Fantasy Premier League GW 16 Preview – Who Should You Target?

Did you know there’s a World Cup approaching? You probably didn’t – it’s not like anybody’s talking about it. 

Well, your friendly neighbourhood FPL correspondent is here to tell you the World Cup is indeed just around the corner. Far more important than the real-world contest, naturally, are the fantasy football implications. There are two main ones:

1. Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 16 is the last one before the World Cup
2. Fantasy World Cup is a thing

James and I will both be playing the latter, since we’re both hopeless fantasy football addicts. We’ve already started churning out content for it, including a full explanation of the rules and a basic strategy. You can get all that here, along with any future Fantasy World Cup articles.

In the meantime, let’s focus on the task at hand – Fantasy Premier League advice for an intriguing Gameweek 16. 

Fantasy Premier League Tips – Gameweek 16

As you probably already know, there’s a ginormous gap between Gameweeks 16 and 17 for the World Cup. Two main things are happening during this time:

1. We’re all getting a free wildcard (so we can make as many changes as we like)
2. All the prices are frozen (so we don’t need to worry about when we make those changes)

Basically, you hardly need to think about the future at all this week. Liberating, isn’t it? Your only consideration would be losing money on long-term holds. Apart from that, you can get whoever the hell you want.

Of course, Fantasy Premier League expert that you are, you probably want to actually pick good players. You almost certainly already own the likes of Haaland, Martinelli, Trippier, and all the other usual suspects. I’ve kicked off this guide by listing the 10 players with the highest effective ownerships (explained here) anyway, before listing your other best options. 

The Usual Suspects

Here are the 10 players with the highest effective ownerships heading into Gameweek 16, per Fantasy Football Pundit:

You already have the top four, and we can throw out Neco Williams and Joel Ward too. Pereira has been great recently, but you’re not bringing him right now. 

Man City have an excellent home game against Brentford. De Bruyne is on fire – he’s returned in a ridiculous 7 of his last 8 matches. Unfortunately, he also costs 12.6. If you have two transfers, I’d get him right in your team for this week. If – like me – you only have one, he’s probably impossible to get to. 

Almiron is the second-highest scoring midfielder in FPL. That’s ridiculous in itself, but fair play to him – he’s shown it wasn’t just a flash in the pan, returning in 6 of his last 7 games. He’s still super cheap at 5.8 too. The problem is he plays Chelsea this week. Admittedly they haven’t kept a clean in their last six games… but they’ve only conceded one goal in five of those games. In short, it’s not a good matchup.

That leaves us with Kane. He’s been super consistent as always, and has a brilliant matchup at home to Leeds. There are two caveats, however. One is that he’s apparently tired, and – if Conte says that – he must be really exhausted. The second is that he costs 11.6. That’s still a million cheaper than Kev, but he’s a slightly bigger rotation risk (although, this being Conte, he’ll probably still wheel him out anyway).

Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 16 – The Others

With the big hitters taken care of, let’s whip through the rest of my Fantasy Premier League tips for a Gameweek 16 dalliance. It’s simple stuff – I’ll look at the hottest names that everyone seems to be looking at, and give a Roman thumbs-up or thumbs-down (/I’ll say YES or NO). 

Mo Salah (12.7) – YES

Ever heard of him? 

Salah has been stuck up top where he can finally do some damage, and has promptly responded by scoring a load of goals. He also has the best matchup in the league right now, at home to Southampton. 

If you’ve got two transfers, Salah would be my #1 pick for Gameweek 16. If not, you’re probably having to hit Haaland or Kane out for him, or swap him in for Kev, neither of which I’d do.

Firmino (8.1)/Darwin (8.9) – NO and YES (?)

I don’t like Firmino or Darwin in general (in FPL – I’ve never met them in real life). That said, it’s incredibly hard to ignore this tantalising home game against Southampton.

Darwin hasn’t exactly been lighting it up. In his last three EPL starts he’s got one assist, although he did score against both Ajax and Napoli in the Champions League. He seems to be taking up good positions though, and is having lots of shots. I don’t mind him as a one-week shout here. 

Firmino hasn’t returned in his last five starts. Choosing Darwin over him for this fixture is an easy choice. 

Marcus Rashford (6.7) – NO

I just don’t get it. I don’t know why he’s in the England World Cup squad, and I don’t know why he’s over 19% owned in Fantasy Premier League. 

Rashford’s had one great game all season, against Arsenal, in which he scored two and got an assist. In the other 14 games, all of which he’s started, he’s got two goals and one assist. What the hell am I missing here?

We have no idea where he’ll play (right wing last game). Ronaldo kills the whole attack. He’s not in-form. Even against Fulham, it’s an easy no.

Arsenal Players – YES 

Wolves away sounds hard, but it actually isn’t any more. They’ve kept one clean sheet in their last sight Premier League games, and recently shipped three to Brighton and four to Leicester (both games at home). 

The question is, which Arsenal players are we taking?

You’ve already got Martinelli, so that’s one spot. 

