Greetings all, and welcome to your full Gameweek 12 FPL preview.
Regular readers, with particularly keen powers of literary analysis, might have noticed I (Joe) don’t like international breaks.
Well, I didn’t like this one either. We’ve had the usual big injuries to key players. More importantly by far, it’s completely interrupted the flow of the Fantasy Premier League season… again!
The good news? We’re done for aaaages now. In fact, you won’t have to hear me moaning about international breaks until March next year.
That’s right, FPL fans. Apart from… the big tournament taking place for several weeks in the middle of the season, admittedly… we’ve now got four months of fantasy action unsullied by international football. Rejoice!
And, once you’ve finished rejoicing, your Gameweek 12 preview will be waiting for you. It’s got fixture runs, transfers, and captaincy pick(s) – everything you need to get right back into the swing of things.
Best Upcoming FPL Fixtures
We’ve actually just run another mini-revamp of the team ratings on our beloved fixture ticker – aka the Sunderland Update.
Aside from Sunderland, Brentford and Palace also got a small boost… but mostly, it was just knocking teams down. We’re a negative pair, here at Full 90 FPL.
City and Liverpool’s attacking prowess isn’t what we’d expected, before the season.
Meanwhile, Newcastle, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Wolves, and Burnley all got dinged defensively.
Villa and Newcastle both had their ‘home modifiers’ lowered, while Sunderland also got an upgrade here.
With all that said and done, our oracle-like fixture ticker spat these out as the best FPL fixture runs, beginning in Gameweek 12.
Best Attacking Fixtures
Liverpool are incredibly frustrating. We had these fixtures marked down from the start of the season… and it’s hard to trust literally any of them. We don’t know if Isak or Ekitike will start up top. We don’t know whether it’ll be Wirtz or Gakpo on the left. Salah is (probably) still nailed… but also costs 14.2. Regrettably, we have to steer clear right now
Mateta and Sarr are both great options at Palace. If you haven’t got at least one of them, look to rectify that before the Wolves and Burnley fixtures
I continue not to trust anyone not named Erling Haaland at City. The likes of Doku and Cherki might be getting plaudits right now, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be starting two weeks hence
We’re more certain of Bournemouth’s rotation… but there still aren’t really any appealing options. I’ve written about Semenyo at length here. Tavernier was briefly in form, and Kroupi is a great enabler at 4.6, but I wouldn’t actually want either in my team right now
Regular readers will know I love my darling Minteh, at Brighton. I continue to think he’s one of the most underrated and best value players in FPL right now, and a leading option in that 5.0-7.0 midfield price bracket. I continue to like Welbeck too (more than James)
It’s fine to hold your Newcastle attackers (meaning probably just Woltemade) through this City fixture. Everton, Spurs, and Burnley are all variously dodgy at the back
Chelsea have a couple of dream fixtures, in Burnley and Leeds, though ideally you’ll be able to bench your one or two attackers against Arsenal. Joao Pedro has rewarded me handsomely in the past few weeks, and I still like Enzo as a pick for these next few games; Caicedo, less so
Best Defensive Fixtures
Liverpool have looked a complete mess at the back, and I wouldn’t trust any of them right now. Let’s see if they can right the ship against Forest, then we can jump on for the other easy fixtures afterwards
Arsenal remain the most reliable defence by far. I’m not worried at all about the Spurs or Chelsea fixtures – they could easily both still be cleans – and am leaning towards just swapping the injured Gabriel out for Timber (already having Saliba)
Villa have cleaned against Man City and Bournemouth in their last three games. The less said about their suicidal defensive performance against Liverpool in between those, the better. I still don’t fully believe in them yet, though – hold them if you’ve got them, but don’t rush to bring them in
I love both Munoz and Guehi at Palace. I’ve already got Munoz, and Guehi is definitely an option as my Gabriel replacement. If you want to save some money though, Richards is a much cheaper and still very good alternative
City’s defence scares me. The starters look fairly settled right now, but they literally have at least eight starting calibre defenders, all of whom are fit. Any supposed ‘starter’ could be rotated out at any time
Newcastle have been incredibly disappointing recently. I’d still be tempted to hold through the City game, and hope they sort themselves out for the much easier fixtures afterwards… but Pope is right near the top of my own Bin List right now
Bournemouth’s defence has fallen off a cliff. I know the fixtures have been fairly tough… but they were doing well in tough fixtures earlier in the season. You should still hold Senesi for at least these next three games, but I wouldn’t buy anyone in until we see a turnaround
Should I Buy?
It won’t be the last time I say it in this article. It won’t even be the last time in this section. But… don’t buy players during an international break.
