Gameweek 21 | Midweek madness.

Everything you need to know ahead of Gameweek 21.

The Stuff You Should Know

šŸšØ Gameweek 21ā€™s deadline is Tuesday 14th January, 18:00 GMT.

šŸŽ‰ DGW24 confirmed for Liverpool and Everton.

šŸ‘‹ West Ham sack Julen Lopetegui and hire Graham Potter.

šŸ¤ Everton hire David Moyes after sacking Sean Dyche.

šŸ¤ž Isak is in a ā€œgood placeā€ after seeing a physio, says Howe.

šŸ˜Ÿ Evanilson has had an operation for a fractured foot. No timescale yet.

šŸ¤• Pedro has twisted his ankle. His scan ā€œwent wellā€ according to the player.

šŸ¤¦ā€ā™‚ļø Jesus stretchered off during Sundayā€™s FA Cup tie vs Man United, Timber also came off (early reports say he should be fine).

šŸ“© Subscribe to the 1440 newsletter and get a daily 5-min summary of the worldā€™s most interesting news.

Keep reading for The Profā€™s weird transfer plan.

Alright?

Some FPL managers like to make their transfers early. Others wait for as long as they possibly can.

The 10 days since we last spoke have no doubt been punishing for some in the former group. The latter group are smugger than ever - and thatā€™s saying something.

Eventful feels like an understatement. Double Gameweeks, injuries, transfers and not one, but two managerial sackings. Wonā€™t anybody think of the FPL managers who have to pick up the pieces?

In this email, weā€™ll cover the important stuff, discuss Haalandā€™s return to form and serve up the usual prison gruel youā€™ve become so reluctantly accustomed to.

Dinner is about to be served, and itā€™s a big old portion this week.

Gameweek 21ā€™s fixtures.

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Whatā€™s happened since our last email?

Summary for the Lazy: A fair bit.

Itā€™s weeks like this that LazyFPL really comes into its own. Letā€™s start with the Double Gameweek:

Double Gameweek 24

After some weeks of speculation, Double Gameweek 24 has been confirmed for Everton and Liverpool. The rescheduled Merseyside derby will take place on February 12th.

Everton: Leicester (H), Liverpool (H)

Liverpool: Bournemouth (A), Everton (A)

Weā€™ll talk about how to use this opportunity next week. For now, weā€™d urge you to play it cool: Double Gameweeks can prompt pandemonium, but rarely are good decisions made amid overexcitement.

The managerial merry-go-round

Yup, it continues to spin. Two managers have been replaced this week: Julen Lopetegui at West Ham and Sean Dyche at Everton. Theyā€™ve been replaced with Graham Potter and David Moyes, respectively.

Of course, Wolves and Southampton fired their managers just before Christmas, so weā€™ve recently covered how a managerial change can impact FPL managers. Itā€™s here in case youā€™ve forgotten.

The ā€œcanā€™t be arsed to clickā€ version is that the new manager bounce is real, which might force us to reassess both the assets within these teams, and the relative easiness or difficulty of fixtures involving these teams.

The deluge of cheap forward injuries

Evanilson - Broken foot, timeline TBC (but long-term). Solution: transfer out.

Joao Pedro - Twisted ankle, timeline TBC (could be a few weeks). Solution: wait for the press conference on Tuesday.

Alexander Isak - Withdrawn with a hamstring issue last week. ā€œNot seriousā€ according to Howe, who opted to give him some rest instead of risking him against Bromley. Solution: keep unless we get conclusive news.

Gabriel Jesus - Was stretchered off against Man United on Sunday. Heā€™s awaiting scans but Arteta assessed that it ā€œdidnā€™t look goodā€ after the game. Solution: look for alternatives.

If only there was a section in this newsletter dedicated to finding some alternatives...

Penetrative Stats.

Summary for the Lazy: If youā€™re after a forward replacement, Solanke, Mateta, Wissa or Jimenez could be worth a look.

What a happy coincidence: a section all about cheap, differential replacements for your fallen forwards.

Hereā€™s who we like:

Raul Jimenez (Ā£5.7m, 10.8% owned):

The star of a previous Penetrative Stats, the braided beauty has scored three in his last two. His competition for that position, Rodrigo Muniz, is currently injured too. Heā€™s risky because heā€™s usually a few quiet games away from a benching, but Fulhamā€™s next two are West Ham and Leicester (both away).

Dominic Solanke (Ā£7.5m, 9% owned):

With five attacking returns in his last six, Dominic Solanke has quietly plugged away at Spurs. Heā€™s the sort of player who never feels far off a big haul, despite the fact heā€™s only managed one double-digit tally this season.

Heā€™s got Arsenal and Everton away next, but his fixtures ease up a little after that.

Yoane Wissa (Ā£6.2m, 9.5% owned):

Wissaā€™s fixtures are the definition of a mixed bag, but letā€™s not forget that, as we discussed in a previous newsletter, Man City and Spurs arenā€™t currently the defensive units OfficialFPL think they are.