Saka is only 17% owned – 2% less than Rashford. That is absolutely mental. He’s not exactly breaking the bank, at 8.0, and he’s been incredible this season. Four goals and seven assists in 15 games is elite, and he’s returned in four of his last five games. If you haven’t got Saka already, he’s a brilliant shout this week.

So, that’s two-thirds of our Arsenal spots. There are two ways to go with the third. 

Firstly, you could just get Jesus, who’s highly affordable at 8.0. You’re probably starting three forwards already, but if one of those forwards is Wilson – who’s a bit under the weather – that’s a nice swap. Dropping down from Kane, and upgrading to Salah or Kev in midfield, also feels all right. 

The other option is to get an Arsenal defender. White is the cheapest at 4.6, but Gabriel carries a bigger goal threat, so stretch to the 5.1 if you can afford it. I know it sounds boring to get a defender for a one-week shout, but Arsenal have three cleans in their last four, and Wolves are crap. 

Best of the Rest

We’ve already got a few very nice options indeed. Here are some quick-hitting looks at the other main options for Gameweek 16. 

• Zaha (7.5) – Away vs Forest

The biggest troll in recent FPL history got me again last gameweek. I binned him after his blank at home to Southampton, only for him to score and assist against West Ham (a much harder game). Classic. 

Forest are super-defensive, and just got a clean in the League Cup against Spurs. Hold him if you’ve got him, but there are more exciting (and reliable) options this week.

• Kulusevski (8.0) – Home vs Leeds

This is a cheeky one, but I’ve seen it bandied around on FPL Twitter. After a long injury lay-off, Kulu has come on in the last two games for Spurs. Son will definitely not be playing this weekend, so – if Kulu is fit – this would be a great time to reintroduce him. 

Obviously it’s risky, and I won’t be doing it myself. He’s very high upside though – if he plays though, he’ll almost certainly return at least once.

• Maddison (8.2) / Barnes (6.9) – Away vs West Ham

Barnes has scored three goals in his last four, only blanking against Man City. Fair play to the lad, but I have a hard time trusting him after several years of false starts. 

He’s less of a goal threat, but is more involved. 

Maddison has a better track record, and is more consistent. He’s had a fantastic season, with six goals and four assists, and has three returns in his last two games.  

West Ham are so completely all over the map that I’d just call them a neutral matchup at this point. I like Maddison here, if you can afford him (and if you already have Saka). 

Nah, I Wouldn’t

To wrap things up, here are a couple of the other hot names on whom I – a noted contrarian – am decided lukewarm. 

• Leandro Trossard (7.1) – Home vs Villa

I’m trying to stay neutral on this one, because Trollard burned me good and proper earlier this season. I jumped on the bandwagon just after he hattied against Liverpool, binned him after he put up three blanks for me, then raged as he proceeded to return in his next three games (scoring against City and Chelsea in the process). 

Not that I’m bitter. 

I just don’t like the matchup here. I realise I just wrote that he scored against City and Chelsea, but it was something of a consolation goal against City, and part of a general demolition job of an imploding Chelsea. Villa looked great in their first game under Emery (swoon), and would have had a clean but for one of the most ridiculously unlucky goals of the season.

It’s not a bad pick – Trossard’s form is as good as anyone’s – but I wouldn’t bring someone in against Villa/Emery right now. There are better matchups out there. 

• Bruno Guimarães (5.7) – Home vs Chelsea

Hopefully you’re not considering him anyway, with so many better FPL midfielders out there. We’ve hit a definite pattern with old Bruno, however, in which he returns, lots of people rush to get him in, then he immediately stops returning. 

Again, there are many, many, many superior options. 

FPL Advice, Gameweek 16 – Final Thoughts

One of the great things about writing these FPL tips columns is that it helps get your own thoughts in order. James and I don’t have a big board with every FPL asset’s face on it, at which we chuck a few darts before every gameweek, believe it or not. We do actually do our research, watch the games, listen to far too many podcasts, and all the rest of it. 

So, what’s all this adding up to for my own underperforming team?

As noted, I love both the premium midfielders – Salah and Kev – this gameweek. Both are in great form, both have great matchups. Unfortunately, I only have one transfer and 3.0 ITB.

I’m waiting for the news on Saturday morning this gameweek, which I should have done last week. If we hear anything about Wilson, I’ll bin him for Jesus.

Obviously, I would love to jettison Phil Foden into space and never see him again (in FPL – he’s pretty good in real life). The ‘10 Most Disappointing Players in FPL So Far’ article I wrote this week was basically a vehicle to vent about my Foden-shaped misfortunes. 

Every week I think he’s going to start. Every week he comes off the bench for 1pt. There are so many good midfielders that it’s killing me having him clogging up that spot. If Wilson’s fit, I’ll probably go for Maddison – he’s consistent, and has a decent matchup. Based on how my FPL season has gone so far, I’ll swap Wilson for Jesus (who’ll blank), start Foden because I can’t resist Brentford at home, accept my 1pt, and cry myself into the World Cup break. 

On that cheery note, we’ll leave things there. Follow us on Twitter!