They’re all your main bases. There might even be some interesting stats, some intriguing analysis – let’s see where this preview takes us!
Best FPL Fixtures – Gameweek 13 Onwards
We’re in a pretty nice position in FPL right now.
The upcoming AFCON mini-wildcard will gift us five lovely free transfers, to use however we please. As such, we have plenty of flexibility in how we approach these next few weeks.
Who’s going to AFCON, you ask, and therefore will definitely be binned from our teams? James reveals all, right here!
To help you plan out these next few weeks, let’s take a peek at the best attacking and defensive fixture runs, starting in Gameweek 13.
As always, these have been calculated by our very own supercomputer, aka the Full 90 FPL fixture ticker. We just updated the team ratings recently, to reflect Sunderland being good and Liverpool not being good. You can see the whole thing, completely free of charge, right here:
Unfortunately we still can’t trust any Liverpool attackers. In fact, after blanking against Forest at home, we can trust them even less than ever!
I’m still backing Mateta, for Palace. I wouldn’t give up on Sarr yet, but he has been disappointing, and I wouldn’t bring either of them in right now
I continue not to trust any City attackers outside of Haaland. If you really, really want to risk it, go for Doku… but I wouldn’t
Bournemouth are all over the place at the moment, but did largely dominate the game against West Ham, managing a hefty 8 shots on target (plus 76% possession, for what that’s worth). If you’re looking for a budget midfielder, you could actually do worse than Tavernier – he’s only 5.5, takes pens, and plays 90mins each week
I like Brighton’s attack in general, and would continue to back both Welbeck and my darling Minteh – I’m completely fine with doubling up on the pair of them
By contrast I very much do not like Newcastle’s attack right now. At the very least let’s wait and see in this Everton away fixture, and we can always jump back in for the (slightly) easier games after
Best Defensive Fixtures
I trust City’s defence to start a little more than their attack, and these are absolutely fantastic fixtures. Know that you’re taking on some rotation risk, but if you want to give O’Reilly or Dias a go, I wouldn’t blame you
Arsenal remain the best defence in the league, and were a gorgeous Richarlison lob away from another clean sheet. I’d back them against anyone, and don’t think Chelsea’s attack is very good anyway
By contrast, again, I would not back Liverpool’s defence against anyone. They just shipped three goals to Forest, at home. It doesn’t get any worse than that
I said last week that I don’t trust Villa’s defence yet, and we just saw why, with them failing to keep a clean in an easy game against Leeds. Start any Villa defenders you’ve got against Wolves anyway, but I wouldn’t bring any in
Newcastle’s defence has been very disappointing, though they did well against City. Unfortunately the whole team is famously rubbish on the road, and their next fixture is away. Let’s look again for the Spurs/Burnley home double in GW14-15
As noted, Bournemouth are all over the place, especially defensively. Good goals by Callum Wilson last weekend, admittedly, but I just don’t trust them right now. You can still start Senesi against Sunderland… but don’t get your hopes up
I like Palace’s defence a lot, and I really like these fixtures too. I wouldn’t mind a double-up, in fact, pairing the pricey Munoz with the cheaper Richards, for example
FPL Transfer Tips – Gameweek 13
You can probably take a wild stab in the dark at the most-bought players right now. They are, as always, the guys who just scored the most points last week.
Are they indeed smart purchases? And, by contrast, should we jettison the current most-disappointing players?
Let’s take a look at the most-bought and sold players in FPL, heading into Gameweek 13, and cast judgements in both cases.
Should I Buy?
