More FPL tips from Big Man Bakar ahead of the busy Premier League festive period for Gameweek 14 – as the respected Fantasy Football expert answers seven key questions a lot of managers will be asking.
There is no let-up in the Premier League at the moment – as hot on the heels of the recent weekend action, there is a full midweek fixture list over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night.
FPL Tips For GW14 From Big Man Bakar: Your Key Questions Answered
With that in mind, Big Man Bakar runs the rule over seven big questions that would have been pondered by many ahead of Gameweek 14.
You can then use his FPL tips to help improve your squads and give you an edge on the other teams in your respective football leagues.
Q) What to do with Mbeumo? Which one of Bruno or Mbeumo to sell?
Both Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes have a relatively tough run of fixtures coming up.
Both are exactly the kind of players I’d like to own in December because of the security of their starts over the congested period, so there is a legit argument to keep both despite the poor fixtures.
If selling one, I think selling Bruno makes more sense as he is more expensive and his short term fixtures are relatively tougher.
Mbeumo’s underlying data has dropped off in recent weeks but he’s still accumulating a solid xGi per 90 over a larger sample size this season.
Q) What to do with Bruno? Sell for Saka?
I think the answer to this is very much team dependent.
Both Bruno and Saka are perfectly good assets to own.
Saka is obviously preferable due to his short term fixtures but Bruno is by no means a “must-sell”.
I would only move Bruno to Saka if there are no better moves to make in the team and if that transfer is affordable for free.
Q) Should we plan for Trent?
One player apart from Bukayo Saka who should be given serious consideration in the coming weeks should be Trent Alexander Arnold.
He has registered just the single assist this season, but his expected goal involvement (xGi) of 3.7 shows that he is unlucky not to have gotten more attacking returns.
Despite the underwhelming returns this season, I still think of Trent as an elite pick as he is first for expected goal involvement (xGi) among defenders and is playing in a defence that is comfortably the best for fewest xG conceded this season.
The long-term fixtures are pretty good from this point, so I think he’s a nice set and forget option to have in place from now on in.
Q) Best cheap defender to buy?
If you’re in the market for a cheap defender this week, Colwill is probably the one to get.
Chelsea have a great run of fixtures all the way till Gameweek 22, a period in which they play five of the worst seven teams for fewest xG accumulated this season.
This is surely a run where you’d expect Chelsea to show some defensive resilience.
The bookmakers expect the same – Chelsea are ranked in the top five teams for bookmakers’ clean sheet probability in seven of the next nine Gameweeks.
Colwill is the most secure starter in the Chelsea defence, and at £4.5m should be good value for money.
Q) Who is the best captain this week?
I think this is a fairly straightforward one this week.
Cole Palmer is the standout captain, given the appealing fixture against Southampton this week.
Southampton are ranked 19th for xG conceded this season, and will have three first team players missing out through suspension.
I’d still pick him over Haaland despite the Norwegian’s home fixture this week.
Q) Raul Jimenez – keep or sell?
Patience is running out for a lot of Raul’s owners.
While Raul’s schedule has a few tough games ahead, his rotation potential with popular picks like Rogers and Semenyo makes him a valuable long-term asset.
The underlying data is still fine, so I’d expect him to get back to goalscoring ways sooner rather than later.
Q) Dominic Solanke – keep or sell?
Solanke missed out through illness last Gameweek but is expected to be fine.
Spurs are playing on Thursday, which helps as it is a comparatively bigger turnaround.
Given the packed fixture list, Solanke is a strong hold.
Spurs are ranked 3rd for xG this season, with Solanke right up there among the league’s top forwards in the xG charts.
He’s completely nailed for starts, and should be a 90 minute man on most days.
