02 Sep, 2024

Game Week 4: Key Questions

Welbeck (£5.7m) or Joao Pedro (£5.7m)?

Brighton have some excellent fixtures coming up (IPS-H, NFO-H,CHE-A), and have been on fire as of late. They have a multitude of great assets available including Minteh (£5.5m), Mitoma (£6.6m), Dunk (£4.5m) etc. One of the key areas we will look at today is the £5.7m battle taking place in the forward slot between Welbeck (£5.7m) and Joao Pedro (£5.7m).

When analysing the assets, one key factor to bear in mind is their positions on the pitch. Welbeck spearheads the attack while Joao Pedro sits just behind him in more of a 10 role. Traditionally you could expect this to translate to Joao Pedro = Assists and Welbeck = Goals. However Joao Pedro is not your typical 10 and has been crashing the box at much higher rate than your average 10s, and as a result him and Welbeck both share the same goal tally at 2 a piece. However, throughout Game weeks 1-3 Welbeck has seen double the amount of Joao Pedro’s shots in the box (6 to 3), which suggests a much higher long term goal threat. Give us Welbeck for goal threat.

Another key factor when comparing the assets, is the creativity threat. Joao Pedro’s advanced positioning as a 10 has meant that Welbeck has found himself turning creator at times as well. Of the 2, Welbeck is currently the only one to register an assist, and his 4 Key passes between game week 1-3 are 2^nd only in the team to Minteh, and 1 ahead of Joao Pedro. Although this is not usually Welbeck’s game, if these 3 game weeks are anything to go by, expect him to continue to outpace Joao Pedro in this arena as well. Give us Welbeck for assists.

One key factor which does have to be considered though is Joao Pedro’s presence on Penalties. With Minteh and Mitoma on either wing and box crashers like Welbeck and Joao Pedro getting forward, Brighton’s attacking threat is not one to be scoffed at, and as a result we can expect to see a fair few penalties. With Evan Ferguson’s (£5.5m) return looming, Welbeck may also experience a small rotation risk. Although saying that he has arguably done enough to justify the starting spot for now. The answer therefore depends on your strategy and needs.

Short Term: Welbeck

Long Term: Joao Pedro

What to do with Haaland and Salah?

One of the largest debates currently raging within the FPL community is whether to include Haaland (£15.2) and Salah (£12.7) in teams. Some people opted for one and not the other, some people opted for both and a few even opted for neither. We are here to put all that noise to bed with a simple answer.

You have to have both.

Here’s why:

Haaland and Salah both currently stand on a mammoth 41 points each after 3 game weeks. Both of which are an FPL record after just 3 game weeks. In midfield, the next highest is Luis Diaz at 32 and in attack the next highest is Danny Welbeck on 23. Although it is unreasonable to expect this pace to continue, Haaland is still averaging 1.27 XG a game, which would have him on pace for around 48 goals this year. Which as an FPL asset, more than justifies his £15.2m price tag. Salah is also averaging very high XGA with 0.7 XG and 0.56 XA per 90. Combine this with Liverpool’s 3 clean sheets in a row, and you’ve got another very scary FPL asset.

Goalscoring, assists and points aside however, the main argument for owning both this year, is the plethora of bargain FPL assets at very low prices, which allow you to squeeze the two in. This includes Rogers (£5.1m), Semenyo (£5.6m), Joao Pedro (£5.7m), Welbeck (£5.7m), Lewis (£4.7m), Robinson (£4.6m) etc. Check out our Hot Picks section to find out exactly who the best bargain buys are for your team to make this happen. Or use our Transfer Wizard to fit your perfect budget.

We already know that Salah and Haaland’s current pace is no fluke, so if you don’t have them both in your team already, we would maybe consider using a wildcard sooner rather than later!