Thiago – Yes. Two goals in GW11, it should have been two goals in GW12, and now he plays Burnley. Arsenal away next week is terrible, but he then has Spurs (fine) and a delightful Leeds/Wolves double. Remains incredible value, at only 6.5
Eze – No. Great performance, but Spurs were rubbish again, and Chelsea away is a much tougher fixture. The specific space he occupies is exactly where Caicedo will be. We can reconsider again, before Brentford again in GW14
Munoz – Yes. With Gabriel out, he’s probably the best defender in FPL right now. Plays for a very good defence, gets consistent returns one way or another, and has a very nice defensive fixture run
Timber – Yes. I will recommend getting Arsenal defenders until further notice. Timber specifically has surprisingly excellent underlying attacking stats, so his assist as the weekend was no fluke
Minteh – Yes. Regular readers will know that I love my darling Minteh, and have been banging on about him for about two months now. He’s an excellent real-life attacker, and is simply ridiculous value at only 6.1. I’d take him over Eze at 7.7 in a heartbeat
Rogers – Maybe. What a rollercoaster! He’s actually been in my team all season. I wasn’t expecting 15pts last week, but I’m definitely not complaining. I’m fine taking a short-term punt on him for the Wolves home fixture, and – with his games thereafter – he’s actually fine to hold for a little while
Welbeck – Yes. I’m seriously considering binning Joao Pedro this week, and it’ll be between him and Thiago. I’m leaning Thiago, but they’re definitely both excellent options, and are both brilliant value
Mbeumo – Maybe. I still like him in general. It was a disappointing blank in a decent fixture, but his underlying stats were fine. I’d just wait until after Palace away to actually get him, when you have West Ham at home then Wolves away instead
Doku – No. Not unless it’s basically just a one week punt against Leeds, and even then I wouldn’t be shocked if he was rotated for one of the easiest fixtures in the league. His minutes are already pretty poor, and I am always wary of Pep Roulette
O’Reilly – Maybe. As noted every week, City have so many defenders that who knows if he randomly gets benched one week. His minutes are more secure than Doku’s though, and City’s upcoming defensive fixtures are fantastic. If you can stomach the slight rotation risk, I like him up until your AFCON mini-wildcard
Rice – Yes. James and I have been hesitant, but I at least have seen enough. The returns have been consistent, he has multiple routes to points, the underlying stats support his returns, he’s fairly priced at 6.9, and he’s nailed on for the best team in the league
Neto – No. I like him as a real-life player, but he did just have a very easy fixture run, which is about to get significantly harder… starting with the best defence in the league!
Should I Sell?
Gabriel – Yes. Still injured for a while. Just move him to Munoz or another Arsenal defender
Semenyo – No. Not unless he’s actually injured for a while, which it doesn’t seem like he is. Full reasoning is explained here!
Joao Pedro – Yes. As an owner, I probably will. He’s been dropped back into a (very deep) 10 position, and was completely anonymous against Burnley. Plus, we’ve got two much better, much cheaper options sitting right there, in Thiago and Welbeck. After last game, I don’t even trust him against Leeds away, never mind the Arsenal matchup before that
Caicedo – Maybe. I wouldn’t buy him, but I wouldn’t be desperate to sell him either – just because he got rested in an easy game – unless you’ve got no higher priorities. DefCons feel pretty likely in this Arsenal fixture, assuming he starts
Mateta – No. Fluffed a great chance against Wolves, which was very annoying, but he’s still one of the best forwards around. Plus, I like the Man U home and Burnley away fixtures
Reijnders – Yes. Luxury transfers be damned, there are plenty of good midfielders who could be filling this spot
Kudus – Yes. Another popular early-season pick who should have been binned a long, long time ago
Salah – Maybe. Yes, I know this should be a ‘yes’… but he plays West Ham this week! And his underlying stats have actually been great… even if he’s looked rubbish in real life! There’s no way I’d buy him, but I’d probably give in to temptation and start him this week, if I did have him. What’s that quote about the definition of insanity, again?
Ekitike – Yes. Slot has apparently staked his reputation on Isak, despite Ekitike being vastly better this season
Gakpo – No, especially if Wirtz is still injured. He’s obviously been disappointing recently, but I still like him against West Ham more than I like most defenders this week
Grealish – Yes. The party was over a while ago
Woltemade – Maybe. I’m definitely becoming less confident, his fixtures are only so-so, and he just got benched against Marseille. I still think he’s a quality player though, and he had a very good chance against City. It doesn’t seem like a priority transfer, but I’d take Thiago or Welbeck over him if you do have the move to spare
Captaincy Corner
Haaland blanked! Everyone sell him – now!
Alternatively, keep him and captain him, since he plays Leeds, and he scores every single week… except last week.
Your only real fun alternative this week is Thiago against Burnley.
We can’t really trust any Villa or Liverpool attackers, even against Wolves and West Ham respectively.
Final Thoughts
Right-o, that’s your lot for this particular Gameweek 13 preview.
There’ll be another one out this time next year, don’t worry. In the meantime, we’ll most likely preview Gameweeks 14, 15, and 16 in the near-to-mid future.
Gameweek 17? Hey, that’s the stuff of sci-fi. Let’s just wait and see, shall we?
