After back-to-back high-scoring gameweeks with averages of 67 points and 66 points in gameweeks 9 and 10 respectively, the last gameweek 11 brought us the lowest-scoring round of the 2023-24 FPL season so far. By the time Chelsea and Spurs were ready to kick off for what would turn out to be one of the crazier league games so far, the average FPL score sat at just 28 points. Five goals, including two deep in the added time, and two red cards later, did not do much for the average though, as it settled on 32 points for the gameweek. It was a beautiful Monday if you are one of the 4.4% of fantasy managers who owned Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson, as he recorded a hattrick against Spurs to crown himself as highest-scoring player of GW11 with 16 FPL points.
Looking at the fixtures in upcoming gameweek 12, it doesn’t look like we’re up for another low-scoring gameweek. With Arsenal playing at home against Burnley, Manchester United hosting Luton Town, Aston Villa playing at home to Fulham, Brighton facing Sheffield United at the AmEx, Liverpool welcoming Brentford to Anfield and West Ham facing Nottingham Forest at home, GW12 boasts what looks like a plethora of (very) favourable home fixtures. Add to that Crystal Palace’s home game against Everton and Newcastle’s visit to Bournemouth, and we can say that fantasy managers will have to make some serious choices this weekend as the points can be coming from practically anywhere.
Check out FISO’s FPL Forum for the latest discussion and don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 12 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, November 11th, 2023.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per November 9th, 2023)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Ederson (MCI), Ramsdale (ARS), Leno (ARS) | Johnstone (CRY), Areola (WHU), Vicario (TOT) | |
| DEF | Burn (NEW), Romero (TOT), Udogie (TOT) | Mitchell (CRY), Saliba (ARS), Andersen (CRY) | Palace fixtures + defensive form, Burn injury, Romero + Udogie suspensions |
| MID | Maddison (TOT), Odegaard (ARS), Neto (WOL) | Doku (MCI), Bowen (WHU), Saka (ARS) | Neto injury, Maddison + Odegaard injury doubts |
| FOR | Haaland (MCI), Isak (NEW), Alvarez (MCI) | Nketiah (ARS), Watkins (AST), Wilson (NEW) | Jesus injury, Isak injury, Man City fixtures |
Premium pick
After three consecutive gameweeks with at least one attacking return, the on-fire Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) blanked at Kenilworth Road in gameweek 11. After 2 goals against Brighton in GW8, 2 goals versus Everton in GW9 and a single goal against Forest in GW10, hopes for a serious haul against minnows Luton Town were high amongst fantasy managers. But of course, in the purest of FPL fashions, the Egyptian then blanked for a 2-pointer. The only “upside” for those managers who put all their captaincy eggs in the Salah basket last weekend was that his big fantasy rival for the armband, Erling Haaland, blanked as well. This weekend, Salah (and the managers counting on him) can redeem themselves though, because while Haaland has to rock up to Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening, Liverpool are welcoming Brentford to Anfield a day earlier after they are at Toulouse tonight in the Europa League (with Salah on the bench) . The Reds star is therefore our premium fantasy pick for gameweek 12.
Non-premium pick
Our choice for non-premium fantasy pick for gameweek 12 ended up being a toss-up between Man United’s Bruno Fernandes and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (£8.6m), and we eventually went with the latter. While Bruno is coming off a winning goal versus Fulham and is now preparing for Luton at home, we opted for a pick from the team that is in better form at the moment and that is definitely Arsenal. Sure, the Gunners suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of Newcastle at St. James’ Park last weekend, but they are still a much more reliable side than United. As for Saka, it has been relatively quiet of late with just 2 assists in his last four league games, but we’re not worried. He is one of the team’s star players, he is a guaranteed starter (when fit*) with his fair share of set-pieces (and penalties?) and he is up against Burnley this weekend. We expect Arsenal to bounce back from their loss in the north and continue their top-4 battle against the Clarets, and we’re hoping Saka will be the one to show them the way on Saturday (* as long as he shakes off the ankle turn he suffered late on against Seville in the Champions League last night).
The budget enabler
“Botman is unclear at the moment. So, we’re going day by day with that one currently”. That’s what Newcastle manager Eddie Howe had to say about the knee injury of central defender Sven Botman a few days ago. With the Dutchman out for the foreseeable future, a fantastic budget option has arisen at St. James’ Park in the person of Jamaal Lascelles (£4.0m). Botman got injured in the build-up to gameweek 7 and since then, Jamaal Lascelles returned to the Magpies’ starting lineup. While lacking any attacking returns or even something of an expected goal involvement worth mentioning, the £4.0m-defender did already record 3 clean sheets. What’s more, last weekend against Arsenal, he even got 3 bonus points. Picking Lascelles as Newcastle are preparing for a visit to Bournemouth on Saturday is a medium-term pick at most, but one that could pay off handsomely, both for the player himself and for your team as a whole because bringing him in will likely free up some funds to spend elsewhere on your squad.
The differential
Over the summer, West Ham United paid around £38 million to Ajax Amsterdam for the services of Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m). While he did show flashes of brilliance since then, both in England and in the Champions League, including a goal from the bench against Newcastle back in gameweek 8, the Ghana international had to wait for his first league start until gameweek 10. The attacker failed to record any returns in that game, but manager David Moyes maintained his trust in the new recruit and was rewarded a week later. In gameweek 11, Kudus started up front once again for the Hammers away at Brentford, and with effect. The former Ajax star scored a goal and provided an assist for a total of 11 FPL points, and recorded a Man-of-the-Match-worthy display against the Bees. Rotation remains a risk for Kudus and the rest of the West Ham attackers, but we’d be surprised to see Moyes drop Kudus from the first eleven for the moment. That makes the Ghanaian a great differential fantasy pick, because he is currently owned by just 0.8% of fantasy managers and the Hammers are playing Nottingham Forest at home next, followed by Burnley away, Palace at home, Fulham away and Wolves at home in the five games after that. West Ham also have the Europa League to contend with including a home match tonight against Olympiacos.
The (vice-)captaincy
As you probably guessed after reading about our premium fantasy pick for gameweek 12, we are slapping the armband on Mo Salah this weekend. Liverpool and the player himself are in decent form, and it’s a home game versus Brentford on Sunday for the Reds this weekend.
Lucky for the managers who don’t own the Egyptian and can’t (or don’t want) to bring him this weekend, there are several other strong candidates for the armband this weekend as well. These include Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah at home to Burnley, Bruno Fernandes at home to Luton Town, and Ollie Watkins at home to Fulham.