FPL Best Gameweek 12 Differentials

With some juicy fixtures to take advantage of. Now is as good a time as any to go differential hunting. We mentioned before the use of Differentials and template players as shields and swords. Shout out to FPL Marcello for sharing that with us.

Essentially what that means is template players like Gabriel and Haaland are there to stop you falling down the ranks, whereas lower ownership players like a Welbeck or Bowen, are there to help you climb up the ranks.

Gameweek 12, and the fixture swings that come with it, present as the perfect opportunity to go differential hunting, and boy do we have some good ones for you.

A quick reminder first, make sure you check in with our Predicted Line-Ups hub before locking in any changes to your team.

Also, for those still with their Wildcard or Free Hits up their sleeve, make sure you check out our Best Gameweek 12 Wildcard team and Best Gameweek 12 Free Hit Team.

For the sake of clarity, we are going to use 10% ownership as the benchmark for what constitutes a differential, meaning they are in under 1/10^th of FPL teams. So without further ado, we present to you our best differential options for Gameweek 12.

 

 

Dominik Szoboszlai – £6.6m

5.1% Ownership

 

The first name on our GW12 Differentials list is Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai. It is no secret that Liverpool’s fixtures are as good as it gets, so targeting Liverpool players is a no-brainer. However, given their defensive wobbles and rotation issues in attack, choosing the right asset can prove tricky. Enter Szoboszlai.

He is currently 5^th in the entire game for Defensive Contributions, meaning he has quite a nice floor. But more importantly, with the upcoming fixtures, he is more than capable of some attacking returns, especially if his presence on set pieces continues. As a result, he profiles as a high floor and high ceiling sort of player. A great option considering the minutes concerns with other Liverpool attaclers such as Gakpo, Ekitike, Isak etc.

 

 

Nico O’Reilly – £4.9m

1.8% Ownership

 

A true differential at only 1.8%. Nico O’Reilly is by far and away the best Man City defender to own at the moment. 7 of City’s next 8 games are against bottom half attacks, so there should be ample opportunity for clean sheets. He has returned a clean sheet or attacking return in 6/7 starts so far this season, which is an unbelievable ratio.

What’s even more intriguing though, is O’Reilly’s attacking threat. City look electric, winning 6 of their last 8 and with 3 returns in his last 4, O’Reilly has been getting involved a fair share. He even hit his DefCon threshold in his previous game against Liverpool. Although his DefCons can’t be relied on, it is good to know they are very occasionally on the cards.

 

 

Amad Diallo – £6.3m

Ownership – 1.7%

 

Another true differential at only 1.7% ownership. Man United have some of the best fixtures in the league, and Amad has been subtly ticking along on the attacking side. With Bruno and Mbeumo both profiling on the more premium side, Amad offers a sneaky and effective route into Man United’s attack and those fixtures. Especially if he gets even more time in one of the 10 positions like he has done of late.

His 4 returns and xGI per 90 of 0.42 are great figures for an asset who only costs £6.3m and is 1.7% owned. He also offers decent DefCon value as well averaging 9.32 per 90. With a potential run at 10, great price and great EO, there is only upside for Amad. A great differential option.

 

 

Chris Richards – £4.5m

Ownership – 3.4%

 

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. How this man is still only 3.4% owned is beyond me. He is currently 3^rd in total Defensive Contributions amongst all defenders and is averaging a higher DC per 90 than CB partners Guehi and Lacroix.

More surprisingly though, he is currently averaging double Lacroix’s xGI at 0.13 compared with 0.06, so even his attacking threat is higher. Now yes Guehi has an xGI of 0.19, but does this 0.06 difference justify a 32% gap in ownership percentage? Probably not. With Palace’s great upcoming fixtures, Richards is the best option at the £4.5m defensive range and it isn’t close.

 

 

Danny Welbeck – £6.5m

Ownership – 9.1%

 

Dat Guy Welbz has been on an absolute tear of late, scoring 6 in his last 6 games. The Premier League’s joint 3^rd top scorer, yes you heard me right, now takes his form into Brentford, Forest, Villa and West Ham in their next 4.

Brighton themselves only have 1 loss in their last 7 and are enjoying their best stretch of the season. It is tricky to justify Welbeck as an asset given how cheap Thiago is, but if you wanted to take a differential punt on one of them, then Welbeck is a great option. As I imagine teams will be full to the brim with Thiago fairly soon.

 

Make sure you check out our Game Week Tips section for more great GW12 advice and tips.