why you’d want to get Richarlison now. Fulham, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Cardiff, Newcastle and Watford is on the menu at Goodison Park. The pacy Brazilian winger will feast on those matches and is always a candidate to score in the tough matches away to Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City which might put some people off of buying him again.
Manager Marco Silva who unlocked Richarlison’s potential both in Watford and now as Everton manager gave us yet another reason to buy him in his pre-match press conference. Silva hinted at playing Richarlison up front, after Everton’s strikers have left a lot to be desired so far. Playing as a striker would only boost Richarlison’s appeal even more, especially in those tough away matches where the striker will be the main outlet for counter attacks. He might even do an Arnautovic and excel as a striker, giving you a perfect OOP option for the rest of the season. Buy Richarlison.
Sell Him, Sadio Mané (£10.0)
Sadio Mané is slowly but surely coming back down to earth after starting FPL red-hot to begin the season. In my GW3 MyFPL article I predicted that he wouldn’t keep outscoring Salah and that you should look to get rid of him. I feel pretty justified in saying that now, with 3 blanks in 4 gameweeks for Mané, who is about to get the truly tough matches against Chelsea away and Man City at home.
Mané is still owned by a staggering 41.1% of FPL managers and has seen his value rise from £9.5 to 10.0, but with 2 new blanks coming up, you can expect that price to drop quickly. Even when the fixtures clear up from GW9 onwards, there are a couple of Liverpool players I’d rather get than Mané. I’m likely to bring in Alisson (£5.6) as a set and forget GK for the rest of the season, either Andrew Robertson (£6.3) or Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.1) could get that same honor in my defence. Like I have planned from the start, I will look to also bring back Mohamed Salah (£12.9) as my main captain option from GW9 onwards.
While I don’t really fear going without Mané considering the tough matches, I still dread the thought of Salah not being in my team. He gets to big chances every single game, regardless of opponent and I’m positive he’ll get the most FPL points when we come to the season’s end. I’d probably keep Salah at this point, especially if you don’t have the wildcard you should be using before GW9. As for Mané however, sell, sell, sell!
Keep Him, Marko Arnautovic (£6.9)
Someone you shouldn’t sell is the fit-again Marko Arnautovic.
It’s a shame Arnie didn’t play last week against Chelsea, as he’d likely get a goal or two given the same chances Michail Antonio and Andriy Yarmolenko got. West Ham have started to figure things out under Manuel Pellegrini and Arnautovic has looked as vital and deadly as he did last year whenever he has played. The West Ham vice captain is also on spot-kick duties and will play the full 90 whenever he is healthy, something he has been for the most part the last few seasons.
Many have pointed out that Arnautovic should be brought in when his fixtures clear up in GW11 onwards, but I don’t think his fixtures from GW7 to GW11 are all that bad either. Sure, he plays Man Utd and Tottenham, but those teams are in more trouble than they were a year ago. They have conceded more than teams like Wolverhampton, Watford and Crystal Palace this season and are struggling to find their form after a poor summer transfer window. The game is at home as well, in front of a re-invigorated West Ham fan base. The other two matches before GW11 are away to Brighton and Leicester, which are usually fixtures you bring players in for.
Keep your faith in Arnautovic if you have him, and pray that he doesn’t produce immediately if you don’t. As a West Ham fan I will always hope he scores, but as an FPL manager I don’t like going without him for too much longer.
Stay Away, Joe Hart (£4.5)
Most of the players getting transferred in a lot this gameweek are very good options, making it hard to pick one to stay away from, but when I saw that Joe Hart was the most popular GK addition, the answer was easy. As always, stay away from Joe Hart.
I mean, I get the appeal on paper. Burnley without Europa League look to re-capture the form that made them a sensation last season, starting off strong with an impressive 4-0 win over Bournemouth. The GK position has been hard to figure out this season and with matches against Cardiff and Huddersfield coming up, you’d expect Burnley to keep at least 1 clean sheet.
My counter argument… It’s Joe Hart… The same goalkeeper who has flopped in 3 straight seasons and has been benched behind goalkeepers like Claudio Bravo and Adrian. Tom Heaton is a better goalkeeper than those two and is also a better goalkeeper than Hart. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hart mess up yet again and being usurped by former club captain Heaton in the starting XI.
The fantastic Nick Pope looks to return in December as well, which will surely put away Joe Hart as a Fantasy option for good. Their clean sheet prospects don’t look good beyond Cardiff and Huddersfield either. At home to Newcastle in GW13 and home to Brighton in GW17 are the only matches I’d favor them to not concede. Before Pope returns they will play 5 of the 6 best teams in the league along with tough away matches against Leicester, West Ham and Crystal Palace. Stay away from Joe Hart.