For my squad so far, I have selected the Premium players and Goalkeepers although I'm certainly feeling flexible about everybody apart from Erling Haaland so far. Especially as Man City v. Tottenham could be moved again and there's also the possibility of more fixtures being added to Gameweek 21 with Twitter's Ben Crellin recently highlighting 3 fixtures that could possibly move here. Hopefully if this does happen, we'll have it confirmed before Monday's deadline and it's definitely something to keep an eye on - it'll certainly change my thinking.
So this is where I am at the moment and in this post, I'm going to select a handful of players that will complete the core of my squad.
Player Ratings
As always, I'll use my own algorithm to highlight the players with the highest rating to consider first.
This list contains 9 players to consider and there are 6 that won't be making my initial squad. It's also notable that Foden's rating is better than De Bruyne and Darwin Núñez's is higher than Mo Salah!
👎 Not Including
Kevin De Bruyne - He's still in my thinking but for the reasons outlined in my previous post, isn't currently in my squad.
Ryan Sessegnon - Whilst he has good underlying stats, a kind price, reasonable fixtures and Ivan Perišić returning late from the World Cup, he would only be a short term pick for me. Some of his appeal is also the Double in Gameweek 20 by which time Perišić will be back and will most likely be 1st choice.
Raheem Sterling - I'm keen to tap into Chelsea's good fixtures but at £9.7m, Sterling doesn't appeal to me (yet). His role under Graham Potter needs to become clearer and he could turn out to be a very expensive wing back without the higher Clean Sheet points.
Rodrigo - I like this option and as the game's joint 5th top scoring Midfielder so far, at just £6.3m there's a lot to like. The immediate matches at home to Man City and away to Newcastle don't appeal so he's a player that will stay on my Watchlist and somebody that I might look at when the fixtures improve from GW19.
Summerville - The reasons for avoiding Summerville match those of Rodrigo and there's also a greater minutes risk. At £4.4m he could prove to be a great pick for the 5th Midfield spot as Jesse Marsch appears keen to keep the youngster involved so injuries to other players could play an important role here.
- Julián Álvarez - This is a player I'd love to include. He had a great World Cup and nailed down his role in Argentina's attack which ultimately led to the 22 year old lifting the trophy. This does of course mean a bit of extra holiday to party in his homeland and he will certainly miss GW17 and probably GW18 too. There's also no knowing if his explosion onto the world stage in this way will equate to starts for Man City and there will be many of us hoping that it does. He's a wait and see as he'd be a very interesting partner for Haaland up front.
👍 Including - Reece James
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When fit, Reece James is one of my favourite fantasy options and Chelsea simply aren't as good when he's not playing. When I think of attacking threat within Graham Potter's team, James arguably tops the list of possible options.
Playing against promoted sides in the next 3 Gameweeks, as well as a Double in GW19 and also Fulham again in GW22, these are fixtures which are impossible to resist.
He's a player that consistently outperforms his Expected Goals (xG of 0.10 per 90 minutes) and with an Expected Assists (xA) of 0.25 which is 4th best amongst all defenders. In fact, only the Spurs left back Ivan Perišić (0.48) can better Reece James' Expected Goal Involvement (xGI) per 90 minutes of 0.35.
Although he's currently got a yellow flag (75% chance of playing), he's back in full training and I believe he played 70 minutes in a recent behind closed-doors friendly so I'm confident he'll start. The question is - will he be getting me 1/2 points or a big haul?
👍 Including - Phil Foden
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With me saving a Man City slot in case I want De Bruyne, I'm only going to choose one more of Pep's men and this place is going to Phil Foden.
Many will have been put off by Foden not starting 3 of the 4 games prior to the World Cup and whilst Pep hasn't commented as to why this was, I suspect it's related to his comment in relation to players holding back through fear of injury...
"He will not play if I smell this. I’m really good at smelling this. Tactics not, but smelling I’m really good," Source
This comment was made prior to GW13 - the start of Foden's benchings.
With the World Cup now out of the way and Foden playing regularly for England (supporting Pep's notion of "rhythm"), I'm expecting him to be back starting regularly again.
Little needs to be written about Man City's attacking threat with a league leading 40 goals so far this season and regularly topping the goalscoring charts.
Foden's another player who regularly outperforms his xG per 90 of 0.36 and is in the team with the most clinical finishers in the league, increasing the likelihood of his 0.27 xA per 90 being exceeded. Only Rodrigo (0.71), Kevin De Bruyne (0.75) and Mo Salah (0.78) better Foden's xGI per 90 of 0.63.
👍 Including - Darwin Núñez
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It may surprise you to know that per 90 minutes, Darwin Núñez has the highest xG out of any player in the Premier League so far this season (0.94) - even ahead of Haaland's 0.90. He also poses the highest xA per 90 of any forward (0.28) to give an xGI of an incredible 1.22.
Unfortunately, it's often mentioned that Núñez is still raw and he's significantly underperforming his xG by a multiplier of 0.78 (compared to Haaland's 1.28). This was also reflected in his poor performance in Qatar.
Despite this though, the poor finishing is superseded by the high xG and whereas minutes has previously been a concern, injuries to Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz all but guarantee him a place in the starting XI.
My Squad So Far
Things are coming together nicely having now selected my Premiums, Goalkeepers and Core members of my squad. I am mindful that Reece James, Phil Foden and Darwin Núñez aren't the cheapest and I'll need to keep a close eye on my budget for future picks. The players I've chosen so far all represent good value for their price though so I'm happy to be building the remainder of my squad around them.
Things that I'm considering are:
- Salah → De Bruyne (keep Man City slot open)
- Raya + Leno → Ward + De Gea / Kepa / Iversen
- Rodrigo from GW19
- Julián Álvarez's return to Man City
| Position | Player(s) | Price (£m) | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Raya + Leno | 9.1 | Leno | Leno | Leno  | Raya | Raya | Raya |
| DEF | James | 5.8 | | | | | | |
| MID | Salah | 12.8 | | | | | | |
| MID | Foden | 8.3 | | | | | | |
| FWD | Haaland | 12.2 | | | | | | |
| FWD | Darwin | 9.0 | | | | | | |
I have £44.1m left to spend.
🗨 What do you think?
Please share your thoughts with me in the comments below.
Was I too quick to dismiss any of the options that were considered?
What do you think of the inclusion of Reece James, Phil Foden and Darwin Núñez?
Would you go for De Bruyne or Salah?
