The games are, as they say, coming thick and fast. Hot on the heels of the international break, we’ve had a Premier League gameweek, European football, and now we’ve got one day’s break between Gameweeks 14 and 15.
I’m not going to say this is where seasons are won and lost. It’s probably a bit too early for that. I am going to say don’t forget to set your lineup.
European Round-Up
We were back with a bang after the international break, with a full slate of Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League action. Here were the most important takeaways, from an FPL perspective.
- Everyone played a full 90 for Newcastle: Isak, Gordon, Almiron, Trippier, etc. Isak scored. Livramento started again, but can’t be trusted, since he could get rotated for Hall
- For Man City, Haaland and Foden played a full 90. Doku and Alvarez were both rested, but got subbed on. Foden is basically nailed right now – he’s played 90mins in 6 of City’s last 7 games. As soon as you transfer him in he’ll be benched.
- Man U’s game was fun! The only FPL player we really care about is Bruno. He got a goal (could’ve had at least one more), and an assist. He’s got 3 goals and 2 assist in his last 6 games for Man U now, his only blank – naturally – being against Luton
- Arsenal smashed Lens. Everyone played, scored, assisted, and all the rest of it. The main actual takeaways are that Saka finally got a decent rest, Odegaard and Jesus both started again (both back to full fitness), and White didn’t start, but did come on for Tomiyasu
- Brighton kept a clean sheet! All the usual suspects started in attack, and JP got yet another penalty
- Bowen wasn’t in the squad for West Ham, as expected. Neither was Coufal.
- Liverpool smashed LASK. Salah, Gakpo, and Diaz started up top, and all scored. Trent was rested, but came on. Kelleher started for the injured Alisson.
- Watkins didn’t even travel for Aston Villa. Apparently he’s got a minor injury… which isn’t what we want to hear. Diaby scored, and more importantly so did Moreno, who made his first start. Sell Digne soon, if you’ve got him
Injuries, Suspensions, Etc.
Relatively speaking, it actually hasn’t been a terrible week for injuries! That said, there are two names in particular that many of us are looking out for… and they both wear claret and blue!
- Bowen is the one a lot of us care most about… so of course we learned nothing whatsoever. He didn’t make the trip on Thursday, but that’s not surprising. I’m not encouraged that we still haven’t heard anything… but would still lead towards holding, I suppose, since he’s so darn good
- Watkins missed the Conference League game, as noted. Unai says he’s a ‘doubt’ for Sunday. Since Bournemouth aren’t the toughest opposition (they’re fine, just not great), I’d assume this means he’ll probably miss out? He’s their most important player (don’t tell me it’s Douglas Luiz or someone, you big hipster), so I doubt they risk him. For owners of both Bowen and Watkins – including myself and many others – this gives us a massive headache!
- Wilson is out again this week, and there was no update on his hamstring injury. Hold and start Isak if you’ve got him, against a comical Man U defence, but I still wouldn’t rush to get him in
- Eze is out again for ages, which is a shame IRL and in FPL. Bin him
- Reece James is suspended, following his idiotic red card, but will be back in Gameweek 15
- Romero has literally been suspended for about a month, thanks to the international break… and he’s still suspended!
- Neto is back in light training. Unlikely he’ll be back for Gameweeks 14 or 15, but doesn’t sound like he’s too far away
And that’s about it! We’ve got loads and loads of long-term injuries, of course. But – Neto aside – we didn’t get any particularly important updates on those this week.
Upcoming Fixtures
What have we got after this Premier League weekend? More Premier League, of course!
That’s right, Gameweek 15 starts ridiculously quickly, on Tuesday evening. Don’t forget those transfers.