We’re at a time of the season when we’ve got to stay sharp as Fantasy Football managers, keeping up to date with all the injury news and making sure we don’t miss the gameweek deadlines.
For gameweek 11 that’s at 18:30 BST on Friday this week before Brentford against Brighton and there’s a round of midweek fixtures next week with the gameweek 12 deadline at 18:00 on Tuesday.
No excuses – you have been warned!
In terms of the injury news, we know that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz are definitely going to miss the next couple of gameweeks and there’s a chance that could be the same for Reece James.
Sometimes I would advocate holding on to a premium asset even if you know they’re going to be unavailable for a short spell because you don’t want to waste transfers and money taking them out and bringing them back in again, but the fact that Arsenal and Manchester City don’t have a fixture in gameweek 12 makes this slightly different in James’ case for me.
I’m already keeping Joao Cancelo, Gabriel Martinelli and Erling Haaland in my squad so that they’re ready to go again after their blank week but I really need the rest of my outfield players to be likely to start in gameweek 12. That’s not necessarily the case with Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams and West Ham’s Emerson on my bench so I’m not sure I can really afford to try and ride the James injury out as well.
The problem is that if you already own Cancelo and Kieran Trippier then none of the replacements are anywhere as near as appetising as James.
You could go for one of his team-mates in Marc Cucurella, Ben Chilwell or Cesar Azpilicueta but you run the risk of rotation, as Graham Potter has already shown us with his team selections, and the same could be said for the Tottenham wing-backs in Ivan Perisic, Ryan Sessegnon and Matt Doherty, even with Emerson Royal still suspended for the next two games.
If you’re looking for guaranteed starters then Statman Dave suggested Eric Dier as a possibility in this week’s Fantasy 606 podcast. He has less potential of attacking returns as a centre-back but has already scored two goals this season and does strike the occasional free-kick for Tottenham. Dave also mentioned Fabian Schar as an option in the Newcastle defence and Everton’s Conor Coady with recent clean sheets against Liverpool and West Ham and a goal in the 2-1 win at Southampton.
I also think a Brighton defender might be worth a look as their next two games are at Brentford and then at home to Nottingham Forest.
Of course if you’ve still got your wildcard left then you can avoid this whole issue by simply selling your Arsenal and Manchester City players over the next two gameweeks and then just bringing them straight back in on the wildcard in gameweek 13. I wouldn’t play the free hit in gameweek 12 though to try and get around the problem because I think it will be more valuable to you later in the season.
Aleksandar Mitrovic owners could well face the same dilemma – you’ll want to hold him for Fulham games against Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Leeds but will his recent injury affect his chances of playing in three games in quick succession? If you’re looking for replacements in a similar price bracket then I would point you towards West Ham’s Gianluca Scamacca and Newcastle’s Callum Wilson who we mentioned last week.
And we’ve not even touched on the Mohamed Salah conundrum yet. Peripheral in the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday, electric at Ibrox on Wednesday – if you’ve got him then you definitely keep him, if you haven’t then I still wouldn’t move heaven and earth to sign him, particularly if you’re not planning on captaining him any time soon. I would, however, get a Liverpool forward in from gameweek 13 onwards, be that Darwin Nunez, Roberto Firmino or Diogo Jota.
Liverpool fans won’t like it but I’m going to advise giving the captain’s armband to Erling Haaland at Anfield on Sunday, although there are other candidates in gameweek 11 if you want to back against him. Son Heung-min and Harry Kane have a home game against Everton and any one of Arsenal’s attacking trio – Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus – would be a good bet away to Leeds.
The captaincy question in gameweek 12 is far more interesting with Haaland sitting that one out – Tottenham’s deadly duo are away to Manchester United, Liverpool’s attackers face the West Ham defence at Anfield but it’s definitely a week when you could take a punt on a differential to try and climb the rankings – maybe Brighton’s Leandro Trossard at home to Nottingham Forest, Leicester’s James Maddison against Leeds or Newcastle’s Wilson versus Everton.
Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the Fantasy 606 podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave.
The latest episode previewing gameweeks 11 and 12 will be available via the BBC Sounds app.
