Fantasy Premier League – Transfer Activity & Captaincy GW10

Written by: FPLijah

Gameweek 9 was one that either saw you gain massively in overall rank and in your mini-leagues, or it was one that made you shy away from your phone at all costs, with the thought of looking at your rank, sending fear down your spine (yes, I was one of these FPL managers), based purely on captaincy alone.

Some consider it a season defining Gameweek, but is that truly the case? We will discuss that further down the article when going through Captaincy for Gameweek 10 and its impact going forward.

Below is a reminder of the fixtures until GW14. A keynote if you weren’t already aware, but GW12 will see Arsenal and Manchester blank, so keep that in mind when thinking of your transfer strategy for Gameweeks 10, 11, and 12.

As the Gameweek 10 Deadline approaches, which is about two and a half hours later than usual (Saturday, 8 October, 13:30 UK time), Fantasy Premier League managers are active. The focus of this article is transfer activity and captaincy, and using the Official Fantasy Premier League website, at the time of writing this article, these are the Top 5 most transferred in and most transferred out players ahead of Gameweek 10:

Just a few comments before we dive straight in. When the season began, the strong template seemed to indicate going premium heavy in defense as it offered tremendous value with the likes of Trent, Cancelo, Robertson, James, and so on. After a few Gameweeks concluded, a front three had FPL managers licking their lips, with everyone contemplating a change in formation. As we go into GW10, after looking at the transfer activity, it’s clear to see that everyone has now begun to shift towards a stronger midfield, with many deciding it is finally time to drop all Liverpool assets due to the dip in form that just hasn’t seemed to balance out just yet.

Let’s go through each player amongst the Top 5 transfer activity and assess whether we should invest (in the case of transfers in) or jump onto the bandwagon of selling the most transferred out players.

Top Transfers IN this Gameweek:

Trossard (Price: £6.7m; Ownership: 9.7%)

Let’s begin with someone I absolutely love and often refer to as ‘Bossard.’ Well… In Gameweek 9, he certainly was not my favorite player after scoring a hat trick against the club I support, as well as amassing 20 points in his first fixture back after leaving my FPL team.

Before Gameweek 9, Brighton’s last fixture was all the way back in GW6. Trossard who was already very minimally owned in FPL, saw himself leave many FPL teams, and rightfully so, due to a double blank, Brighton losing Graham Potter, and then followed by a fixture against Liverpool.

Trossard went into typical Bossard mode, despite what was once considered the most difficult opponent. In 7 Gameweeks, Trossard has scored five and assisted twice, going at a rate of 7.43 points per match. His price point at just £6.7m is also the selling point here, showing true value, after outscoring premium players like Mohamed Salah, who averages 6.14 points this season despite being more than double Trossard’s price.

Brighton have a mixed bag of fixtures coming up, which sees them play Spurs, Man City, and Chelsea within the next five fixtures, but as we’ve seen in GW9, Trossard is fixture proof. I personally think that if you can find £0.5m more, I’d rather have Zaha for his run of ‘green’ fixtures all the way until GW19.

If you already have Trossard, I wouldn’t sell. He will likely be joining my team at some point in the near future again.

Foden (Price: £8.1m; Ownership: 12.4%)

Just like Trossard, Phil Foden entered ‘God Mode’ when both he and Erling Haaland scored hattricks against their Manchester rivals in GW9. The scoreline was one that was surprising, which saw Manchester City beat Manchester United 6-3.

Despite Foden’s hattrick, Haaland grabbed the headlines, which still shows how underrated Foden is in world football, as well as FPL, as can be seen by his ownership at just 12.4%, even with approximately 500k new transfers in.

We, as FPL managers, have become accustomed to ‘Pep Roulette’, especially with players like Foden. However, this season it can be noted that Foden has started every single Premier League fixture interestingly. Foden has five goals and three assists from 8 games, with a juicy fixture against Southampton in GW10. The only issue with bringing Foden in right now is that in GW11 Manchester City faces Liverpool, followed by a Blank Gameweek in GW12. The Liverpool fixture is one that fans all over the world always anticipated due to the quality, skill, and pace on offer, but with Liverpool’s current form, it’s difficult to predict how they will perform, and Foden typically scores against Liverpool as he is a big game player.

If you have Foden, you definitely keep him for Southampton at the Etihad Stadium, and possibly even for Liverpool based on the eye-test over this weekend. Should you be bringing Foden in, knowing he has a blank? Well, that depends on your squad. If you have no injuries in your squad and don’t feel the need to change formation with multiple transfers etc., then a hokey pokey of bringing in Foden and then possibly selling may be a great strategy since making up ground now with everyone perma-captaining Haaland will be slim.

