FPL Gameweek 10 Preview – Haaland Hokey-Cokey and Ruben Amor-IN

Welcome to the FPL Gameweek 10 Preview—where we sift through midweek cup carnage, injury scares, and possible rotations to help you make the best picks for the upcoming Fantasy Premier League round.

The League Cup brought surprises (Spurs over City!), unfortunate injuries (Eze again), and even some unexpected form from players who’ve been FPL letdowns. With rotation and fitness worries in mind, we’ll look at the impact of these midweek matchups on key FPL assets, assess the best options for your captaincy, and explore potential transfers to maximise returns in Gameweek 10.

Let’s get into the thick of it!

League Cup Gods Laugh at your Plans

It was the EFL or League Cup 4th round on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. 

However crap they’ve been in the prem, the players you’ve backed in FPL will always magically be great in the cups and Europe or get injured. Or both if your name is Eberechi Eze…

Anyway, results:

• Southampton 3-2 Stoke City
• Brighton 2-3 Liverpool
• Aston Villa 1-2 Crystal Palace
• Man United 5-2 Leicester
• Newcastle 2-0 Chelsea
• Preston 0-3 Arsenal
• Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Man City

Generally we saw a lot of rotation. With most sides rotating at least six players.

Is this Spursy?

The funnest result (IMO) was Spurs beating City. I’m sorry Citizens. I don’t want you to ever win. It’s boring for me.

If you have followed this fixture it is perhaps not that surprising. But I do wonder if it confirms something about the state of this Man City squad – its the weakest it has been in a while.

More interesting for us, Son didn’t even make the bench and we aren’t sure he will be fit for the weekend so feel free to sell him. Van de Ven also went off injured which is awful for Spurs high defensive line as he is so good at recovery.

On the City side, Gvardiol looked dazed at the end and Akanji had to pull out before the game started. I didn’t like their defence before the game started and I like them even less now with this mini-injury crisis they are suffering. Haaland didn’t start and was weirdly left on the bench despite the fact they were losing.

What else happened?

• We already knew that Jota was injured before this game but not many people expected Szoboszlai to start up front in a false-nine.This must be because Slot wants to keep Darwin fit for the weekend right?
• Welbeck was fit enough to come off the bench.
• If you still have Eze you might be annoyed he scored. Well, he went off injured too. Sell him.
• Watkins and Rogers were rested for Villa.
• In case you forgot about him, Isak scored against Chelsea. He has bad fixtures for the next two but will be one to watch after the international break.
• Neither Palmer nor Jackson featured for Chelsea.
• B. Fernandes scored twice. Twice. The bastard.
• Saka came off the bench when Arsenal were already 3-0 up. I don’t understand Arteta.

Spooked by Haaland?

Yeah, okay it was Halloween yesterday but that’s when I wrote this.

As previewed last week, I (and it turns out many of you) are considering selling Haaland because he is really expensive and I can spread the funds to get Salah, Saka and Palmer. 

This is all part of my grand plan for the year which hasn’t gone super well lately (not) and that is to aggressively target the captaincy decision. And, with those three, I feel confident with my captaincy decisions which you can see in the matrix below. 

The only thing giving me pause is gameweek 11 when Liverpool play Villa and Arsenal and Chelsea play each other. I might just free hit that week to rid myself of the angst.

Captaincy Matrix

What the Gabri-EL?

Is that my favourite headline ever? No. Its awful. But its awfulness amuses me. As does the word awfulness which will anger my partner in FPL crime Joe.

There are reports that he is nearing fitness and could play at the weekend. But I know he went off injured last week, I know he didn’t make the squad midweek and I know his fixtures are bad. All that means I am leaning towards selling him.

And, if you can keep him and bench him that is also fine. There is an international break between gameweek 11 and 12 so it’s about a month’s time until he plays Forest which feels fine.

You could wait for news from the press conference but Arteta is a liar so wouldn’t tell us even if he knew.

