The FPL universe was once again up to its most cruel trickery last gameweek with a majority of popular premium assets and big hitters blanking despite favourable outlooks in the build-up to the Friday evening kick-off. The likes of Mo Salah at home to Sheffield United, Raheem Sterling versus West Ham away and Aubameyang at home against Leicester all failed to record attacking return, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Tottenham’s dynamic duo Kane and Son did deliver something with an assist and a goal, respectively, while a few less-owned picks hauled as well. Outstanding performer of the week was, of course, Leeds hattrick hero Patrick Bamford with his 3 goals at Villa Park.
Many of the most-owned FPL assets are getting an immediate second chance though, thanks to an appealing calendar for gameweek 7. Liverpool are hosting West Ham, José Mourinho’s Spurs are welcoming Brighton to London and Wolves are opening the gameweek on Friday evening with a home game against Crystal Palace, just to name a few fixtures. On top of that, there is the clash of the weekend at Old Trafford on Saturday, as Arsenal visit Manchester United.
Finally, don’t forget that there has been European football this week, which could have an impact on starting lineups and performances over the weekend. Having said that, here are our fantasy picks for gameweek 7.
Don’t forget: the deadline for gameweek 7 is set for 18h30 (UK time) on Friday, October 30th. Also do check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your transfer(s).
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per October 29th, 2020)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Ryan (BRI), Nyland (AST), Pope (BUR) | Martinez (AST), Mendy (CHE), Meslier (LEE) | |
| DEF | Digne (EVE), Van Dijk (LIV), Alexander-Arnold (LIV) | Chilwell (CHE), Saïss (WOL), Kilman (WOL) | Digne suspension, Van Dijk injury, Alexander-Arnold not worth it. Saiss playing wing-back now very cheap Kilman at CB. |
| MID | Rodriguez (EVE), Aubameyang (ARS), Grealish (AST) | Zaha (CRY), Son (TOT), Grealish (AST) | Some injury doubts surrounding Rodriguez, Auba not returning at a premium price, and Palace and Spurs with good fixtures. |
| FOR | Mitrovic (FUL), Wilson (NEW), Maupay (BRI) | Bamford (LEE), Kane (TOT), Calvert-Lewin (EVE) | Strikers in form replacing strikers who have not been returning lately |
Premium pick
Like last weekend, Liverpool’s Mo Salah once again represents an excellent premium fantasy option and a favourite for the captaincy, but for the sake of variation, we have gone with Harry Kane (£10.9m) for gameweek 7. The Spurs had to work hard for their victory at Turf Moor and the English striker got away with “just” an assist in the end, but that did mean his sixth consecutive attacking return in a row. Overall, only his teammate Heung-Min Son has recorded more FPL points than Kane’s current 65. The North London side are hosting Brighton on Sunday in one of the most appealing fixtures of the weekend from an FPL points of view. It takes a brave manager to leave Kane out of his considerations for this gameweek, especially because the man in form is also on penalties.
Non-premium picks
For our first non-premium for the upcoming weekend, we are sticking with Spurs. We already mentioned Son Heung-Min (£9.5m) just before and we are recommending him once more just before his price tag places him in our premium pick category. The Korean’s price has already risen by £0.5m this season and with good reason. He has been nothing short of spectacular so far, with an incredible 8 goals and 2 assists to show from six games. The forward has recorded double figures in the last three gameweeks and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him extend that streak this weekend against Brighton The Seagulls have already conceded a worrying 12 goals in the first six games of the season and 5 of those came in their last two away games, against Everton and Palace.
Wolves’ current attacking form is a bit worrying at the moment, as they sit in the bottom three teams for big chances created and expected goals since the start of the season. As a result, they have scored just 6 goals in six games, but 4 of those goals were scored by their star striker Raul Jimenez (£8.5m). Against Newcastle in gameweek 6, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men were the dominating team for most of the game, they just missed the accuracy in the final third. Still, their Mexican talisman managed to find the net for a second consecutive time, which confirms what we already knew: he can book attacking returns at any time and any place. Raul is the focal point of the Wolves attack and at some point, Wolves’ undeniable squad quality should start being translated into goals. We hope that happens this weekend at home to Crystal Palace.
The budget enabler
Where the Wolves offense is struggling a bit, their defensive assets look more appealing. In the past two gameweeks, no team in the league conceded less big chances than them and their immediate upcoming schedule looks good. With Crystal Palace coming to Molineux this weekend followed by a visit to Leicester and then a home game versus Southampton, this looks like a good moment to invest in Max Kilman (£4.2m). The former futsal player seems to have cemented his place in the starting lineup with good performances over the past couple of weeks, which makes him a great budget-enabler at just £4.2m (well done those who acquired at £4.0m). With the return to fitness of Marçal and the arrival of Rayan Ait Nouri, the upcoming Wolves starting defensive lines are a bit of a guessing game. Still, Kilman looks like one of the wisest budget picks available right now.
A differential pick or two
Despite not recording any returns in the home game against Chelsea in gameweek 5, Marcus Rashford (£9.5m) will be brimming with confidence for the home game against Arsenal this weekend. The Manchester United forward, who is listed as a midfielder in FPL this year, was the big man in United’s Champions League clash with last season’s semi-finalists RB Leipzig. The Red Devils thrashed the Germans 5-0 and three of those goals were scored by the Englishman. He as so far played 90 minutes in all of United’s Premier League games and many eyes will be on him when they face the Gunners. With a current ownership of just 7.5%, he looks like a powerful differential in a time when a template team is becoming more and more apparent.
With Sadio Mané, we’re repeating a differential fantasy pick, but with good reason. We just want to take as much advantage as possible from his extremely low ownership (just 9.5% at the moment) before the FPL community realizes that he is probably as good a pick as team mate Mo Salah, who currently sits in 47.5% of all teams. The Senegalese winger already has 4 goals and 2 assists to his name, and he has returned 14 FPL points over the past two gameweeks. For the home game against West Ham this weekend, we would even consider cashing in on his differential completely by handing him the armband. His price tag of £12.0m is, of course, a drawback, but he could be an excellent combination of a premium and a differential fantasy pick.
The captaincy
With Salah and Mané at home to West Ham, Kane and Son at home to Brighton, and Man United hosting Arsenal this weekend, it looks like the GW7 captaincy battle is going to be an interesting one. On top of that, Chelsea at Burnley and Man City at struggling Sheffield United could deliver big as well. For gameweek 7, we are giving the captain’s armband to Tottenham’s Korean topscorer as he will be looking to take advantage of a leaky Seagulls backline to build on his 8 goals and 2 assists.
There is more though, as a few more differential captains could also deliver big this round. What about Raul Jimenez against Palace on Friday, for example? If Wolves score, there is a 67% chance that the Mexican will be involved. The game between Aston Villa and Southampton at Villa Park could also see some goals, which brings Jack Grealish and Danny Ings into the picture. If you’re more into Monday evening picks for the real last-minute surprise effect, you could consider WBA talisman Matheus Pereira at Craven Cottage or last weekend’s best performer Patrick Bamford at home against Leicester.