Pick Ekitike, Sesko and Van Dijk – FPL team of the week

As we enter the business stage of the FPL season, every decision matters a little bit more for managers, with less time to make up for errors.

Captaincy is a big call this week and, with Arsenal and Chelsea facing off in a potentially tight game, the teams to look at are Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City.

Erling Haaland’s flaky form in his past 10 games – only three goals scored – has put me off captaining him at the moment, and Liverpool do not have a standout option, so I have gone for the upside of Bruno Fernandes back in his favourite number 10 position.

The team of the week is selected based on current FPL prices to fit within a £100m budget, as if you were playing a Free Hit.

Caoimhin Kelleher, Brentford, keeper, £4.7m – Burnley (a)

Brentford’s defence is worth investing in as they enter a very nice run of games, including Wolves and Everton at home.

And Burnley have scored less than a goal per game at home.

Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool, £6m – West Ham (h)

The Dutchman has 28 points in his past two games, much to the dismay of any FPL managers who sold him for Gabriel before Arsenal’s double gameweek.

Like Brentford, Liverpool also have a great run of fixtures and a match in blank gameweek 31 so, even if you have missed his recent points, a move for Van Dijk still makes sense.

James Hill, Bournemouth, £4.1m – Sunderland (h)

Also making the team this week is “budget Van Dijk” Hill, who had his fifth straight return last week.

He has good-looking fixtures, he usually gets defensive contribution points, and is about as cheap as they come. Sign him up.

Plus, Sunderland have scored only six goals away from home this season.

Diogo Dalot, Manchester United, £4.5m – Crystal Palace (h)

Dalot is worth watching because he has carried the kind of threat in his past few games that is not showing up in the underlying data.

Dalot had a 12-pointer three games ago and is finding himself in some fantastic attacking positions at times without producing the final pass.

In five games he has created five chances and two big chances.

He has the United right-back position locked down, so offers security and upside at a value price.

Nico O’Reilly, Manchester City, £5m – Leeds (a)

Since Pep Guardiola switched Nico O’Reilly into midfield four games ago, only Haaland and Antoine Semenyo have had more shots and big chances for City.

And it all came to a head with his two-goal performance against Newcastle last week.

He does not really collect defensive contribution points in this role, like you might expect, but £5m for an OOP (out-of-position) defender with a goal threat is great value.

Bruno Fernandes (captain), Manchester United, £9.9m – Crystal Palace (h)

Fernandes has been fantastic at home but has also left a few FPL points on the board.

He has had 12 big chances but scored only six goals.

The 19 big chances he has created is a league high among midfielders, with only Rayan Cherki (14), Declan Rice (13) and Pedro Neto (11) having more than 10.

When it all comes together for Fernandes there is a huge haul waiting.

Marcus Tavernier, Bournemouth, £5.3m – Sunderland (h)

Keep an eye on Tavernier – he is back from injury and could be the budget midfielder you need for the end of the season.

Bournemouth’s great fixtures and the fact he takes penalties are big green flags.

Tavernier is involved 23% of Bournemouth’s goals when he is on the pitch and that is mostly from earlier in the season when Semenyo was their talisman. It is only likely to improve now Tavernier is back on the pitch and Semenyo is gone.

Harry Wilson, Fulham, £5.9m – Tottenham (h)

Before last week, Wilson had blanked for three games in a row but he is still producing numbers.

Only Raul Jimenez has had more shots in the past four games and no Fulham player created more chances than Wilson.

Erling Haaland, Manchester City, £14.8m – Leeds (a)

Leeds have had some good results at Elland Road against the bigger sides – draws against Liverpool and Manchester United come to mind – but they were thrashed by Arsenal recently.

It makes this game pretty hard to call. City can go off against anyone but we have also seen them struggle in away games.

Either way, Haaland is back in the team of the week after looking pretty sharp against Newcastle. He missed a big chance and could easily have ended up with a double-digit haul.

Hugo Ekitike, Liverpool, £8.9m – West Ham (h)

The Hammers have conceded only once in three league games, which means they no longer have the league’s worst defence.

They are definitely improving, but facing Liverpool at Anfield is a bigger test than any of their past three games.

The Reds have won their past two games 1-0 with late goals, but they have under-performed their xG (expected goals) by almost 50% in that time.

I am expecting them to score at least two this week and, if they do, Ekitke, who has the third-best xG per 90 minutes (0.52) in the league, should be involved.

Benjamin Sesko, Manchester United, £7.2m – Crystal Palace (h)

Three United players might be over the top, but here we are.

Sesko has surely earned a starting spot following his exploits from the bench, and he is one of those two players – Haaland being the other – with a better xG than Ekitike.

Martin Dubravka, Burnley, keeper, £4m – Brentford (h)

Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool, £6.8m, midfielder – West Ham (h)

Elliot Anderson, Nottingham Forest, £5.4m, midfielder – Brighton (a)

Ezri Konsa, Aston Villa, £4.5m, defender – Wolves (a)