Az from Blackbox is back with another round of FPL tips – this week centred around the best Brighton picks for your teams ahead of GW13.
I know, I know. It’s Az writing about Brighton again. He’s probably going to recommend a player who gets shipped off to Spain again. It’s November, guys. Let it go.
It’s an amazing run of fixtures for Brighton on the horizon, taking you right up to February 1st. Other than arguably Arsenal in GW20, Brighton will be full of confidence that they can pick up even more points as they seek out European football again next season.
The issue is, Brighton have an absolutely massive squad, with 31 players listed on the FPL website and at least 23 of these players vying for a start when fit and available for selection.
I’ll use this article to take a quick run through the player positions to see which Brighton players we should be considering for our teams.
Brighton FPL Tips GW13
Goalkeeper and Defence
Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) took the number 1 jersey as soon as he was fit and available, relegating Jason Steele (£4.3m) to backup. I really rate Verbruggen, who makes a good number of saves and definitely has the fixtures to build on the three clean sheets so far this season. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that if you are looking past David Raya (£5.5m) at Arsenal, Verbruggen would be my favoured pick for the forseeable future.
Defence is a bit of a lottery, particularly in the fullback area, with Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.5m) a threat to both Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) and Joel Veltman (£4.6m) when he returns from injury. Veltman has been one of the most underrated players in the league for a number of seasons now and has been one of the best players under Fabian Hürzeler, so it’s hard to see him being dropped when fit. Kadioglu was also a regular starter before injury, even being moved to the wing, where he scored a great goal against Liverpool in Gameweek 10. Estupinan is clearly the most at risk here, but I’d probably avoid all three going forward. Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) is the best option for me. He is absolutely nailed on to start, especially with Lewis Dunk (£4.4m) out injured. When Dunk is fit again, he will surely usurp Igor (£4.4m) in the starting team.
Midfielders
It’s Kaoru Mitoma (£6.4m) or bust for me here. There’s simply no way of knowing who is going to start in the other positions each week, with Georginio Rutter (£5.6m), Yankuba Minteh (£5.2m), and, to a lesser extent, Simon Adingra (£5.3m) all vying for the right wing spot. Matt O’Riley (£5.5m) is definitely one to watch and may become an option for us if he can nail down a spot in the midfield three, but for now, he faces too much competition with Carlos Baleba (£5.0m), Jack Hinshelwood (£5.0m), Mats Wieffer (£4.8m), and Yasin Ayari (£5.0m) all getting significant gametime.
One of my favourite players, Julio Enciso (£5.4m), appears to have been phased out by Hürzeler lately, but I wouldn’t put it past him to claw his way back into the reckoning. We also have Solly March (£5.4m) to come back, but I imagine he’ll remain as a bench option until the end of the season.
For what it’s worth, Mitoma at just 5.9% ownership looks a great punt to me, and I’m certain he’ll build on his attacking returns over the coming weeks.
Forwards
Oh Joao Pedro (£5.6m). Probably the most naturally gifted player I have ever seen pull on a Brighton shirt, and available for absolute pennies in FPL. Everyone seems to be flocking to him, and for good reason – he has 23 points in his last two games and hasn’t even played 90 minutes in total across them.
He’s the talisman, is on penalties, and can create something out of nothing, being a key part of the Brighton team up until his injury back in Gameweek 5. He was straight back into the lineup following his 11-point cameo against Manchester City, and I think he is highly likely to start every game when available. The only issue and potential banana skin with him is he is very, very unlikely to see close to 90 minutes in the next few games. The Seagulls play three times in nine days, and Pedro’s minutes will definitely be managed, especially given the wealth of other options available in his position. He’s still a great pick, but do be warned that 60-70 minutes is about all you can expect from him over the next couple of games.
Elsewhere, Danny Welbeck (£6.0m) has started every game but surely misses one of the next three games, with Evan Ferguson (£5.5m) available to deputise. Welbeck is a bit more expensive than Pedro and while I think he is a decent hold if you have him, I’d definitely be going to the Brazilian if I was considering a Brighton attacker.
