Gameweek 7 | The important FPL news.

The Stuff You Should Know

🚨 Gameweek 7’s deadline is Saturday 5th October, 11:00 BST.

🔴 Man United successfully appeal Bruno’s red card. His suspension is lifted.

🤕 Son missed GW6 and Spurs’ UEL clash with an apparent hamstring issue. He’s a doubt for GW7.

🌏 It’s an international break after the weekend.

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Keep reading to find out which popular midfielder The Professor is thinking about binning.

Alright?

The dressing room is damp and dreary. Sodden heads hang from shoulders that slope towards the mud-stained tiles. 15 men staring at their (de)feet.

One of them - Wout Faes, perhaps - mutters “sorry gaffer” under his breath.

“We’ll…we’ll do better next week," adds Erling Haaland, timid as usual.

They said this last week. And the week before. They always say this.

Meanwhile, the bass from the neighbouring dressing room hums through the walls. You can just about make out the jubilant voices in there chanting “Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole” and you wonder - not for the first time - why you had to pick Bukayo Saka instead.

Even James Justin sounds like he’s having a good time. James Justin never has a good time.

But tempting as it might be to pop next door and steal a few of them, it’s times like this when your motley crue of misfiring misfits needs you the most.

The best thing you can do is grab the board pen and get scribbling. You picked your players for a reason: here’s what you need to know to get the most from them in Gameweek 7.

Gameweek 7’s fixtures.

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What happened in midweek?

If there’s one thing FPL managers love, it’s the chance to watch their carefully chosen players flirt with injury in midweek competitions.

Fortunately for us, not much happened to the highly owned FPL assets, but the games did give us an inadvertent status update on a few on-the-radar players.

Tuesday:

Arsenal - beat some French minnow team 2-0 with a full-strength side. Jurrien Timber felt “something muscular” at half-time, which is weird because I don’t remember being at the Emirates on Tuesday.

Man City - won 0-4 away at Slovan Bratislava with a full-strength side. Erling Haaland scored before being subbed off at ‘60. Phil Foden started for the first time this season and scored + assisted. Kevin De Bruyne was not in the squad.

Newcastle - edged past Wimbledon in the EFL Cup with a mostly B-team starting XI. Alexander Isak targeting a Gameweek 8 return, Anthony Gordon played 30 mins.

Wednesday:

Liverpool - beat a delicious pasta dish 2-0. Mohamed Salah scored and assisted. Luis Diaz started (and played ‘72), Diogo Jota was benched (and played ‘30). Trent Alexander-Arnold also played ‘85.

Aston Villa - won 1-0 against Bayern Munich, obviously. They were full-strength. Ollie Watkins was subbed after ‘70 for Jhon Duran, who dutifully scored. Again. Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana both withdrawn with injury.

Thursday:

Spurs - beat Ferencvaros 2-1. Heung-min Son not in the squad. Best player to start was Pedro Porro, but Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Brennan Johnson (who scored) all subbed on in the second half.

Man United - lost a 2-0 lead to draw 3-3 against Porto. Played a full-strength side. Bruno Fernandes got sent off again (which doesn’t impact the Premier League).

Chelsea - played a B-team but still beat Gent 4-2. Nkunku scored again, making him Chelsea’s top scorer this season across all competitions (weirdly).

Is Cole Palmer a must-buy now?

Summary for the Lazy: Nobody is a must-buy, but obviously Palmer is good. If you buy him, keep him.

Somebody warn Trinity, because we’re getting de ja vu.

Was it not merely weeks ago that we were examining the virtues (or lack-of) of another Chelsea attacker who happened to score loads of goals in one half?

It ought to go without saying, but we’ll say it just in case: Cole Palmer is obviously a different proposition to Noni Madueke. Since the start of last season, no Premier League player has had more goal involvements than Palmer.

The question with Palmer hasn’t really been one of quality, but more one of FPL viability. Palmer is the third-most expensive player in the game, and that seemed like a large outlay for a player who, under new management, hasn’t really felt like reliable captaincy material.

