FPL GW21 Preview
Well. Salah-gate was… dreadful for those who kept him and a massive let off for those who sold. A missed penalty and 0 points proves he is human after all. It is just a shame it came in a Gameweek when opinions were so divided over whether to keep or sell.
Sticking with Salah, the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) will shortly be upon us. The good news is that Premier League players are allowed to play Gameweek 21 before joining up with their countries. This is Gameweek 21, so this is the last Gameweek we will have the players involved.
The tournament, taking place in the Cameroon, goes from Sunday 9th January to Sunday 6th February.
The important question is: how many Gameweeks will they miss? Potentially 4, depending on when each country is knocked out.
Leeds, Newcastle, Norwich and Spurs have no players involved; with Arsenal, Leicester and Watford having 4.
Liverpool have both Salah and Mane out most significantly, leaving Jota (£8.1) to be the prime Liverpool attacker, albeit in a much weakened side.
Below is a list of all players (country in brackets) potentially involved. It is my current understanding Dennis of Watford WILL NOT be involved.
Arsenal: Thomas Partey (Ghana), Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast)
Aston Villa: Mahmoud Trezeguet (Egypt), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
Brentford: Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)
Brighton: Yves Bissouma (Mali)
Burnley: Maxwel Cornet (Ivory Coast)
Chelsea: Edouard Mendy (Senegal)
Crystal Palace: Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal), Jordan Ayew (Ghana), Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast)
Everton: Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)
Leicester: Daniel Amartey (Ghana), Nampalys Mendy (Senegal), Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria), Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria)
Liverpool: Mo Salah (Egypt), Naby Keita (Guinea), Sadio Mane (Senegal)
Manchester City: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
Manchester United: Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast)
Southampton: Moussa Djenepo (Mali)
Watford: William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria), Adam Masina (Morocco), Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), Imran Louza (Morocco)
West Ham: Said Benrahma (Algeria)
Wolves: Romain Saiss (Morocco), Willy Boly (Ivory Coast)
Alongside the second Free Hit Chip (which I spoke about in the GW19 Preview, which you can read here: https://www.takesthatchance.com/articles/2021/12/23/fpl-gw19-preview) we now have our second Wildcard Chip to use.
The Wildcard Chip allows Unlimited Transfers for one Gameweek, but unlike the Free Hit, you keep the team.
Let’s tie in the potential Double Gameweeks coming up and when best to use the Free Hit and Wildcard Chips. No Double Gameweeks have yet been announced, but there is a possibility they will be within the next couple of weeks. Players with two games in one Gameweek are highly valuable assets to own, so having as many as possible is the best strategy. The best way of getting as many in as possible is to Free Hit or Wildcard.. We cannot use our Free Hit Chips in consecutive weeks, so if we have two Double Gameweeks in a row, we may choose to Free Hit then Wildcard.
There are so many variables and ‘what ifs’ as it stands that it is pointless getting into until we know the rearranged fixtures. I will write another article as and when the announcement is made and go into the teams and players to target then.
Below is a list of how many games each side needs rearranging:
Four: Burnley
Three: Arsenal, Brighton, Everton, Leicester, Spurs, Watford
Two: Aston Villa, Brentford, Chelsea, Leeds, Liverpool, Man Utd, Norwich, Wolves
One: Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Southampton, West Ham
None: Man City
So far we have two Postponement: Leicester v Norwich and Southampton v Newcastle.
And finally we come onto the best assets this Gameweek. It’s a tough Gameweek, with most games being quite even on paper and League position.
Watford v Spurs is a good fixture for Spurs, although away, so Son (£10.5) and Kane (£12.2) owners might look to Captain them. In Gameweeks like these, Captaincy is very diverse, so it can be a good opportunity to go for a Differential pick. If in doubt, go Salah, even away to Chelsea you wouldn’t back against him.
Well, that was a mammoth undertaking.
I’ll get an article out as soon as I hear about any Double Gameweeks and we’ll dig into that as and when.
Deadline this week is Saturday 1st January, 11:00m.
Remember, it isn’t too late to join the Official And He Takes That Chance FPL league, simply click on the link below.
fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/ut6b0t
Denny Ledger
Twitter: denny_ledger