As is usual after an international break, a big part of your preparation for the next gameweek should focus on following the injury and fitness news with regard to Premier League players. And as it stands, it looks like there’s plenty of it, unfortunately. A host of popular fantasy picks have come out of the international break with flags to their name in FPL the official fantasy game, including the likes of Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Nottingham Forest’s Ola Aina and Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo. Therefore, keep an eye on the press conferences in the build-up to the GW12 deadline on Saturday morning and try to postpone final transfer decisions as long as you can, within the context of your squad needs.
Fixture-wise, from an FPL point of view, gameweek 12 looks interesting. On paper, most of the teams in the current top four have an appealing fixture: Liverpool is visiting Southampton, Arsenal is hosting surprise-of-the-season-so-far Nottingham Forest and Chelsea are opening GW12 with a visit to Leicester City. Reigning champions Manchester City are playing at home, but they are facing Tottenham Hotspur, which in theory looks like the hardest fixture out of the four, especially considering their current dip in form.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 12 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, November 23rd, 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 21st, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Raya (ARS), Ederson (MCI), Henderson (CRY) | Onana (MUN), Fabianski (WHU), Sanchez (CHE) | |
| DEF | Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Porro (TOT), Lewis (MCI) | Van Dijk (LIV), Mazraoui (MUN), Konaté (LIV) | Alexander-Arnold injury doubt |
| MID | McNeil (EVE), Diaz (LIV), Johnson (TOT) | Salah (LIV), Fernandes (MUN), Smith Rowe (FUL) | Fernandes fixtures + recent form, Salah form, McNeil injury doubt |
| FOR | Haaland (MCI), Solanke (TOT), Vardy (LEI) | Isak (NEW), Cunha (WOL), Wissa (BRE) | All most-transferred-in forwards fixtures + form, Haaland’s recent form not worth price tag, Vardy injury doubt |
Premium pick
Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) is at, at the moment of writing, the most-transferred-in midfielder and in fact, the most-transferred-in player overall in the official fantasy game. More than 386,000 managers have already brought in the Egyptian talisman for Liverpool’s Gameweek 12 encounter with Southampton and with good reason. Under new manager Arne Slot, he has simply gone on with what he had been doing for years under Jurgen Klopp: beating opponents, scoring goals and deciding games. Salah has 8 goals and 6 assists from eleven league starts so far this season, and no other player in the entire league beats his current 107 FPL points. In other words, how could we not recommend him as our stand-out premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 12 when he is about to face a Saints side that has already shipped 21 goals in eleven games?
Non-premium pick
Up until Gameweek 9, Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) had just two measly assists to his name, despite starting in in every league game. The Portuguese playmakers was definitely dragged down with the rest of the team in a season that was perhaps one season too many for former manager Erik ten Hag at the Man United helm. Since the Dutchman was replaced by interim manager (and club legend) Ruud van Nistelrooy and now by Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim, Bruno has been on fire, though. In Gameweek 10, he scored the only goal for his side in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford and in Gameweek 11, he grabbed a goal and 2 assists against Leicester at home. Up next is Ipswich Town away on Sunday, followed by Everton at home in Gameweek 13. Bruno played just one game over the international break as well, getting a goal against Poland on November 15th, which will only have been good for both his confidence and his fitness. We don’t want to speak of a bandwagon yet, but now could be a very good moment to get on the Portuguese playmaker.
The budget enabler
By now, almost 22% of FPL managers have discovered Morgan Rogers (£5.4m), who is exploding onto the Premier League scene for Aston Villa this season. His current price tag still very much qualifies him for our budget fantasy pick category though, which is great, especially when looking at Villa’s upcoming schedule. On Saturday, they are playing at home to Crystal Palace, followed by Chelsea away in GW13, Brentford and Southampton (both home) in GW14 and GW15 respectively, and Nottingham Forest away in GW16. Rogers has conquered a starting spot in Villa’s starting eleven and currently has 3 goals and 2 assists to show for it, which is a great return when you consider his current price tag. In our opinion, if your squad is in need of a fifth (or even a fourth) midfielder due to budget constraints, there are few options better than Rogers.
The differential
After two impressive seasons as Arsenal captain, with 15 goals and 8 assists in the 2022-23 season and 8 goals and 11 assists in the 2023-24 season, it’s strange to see Martin Odegaard (£8.2m) in our differential fantasy pick category. The reason for it is simple though, because the Norwegian has been out injured since Gameweek 4. He returned to the fold in Gameweek 11 though, and immediately made an impact as he provided the assist for his side’s only goal in the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. As he completed the 90 minutes and collected 2 bonus points as well, he returned 7 FPL points on his return to Premier League action. You can expect Odegaard to be part of manager Mikel Arteta’s starting eleven going forward, as he is not just Arsenal’s captain but also their creative brain, starting with the upcoming home game against Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees are having a fantastic start to the season and form goes a long way, but we are still counting on Arsenal to take the three points here. How else are the expecting to fight for the title again this season?
The (vice-)captaincy
As far as we are concerned, Mohamed Salah is the stand-out captain for Gameweek 12. Liverpool are visiting Southampton on Sunday and the Saints are currently bottom of the table. Only Wolves (27) and Ipswich Town (22) have conceded more goals than Southampton (21) so far, and we don’t think their goal difference will be much better after this Gameweek.
Good alternatives to Salah, who is currently owned by about 51% of all FPL managers, are Ollie Watkins at home to Crystal Palace, Bruno Fernandes for Man United’s visit to Ipswich and Alexander Isak at home to West Ham on Monday night.
For further thoughts and discussions on the new FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.