As I wrote in my full preview of Gameweek 12, we’re in a highly-charged time in FPL (and football in general) right now.
But let’s ignore all that – this article is about the cold, hard news!
Here’s a full round-up of all the main storylines heading into Gameweek 12.
European Round-Up
We had another batch of Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League action this week. Here’s how our main FPL assets got on:
- All the usual suspects played for Newcastle, except for Gordon and Almiron, but they both came on. Willock started, and remains one to keep an eye on
- In a shocking turn of events, Haaland scored 2 goals. Foden also scored, for the third game in a row, and played 90 mins for the third time in four games
- We don’t really care about Man U, because they’re rubbish, but Penandes did pop up. Hojlund also continued his trend of scoring in the Champions League but never, ever in the Prem
- It was a typical performance for Saka, scoring then coming off injured… again. Trossard started up top for the injured Nketiah and scored
- Fati and Adingra both scored and assisted (each other). Fati hasn’t been starting in the Prem though, and Adingra hasn’t been returning. Estupinan came on… then went off injured again. Sigh. Mitoma played a full 90, as usual
- Bowen and Coufal both played the full game for West Ham. Kudus also started. Similarly to Hojlund, Paqueta keeps scoring in Europe but not in the Prem
- Diaz, Gakpo, and Tsimikas were notable starters for Liverpool. Salah, Nunez, Jota, and Trent all got a bit of a rest but came on. Jota scored but can’t be trusted (in FPL, not real life)
- After blanks against Forest and Luton, Watkins naturally scored in Europe. I’m mildly concerned about his minutes… but he’s basically must-own anyway. Diaby did start but got subbed-off. Cash was benched but came on. Moreno was on the bench, but didn’t play
Injuries and Suspensions
We’ve got a couple of big new injuries (/re-injuries) this week, plus updates on some of the longer-term casualties. And this is all before the international break!
- Maddison – Ange has confirmed he’s out until January, so he’s straight out of your team. It’s a shame, since he was having a great season… but also his price and position make him pretty easy to replace. You’ve got a ton of options there. Moving to Bowen is probably the most obvious move. Upgrading to Saka is also solid, although his fitness isn’t exactly sparkling right now.
- Saka – Ugh. He’s clearly not right in general, and keeps limping off. Now Arteta says he didn’t train on Thursday… You’re probably holding if you’ve got him, and hoping he rests during the break, but I definitely wouldn’t bring him in right now.
- Estupinan – Another shame. He came back from injury to play in the Europa League… then immediately got injured again. If you brought him in already, consider your lesson learned! If you were holding him, now’s the time to finally bin
- Nketiah sounds fit… sort of? As usual, Arteta wasn’t particularly useful. But it probably means Trossard, for example, isn’t worth the risk
- Jesus is in the latest Brazil squad, but presumably won’t be rushed back for Burnley at home
- Odegaard is still carrying his injury. Again, we’ve got no idea if he’ll play this week. Arteta is the new most annoying manager for press conferences
- Udogie is suspended for one game. Consider binning him, because his fixtures are tough, but he’s cheap enough that you can hold
- Romero is suspended three games. He’s a much easier bin
- Isak will definitely miss this week, but will probably be back after the international break. Don’t get Wilson, unless it’s just a one week punt
- Botman – No proper update. He’s still out indefinitely. Lascelles remains great value
- Van Dijk is back… if you care
- Neto is still out, but it doesn’t sound super-serious. He should be back after the internationals
Upcoming Fixtures
As you surely know, we’ve got international games after this gameweek. That includes Euros qualifying for the… Europeans, and World Cup qualifiers for the South American and African players.
Basically, loads and loads of Premier League players will be in action. And what does that mean? Injuries! And what does that mean? No early transfers!
For the record, the European competitions also follow immediately on from the first gameweek back (i.e. Gameweek 13 is the weekend of 25th November, and the Champions League games start again on 28th November).
The action doesn’t stop, and therefore neither will the injuries!