Selling him helps fund other moves for me and replacing him with a 4.5 like Ait-Nouri (good fixtures/rotates well with Martinez) or Veltman (good fixtures) or Pau (good defence). 

If you were to replace him with Porro that would be fine but I am not super excited about the prospect as Spurs seem to always fail to keep a clean sheet. 

I am not a big fan of City defence because they concede one goal per game and I think everyone is a rotation risk but as I said above Gvardiol finished the game looking out of sorts so I wouldn’t bother with him.

I’m far more interested in Konate. After Quansah started in gameweek 1 I was scared to bring him in. But its been eight games of Konate starting. I think we might need to accept that he’s the man.

Ruben Amor-IN

I basically just did the same awful play on words didn’t I? Well, I’m not gonna get hired at the Sun anytime…

Ten Haag is gone. So, time for the next victim manager to step in.

Ruben Amorim has a very specific system and thats why Livepool didn’t want him. 

His formation is a 3-4-3 or 5-2-3 with aggressive wingbacks.

In attack, it will look like 2-3-5 with the wingbacks providing width and one of the centre-backs stepping into midfield. So, something like this:

In defence, it will be a 5-2-3 and look more like this.

Shoutout to BuildLineUp.com 

What Does Amorim Mean for your FPL Team?

You tend to see a “bounce” from a new manager (although some would dispute whether it is a bounce or simply a return to the mean). 

At the time of writing, Amorim isn’t expected to join United until the international break between gameweek 11 and 12.

If you were thinking about bringing any United asset in then don’t. There is now a big degree of uncertainty around who starts apart from probably Onana and Fernandes.

If you own one of their defenders you (hopefully) weren’t planning on playing them this week anyway so just hold him on your bench. In draft, go out and pick up Mazraoui and/or Dalot. That’s potentially going to offer you high upside going forward.

In terms of attack, you only possibly own Fernandes or Garnacho. I think you could sell them both or keep them both. There is not a stupid reaction to this news.

I have Bruno and have owned him since gameweek 6 wildcard. He hasn’t been good and was already on the chopping block for me in favour of Saka. But, he plays Leicester, Ipswich and Everton in gameweeks 11, 12 and 13 which was one of the reasons I got him in. I think the new manager tips the balance in favour of selling but those excellent fixtures are making me pause.

Garnacho is an easier sell for me. I don’t know where he fits in the new system. Amorim has converted wingers to wing-backs in the past which might also happen again.

Having said that, you could probably wait on both of these decisions given the manager won’t be in place soon.

Best Attacking Fixtures

Here are the five sides with the very best attacking FPL fixtures, from FPL Gameweek 10 to 14,

As you can tell, cheap forwards continue to look appealing with this set of fixtures. Wissa, Cunha, Strand Larsen and Raul are all options. I wouldn’t buy DCL because he is shit.

And, of course, Mbeumo reigns supreme.

Best Defensive Fixtures

Here are the five sides with the very best defensive FPL fixtures, from FPL Gameweek 10 to 14,

I am actually not a huge fan of any of these fixture runs so I think you need to look to premium defenders and/or a defensive rotation. This is one of the reasons I am not selling Trent.

Should I Buy?

Looking at the most-bought players in FPL, ahead of Gameweek 10, and don’t know whether you should buy one? We will tell you!

Mbeumo – Yes. You should have got him already. The Brentford talisman continues to look brilliant and has good fixtures.

Wood – No. West Ham suck but Newcastle are an okay defence and then he plays Arsenal. I’d much rather have Wissa, Raul or Cunha/Strand Larsen for the next few weeks. No need to sell him though.

Ait-Nouri – Yes. It may feel a bit knee-jerky after last weeks goal but Wolves fixtures are so good. Their defence is pretty shaky so ideally you are rotating him out for away games. Regardless, he is attacking enough that he can come up with returns. I wouldn’t take any other Wolves defenders (nor would I sell them tbf).

