Rice, Watkins & Cunha make cut – FPL team of the week

This week’s budget has enough money to buy a premium keeper, and City have a clean sheet against Brighton as well.

Gabriel, Arsenal, £6.6m – Liverpool (h)

Now that he is back in shape, the Brazilian is a simple pick every week.

Scores goals, earns defensive contributions (defcon) points, and is well known for keeping clean sheets.

And he could not possibly play for the Liverpool team this week without Hugo Ekitike, replacing Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak, who are both out.

Malick Thiaw, Newcastle, £5.1m – Leeds (h)

The 17-point hero from the previous gameweek occupies a new starting position.

Even though they have been playing really well recently, Leeds are in the bottom four for goals scored away from home, bottom six for shots on target, and bottom eight for expected goals (xG).

A clean sheet in Newcastle is what I want.

Manchester United‘s Ayden Heaven, £3.9 million-Burnley (a)

In their past four home games, Burnley has only one goal and five goals, and they have not scored in five of those.

Heaven has won four of his previous seven starts and is playing well for United.

And he’s affordable!

Everton‘s James Tarkowski, £5.6 million – Wolves (h)

The Everton defense did not last time out work because Brentford received four of those points, but Tarkowski consistently won defcon points once more.

Avoid Everton’s backline if you believe Wolves have suddenly turned the corner after beating West Ham at home.

Guimaraes, another hero from the team from last week’s game, has now recorded two double-digit hauls.

He makes a compelling argument against not always focusing on the underlying data.

On Sunday, the Brazilian scored and collected ten points against Crystal Palace. In the final minutes, a keeper howler gave him a nearly open goal the week before his goal, which was in the final minutes.

But the points keep coming, and he has a good homecoming, so confidently choose him.

Manchester United‘s Matheus Cunha, £8.2 million – Burnley (a)

With three goals in five games, Cunha is currently United’s star.

He is worth backing at a struggling Burnley side despite having more shots (22) than any other midfielder in that period.

Declan Rice, Arsenal, £7.2m – Liverpool (h)

After scoring two goals against Bournemouth, Rice is now the top-scoring FPL midfielder.

He has a lot of goals and assists in his locker.

Given that there aren’t many other premium options, Haaland will start for this team almost every week, which should worry FPL managers because of his recent form.

Six blanks in nine games isn’t really captaincy, but this week he takes on a Brighton team that hasn’t been particularly road-ready (losing 18 in ten games), and he managed five shots, not scoring, in the draw with Chelsea.

We might be panicked if he blanks once more.

Igor Thiago, Brentford, £6.9 million – Sunderland (h)

In his hat-trick of games against Everton on Sunday, Thiago had six shots on target.

Owners hope he maintains that form against a strong Sunderland defense.

Given that there aren’t many strong striker options elsewhere, Thiago is a good bet this week for him because he also faces penalties.

Aston Villa‘s Ollie Watkins, £8.7 million- Crystal Palace (a)

With four goals in three games, Watkins has undoubtedly returned to form, and FPL managers can rely on him.

No striker has scored more goals in three gameweeks and had more shots and chances to score more goals.

Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka, £5.2 million (a)

Everton midfielder James Garner, £5.1 million – Wolves (h)

Brentford defender Nathan Collins for £4.9 million against Sunderland (h)