FPL Gameweek 7 Preview – Injuries Galore, Buy & Sell, and More

We’re very much still in the silly season in FPL. I had a bang-average Gameweek 6, and still dropped 400k places. James, meanwhile, made around a 100% gain in his rank just on Sunday afternoon. 

Basically, whether you’re absolutely flying right now, or down in the doldrums, don’t overreact. OR means absolutely nothing at this stage. Just make considered decisions (i.e. do not panic and take that -8pt hit you’ve been considering), and assume they’ll pay off in the long run. 

With that concluded, let’s get on with the FPL Gameweek 7 preview. As always, we’ll start with the main talking points, look at the upcoming fixtures, then decide who we should all be buying and selling. 

Gameweek 7 Talking Points

These are the two most important talking points heading into FPL Gameweek 7.

Injuries, Injuries, & More Injuries

As Pep is fond of lamenting, footballers nowadays play a lot of football. Their supposed preseason involves travelling around the world and playing very high profile matches, even if they are friendlies. They then get a couple of weeks of just playing one game, before – at the top end – quickly being thrown into two games a week, every week, for months.

Shockingly, this often results in lots of players getting injured. So it’s proving once again. 

We lost De Bruyne, Nkunku, and Jesus (missed several games) immediately. To list the high profile players alone, we’ve recently seen confirmed injuries to Trent, James, Stones, Shaw, and Martinelli. The likes of Chilwell, Saka, Trossard, Barnes, and Maddison all got injured to varying degrees just this week. 

There are two takeaways here:

1. You will get hit by injuries. It will be annoying. But there’s absolutely nothing you can do to avoid it
2. As always, make transfers as late as you possibly can. Players are routinely getting injured in mid-week games in other competitions, and simply in training, right now

The Defensive Position

We actually saw clean sheets in half the games in Gameweek 6. More importantly, we’re starting to see a few defences who might actually be good. 

Of the teams who cleaned, Man City, Crystal Palace, Villa, and Newcastle all genuinely seem to be solid at the back (albeit Man City do like to concede a pointless goal when they’re otherwise dominating). 

If you didn’t read it already, you can still check out my piece ‘FPL Analysed – How Should We Approach Defenders?’ 

I took my own advice last week, paying the premium for Trippier, and it paid off enormously. I’ve also already made my GW7 transfer based on the analysis in the article, ignoring Botman (good defence, but centre-back) in favour of Cash (not as good defence, but very attacking full-back).

In general, I’m not overreacting yet and buying into… basically any team’s clean sheets. I still think these are vastly more dependent on playing a rubbish attack (Sheff Utd, Chelsea, Burnley, Luton, etc.), than the actual quality of the defence. 

Fixture Ticker

Here’s a look at the five teams with the best upcoming fixtures. Home games are in capital letters.

• Newcastle continue to top the list. Their defensive fixtures are particularly excellent. Aim to have at least one Newcastle defender, and I’m fine with doubling up
• Burnley are only really in here because of their double. Obviously we’re not buying in
• I love Villa’s fixtures. Brighton concede a ton, so that’s a nice matchup for both Watkins/Diaby, and Cash. After that, they have three or four (who knows with West Ham) fantastic defensive fixtures
• Similarly, Spurs have a tough first game against Liverpool. After that they have four of the best defensive matchups in the Prem. Any of those games could easily be cleans
• Neither Spurs nor Brighton should trouble Liverpool’s attackers. Like Spurs, they then have a fantastic run of defensive games 

Should I Buy?

Let’s take a quick look at the names on everybody’s lips. I’ll be basing this on the Most Transferred-In players, per the FPL website.

• Botman – Yes

Newcastle are one of the few reliable defences in the league, their upcoming fixtures are great, and he’s good value at 4.7.

• Son – Not Now

He plays Liverpool this week. If you want him, just wait for Luton in Gameweek 8. Let’s not forget that his only returns this season, before Arsenal, had come against Burnley. If he plays well against Liverpool too, we can consider buying in (although he’ll still be expensive then…). 

• Trippier – Yes

The last premium defender standing. After no assists in his first five games, exploded for three last week. Fixtures are great, he’s great, and – with a lack of other reliable attacking full-backs – I don’t mind paying the extra.

• Mitoma – Maybe

Obviously he’s class, and has proved reliable for a pretty long time now in FPL. The upcoming fixture run – Villa, Liverpool, City – is extremely tough, though. Hold him if you’ve got him, but now’s not the best time to bring him in. 

• Morris – No

For God’s sake. Over 285,000 transfers in, at the time of writing. He plays for the worst team in the league, and his two goals have both been penalties. 

• Gordon – Yes

He’s returned in three of his last four games, plays for one of the best teams in the league, and has solid attacking fixtures. He’s excellent value at 5.6, and Barnes’ recent injury should help his minutes. 

• Walker – No

Personally I don’t want any City players except Haaland. They’ll get benched sooner or later, and I don’t want the headache. Walker has admittedly started every game this season. But as usual he’s had little attacking threat, and – after Wolves – City have Arsenal, Brighton, and Man U, none of which should be cleans. 