Lewis – Yes (if you can accept it is short term). It seems almost certain that Rico Lewis will start because of all the injuries at City. But, that will probably only last a couple of weeks. Potentially he is gonna start every game this season I just don’t trust Pep. Ever. So, don’t be reliant on him starting okay?

Keane – No. I got yelled at for suggesting him last week when Branthwaite was still injured. Well, Branthwaite played 4 mins in gameweek 9 but that’s enough for me to not want to buy him anymore. I’m not in a desperate rush to sell him, but he’s on the chopping block.

Smith-Rowe – Yes. Slightly overperfoming his stats this year but a good player on a good team with good fixtures. That’s FPL bread and butter stuff.

Virgil/Konate – Yes. Liverpool’s defence is statistically the best this year. Konate is a little more risky than Virgil. We didn’t think he would be a consistent starter this year (like in previous years). However, he has now started the last eight games. And you save 0.7 over VVD.

Jackson – Yes. Good player, great underlying stats and a good attacking team. I don’t love that he plays Arsenal in gameweek 11 but I’d be prepared to swallow it.

Welbeck – No. Absolutely not. He plays Liverpool away (hardest fixture in the league at the moment) and then City at home (still very hard). After that there is an international break and I am not sure he keeps his position if Joao Pedro returns from injury. I’d much rather have Wissa, Raul or Cunha/Strand Larsen for the next few weeks.

Sels – No. Whilst I’m glad that everyone agrees with me now that Sels is the best keeper, I don’t think you should waste your transfers on keepers. Aina on the other hand is a good buy if you want exposure to the Forest defence.

Should I Sell?

And now let’s take a look at the most-sold players in FPL, ahead of Gameweek 10.

Watkins – Maybe. I’m not in a rush to sell this guy. He’s been reasonably good, starts every PL game and plays for a good team. I can only assume you are trying to save money for other moves at which point I am fine with you selling.

Son – Yes. I don’t know if he will play and I know Salah, Saka and Palmer will. Buy one of them.

Solanke – Maybe. As with Watkins, I am in no rush to sell him. Underlying stats are fine and fixtures are fine. I’d be tempted to see if I could hold him so I could play him against Ipswich next week.

Jota – Yes. He’s injured for at least a couple of gameweeks.

Havertz – Yes. As with Watkins and Solanke, the form is fine. But the next couple of fixtures aren’t great.

McNeil – No. Fixtures are still good and we know they will run him out as much as possible. Besides, I don’t see the big upside move you are making for him (unless you sell Haaland and move McNeil to Salah).

Porro – I am fine with selling but it doesn’t feel like a priority to me at the moment.

Gordon – Yes. He’s a good player on a good attack but I don’t want him untl gameweek 15 when the fixtures get really tasty.

Luis Diaz

Hilariously he appears on the most bought and most sold lists this week.

I wouldn’t buy and and I wouldn’t sell. Ya hear that!? You’re all wrong!

I get the appeal ahead of a tasty fixture where we think he will start (due to being rested midweek) but we know he’s going to keep getting inconsistent minutes so I don’t want to buy that.

Correction: I get the appeal ahead of a tasty fixture but we know his minutes are inconsistent and he played the full 90 midweek. So, I don’t want to buy that.

If you own him already I would keep him and play him this week. He seems likely to start and Brighton can be suicidal in their strategy at times.

Captaincy Corner

I want to captain Salah at home to the crazy attacking Brighton. There are going to be goals in this game. Otherwise, Palmer at Man United feels good even with the new manager bounce.

That’s It.

As we wrap up this FPL Gameweek 10 Preview, there’s no shortage of selection headaches and transfer decisions on the table. From evaluating Haaland’s value versus the merits of spreading funds, to capitalising on Liverpool’s favourable run, this week demands a close eye on team news and perhaps a bit of boldness. So, line up your captaincy, finalise those transfers, and best of luck for a thrilling Gameweek 10!