Let’s do the right thing and start with the health warnings…

GW22 isn’t yet 100% confirmed for either Leeds or Man United. If EITHER of those teams draw their FA Cup 4th round fixtures this weekend then NEITHER team will double in GW22.

Man United play Reading at Old Trafford on Saturday in the 8pm kick off. Reading are no mugs…13th in The Championship and Man United likely to play a large number of fringe players. They should still win but you never know .

Leeds play Accrington Stanley on Saturday in one of the early 12.30pm kick off. Accrington Stanley I hear you say…Who are they? …Exactly (Scouse accent) – Google that phrase and the TV advert if you’re too young to understand my dad joke humour . Accrington are 20th in League 1. Expect Leeds to play a few fringe players but they really should have enough to win. It’s the FA Cup though

 

Due to point 1…making early transfers ahead of GW22 is really daft. Not only is the DGW not yet confirmed, Man United also have the second leg of the Carabao Cup tie to play against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday 1st Feb. Anything could happen…injuries, suspensions etc.

 

Man United look pretty much certain now to blank in GW25 as they’ll be in the Carabao Cup Final unless something very odd happens in that second leg of the Semi Final v Forest . They’re currently 3 goals to the good . Leeds on the other hand won’t blank in GW25.

 

Player prices and ownership percentages are correct at the time of writing .

With those caveats out of the way here are some thoughts on the players that people will be looking at from both Leeds and Man United…

 

Let’s start with the in-form Red Devils…

Great fixtures on paper if the DGW does happen – Palace (H) + Leeds (H)…doesn’t get much better than that

 

DDG – £4.9m (10.2% ownership) – A solid option as your 3rd Man United pick for GW22. He’s in good form and those fixtures are inviting for at least and quite possibly clean sheets. You’d be surprised if they ended up with clean sheets.

Luke Shaw – £5.2m (22.7% ownership) – The best defensive option for Man Utd. Nailed in the team and can play LCB or LB. Possesses more attacking threat than any other Man Utd defender. Quite surprised his ownership is still as low as it is tbh.

 

AWB – £4.3m (1.3% ownership) – playing well tbf in Diogo Dalot’s absence. Looks fairly nailed for the DGW. Always an option to play Malacia on that side though. Not somebody I would go for personally. His upside in GW22 is limited and you really don’t want to be stuck with him moving forwards.

 

Lisandro Martinez – £4.5m (6.1% ownership) – don’t be fooled by his goal in GW20 would be my advice. He has virtually zero attacking threat. You’d be buying him just for the cleansheets. Same goes for Raphael Varane (£4.8m and 3.2% ownership). Varane makes even less sense given he costs more. Both are excellent defenders in real life but aren’t FPL assets of note.

 

Rashford – £7.2m (48.5% ownership) – absolute no-brainer. He’s on fire and he’ll be a very popular captain choice and probably even a popular Triple Captain choice. Unless you’ve been living on a different planet for a month he’ll have been in your squad for at least a month anyway. His EO will be high enough in GW22 that if you own him and don’t captain him then it’s actually best for you (rank wise) if he blanks.

 

Bruno F – £9.9m (7.7% ownership) – a very desirable pick. Many will go to him from KDB (and potentially straight back to KDB again for City’s DGW23). My own view is that if you can get to him as an upgrade from an Almiron type then so much the better as it saves a transfers basically. You’ll likely need free transfers and some money in the bank to do that though. That’s my probable route to him for GW22 though so I just thought I’d mention it . Assumably Bruno’s on pens too…I know Rashford took one (when they were both on the pitch) to equal Rooney’s record of scoring in consecutive home games but Bruno’s still probably the official penalty taker.

 

Eriksen – £6.3m (3.6% ownership) – could be a cheap(er) differential as your 3rd Man Utd pick. Might suit people who can’t afford Bruno. Possesses some attacking threat. Not a terrible option.

 

Casemiro – £4.9m (2.7% ownership) – cheaper still than Eriksen. Capable of the odd assist but you’re essentially buying a CDM…not really usually a great FPL move that Not a completely hopeless FPL pick but not far from it tbh.

 

Antony – £7.3m (3.4% ownership) – looks like a one trick pony to me . 95m for a winger who seemingly can’t beat his man and doesn’t have the pace to go past even average full backs . He’s got a good shot on him tbf and is likely to get minutes in both games . He’s not someone that I’d feel confident tipping up though. Interesting to see him deployed more centrally v Forest in the Carabao Cup Semi Final. Not for me

 

Garnacho £4.2m (0.9% owned) – clearly has bags of talent. Minutes on the pitch are likely to be the biggest impediment in GW22 . Could be a crazy punt if you’re a real maverick manager who doesn’t mind a DGW player pick whose minutes will likely to be less than that of a SGW player. I find both his haircut and Mitoma’s quite fascinating .

 

Martial £6.5m (2.5% ownership) – currently out injured (what a surprise) . Made of glass . Moody, surly, weak minded waste of space too much of the time . Even if fully fit, he probably still wouldn’t play both games. Avoid . If you go for him and get some returns then you’ve been very lucky .

