Nwaneri, Ouattara & Mitoma join budget brigade – FPL team of the week

No Mohamed Salah?

No Cole Palmer or Erling Haaland?

No Liverpool, Manchester City or Chelsea players?

Yes, we’re playing the fixtures in the Fantasy Premier League this week with a triple Bournemouth and Arsenal budget showdown.

Will the risk pay off?

Ollie Watkins (15) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (7) led a top-heavy team to a tidy 95 points, with the usual haul from the unstoppable captain Salah (40).

Jordan Pickford, Everton, goalkeeper, £5.1m – Manchester United (h)

Everton are a flying under David Moyes, but United have only scored twice in their last four league games.

The Toffees have two clean sheets in their last four and home advantage here, though they may not be as sharp at the back as they do.

Pickford also accumulates save points and even scores for him.

Gabriel, Arsenal, £6.3m – West Ham (h)

You pick defenders first for your chance of keeping a clean sheet, and Arsenal are in a strong position this week, so I could go on about Gabriel’s goal threat every week.

In their last four games, the Hammers have only managed one point from their two goals.

In their previous three games, Arsenal has kept two clean sheets. Gabriel is a strong pick this week thanks to its foundational FPL math.

William Saliba, Arsenal, £6.2m – West Ham (h)

With statistics on their side, why not throw in another Arsenal defender? This week’s team has plenty of budget.

Saliba offers little goal threat – 0.08 expected goals (xG) per 90 minutes – but is dependable, guaranteed to start and actually has more bonus points than Gabriel this season!

Antonee Robinson, Fulham, £5.1m – Crystal Palace (h)

I chose the man who has more Premier League assists than any other player, aside from Salah and Bukayo Saka, because there aren’t many obvious clean sheet shouts this week.

Dango Ouattara (captain, £5.1m), Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) &amp, Justin Kluivert (£6m), all Bournemouth – Wolves (h)

Last week’s team of the week ended up with this trio in it, after Cody Gakpo’s injury brought Ouattara off the bench, and each player returned.

An attacking triple-up can be risky, especially with a team like Bournemouth who aren’t one of the traditional powerhouses, but the Cherries are on fire at the moment.

In addition to their recent three games, they have an average of four goals per game and were unfortunate to concede a penalty and not score.

Only Salah (48) and Kluivert (42) and Ouattara (34), respectively, have had more shots on target in those four weeks, and Semenyo (44) is among the other players with more FPL points than Kluivert (42) and Ouattara (44).

Expect at least two goals and involvement from each of this attacking trio in a favorable home game against Wolves.

Ethan Nwaneri, Arsenal, £4.6m – West Ham (h)

Arsenal needs a replacement for the injured attackers, and Nwaneri might be one of them.

He’s going to be a player, and he’s also turning heads in the FPL.

Nwaneri is probably a guaranteed start at the moment, only costs £4.6m and is averaging 9.44 points per 90 minutes on the pitch.

Imagine how long he’ll play regularly.

Kaoru Mitoma, Brighton, £6.3m – Southampton (a)

Mitoma has three double-digit victories in his last five games thanks to that brilliant goal against Chelsea last week.

Southampton are still the top team in the FPL despite a managerial change.

Liam Delap, Ipswich, £5.6m – Tottenham (h)

Visiting Spurs have back-to-back clean sheets in the league, but the underlying statistics tell another story with an expected goals conceded (xGC) of 3.83 in the games against Brentford and Manchester United, and 29 shots allowed.

Delap can win this game and score in its third successive league game.

He’s Ipswich’s talisman – likely to mop up bonus if he scores – is on penalties, and had a goal and assist in the reverse fixture.

Ollie Watkins (vice captain), Aston Villa, £8.9m – Chelsea (h)

With Liverpool taking to Manchester City and Alexander Isak facing Nottingham Forest’s frequently difficult defense, it was not a great week for attacking options.

Watkins will fancy a go at this Chelsea defence, though, which has conceded seven goals in the past three games.

Bart Verbruggen, Brighton, keeper, £4.5m – Southampton (a)

Raul Jimenez, Fulham, striker, £5.6m – Crystal Palace (h)

Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City, defender, £5.9m – Liverpool (h)

Nathan Collins, Brentford, defender, £4.5m – Leicester City (a)

Beto, Everton, forward, £4.9m

With four goals in three gameweeks, it may feel too late to jump on the Beto train, but he has come out of nowhere to lead Everton’s line.

Manchester City – Liverpool (h), Spurs (a), Nottingham Forest (a)

City’s next three aren’t super-enticing, but you might want to start planning ahead for the blank gameweek in 29 when Liverpool don’t play and Pep Guardiola’s side have Brighton at home.