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In FPL, there’s always a temptation not to go with the crowd. We all want to be different, and have our own unique takes and opinions.
Sometimes, if we’re lucky (or smart… but usually just lucky), it can even work out!
This is not one of those times where you should try to be different.
You should be getting three Arsenal players in Gameweek 7.
Is there an argument to be made for waiting until after the international break?
Sure. But then you miss West Ham at the Emirates – a fixture which Arsenal have won by an aggregate of 11-2 in the past two seasons.
Personally, I’d quite like three Arsenal players for that fixture.
Which particular Arsenal players should you actually get?
Well – that happens to be exactly what we’re about to find out!
Right.
The whole reason we’re all suddenly getting Arsenal players is that their fixtures are about to turn.
If you’d had their defenders from the start of the season, you’d actually have done very nicely. Gabriel, Timber, and Calafiori are all in the top-7 highest-scoring defenders.
Their attackers? Eh, not so much.
Regardless, those defensive returns came despite fairly tough fixtures. Now, the fixtures are… very much not tough.
That said, I still very much prefer Arsenal’s defensive fixtures to their attacking ones.
Here are the attacking fixtures:
Not bad!
But, Fulham and Palace are good defences, Sunderland don’t look like the pushovers we’d hoped for, and Chelsea and Villa away are both tricky.
Compare those with these majestic defensive fixtures:
There isn’t a single combination of opposition + not-being-at-home that scares me there.
Okay – it’s unlikely they keep cleans against all of Palace, Spurs, Chelsea, and Brighton.
But they’ve got a strong chance of cleaning in basically every other fixture. And, we’ve already seen they can defend brilliantly against other good sides, like Liverpool.
(By the way, if you’d like to see all Arsenal’s fixtures… and everyone else’s, you can do so in our majestic, completely free FDR fixture ticker, here).
So, which Arsenal players shall we actually grab in FPL, to take advantage of these tasty fixtures?
Glad you asked, friend!
These should be your first considerations.
Yes, they’re expensive – 6.2 and 6.0, at the time of writing.
But… that’s because they’re two of the best defenders in the game.
They don’t get as many defcons as other defenders. They do, however, happen to play for the best defence in the league across the past few seasons. That means clean sheets, and that means points.
We don’t usually love the term ‘essential’ here at Full 90 FPL. But… it is essential to have at least one Arsenal defender for these fixtures. And, these are the two nailed-on starters.
(No, I’m not worried about Saliba vs Mosquera. Saliba is back now, and he and Gabriel will start every game in the league).
Which one do you pick?
If you can afford it, I’d just take Gabriel, for the extra set piece threat. If you want to save to enable other moves, Saliba is just fine – they’ll be neck-and-neck in points scored when they play anyway.
It’s been a slow start to the season for Saka, mostly because of injuries. He’s already dropped from 10.0 to 9.8 in price.
All the better for us, I say.
He got 0.25 xGI in half a game against (a very defensive) City, and I thought he actually looked fine in a very tough matchup against Dan Burn in GW 6.
More importantly… he’s simply one of the best players in the entire game, for perhaps the best team, with the best fixture run, and he’s not that expensive.
And he’s on penalties. And he gets a point for clean sheets.
Let’s not overthink this.
He’s as reliable as they come, when he’s fit. I think he’s a buy-now, then set-and-forget for the foreseeable future.
He is 100% coming into my team.
So, you definitely want at least one of the centre-backs. And, for my money, you want Saka too.
Who’s going to take our third Arsenal spot in FPL? These lucky chaps are the prime candidates.
Full disclaimer – I am an Arsenal fan, and I’ve watched five of Arsenal’s six games this season.
And I have to be honest… I think Gyokores has looked pretty crap in real life.
Congratulations to him for playing well against Leeds. His only other goal was laid on a plate for him against Forest. His first touch has been poor, he’s been pushed around a lot for a pretty large man, and his link-up play has been rubbish.
But, guess what? We don’t actually care that much about real life. And, in FPL, I actually think he’s a solid pick going forward.
He might not actually be that good. But he’s the starting forward for Arsenal.