Maddison (Price: £8.1m; Ownership: 50.1%)

Maddison was the most transferred in player ahead of GW9, and he appears again on the list going into GW10. Prior to the GW9 deadline, Leicester notably had a swing in fixtures, which FPL managers wanted to target, and it immediately paid off, with Madders coming away with 18 points after his two goals, 1 assist, cleansheet point, and three bonus points (let’s not forget the yellow card as well).

Leicester’s win now means that they no longer sit at the foot of the Premier League table and this could mean a change in form, but that hasn’t stopped James Maddison. Despite the poor form of Leicester, he has continued to show why he is such a class player, scoring five and assisting two goals in the 7 Gameweeks that he has featured in.

Leicester’s fixtures can be seen below, and for me, it is a no brainer to have Maddison in your team. If Leicester score, Maddison is more likely than not, to be involved in that goal.

Trippier (Price: £5.5m; Ownership: 50.1%)

Some call it luck, but Trippier just has everything going for him as an FPL at the moment. If he doesn’t get cleansheet points, he will often grab himself an assist or possibly a goal. In Gameweek 9, Trippier was substituted off with a cleansheet, before Newcastle conceded. That’s basically a dream if you only owned Trippier from the Newcastle defence, with many managers opting for Nick Pope, or the cheaper option in Schar.

Newcastle have a mixed bag of fixtures coming up (see image below), and it’s why I’d be slightly hesitant to bring the Englishman in.

Trippier’s ownership is worrying, since it has now surpassed 50%, so any point that Trippier earns, will likely result in a sizeable drop in rank if you don’t own him. Should we play FPL being scared of Effective Ownership though? I mean it isn’t fun, but it’s an effective strategy that works, and it all depends on the type of FPL manager that you are. My way of playing is going for gut feel and the eye-test and although Tripps passes the eye-test and so do Newcastle, but the fixtures are putting me off just a bit. I personally wouldn’t bring him in this Gameweek, but if I owned him, I wouldn’t be selling.

De Bruyne (Price: £12.4m; Ownership: 34.9%)

KDB makes the list of most transferred in players, and that is surely for a like-for-like replacement for the underperforming Mohamed Salah. In the 8 Gameweeks that De Bruyne has featured in, he has scored 1 goal and 8 assists, earning himself a total of 53 Fantasy Premier League points.

With Haaland’s form at present, that can only mean a ton of points for KDB and that’s been evident in just the past 3 Gameweeks, with De Bruyne racking up 5 assists. If you have Salah, should you sell him for KDB in GW10 since Man City plays Southampton at home, whilst Liverpool face Arsenal? In my opinion I would do it, purely because you’re going to sell KDB heading into GW12 due to the Blank Gameweek.

If you’re 1 of those managers looking to play their Free it in GW12 (which I do not suggest, as the chip will be more useful later in the season), then Salah to KDB is viable transfer now.

Top Transfers OUT this Gameweek:

Mitrovic (Price: £6.8m; Ownership 27.5%)

To no surprise, Mitrovic is 1^st on the list of most transferred out players. In GW9, after so many opted for the Serbian as their transfer in or part of their front 2/3 on their Wildcard, Mitrovic went off injured, securing just 1 FPL point. Disappointing I know, but in true FPL casual style, managers decided to dump him without further information regarding the injury. As I sit here and write this article, it has been confirmed that Mitro is back in training, but still a doubt for this weekend – however there is still a chance that he may be fit enough to be ready this weekend and a further assessment will take place. Even if he doesn’t feature, we know that next Gameweek, he should be back, and with Fulham’s fixtures (see image below), and Mitro’s form, he is definitely a KEEP!

Alexander-Arnold (Price: £7.3m; Ownership 30.8%)

The ‘essential’ Trent Alexander-Arnold that we once knew, just hasn’t shown up this season, but it isn’t just him, it’s the entire Liverpool squad, with fluctuating form, unable to find enough rhythm to be at their best.

In 7 Gameweeks, Trent has just 1 goal, 1 assist and 1 cleansheet, and wait for it….. IT ALL HAPPENEED IN THE SAME GAME, when Liverpool thrashed Bournemouth 9-0. Selling Trent and other Liverpool players is justified, based on their price tags, as well form and their next 2 fixtures against Arsenal and Manchester City.

FPL managers gambled on a change of form, especially on the GW9 Wildcard which saw many go  for both Trent and Salah (some like myself, even took a punt of Tsimikas), which backfired massively, as Trent had 0 points, and Salah, well we will talk about that when we get to Salah next.

