It was all about the Manchester derby in Gameweek 16, especially in the current context. A Man City squad in deep crisis, a Man United squad under brand-new management and both sides outside of the top four going into the match. To make matters even more tense, leaders Liverpool dropped points at home against Fulham, right after Arsenal did the same against Everton. For a long time, it looked like City were going to keep the three points at home on Sunday. For 88 minutes to be exact, because that’s when Bruno Fernandes equalised from the penalty spot, just two minutes before Amad Diallo scored the last-minute winner. Scenes in Manchester on Sunday afternoon.
No such traditional derby clashes this weekend, though the Gameweek 17 closer between Spurs and Liverpool on Sunday has all the makings of a fantastic game of football. Earlier in the gameweek, we’ve also got the encounter between top-four contenders Aston Villa and struggling Man City, while there are a few interesting fixtures from an FPL manager point of view as well. Newcastle, for example, are visiting Ipswich Town and Arsenal are traveling to Crystal Palace on Saturday. On Sunday we like the Chelsea visit to Everton as well, and we’re very curious to see how Manchester United will do at home against Bournemouth after their incredible victory over their sky-blue rivals last weekend.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 17 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, December 21st, 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 December 19th, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Kelleher (LIV), Pope (NEW), Martinez (AST) | Raya (ARS), Sanchez (CHE), Pickford (EVE) | Pope injured |
| DEF | Ait Nouri (WOL), Porro (TOT), Van Dijk (LIV) | Robinson (FUL), Hall (NEW), Gabriel (ARS) | Robinson 6 assists already, Ait Nouri suspension |
| MID | Rogers (AST), Johnson (TOT), Smith Rowe (FUL) | Amad (MUN), Enzo (CHE), Iwobi (FUL) | Amad + Enzo budget starters in form |
| FOR | Haaland (MCI), Welbeck (BRI), Watkins (AST) | Isak (NEW), Jackson (CHE), Wood (NFO) | Isak form, Welbeck injury doubt |
Premium pick
So, Gameweek 16 of the 2024-2025 Premier League campaign was an unusual one. Not because leaders Liverpool finally dropped some points again (they drew though, 2-2 versus Fulham at home) or because Man United booked an absolute last-minute shocker of a victory over arch-rivals City, also in the dying seconds. No, it was an unusual gameweek, because for the first time in nine gameweeks, Mo Salah (£13.4m) did not score a goal. That’s right, since his goal against Chelsea all the way back in GW8, the Liverpool star scored at least one goal in every single league game. Over that run, he also recorded 4 assists and he did add to that tally against the Cottagers last weekend. Salah got the assist for Cody Gakpo’s 1-1 equaliser right after the break, which brought him to 156 FPL points. That’s 28 points more than the number two in the overall points ranking, Cole Palmer, and a cool 56 points more than Erling Haaland. What we’re trying to say here is that Salah is premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 17, despite Liverpool’s visit to Spurs. The home side are entertaining, but they are neither reliable nor defensively very solid, and we can see Salah benefiting in a big way on Sunday evening.
Non-premium pick
If we could, we would’ve included Cole Palmer in this piece as well for Chelsea’s visit to Everton, but his price unfortunately does not allow us to include him in the non-premium fantasy pick category. So instead, we’ve gone with Newcastle’s Alexander Isak (£8.7m), who has been on fire of late. In the last three gameweeks, the Sweden international scored at least 1 goal in every game and he also added 2 assists. That brings his totals to 7 goals and 4 assists from fourteen league starts, which is more than decent. Up next are Ipswich Town at Portman Road, where we feel Isak will have a good chance to build on his current tallies. The Tractor Boys are currently 18th in the league, having conceded 28 goals in sixteen games. Newcastle, on the other hand, have been amongst the most prolific teams over the past few weeks. As a matter of fact, only Chelsea (17 goals) and Spurs (15) have scored more than the 13 goals they scored in the last six gameweeks. Ipswich are putting up a fight this season, that’s for sure, but we’re not sure they will be able to keep Isak from getting another attacking return (or two) in Gameweek 17.
The budget enabler
Fulham FC have been a rich source of budget fantasy picks so far this season and that’s not changing in Gameweek 17. The Cottagers are facing bottom-of-the-table Southampton at home in a game where anything less than three points will be considered a disappointment for the home side. That’s why our budget fantasy pick for Gameweek 17 is Raul Jimenez (£5.5m) and we’ll explain why. The Mexican striker is a starter under manager Marco Silva who has scored 5 goals and provided 2 assists so far this season. Decent, especially for his price, but far from spectacular, we admit. This weekend though, it’s Southampton at home, about as favourable a fixture as they come, followed by a difficult visit to Stamford Bridge. But after that? A nice run of favourable-looking fixtures all the way up to Gameweek 22: Bournemouth and Ipswich at home, West Ham and Leicester away. In other words, we feel that, one, Jimenez is a great budget fantasy pick for the upcoming home game against managerless Southampton, and two, that he is a great option for managers who are looking for a budget forward for the medium term.
The differential
The only Fulham player to actually outscore the previously mentioned Raul Jimenez, in terms of FPL points sixteen gameweeks in, is Alex Iwobi (£5.7m). The Nigerian midfielder can thank his attacking returns for that, as he scored as many as the Mexican (5), but managed one more assist (2 vs. 3). Iwobi is about as nailed-on as can be under Marco Silva, having played at least 88 minutes in every league game since Gameweek 8. Don’t underestimate the potential value of that stat with the crazy FPL Christmas period around the corner. In any case, many of the arguments in favour of bringing in Jimenez before the upcoming home game against Southampton are valid for Iwobi as well. If you’re looking for a lowly owned midfielder (5.2% ownership at the time of writing) with guaranteed playing minutes and a pretty high points ceiling (Iwobi recorded two double-digit hauls already this season), then the Fulham midfielder is absolutely worth considering.
The (vice-)captaincy
As you probably guessed, based on what we’ve written so far, our captaincy decision this week is between Mo Salah (visiting Spurs) and Cole Palmer (visiting Everton). We’ve gone with the former, though we are convinced both aces could return in a big way in Gameweek 17.
Alternatives for the two highest-scoring players in the official fantasy game right now? Alexander Isak for the visit to Ipswich Newcastle looks good, as does Bukayo Saka for this visit to Crystal Palace. On top of that, there is Bruno Fernandes at home to Bournemouth as a serious differential pick with serious haul potential.
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