Fixtures aside, Wissa has proven himself a worthy replacement for Ivan Toney, with nine goals already this season. Heā€™s gone through a bit of a dry spell lately but 11 points in his last game could spark a return to form.

Jean-Philippe Mateta (Ā£7.2m, 3.5% owned):

This oneā€™s pretty rogue, but heck, we like JPM.

A lot of that is owing to his fixtures:

Unlike a lot of differentials in this position (weā€™re looking at you, Rory Delap), Matetaā€™s fixtures are greener than the lump of unclingfilmed Christmas cheddar that got erroneously left behind the brie in your fridge.

Mateta has plenty of goalscoring potential, and whilst he hasnā€™t quite found his rhythm so far this season, heā€™s starting games and starting to show some of that 23/24 potency.

Erling Haaland - is his return to form a problem?

Summary for the Lazy: Not particularly.

Erling Haaland appears to be at the end of his journey of rediscovery. For a second it was touch and go - City fans were starting to stare wistfully in the direction of players like Chris Wood and Kai Havertz.

But three goals in his last two is more reminiscent of the Haaland we all happily paid Ā£15.0m for back in August. And itā€™s prompted a difficult question for FPL managers: what if heā€™s back?

Haaland returning to form is awkward. Itā€™s like being invited to a wedding in the Caribbean. You ought to go, but itā€™s going to be a whole day of travel, itā€™ll cost you a fortune and it might end up being shit.

For most of us, bringing Haaland in means rearranging our team and getting rid of players that, so far, have given us very little reason to shift.

And there lies the solution to this predicament: just do nothing.

At the start of the season, Chelsea and Liverpool were in a state of flux under new management. In a parallel world, Cole Palmer and Mohamed Salah mightā€™ve struggled to fit into a new system.

These unpredictable circumstances made Haaland an even brighter beacon of consistency, and he duly delivered in those early gameweeks.

But since then, weā€™ve learned two things:

1) Salah and Palmer are fine.
2) Haaland might not be a robot.

FPL managers havenā€™t really experienced an out-of-form Haaland before. By giving us a glimpse of one, heā€™s shattered the notion that he, unlike every other player in the league, has somehow built up an immunity to mediocrity.

Man City will no doubt find a way out of their poor run of form, and thatā€™ll involve Haaland returning to a semblance of the player we used to perma-captain.

But even so, the narrative has shifted: Haaland isnā€™t essential, and his inclusion, regardless of his form, might well hamper the rest of your team.

The best captain for Gameweek 21.

Summary for the Lazy: Itā€™s Alexander Isak.

We hate it when the best captain isnā€™t an obvious one - it usually means more work for us (and, lest you forget, weā€™re lazy) and at least a few angry emails.

But by subscribing to this newsletter, youā€™ve done enough to deserve a proper captaincy interrogation where an interrogation is needed. And this week, thereā€™s a need.

Mohamed Salah will travel to a team that hasnā€™t conceded a goal in its last 387 minutes of Premier League football. He also recorded his lowest xG this season (0.1xG) in the reverse fixture.

Alexander Isak, meanwhile, hosts a Wolves side that has conceded five in its last two games.

Suffice to say, Wolves have been more defensively fragile than Nottingham Forest this season, particularly on the road.

But the attacking potency of Newcastle and, indeed, Isak, shouldnā€™t be overlooked either:

The difference in recent xG is negligible.

And Isakā€™s stats are more than competitive with Salahā€™s over the same time range too:

The glow from Salahā€™s imperious form this season is dazzling, but that shouldnā€™t blind us to the reality of this weekā€™s armband decision. Here we have two similarly potent players, but one plays Wolves at home and the other visits the most in-form defensive outfit in the league.

Isak is the pick for us. If you donā€™t own him, Palmer probably edges the Egyptian too (in a strictly captaincy sense, behave).

When you suggest captaining someone else this week.

With both Evanilson and Enes Unal injured, thereā€™s a of talk about Antoine Semenyo playing upfront for Bournemouth.

So naturally, The Professor is contemplating getting rid. His new squeeze? Eberechi Eze.

The captaincy goes to Alexander Isak.

Overall rank: 396k

His team pre-transfer. Ā£0.8m in the bank.

To find out why The Prof is thinking of getting rid of Semenyo, youā€™ll need to join LazyFPL Premium.

The key stats.

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Other stuff we found interesting.

  • Spurs sign Antonin Kinsky (goalkeeper) for Ā£12.5m. He impressed in the EFL Cup.

  • Aston Villa sign Donyell Malen from Dortmund, who could come in quite soon.

  • Harvey Barnes injured vs Bromley.

  • Diogo Dalot will miss the Southampton game (he got a red in the FA Cup)

  • Jacob Murphy ā€œfelt his calfā€ so was withdrawn from FA Cup fixture.

  • Amad Diallo has ā€œa small issueā€ which caused him to miss the FA Cup game.

  • The prices for the Assistant Manager chip have been revealed:


Keep an eye on the press conferences tomorrow, itā€™s been a mad one so far. Weā€™ll be back on Friday morning.

Stay lazy,

The LazyFPL Team.

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