GW21: Read This Before Touching Your Team

📅 Gameweek 21 Deadline:
Tuesday, 6 January — 18:30 GMT
Set an alarm. Cancel a meeting. Do not trust your memory.

🔄 Managerial Madness
Chelsea lost Maresca…
United then said “challenge accepted” 💪
❌ Ruben Amorim is out at Manchester United
🧢 Darren Fletcher takes over (for now)
Translation: uncertainty, chaos, and vibes-only selections incoming.

🏥 Injury Ward (aka FPL Anxiety Department)

🤡 John Victor: Pulled off a comedy error and an injury vs Villa. Subbed off in the 78th. Tough night.
⚠️ Minteh: Didn’t feature vs Burnley. Hurzeler: “He wasn’t 100% fit.”
🦵 Hwang: Off in the 61st with a calf issue. Doesn’t sound serious.
😬 João Gomes: Groin issue, off at HT. Rob Edwards: “Hopefully, not too bad.”
🎭 Paquetá: Missed Wolves. Nuno says he’s trying hard to be back. Make of that what you will.
🚑 Kudus: 19 minutes. That’s it. Thomas Frank: “I don’t know what his injury looks like.”
Cool. Very reassuring.
⏳ Ekitike: Missed Fulham with DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
Slot sounded relaxed. Could even be back vs Arsenal. No panic sells yet.
❌ Gvardiol: Subbed off vs Chelsea. Pep: “It doesn’t look good.” Confirmed fractured tibia. Out long-term. Brutal.
⚠️ Rúben Dias: Off in the 81st. Pep confirmed injury. Could be out for weeks.

✅ Some Actual Good News

🧤 Robert Sánchez: Missed City with a minor muscle issue. Expected back vs Fulham.🧠 Rice: Back, started, finished the match vs Bournemouth. Knee issues behind him.🧱 Keane: Returned to the XI vs Brentford after missing Forest. Back in business.

😌 That’s the chaos covered.
Now scroll on before deadline brain takes over — captaincy, transfers, and questionable decisions are waiting 👇

Before we panic-sell, knee-jerk, or convince ourselves that this punt is “different”… here’s the damage control 📋

🔥 The Holds (and sneaky buys)
Watkins 🍀
Six attacking returns in his last five. Eight in seven. xGI of 5.4. That’s elite form territory.
But… minutes are a mild concern — only one 90 in the last seven and benched twice recently.
➡️ Verdict: Hold if you own. Buying him on form alone? Honestly… not a bad shout.

Ekitike 🤕➡️😌
Yes, he’s flagged. No, don’t panic. Slot didn’t sound worried.
Arsenal (A) is ugly, but the two fixtures after? Very tasty.
➡️ If you can bench him once, keep and move on with life.

⚠️ Rotation Roulette
Wissa & Woltemade 🎰
Recent games suggest Wissa might be ahead — but let’s not pretend this is settled.
Busy Newcastle schedule = rotation nightmares.
➡️ Woltemade is one more benching away from becoming an easy sell.

Mané 💰
Looking for a 4.5m striker who actually plays?
If you’re on or want to play 4-5-1 and want more minutes than Kroupi or Guiu, Mané is… acceptable.
Not exciting. But sometimes boring points are beautiful.

🧠 Premium Patience
Saka 🧠✨
Benched. Came on. Assisted.
Only played 23 mins last game — which screams “starting next match”.
Also: he’s returned on both recent benchings.
➡️ This is a clear hold.

Palmer 🎭
First full 90 since GW1… right after Maresca leaves. Coincidence? Maybe.
Encouraging, but still uncertainty under a new manager.
➡️ Own him? Keep. Want him? Wait and watch.

🔵 Chelsea, but make it safe
Fixtures are good. From GW24? Ridiculous.
If you’re dipping into Chelsea without Palmer:

Chalobah 🧱 – Safest pick. Boring. Reliable. Perfect.
Enzo 🎯 – xGI says returns are coming. The only question: role under the new boss.

📈 Midfield royalty
Rogers 🤔
Minutes are nailed, fixtures are fine… but at 7.6m, is he really value?
If you’re convinced — fair enough. Personally? I’m lukewarm.

Rice 👑
Let’s not overthink this.
11 goal contributions.
11 DefCon per 90.
Set pieces. Consistent returns.
➡️ I’d take Rice over most midfielders without blinking.

🛡️ Defence wins ranks
Gabriel 🚨
Essential?
Yes.
Next question.

Thiaw 🔒
Great fixtures. Nailed minutes.
10.11 DefCons per 90.
Affordable.
➡️ There is literally nothing not to like.

O’Reilly 🧩
Logic says his minutes should be safe considering recent City defense injurie. Fixtures are kind.
➡️ Definitely a keep.

😏 Up next: Captaincy chaos, chip mind games, spicy differentials, and a team reveal that may (or may not) include regret.
Keep scrolling — the fun stuff’s coming 👇

🤖 Haaland

Yes, he’s blanked three times in a row.
Yes, it feels weird.
No, this is not the week to get clever.

He was unlucky not to score vs Chelsea and now gets Brighton at home — a team that has:
• Conceded 16 away goals this season
• Shipped 6 goals in their last 3 away games
• Posted an away xGA of 7.1 in that period

Translation: chances are coming. A lot of them.
A Haaland haul feels less like if and more like when. Betting against it requires courage… and questionable decision-making.

🐺 Cunha

The answer to the classic question: “If not Haaland, then who?”

He faces Burnley (A) — one of the league’s weakest defenses overall.
But here’s the plot twist: Burnley are less terrible at home.
They’ve conceded half the goals at home compared to away over the same number of matches (10).

Great pick? Yes.
Safer than Haaland? Absolutely not.

🏁 Verdict

You can captain Cunha.
You might even enjoy the thrill.

But if you value sleep, sanity, and not staring at the live rank screen all weekend…

👉 Give the armband to Haaland.

GW20 wrapped up with a very welcome green arrow 💚
65 points and a reminder that FPL occasionally rewards patience.

⭐ Thiaw stole the show with a monster 17-pointer — fully compensating for that Thiago hat-trick trauma.
Saka did what Saka does: came off the bench and delivered.
Minteh & Ekitike didn’t even show up.
And somehow… it all worked.

Why? Because the bench actually showed up!
Kroupi, Wilson & Mukiele combined for 15 points, and Van Den Berg politely stayed unused. Bench boost vibes without the Bench Boost chip 😮‍💨

That was enough to push my rank from 58,593 ➡️ 30,341.
Solid. Calm. Slightly smug.

🧠 GW21: Decisions, Decisions…

Now comes the headache part.

Two flagged players (Minteh & Ekitike)
One Van Den Berg with ZERO minutes in three games
And just 1 free transfer to clean up the mess.

The original plan?
Sell Minteh for a cheap DefCon merchant and move on with life.

Despite the chaos, the plan survived.

👋 Minteh out
👋 Stress reduced
👋 Garner in — steady, cheap, DefCons secured

Ekitike stays (Burnley + Bournemouth lurking 👀)
VDB? Last on the bench. On probation. Clock ticking ⏳

Fixtures aren’t perfect, but the scary ones are mostly at home, so I’ll take it.