Liverpool played in the UEFA Champions League during the midweek, in which Trent scored the opening goal from a freekick, and also kept a cleansheet in a different formation used by Klopp with playing 4 attackers up top with Diaz, Nunez, Jota and Salah).

I wouldn’t bring Trent in, but if you have him, I suggest keeping. Liverpool and Arsenal always have goals in them and Trent will likely be involved. Plus, we’ve only seen this new formation by Klopp once and it worked. Guess we’ll have to wait and see who specifically to target after the next 2 Gameweeks.

Salah (Price: £12.8m; Ownership 31.1%)

I began with the sigh since the reliance on Salah has cost me and others massively when it comes to overall rank and mini-league positions, since we opted to captain the ‘Once King of FPL’ in GW9. You don’t even understand how much it pains me to use the word “once”, since we now have a new freak of nature with regards to goal scoring and perma-captain, in Erling Haaland.

Salah, much like Trent, has massively underperformed this season, and just like Trent again, scored during the midweek UCL fixture against Rangers, which saw Liverpool win 2-0, albeit it was a penalty. Liverpool did however look much better with regards to pressing and playing like the team we’ve become accustomed to seeing.

The only worry for me though, is if Klopp persists with the new formation that was tested during the Champions League, it may lean me more towards owning someone like Nunez in future, as he is taking shots for fun. Salah did look great and took a couple of shots on target, one of which I have no idea how it was saved, but he doesn’t look like hauling with a hattrick if you know what I mean.

I don’t think the £12.8m is justified at the moment and I understand the mass sales. I am personally keeping him, and will give it another week to assess.

Diaz (Price: £8.1m; Ownership 24.7%)

Luis Diaz, the man that excites us when the ball is at his feet, driving at defenders and earning fouls, but is that enough? Diaz hasn’t scored in the last 3 Gameweeks, and at his price tag, you will find yourself some gems in Maddison, Zaha, Foden, and so on, with much better form, fixtures and in most cases, the price as well.

For me, he is a sell if you don’t own players like Maddison or Zaha, and it’ll ensure you’ve got some nice cash in the bank as well.

Kulusevski (Price: £8.0m; Ownership 7.0%)

Kulusevski is currently flagged with a hamstring injury and has a % chance of playing in GW10, according to the Official FPL website. He is an easy sell with so many viable options at his price point or lower.

Captaincy

Captaincy is the single most important aspect of Fantasy Premier League. A captaincy fail will more often than not, ruin your gameweek, to the point of a red arrow. A good captaincy return can improve an average week, into one that is amazing, or change your gameweek from bad to somewhat decent, as we’ve seen throughout the history of FPL. Gameweek 9 is a typical example of that. If you just went with form and logic, you’ve had a great Gameweek after captaining Haaland. If you went with a gut feel on Salah, well that’s FPL bud! Some managers took the punt on Maddison and fair play to you all!

For GW10 though, do we even need to talk about captaincy? We now have an absolute freak of nature in the Premier League. The man is simply not human. Surely an Alien or Robot, where his only function is scoring goals and bagging tons of FPL points right?

Haaland is making a joke of the Premier League, after scoring yet another hattrick, but this time, grabbed himself 2 assists as well against Manchester United, taking his total up to 14 goals and 3 assists in 8 games.

For me, I’ve learnt my lesson and will be sticking the captaincy on Haaland without question, as the fixture in itself is too juicy to ignore. The issue going forward is that making huge gains will be difficult as Haaland will now be the perma-cap even for maverick managers or gutsy FPL managers like myself, as the risk of a huge red arrow is far too high. You’re going to find differentials and gems where they have that short spell of consistent points and you’re going to need to time buying and selling these sorts of players as perfectly as you can (like Foden, Trossard, Maddison, and Barnes in the previous Gameweek).

If you’re ranked 3 million or worse, then the temptation of a differential captain has to be on your mind. Remember, with Haaland likely having an EO greater than 188% etc, even captaining other players with high ownership (say 50%) is still differential enough.

My Differential Captaincy Order (ANYONE BESIDES HAALAND):

1. Foden (SOU)
2. Kane (bri)
3. Maddison (bou)
4. Sterling (WOL)
5. Salah (ars)

Final Thoughts

That sums up my thoughts on the Top 5 Transfer Activity and Captaincy for Gameweek 10. Look out for more articles by myself (FPLijah).

If you have any questions regarding your team or strategy or for more information regarding all things Fantasy Premier League, as well as maximum interaction, follow/subscribe to FPLijah on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Reddit.