 

Weghorst £6m (0.8% ownership) – fulfilling a role for Man United…mainly as a focal point / decoy for the better players around him. If Martial regains fitness we’re likely to see a minutes erosion with him too. Doesn’t exactly help his limited appeal. Not a terrible pick but one that must come with some serious expectations management. He’s not a complete donkey tbf but he’s not a thoroughbred either Good fixtures and good players around him is what you’ll be relying on if you go there . ‘Weghorst in a DGW’…ring any bells

On Leeds…

Forest (a) + Man Utd (a) = not exactly appealing fixtures Forest have a very good record at home. Leeds’ away form isn’t great either in defence or attack. Forest have only failed to score at home once all season. Leeds have only kept one away clean sheet all season. Doesn’t exactly scream ‘invest in Leeds’ defence’

…but as I know people get DGW fever (me included ) here are some thoughts…plus the fact Leeds do have a fixture in BGW25 does help their appeal a touch. They face Southampton (H) in BGW25 so it’s a good fixture too

 

Meslier £4.5m (1.9% owned) – on the basis that I don’t see a clean sheet in either game I can’t really recommend him. He’s also not really a goalie you want to be stuck with moving forwards. He’ll have a game in BGW25 which is about the only positive thing I can say.

 

Struijk £4.5m (1.2% ownership) – same comments as above for Meslier really. If you’re playing your Wildcard in GW22 then I kinda understand it to an extent. Makes no sense as a free transfer though. Oh, and just to be clear I’m not suggesting Wildcarding ahead of GW22 is a good idea either as I don’t think it is for 99% of teams.

 

Rodrigo £6.4m (6.4% ownership) – a decent enough pick and I suspect quite a few people will go there. Again though, I don’t really see where the goals are coming from in those 2 fixtures. He also takes up a highly valuable midfield slot and given you’ll likely have Man United mids + probably Arsenal and City I personally don’t see a space for him. Not a terrible pick though. On pens if Bamford’s not on the pitch. Not secure for minutes if you’re after something close to 180 in the DGW .

 

Summerville £4.2m (0.6% ownership) – was on fire before his injury. Maybe he’ll get back for one of these games. See Gnonto comments below. Not a sensible FPL pick in the circumstances.

 

Sinisterra £6.5m (0.2% ownership) – he’s been out injured for a good while and got a cameo 20 mins in GW20 to mark his comeback. Hasn’t taken off at all this season despite the high expectations. He’d be the puntiest of punty picks

Gnonto £5m (0.9% ownership) – a little Italian pocket rocket . Bags of talent + loads of skill + he’s in great form. I go back to my point though about where do you actually see goals coming from in these fixtures One thing he does have going for him is that he could facilitate a change in formation as some managers will want to move to a 3-5-2. You’d think his minutes would be pretty secure the form he’s in but there’s always a chance Summerville returns on that left hand side in one of the games (or part of both of them) and the same could even be said for Jack Harrison.

 

Bamford £7.2m (0.5% ownership) – made of glass . Can’t be trusted . Won’t get enough minutes to justify a FPL pick . Too expensive given all the risks . Offers nothing more (probably quite a lot less) than Gnonto. Makes no sense as a FPL pick. If you go for him and get something then you’ve made a terrible decision but achieved a good outcome. Avoid .

Captaincy:

I’d say given Rashford’s headline grabbing form he’ll be the most popular captain choice in GW22 if he gets his DGW. His higher ownership than Bruno will make him the big EO pick for the GW. People will also (justifiably) consider using their Triple Captain Chip on him. For sure, Haaland’s ownership is still obviously much bigger but I suspect that the combination of Haaland facing Spurs (a) and the Man Utd lads doubling (and being in great form) will tip the balance .

Let’s briefly compare Bruno v Rashford’s stats since the GW17 restart though

Goals 2 v 5

Assists 3 v 1

Touches in the Box 28 v 37

Attempts 13 v 17

Big chances 1 v 6

Chances Created 17 v 4

FPL Returns 5 v 6

Underlying BPS 152 v 114

XGI 3.40 v 3.93

IMO there’s a case to punt Bruno over Rashford as an aggressive EO play. If they score roughly the same (and particularly if Bruno outscores him) the rank gains will be significant. Going against a player that will be highly Triple Captained and not even captain him is a risky play though .

 

In summary, if they do secure the DGW in GW22 then I’d say the optimal picks would be Man United (Rashford, Shaw & Bruno) + maybe Gnonto from Leeds…and a defender from Leeds at a real push.

 

Making any moves at all until the middle of next week is barmy.

Do also remember to look at how your squad is shaping up for BGW25…it’ll be on us in a flash

 

^ With that in mind I attach the graphic for the GW25 fixtures with the 4 teams most likely to blank scored out with yellow pen . You’d be well advised to count up how many players you’d have from those 4 teams before making any decisions on transfers.

 

^ Also keep in mind that if you leave your GW22 transfers until Thursday 2nd / Friday 3rd Feb then we’ll very likely have had news about whether any more fixtures for BGW25 will be dropped in. There’s a chance for example that a Brighton fixture could be added which means they’d have a SGW (against someone other than Newcastle) and that their opponents could have a DGW that week.

 

Once you’ve got your planned transfers in mind then do actually remember to check how they work in your FPL team’s formation…you can’t play 5 midfielders and 3 strikers Check that you’re not going to be forced to bench a great asset like an Arsenal midfielder away at Everton for some crap Leeds defender

Information is power in a run up to a GW deadline like this one. Information is power . Be a wise FPL owl and make your trades at the smart time…that’s not until Friday 3rd Feb in case you’ve somehow managed to read this article to the end and not realise that yet

 

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