With some combination of Saka, Eze, Odegaard et al buzzing around him, he’ll get chances, and he’ll get goals.
Additionally, I’ve tried mapping it out on FPL Team, and I just don’t love the fixture runs for any other forward.
(Not from Gameweek 7 forward, at least. Joao Pedro’s fixtures from GW 9 onwards are nice).
Right now, he’s my third Arsenal pick in my own team.
The obvious alternative, since you get to double-up on a brilliant defence with brilliant fixtures.
My only concern here is rotation.
This hasn’t been a concern so far. Timber and Calafiori have started 5 and 6 games respectively. But they do both have high quality backups waiting, in White and Lewis-Skelly.
I do think they continue to start for at least the short-term. But I could also see Arteta rotating in some of the perceived easier fixtures.
And, that little niggle of doubt makes me not particularly want to spend 5.7-5.8 on either of them.
If you could afford a little extra, I’d rather just get Gabriel and Saliba, and start them every week forever.
For my own FPL team, I’m currently more tempted by Eze in my third spot, as the alternative to Gyokores.
I also wouldn’t call you crazy if you wanted to spend the extra money on a Gabriel/Saliba double, and save money on Saka by getting Eze instead.
I think he’ll be excellent value going forward, at only 7.5. In his past three games he’s assisted against Forest and City, and – if he’d been playing against anyone except Nick Pope – surely would’ve scored against Newcastle.
He’s obviously got the track record too. Like Saka, he’s struggled with injuries. Also like Saka, he’s produced whenever he’s been fit, getting 15-16 returns per season despite not playing that many minutes.
I’m assuming rotation would be a worry for lots of people, but it isn’t really for me. Particularly in the City and Newcastle games, I think he’s completely changed the way Arsenal play, and has helped to unlock their attack. They also spent a ton of money on him, at 27 years old, clearly with the intention of him starting.
Fine, he’s not nailed-nailed. But I think he’s a starter for the foreseeable future.
That’s already plenty of good options. Now, let’s look at the lads you definitely shouldn’t be picking from Arsenal!
Martinelli has established himself as a bit of a super sub. Good for him, but terrible for FPL minutes.
Trossard is starting right now on the left wing, and playing fairly well. He scored against Bilbao, and hit the woodwork against Newcastle. He’s never managed to hold that spot down for Arsenal, however, and I’d worry about rotation with Martinelli and Eze.
Odegaard looked good when he came on against Newcastle, and got the assist. I’m assuming Arteta will find a way to get him back into the starting lineup… but we’d have to wait and see how that happens. Also – as a reverse-Gyokores – I simply think he’s a far better real-life player than FPL asset anyway.
Rice has three assists already, and should end up with at least 10 with his brilliant set piece delivery. I just think A) he’s too expensive, at 6.5, and B) he’s a boring, low-ceiling way to use one of your three Arsenal slots.
Zubimendi is super-cheap, at 5.5. Again though, I just wouldn’t even begin to countenance using one of only three Arsenal slots on him. There are so many more exciting options, with high points potential.
To summarise!
You do want three Arsenal players in FPL for these upcoming fixtures.
And, I think you want them in Gameweek 7. I.e… right now.
If you can get them using regular transfers, I’d do that. The jury’s out on whether this is actually a good time to wildcard or not.
If you do have to wildcard, I don’t hate it. There are going to be so many points on offer from these Arsenal fixtures, that – with the other changes – it may well still be worth it.
You need at least one of Gabriel or Saliba. Getting both would be expensive, but also probably still worth it – I think they’re going to rack up a ton of cleans.
Personally, I love Saka, and he’s a lock in my own team. If you wanted to save money and get Eze instead, however, I don’t think that’s terrible.
Gyokores is going to be in my team… but he’s also the one I feel least confident in. The pick is a combination of fixtures and the players around him, rather than him as an actual player.
And… that just about does it!
Hopefully, this has helped you decide which Arsenal players to get in Gameweek 7 for yourself. That was the point, after all.
If you’ve got any questions at all, fire away in the comments below or on Reddit. Either way, thanks for reading, everybody.
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