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Fantasy Premier League: What we learned from Gameweek 10 – The great Haaland vs Salah debate rages on
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Fantasy Premier League: What we learned from Gameweek 10 – The great Haaland vs Salah debate rages on

It was a big weekend in the Premier League title race as Arsenal And Manchester City both suffered defeats while Liverpool capitalized by coming from behind to beat Brighton.

In the world of Fantasy Premier League, Mohamed Salah (£12.7 million) was on the scoresheet again for Liverpool but Erling Haaland (£15.3 million) Manchester City blanked for the fourth time in their last five league matches, while Nottingham Forest And Bournemouth the players also stood out.

Gameweek 10 ends tonight, with Fulham face Brentford (kick-off 8 p.m. GMT, 3 p.m. ET). Before this important piece of business, we review the main FPL talking points from the weekend’s action.


The Haaland vs. Salah debate rages on

Switching from Haaland to Salah this gameweek was a popular move among the FPL community and was duly rewarded. Salah scored and got nine points, Haaland blanked and got two.

If you own Haaland, your patience will wear thin, and rightly so. For £15.3m, one goal in five games is just nowhere near good, especially when the game’s next best premium player, Salah, is £2.6m cheaper.

I think moving Haaland to Salah for Gameweek 10 was a good decision, but keeping him was also a good decision. We know it won’t be long before the City striker starts scoring at a higher rate again. But now it’s also about what that extra money can get you.

Additionally, Liverpool’s matches up to Gameweek 18 are slightly better than City’s. This will certainly be the case in the next two game weeks. Arne Slot’s team game Villa Aston (Hand Southampton (A) and City have Brighton (A) and Spurs (H).

Therefore, I still think switching from Haaland to Salah remains a viable move and one I will consider for the next game week. It depends on how confident you are that City will return to their usual self and whether you think Salah is a better captain for the next two matches.


Mohamed Salah is currently the top scorer in the Fantasy Premier League (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

It’s time to invest in Nottingham Forest’s defense

Nottingham Forest win 3-0 Western Ham places them third in the league. Their defenders have been excellent and the defensive numbers are truly impressive.

Forest have conceded the second fewest goals (seven) and have the second best expected goals conceded (xGC; 10) in the league. They also finished last season with the fifth best xGC figures in the division, so their defensive performances are no fluke – they are a strong team at the back.

Despite some tough encounters on the horizon, Forest Defenders are still worth investing in thanks to their prices. Ola Aïna (£4.6 million) And Nikola Milenkovic (£4.5 million) are excellent value for money and, due to their prices, can be rotated for their team’s tough matches. Forest game Newcastle (Hand Ipswich (H) in their three matches.

At the other end of the field, Chris Wood (£6.5 million) scored his eighth goal of the season and looks unstoppable. He has another good game next week against Newcastle and then Ipswich in Gameweek 13, but will also face Arsenal (A) and Manchester City (A) in Forest’s next four outings. If you’re looking to buy him, make sure you have a player you can rotate with during the tougher matches.

Forest’s long-term matches are good and Wood is the best budget striker in the game this season.

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Dominique Solanke rewards the patience of its owners

In Tottenham HotspurAston Villa’s 4-1 victory on Sunday, Dominic Solanke (£7.6m) became an asset for his owners with a total of 16 points thanks to two goals and an assist from the FPL.

Solanke had failed to score in the previous three matches, recording an xG of just 0.10. However, over the season he had an xG of 3.6. Against Villa he managed an xG of 1.66. This shows the importance of fantasy managers being patient with established players, especially in good games, and not putting too much emphasis on small samples of a few games.


Solanke posted his first double-digit win of the season in Gameweek 10 (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Son Heung-min (£9.8 million) was substituted in the 56th minute with the match at 1-1. However, head coach Ange Postecoglou allayed any injury fears by telling BBC Sport: “He was never going to play more than 55 minutes. The last time he returned from injury, he reached the 60-minute mark and got injured again. He escaped unscathed.

With Spurs playing Ipswich next, Son is an easy catch, but it’s probably too risky to run him as he risks having his minutes reduced again. A fit son would have been the best choice for captain next week.

In the same game, Villa’s Morgane Rogers (£5.4 million) was also taken off at once after scoring in the opener, bringing his FPL return tally to three goals and two assists.

The injury does not appear to be serious, however, and he should be fit for next weekend. Rogers looked like he would stay and we should get more information midweek when Villa play Club Brugge on Wednesday Champions League.

Don’t ignore Bournemouth’s good form

Bournemouth are in great form this season. They managed to beat City and Arsenal in the last three games, and also managed an away draw against Villa. They had a rough ride through the first 10 gameweeks, playing ChelseaLiverpool, Arsenal, Villa and City – their matches now resume as they play Brentford (A), Brighton (H), Wolves (A), Spurs (H), Ipswich (A) and West Ham (H) in the next six.

Antoine Séményo (£5.6 million) This looks like a good buy from now on. He has scored four goals this season, is cheap and is their highest scoring striker in terms of selection. He also acts as a good facilitator at his price and puts up good numbers, with an xG (expected goals) of 3.3 and xA (expected passes) of 1.7. Only Haaland took more shots than him.

Milos Kerkez (£4.4 million) looks to be the best bet for Bournemouth’s defense as he is their most attacking defender.

If you want to take a chance on a low-possession attacker, Evanilson (£5.9 million) is a good option. He has scored three goals and registered one assist in eight starts while recording an xG of 3.0.

(Top photo: MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)