• Bowen – Yes

He’s fantastic, and has been consistently since getting to West Ham. He’s already got 4 goals and 1 assist, and his underlying numbers back it up. Aside from Newcastle and Villa in GW’s 8 and 9, his fixtures are basically fine for the next couple of months. He’s fairly fixture-proof anyway, already returning against Brighton and Liverpool. 

At 7.1, he should firmly be in the discussion for potential Saka/Maddison replacements, depending on injury. 

• J. Alvarez – Maybe

Again, I don’t play Pep Roulette any more. Like Walker, Alvarez has started every game this season, and has obviously been great. As always, there are no guarantees this means he keeps his place, especially now the European games have started, and City’s fixtures aren’t great anyway. At only 7.0, I won’t call you a fool for gambling regardless, though. 

• JWP – Maybe

I just have a hard time buying in, for some reason, despite his solid track record. He’s certainly fair value, at only 6.3… I’d probably just rather have a more attacking player, like Mitoma or Mbeumo, for a little more money. 

• Maddison – Yes (Injury Dependent)

We’re not sure about his injury, at the time of writing. If he’s injured, obviously don’t get him right now. If he’s fit… I know he plays Liverpool this week, but he returns against everyone anyway, so I’m not sure it matters. I’d still buy in, honestly. 

• Cash – Yes

I just got him myself. Villa’s defence is solid (at least, they clean when they’re supposed to), and his underlying stats are fantastic. 

• Saka – No

Apparently he’s injured. Even if he isn’t, he plays City and Chelsea (solid defence) after Bournemouth. Get him after that… if for some reason you don’t own him already. 

• Salah – Yes

As we wrote about last week, he and Haaland are the only truly reliable players in the game. I don’t care about his price or his fixtures – he’s a season-long keeper, for me. 

• Neto – No

He’s returned four games in a row, fine, but they play City this week.

• Darwin – No

I know he’s returning, but he’s never guaranteed a start. Generally speaking, you shouldn’t bring in anyone who’s not nailed, or near enough. 

Should I Sell?

Enough positivity – let’s talk about the players we should jettison. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most-binned players, according to FPL Towers.

• Chilwell – Yes

He went off injured mid-week. Even before, we were probably selling him anyway.

• Rodri, Gusto, N. Jackson – Yes

They’re all suspended. All have question marks as FPL assets anyway.

• Rashford – Yes

Sigh. I still believe in him as a long-term asset… but he’s simply not worth the money in FPL right now. Keep the faith if you like, but there’s so many better value options out there, either in midfield or swapping him for a forward. Even going straight to Son is probably better right now.

• Mbeumo – No

I’m staying patient here. Brentford have me worried, I’ll admit. But Mbeumo is an excellent player, he’s on pens, he’s nailed, and Brentford have Forest and Burnley in their next three games (with Man U in between, who are rubbish at defending on the counter).

• Sterling – Yes

Chelsea are awful. They just don’t score.

• Isak – Not Right Now

I definitely wouldn’t buy him right now, since we have no idea about his minutes. That said, you have to put him in your lineup against Burnley, and just cross your fingers. I’m fine with selling him after that, with some tougher fixtures.

• Ramsdale – Yes…

Obviously you don’t want him any more, since he’s not starting. You shouldn’t generally waste a move on a keeper though. Assuming you’ve got a playing backup, just start them instead, unless you’ve got two transfers banked and nothing to use them for.

• Saka / Maddison – Wait

You’re holding both, if their injuries aren’t serious. 

• Wissa – Maybe

I’m even more nervous about him than Mbeumo, since he doesn’t even have the promise of pens. Personally I’m holding for now, and crossing my fingers for these decent upcoming fixtures. I’ve got no problem at all selling, though.

• Luis Diaz – Yes

He’s blanked four games in a row, has no guarantee of minutes, and has Spurs and Brighton now. 

• March – Yes

He’s getting rotated for other competitions now. Much safer options available at his 6.5 price point. 

• Odegaard – No

Don’t sell him before Bournemouth. I’m fine with binning him after that, ahead of the City game. He’s not good value right now. 

• Estupinan – No

I’m not super-confident in Estupinan, but I still wouldn’t sell him. He’s theoretically one of the best attacking full-backs in the league, for one of the best teams, and is still fair value at 5.3.

• Romero – No

Bench him for Liverpool, but Spurs have an excellent run of defensive fixtures after that.

• Alvarez – Maybe

Congrats to Julian for being one of the most bought and sold players! See the previous section for my thoughts. 

• Eze – Yes

He’s great, but he has Man U away, Newcastle away, and Spurs in his next four games. After that Palace’s fixtures get very tasty, and he’ll firmly be on my radar

Final Thoughts

That’s it for now. As always, please reach out on Twitter or Reddit, with any specific questions you’d like answering, and we’ll be happy to help.

Cheers, everyone, and good luck in Gameweek 7.