A transfer is more valuable than the 0.1 you might save yourself by moving early. This year, more than any other, when there are so many cheap midfielders and forwards.
Obviously, me saying that will have stopped everyone from doing it now.
Before I did say that, however, people had made a load of transfers, with these being the most popular picks.
Mbeumo – Yes. Has returned in 5 of his last 6 games, remains fair value at 8.5, his fixtures are fine
Thiago – Yes. James has been banging on about him for ages… and he was right! He’s been in good form for a while now, is excellent value at 6.3, and plays Brighton (actually not great defensively) and Burnley (terrible defensively) now
Mateta – Yes. One of the most reliable forwards in the game, and plays Wolves and Burnley in his next three games – yummy yummy
Doku – Maybe. He looked excellent against Liverpool, and actually scored for once. Personally though, I wouldn’t. Pep Roulette is always a factor, and he’s only scored three goals in each of his first two seasons in the Prem – he’s not going to suddenly start curling in worldies every week
Rice – Maybe. James wrote about him at length here, and the situation hasn’t changed since then
Joao Pedro – Yes. Forget his long, cold streak. He’s returned in two games in a row, and has Burnley (worst defence in the league, per xGA) and Leeds within his next three fixtures (plus Arsenal, admittedly, in between)
Nico O’Reilly – Maybe. As with their midfielders, I’d never actually trust a City defender to start week-in, week-out. He’s started 7 of the last 8, though, for a very good defence, and only costs 5.0. I’m tempted, despite myself!
Munoz – Yes. One of the best defenders in FPL, for one of the league’s better defences, and his upcoming fixtures are excellent
Gabriel – No. He’s injured, probably for at least a month. The lesson, as always – don’t buy players on an international break
Timber – Yes, in that you should always buy an Arsenal defender. You could wait a week, however, see who’s replacing Gabriel, and get Hincapie/Mosquera cheaper
Should I Sell?
Just because you can’t buy players during the international break, doesn’t mean you can’t sell them, right? You have to be able to have some fun?!
No! Firstly, because stingy FPL won’t let you sell a player without buying a new one. And secondly – no transfers at all, if the player/s you’re considering are still playing fixtures for their countries!
That said, these are the most-sold players you naughty boys and girls out there have been binning regardless.
Kudus – Yes, even if he’s not injured. Plenty of better options around this price or below, and he has Arsenal away this week
Woltemade – No. He’s got 4 goals and 1 assist in 8 games, which seem pretty good to me! The City home fixture isn’t great, but he plays Everton, Spurs, and Burnley after that, which is a fine run
Gabriel – Yes, unfortunately, if he’s out for at least a month.
Gyokores – Yes. Underwhelming, even before he got injured, and Mateta, Woltemade, and Thiago are all much cheaper (… and better)
Reijnders – Yes, from a production point of view. As always though, you could probably just bench him unless you desperately need to play five midfielders (which you probably don’t)
Burn – Maybe. He’s only suspended for one game, but Newcastle’s defence has been very disappointing regardless, and the fixtures are so-so. If you’re looking to upgrade your defence, his spot is an easy place to change
Enzo – No (assuming he’s not injured). Excellent fixtures, and was very unlucky to blank against Wolves
Guehi – No (again, if he’s not injured). He’s been incredibly consistent in FPL, and has Wolves and Burnley coming up
Grealish – Yes. The party’s been over for a while, there are plenty of other options around this price point, and the fixtures aren’t good
Salah – Maybe? Who the hell knows?! He was briefly returning again, at least, then looked awful again in the City game. If I had him, though, I’d just hold him anyway for the dream Forest and West Ham fixtures… though I still wouldn’t be confident
Eze – Yes. I’d rather save money and get one of the many other mid-priced options, or upgrade to Mbeumo
Captaincy Corner
If it was ever not going to be Haaland, Newcastle away might be the week.
Unfortunately, he scores every single game, so it always is Haaland.
If you’d like to bet against the guy who scores every week, Mateta vs Wolves, Joao Pedro against Burnley, or Salah (pray for a pen) against Forest, are your best alternatives – probably in that order.
Final Thoughts
Okie dokie, that’ll wrap things up for your Gameweek 12 FPL preview.
I’m very excited to be up and running again. Every international break, all the pain and irritation you suffered in the weeks beforehand magically disappears, to be replaced by good old-fashioned baseless hope that everything will turn out exactly as you’d planned.
Let’s enjoy that feeling while it lasts.
Cheers for reading, everybody, and best of luck out there in Gameweek 12!
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