So, Nottingham Forest are in third place after ten gameweeks. The Crazy Trees, who only barely managed to secure their Premier League status for at least one more season at the end of last season, booked their fifth victory of the current season last weekend by convincingly dispatching of West Ham United in front of their own fans. It’s therefore no surprise that yet again a Forest player was amongst the best-performing players in the official Fantasy Premier League game in Gameweek 10. Only Dominik Solanke (16 FPL points) managed to outscore Forest full-back Ola Aina, who recorded 15 FPL points, courtesy of a clean sheet and a goal. Fulham midfielder Harry Wilson completed the GW10 podium with a 13-pointer after his two injury time goals from the subs bench, while Callum Hudson-Odoi was the second Forest player to make it into last weekend’s Team of the Week (10 points).
It will be interesting to see to what extent Nottingham Forest will be able to continue their excellent form at home against Newcastle on Sunday. Despite their performances so far, we think that many managers will still be opting for other players mostly in Gameweek 11. From a fantasy perspective, the encounter between Spurs and Ipswich Town in London stands out especially, while Manchester United versus Leicester at Old Trafford could also bring the home side some goals. Leaders Liverpool host Aston Villa, which automatically brings Reds assets into the mix as well. The big clashes of the week take place on Saturday evening (Brighton vs. Manchester City) and Sunday evening (Chelsea vs. Arsenal).
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 11 is set at 13h30 (UK time) on Saturday, November 9th, 2024. The free to play FPL or pay to play season/weekend/daily games like FanTeam are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per November 7th, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Raya (ARS), Martinez (AST), Sanchez (CHE) | Sels (NFO), Onana (MUN), Fabianski (WHU) | |
| DEF | Van de Ven (TOT), Konaté (LIV), Alexander-Arnold (LIV) | Aina (NFO), Gvardiol (MCI), Ait-Nouri (WOL) | Gvardiol + Ait-Nouri each 3 goals in last five games, Van de Ven injured |
| MID | Diaz (LIV), Eze (CRY), Palmer (CHE) | Salah (LIV), Mbeumo (BRE), Semenyo (BOU) | Salah + Mbeumo form + fixtures, Eze injury, Palmer injury doubt |
| FOR | Haaland (MCI), Watkins (AST), Havertz (ARS) | Wood (NFO), Solanke (TOT), Isak (NEW) | Wood + Isak in goal-scoring form, Havertz injury doubt |
Premium pick
Aston Villa are having a decent season so far, taking 18 points from the first ten league games and currently finding themselves in 6th place, just off the top four on goal difference. At the same time, the Villans did already concede 15 goals as well, which is not a crazy amount, but it doesn’t exactly say “impenetrable fortress” either. And any team that can’t say that about themselves is potentially in trouble when they are about to visit Liverpool, which is the case this weekend. We are therefore going with Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) as our premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 11, when the Reds host Aston Villa on Saturday night. As for Salah, the numbers really kind of speak for themselves. The Egyptian talisman already has 7 goals and 5 assists to his name, including 4 goals and an assist in his last five league outings. Liverpool have come out of the starting blocks extremely strong in their first season under Dutch manager Arne Slot, leading both the Premier League and the Champions League, and we expect them to continue this form on Saturday, hopefully with a main role for Mo Salah.
Non-premium pick
Are we chasing the points by recommending Dominic Solanke (£7.7m) as our non-premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 11? Perhaps. Can the former Bournemouth star repeat his performance from last week against Ipswich Town at home this weekend, though? Same answer. The forward, who moved to London for about £65 million, has had a bit of an up-and-down start to life at Spurs, in part due to an injury earlier this season, but overall, it hasn’t been as bad as some people make it out to be. Solanke has scored 4 goals and provided 2 assists in eight league starts already, with the highlight of his season so far coming in Gameweek 10. With a brace and one assist, he helped his side to book a resounding 4-1 win over Aston Villa. He is now up against an injury-plagued Ipswich defence, and we feel confident that Solanke can make it back-to-back games with at least one attacking return for the second time this season.
The budget enabler
Now, we mentioned earlier on in this piece that many fantasy managers will likely look past Nottingham Forest assets this week as the Crazy Trees prepare to host Newcastle United, but that doesn’t mean that we will. They find themselves in third place currently and while the offensive players have taken much of the spotlight (read: Chris Wood), Forest actually boast an impressive defence as well. In ten league games so far, they have conceded just seven goals; only leaders Liverpool do better with 6 conceded goals. We are therefore taking the opportunity to include a goalkeeper in our gameweek preview, something we don’t do very often. Matz Sels (£4.6m) has been phenomenal of late though, especially considering his price tag. The Belgian shot stopper collected 22 FPL points over the last three gameweeks, courtesy of 2 clean sheets, 8 saves, 3 bonus points and 1 assist. He is leading a defence that has already recorded four clean sheets this season and a fifth one might just be on the way. Newcastle are visiting the City Ground on Sunday afternoon and the Magpies have scored 10 goals in their first ten league games of the season. They do, of course, have the phenomenal Alexander Isak back up front, but if you’re looking for a good budget addition to your squad, Forest goalkeeper Sels looks like a great pick.
The differential
Life is not calm at Old Trafford at the moment and plenty has been said about their bad start to the season, which culminated in the sacking of manager Erik ten Hag. Under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, the Red Devils have shown very clear attacking intent, seemingly at the cost of some defensive stability (as far as United has had any stability so far this season). This could be an interesting situation for Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m), as he has returned handsomely in the first two games under Van the Man. He scored a brace in the League Cup versus Leicester and then scored against Chelsea in the Premier League as well. United now have Leicester City at home again, this time in the Prem, followed by Ipswich away in Gameweek 12 and Everton at home in Gameweek 13. In other words, if you’re looking for a differential with a considerable ceiling, Fernandes could be your man, on the short to medium term at least. The Portuguese playmaker currently sits in 7.9% of all teams, but if he delivers a couple more attacking returns over that run, he might very well cross the 10% threshold soon and no longer be considered a true differential fantasy pick.
The (vice-)captaincy
Our captain for Gameweek 11 is Mohamed Salah as 1st placed Liverpool host Aston Villa, the current number eight in the table.
Interesting alternatives for the armband include the on-fire Bryan Mbeumo at home to Bournemouth, Bruno Fernandes at home to Leicester and Dominic Solanke at home to Ipswich Town. There is also, of course, Erling Haaland for Manchester City’s visit to Brighton, but the Norwegian’s goal-scoring mania has cooled down considerably over the past few gameweeks.
For further thoughts and discussions on the new FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.