From the holiday period onwards, half the battle in FPL is remembering when all the deadlines are.
I’m not even joking. If you just remember to get your team done in time with all the bizarre scheduling, you’ll overtake a ton of more casual players who simply expect a nice Saturday morning deadline each week – the fools!
This week we’re being thrown a 6pm GMT Tuesday deadline. Nice! If you were completely unaware of this, fear not – your pals here at Full 90 FPL are here to help. Here’s your super speedy, slimline deadline FPL Gameweek 22 preview.
Should I Buy?
These are the most bought-players in FPL right now, per the official site. Do they merit consideration on your team too? Let’s find out!
- De Bruyne – Yes
I’d love to be cool and contrary here. Obviously he’s only played 21 minutes in the Prem since August, and everyone’s immediately jumped on the bandwagon. Unfortunately they were an amazing 21 minutes, he’s amazing, and he only came off the bench in the FA Cup, so he’s rested. Oh, and City have Burnley, Brentford, and Everton back to back now. With Salah still away/injured, he’s the clear #1 midfield target right now.
- Jota – No
He’s started both games since Salah left, and has scored three goals already. That said, you still have to look at this as a short-term move.
Salah’s injury doesn’t sound too bad, and Egypt are out of AFCON, so he’ll probably be back in a game or two. Liverpool also have Chelsea and Arsenal in their next two games – i.e. the games which Jota will be starting – which isn’t ideal.
Liverpool are really good, and he’s generally done well against big teams for them, but if you buy him now you’ll probably be looking to sell in a couple of weeks.
- Palmer – No
He keeps appearing on this list, and I keep being surprised everyone hasn’t already got him. He continues to be ridiculous value, and has 28pts in his last two games.
That said, don’t get him in for Liverpool away. In fact, he then has Wolves (good defence), and City the week after that, then a blank.
If you were wildcarding for some reason, I’d probably take him anyway, for both the value and his penalty potential. But I wouldn’t transfer him in with those fixtures.
- Estupinan – Yes
He’s now returned in all three games since coming back from injury, and faces Luton and Palace in his next two. Aside from Porro (he’s 0.8 cheaper than PP), he’s the top defensive target.
- Toney – No
Congrats on the goal against Forest. But he now faces – deep breath – Spurs, City, Wolves, Liverpool, Man City, West Ham, Chelsea, then Arsenal. That is an absolutely brutal schedule.
The two caveats are that he’s on pens, and has historically been good against the top teams. But between Brentford being bad at the moment, Mbeumo being out, and there being plenty of other forwards around his price point, this is a clear ‘avoid’ for now. I’d take Alvarez at 7.0, for example, over Toney at 8.0, in a heartbeat.
- Porro – Yes
Along with Estupinan and Trent he’s basically the only good attacking defender. His defensive fixtures are good too, and he’s super consistent. I’d take Estupinan if you haven’t got either… but preferably just get both.
- Haaland – Who the Hell Knows
He’s been out for ages. Pep’s the least reliable manager for news in the world. This injury saga has been going on forever.
I’m waiting until we see him in action. If you want to gamble that he plays 20+ minutes this week, and will almost certainly score within that time against Burnley, I get it. There’s every chance he starts, since he’s confirmed back in training, and ends up scoring a hat-trick, and all of us doubters look stupid. Anything could happen this week, and the potential for whoever’s on the wrong side of it to look stupid is sky-high!
- Richarlison – Yes
Spurs are going to have a lot of players to fill their forward spots pretty soon. But I’m pretty confident Rich keeps his spot anyway when Son comes back, and Werner just gets benched.
Assuming that’s true, he remains a great pick. He’s been in excellent form, with six goals in his last six games (most of which have been without Maddison), and has decent fixtures coming up.
- Darwin – No
Similarly to Jota, I just don’t think it’s a good time to bring him in. Chelsea and Arsenal are both good defensively, and Salah’s return will make him a minutes question mark again, especially with Jota also playing so well.
- Foden – Yes
He’s been in good form, and has been nailed for basically the whole season. The slight rotation risk is what makes me hesitate, between Haaland’s return and the Champions League starting again… but he was starting almost every game earlier in the season in exactly that situation. Also City are great, and he has good fixtures.
There’s a lot of good midfield options, but he’s towards the top of the list.
- Isak – Maybe
In my own FPL experience he’s always been an infuriating trap. He looks great, seems nailed, you get him in… then he either gets benched for Wilson, gets injured, or his form randomly nosedives.
All the signs point to him being a good option… but buyer beware!
- Gordon – Yes
Currently owned by less than 20% of players, which is crazy to me. He just returned against Liverpool and City, and has much easier fixtures coming up after Villa this week. And he’s still only 6.1!
I know Barnes is back. But Gordon’s been easily Newcastle’s most important attacking player this season, so I’d be shocked if he got benched.
- Walker – No
City don’t keep cleans, and he historically doesn’t get exists. I prefer Estupinan and Porro by an absolute mile.
- Alvarez – Yes
His brilliant season just keeps on cruising along. He’s up to 6 goals and 8 assists now, and continues to play basically every minute. As with Foden, I’m not worried about Haaland’s return, since Alvarez already thrived playing with Haaland already this season.
Should I Sell?
Below you’ll find the most-binned players in Fantasy Premier League heading into Gameweek 22, the poor souls. Time to decide if they should be binned from your FPL team too.
- Foden – No
See above. He’s the third-most sold player, after Salah and Son, which is simply baffling.
- Bowen – No
I assume he’s this high because people are moving him to Kev. Fine… but let’s not forget Bowen is amazing, just because he blanked in two games. He also has Bournemouth and Man U in his next two, which are both very tasty fixtures.
- Haaland – No
If you’ve held him this long, and he’s finally coming back from injury, why would you sell him now?
- Trent – Maybe
He’s probably back this week, and I’d back him to hit the ground running in terms of points. The only reason I’d consider selling him is that he’s so expensive that it’ll be very tricky to have him, Salah, and Haaland soon, while still keeping a good team around them. A move from Trent to Estupinan, freeing up funds for the aforementioned pair, makes a lot of sense.
- Watkins – No
He’s got nine goals and 11 assists, so he’s basically untouchable in my team anyway. He also now plays Newcastle, Sheff Utd, and Man U in his next three, all of whom have been know to concede a goal or two in their time.
- Saka – No
He’s been out of form for ages, so I get the temptation… but you’re not selling him before Forest.
- Alvarez – No
See above.
- Trippier – Yes
I can’t believe he’s still 37% owned.
- Solanke – Maybe
Personally, I’m holding. Blanks against Spurs and Liverpool mean nothing to me. He now has more forgiving fixtures against West Ham, Forest, and Fulham (he just played the latter pair a few weeks ago, and scored four goals across the two games)
- Nkunku – Yes
He might be back this week, and obviously has loads of potential. But games against Liverpool and Wolves aren’t the time to be gambling on an unproven (in the Prem) forward, especially with Alvarez available for only 7.0.
Final Thoughts
As noted, this was a speedier, slimmer version of the FPL preview compared to normal. We’ll be back with our full fat version soon enough! In the meantime, be a dear and chuck us a follow on either Twitter or Reddit.
Cheers, everybody, and good luck in Gameweek 22!