This weekend marks the return of club football, which can only mean one thing: it’s time to prepare your Fantasy Premier League teams!
Now that the second terrible international break is over, Jurgen Klopp is entirely focused on this weekend’s Merseyside derby at Anfield.
Cody Gakpo’s injury recovery is still ongoing, and Andy Robertson is currently ineligible for selection. In addition, members of Liverpool’s South American contingent were just this morning playing for their countries in international competitions, so it’s clear that the manager will have a lot to take into account when selecting his starting lineup.
Millions of FPL players, including me, will be searching for hints and suggestions on who will get the nod for the important derby. There are also many factors to take into consideration when choosing players.
Anfield Watch is here to assist you in making the crucial selections prior to the deadline even though there are already some apparent picks and drops. In game week 9, there are undoubtedly some players who may be flying under the radar.
I said it in gameweek six, and I’ll say it again: Mohamed Salah is a player that every FPL owner must have all year long.
The Egyptian King seems like a great choice, yet despite this, only 35.7% of players own him, and there doesn’t seem to be a clear reason for this.
He presently commands the second-highest price in the game ($12.6 million, behind Erling Haaland), but his excellent attacking results more than justify the premium price.
Salah now shares the game’s most points with Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa, with a total of 59 points, making him the game’s highest scoring midfielder statistically.
For comparison, Erling Haaland, who costs £14 million and is owned by 88.2% of players, has four fewer points per game than Liverpool’s talisman.
Salah, 31, is not only a must-start for this match, but also for the long run given his incredibly favourable schedule moving forward (Nottingham Forest, Luton, Brentford) and the fact that he is the only Reds forward who is guaranteed to start against Everton.
You could say he’s a player who sets and forgets.
KOSTAS TSIMIKAS (IN)
This is undoubtedly a gamble, but if it pays off for Kostas Tsimikas and you take advantage of it in time, you might quickly advance in your FPL mini-leagues.
At the beginning of the season, it would have been insane to have the “Greek Scouser” in your squad. However, with the news that Robertson’s injury sustained while representing Scotland may cause the starting left-back to miss a significant amount of time, Tsimikas at under £4.4m is a no-brainer.
Since Tsimikas, 27, is the only left-back specialist in the team outside the Scotsman and the January transfer window isn’t exactly closing, he may get a lot of action if Robertson’s injury is as serious as first feared.
It is unheard of to acquire a starting Liverpool defender for that low of a price, much less a full-back who enjoys hanging on to the byline and providing an assist from the cross. Trent Alexander-Arnold is priced at £7.9 million, Virgil van Dijk is worth £6 million, and Robertson, before his injury, cost £6.6 million.
Liverpool may also receive some points for clean sheets in the upcoming weeks. Clean sheets have been extremely rare thus far this season, but the Reds’ next seven games include Everton, Nottingham Forest, Luton, Fulham, and Sheffield United — hardly a terrible stretch to turn the defensive tide!
DOMINIK SZOBOSZLAI (IN)
It might be a great idea to purchase Liverpool’s new star boy number eight right now. He has been in outstanding form for club and country, and the forthcoming games might see his goal contributions soar (much like his actual goals) in the coming weeks. His playing time is all but guaranteed.
Real midfielders are frequently disregarded when talking about midfield FPL assets from a Reds standpoint. Despite being members of the team’s forward line, Salah, Diaz, and Jota are categorised as midfielders in the game and hence receive extra points for goals they score.
It’s understandable that the three dominates the FPL midfield headlines given how prolific they are. However, Dominik Szoboszlai is only worth £7 million, has just 5.6% ownership, and is in charge of set-piece duties.
In reality, the Hungarian is returning to Merseyside after helping his country, Lithuania, get a point by assisting on a corner and scoring a penalty for his country. He is tremendous from a dead ball situation. Not to mention his propensity for long-range thunder****…
This might undoubtedly be a pick that goes unnoticed because of the aforementioned fixtures and the 22-year-old’s certainty of a starting place, unlike many of Liverpool’s strikers.
DARWIN NUÑEZ (OUT)
Darwin Nuez may be one FPL manager to avoid this game week, but in reality, you’d be better off avoiding every Liverpool attacker who isn’t named Salah.
Nuez has been a terrific option this season despite the fact that Liverpool’s offence rotates so much during Premier League games because he is staying up with the rest of the field in terms of goals and point totals while playing fewer minutes than his teammates.
Nunez has scored 33 points this season, which puts him in ninth place among forwards, and he is within ten points of every other striker ahead of him, with the exception of the Manchester City combo of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.
This shows how effective he has been as a backup option this year despite playing substantially fewer minutes than the majority of high-scoring forwards.
However, the Reds have been given the early kick-off time immediately following the international break for the second time this season, meaning that the club’s four South American players—including Nuez and Luis Diaz—have a game against Everton just three days after games on a different continent.
Thankfully, both stars and the previously injured Cody Gakpo were seen working out with Liverpool on Thursday morning. However, at this time, it is completely unpredictable who will start against Everton. This week, it’s better to stay away from Nuez and the majority of the Reds’ attackers.
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