That is until he became the first ever player to score four goals in one Premier League half.

It’s easy to forget that this isn’t even the first time this season that Palmer has hauled. He bagged 17 points in Gameweek 2, and has only blanked in two out of his six games so far.

All of which points to a player who, whether you own him now or decide to wait, will probably sign for your squad at some point this season.

Have a little patience

The Professor wrote excellently (as he always does) about the virtues of patience in his post-Gameweek 6 review. The message was simple: Palmer won’t do this every week. If you’re going to bring him in now, that’s fine, but don’t throw your toys out of the pram if he blanks against Nottingham Forest and gets a yellow away at Liverpool.

That’s not how you play FPL. At least not how Lazy managers play FPL.

Lazy managers sit on the likes of Cole Palmer for the long haul, because every now and again they’ll score four goals in a single game.

Palmergeddon.

Summary for the Lazy: Getting rid of good players for Palmer might lead to short-term disappointment.

The cold-rush of Palmer buyers has triggered an equally intriguing phenomenon: the exodus of basically every other midfielder in the game. It’s Palmergeddon out there.

The top 10 most-transferred out players reads like a roster of the best midfielders in the Premier League, but that’s what a four-goal half will do to an FPL manager: it acts almost as an amnesiac, erasing the memories of the gameweeks that came prior.

Looking at this data alone, it’d be easy to conclude that the answer to the question “who is the best player to sell for Cole Palmer?” is simply “anyone you can get your hands on.”

This section isn’t here to argue whether or not these decisions are good or bad (we can’t predict the future, mate), but simply to illustrate that the hysteria of a moment like this can drive managers to get rid of players who, prior to Gameweek 6, would’ve been considered absolutely essential.

Palmer is clearly at least as good as any player you might be removing. But whenever you remove a fit, capable player from your team, you need to reconcile yourself with occasional disappointment. Particularly in the short-term.

The best captain for Gameweek 7.

Summary for the Lazy: it’s Haaland.

Some will be tempted by Palmer given what happened last week, and Bukayo Saka - for those who kept him - will also be tempting at home to a leaky Southampton.

But Erling Haaland at home to Fulham is the safest pick here. Remember: Nottingham Forest are actually pretty decent at keeping goals out this season (in fact, they have the second-most robust defence away from home so far, according to expected goals allowed).

Quick question: Does Haaland play worse without Rodri?

Equally quick answer: No. Nine games played, 11 goals scored (including three hat-tricks).

LazyFPL Premium members will already know that The Professor had planned to get of Luis Diaz in Gameweek 8. Well, after Diaz’s not-so-brief showing on Thursday night, he’s considering making that move a week early.

The hypothetical target would be Brennan Johnson, but he’s going to await early team news* on Saturday morning before making a move.

Here’s his team. Haaland El Capitan. Rank (not that it matters): 1.9m.

*Btw, if you want two extra emails per gameweek and access to a WhatsApp group where we share early team news whenever we get it, join LazyFPL Premium. It’s the best fiver you’ll spend in October.

The key stats.

The LazyFPL £8k Orgy Party

Otherwise known as our Sleeper league.

Keys in the bowl, let’s keep this clean. We’re going for plenty of home wins this week.

Are we idiots? Probably. Prove it and you might win an Xbox. IT’S FREE.

Other stuff we found interesting.

1. One of our mates has launched a newsletter for UCL Fantasy. Subscribe free for pre-Matchday news and tips from a top UCL Fantasy manager.

2. Yeah, we’re still on “the gram” and still posting daily updates of the important news. Follow us here.

3. Southampton’s Jack Stephens has his suspension extended for two games for calling multiple officials “f***ing little c***s”. Yeesh.

4. Joao Pedro is out for 6-10 weeks.

A shorter one this week, but we avoid making these long for the sake of it. You’re ready. Your team looks decent. What could possibly go wrong?

It’s the dreaded international break after the weekend. We might come sauntering into your inbox at some point to say hello - depends on what goes down.

Have an unexcruciating Gameweek 7 and remember,

Stay lazy.

The LazyFPL Team.