In this very quick FPL Gameweek 23 Preview we will do our usual top talking points, fixture tickers, should I buy/sell, captaincy corner and my moves.
Top Talking Points
City Watch
Man City assets are going to be key in the short term because of their double gameweek in 25 coming up. Haaland and De Bruyne are now fit and both good buys. Foden is probably the one other attacking asset that is going to get good minutes too. This all comes at a cost for Alvarez – the generally accepted view is that he is less likely to get minutes than these other three.
There is still a risk that any or all of these guys get rotated, this is Pep we are talking about after all. But, if you forced me to guess, I would go with the general view that Alvarez is about to get dropped.
I wouldn’t bring Walker in until we see him play again. We don’t know why he was benched so let’s wait to find out.
Pool Watch
At the time of writing, we still don’t know if Liverpool will get a double gameweek in 25. If they do, then its going to be hard to get all their expensive assets in alongside City assets. So, I would try to hold transfers where you can at the moment. I know Jota has been smashing it but its not a good fixture this week.
Alexander-Arnold didn’t start out against Chelsea. In theory, Connor Bradley could become competition to him. This would make me slightly nervous about him in the long-term. Don’t sell him yet if you still own him but let’s watch this one.
Fixture Tickers
This is a regular stalwart of our pieces throughout the year. We will look at which teams have the best fixtures over the next five gameweeks to help you plan your transfers.
Teams in capitals are home fixtures and teams in lowercase are away fixtures.
Ahead of FPL Gameweek 23 the fixture tickers are looking like this.
Defensive Fixture Ticker
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |
| Man City | bre | EVE | CHE/BRE | bou | MUN |
| Villa | shu | MUN | ful | NFO | lut |
| Arsenal | LIV | whu | bur | NEW | shu |
| Brighton | CRY | tot | shu | EVE | ful |
| Newcastle | LUT | nfo | BOU | ars | WOL |
- There aren’t any defenders from Man City that I trust to play every game.
- Villa have good options at the back – Moreno and Cash are my faves because they can score or assist.
- I wouldn’t bring in an Arsenal defender this week but take your pick of Zinchenko, Saliba and Gabriel.
- Brighton’s defence is still crap but I still like Estupinian.
- Newcastle guys are the same as they ever were – Trippier if you have the money or Botman if you don’t.
Attacking Fixture Ticker
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |
| Man City | bre | EVE | CHE/BRE | bou | MUN |
| Villa | shu | MUN | ful | NFO | lut |
| Arsenal | LIV | whu | bur | NEW | shu |
| Brighton | CRY | tot | shu | EVE | ful |
| Crystal Palace | bha | CHE | eve | BUR | Tot |
It’s almost exactly the same!
- I covered City assets above.
- As for Villa, I think only Watkins can be trusted. Though, he isn’t great against bad teams.
- For Arsenal, I like Saka and Jesus. Odegaard is just too expensive for his output.
- There isn’t anyone at Brighton I would consider.
- Palace have both Eze and Olise to consider. Both just returned against a dreadful Sheffield United but still. They are possibly injured so wait for news.
Should I Buy?
In this section, we will look to answer the most basic question. Should I buy this player ahead of FPL gameweek 23?
Haaland/De Bruyne – covered above and yes.
Jota – not this week.
Gordon– I’m still nervous about minutes when Barnes gets back but they have a good run and Gordon has been good so yes but buy with caution.
Newcastle Defence – Yes, Trippier for the high ceiling and Botman for the price.
Maddison – Meh. He’s good and has good-ish fixtures and Spurs are good but I’d rather wait for news on Liverpool double and/or buy Jota.
Bradley – No. He’s not gonna be the first choice right-back.
Toney – Great player, but dreadful fixture.
Should I Sell?
In this section, we will look to answer the other basic question. Should I sell this player ahead of FPL gameweek 23?
Injured players – Yes – Joao Pedro, Salah, Isak etc.
Bowen – not great fixtures but still a good player.
Alvarez – You might get another week out of him but I will be selling.
Foden – No.
Watkins – No. He’s so good, I don’t see why you would.
Solanke – No – the guy almost has as many goals as Haaland and Salah.
Odegaard – Yeah, fine to sell.
Walker – I’d wait a week.
Captaincy Corner
I think probably the best thing is to captain Haaland and welcome back the end of interesting captaincy decisions.
James’ Move
I’ve had a dreadful few weeks after my gameweek 20 wildcard where I missed out on Salah’s haul and double my rank. I am just planning to do what I think is the safe thing and getting Haaland in for Alvarez. And, I will probably roll the other transfer.
That’s it!
Good luck in FPL Gameweek 23! Fingers crossed the FPL gods have a good week for you.