EPL GW10 FPL Player Picks

The Premier League gave us a whopping 34 goals in GW-9, very enjoyable to watch after the long international break. Now we have another set of fixtures to go through with plenty of players to decide on. Let’s name a few with potential for nice returns.

---

Keepers

Danny Ward (£4.1m, Bournemouth v Leicester)

Brendan Rodgers’ team finally earned its first win of the campaign, along with Danny Ward’s first clean sheet of the season too. The Foxes’ look rejuvenated and motivated, and Ward has a good opportunity to keep the party rolling when he faces a dull Bournemouth team.

~

Ederson (£5.5m, Man City v Southampton)

Ederson has four clean sheets out of nine, which is a bit unusual for the Brazilian as we had almost come to expect automatic clean sheets from him over the years. Still, four out of nine ain’t bad, and he’ll aim to pick up his fifth when he welcomes Southampton to the Etihad.

---

Defenders

Ashley Young (£4.4m, Nott’ Forest v Aston Villa)

Who would have thought Ashley Young could return to our radar? Injuries to Digne and Cash have propelled him back to fantasy relevance, and he now has back-to-back clean sheets. A favorable fixture against woeful Forest could make it three in a row.

~

Kieran Trippier (£5.5m, Newcastle v Brentford)

Newcastle demolished Fulham 4-1 on Saturday, and as usual Trippier played an important role. A marauding full-back who gets forward and takes set-pieces, Trips is a fantasy manager’s favorite kind of defender.

~

Reece James (£6.0m, Chelsea v Wolves)

After the sack of Bruno Lage, Wolves will be a bit of an unknown quantity this week. This could be an opportunity for Chelsea and James. Wolves have found the net only three times all season, fewer than any other Premier League side, so James may be able to notch a clean sheet in addition to some attacking returns.

~

Cancelo (£7.2m, Manchester City v Southampton)

Just as few teams can match City’s offensive and defensive capabilities, few defenders can match Cancelo’s potential for offensive and defensive returns. Look for production on both sides of the ball this weekend.

---

Midfielders

Gabriel Martinelli (£6.6m, Arsenal v Liverpool)

Martinelli has been phenomenal for Arsenal this campaign, with three goals and two assists to his name – one of them coming against Spurs in the North London Derby. Surely the Brazilian will aim to continue his momentum.

~

Wilfried Zaha (£7.3m, Crystal Palace v Leeds)

Zaha was selected by more than 405,000 fantasy managers ahead of GW-9, but his blank in his team’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea left them disappointed. However, Palace has extremely favourable fixtures coming up, and that will give him plenty of chances to make amends.

~

James Maddison (£8.0m, Bournemouth v Leicester)

The most transferred-in player of GW-9 repaid trust with two goals plus an assist in Leicester’s 4-0 win against Nottingham Forest – meaning he has now provided seven attacking returns. The England midfielder is pushing for a seat on the flight to Qatar with the national team, and we can expect him to continue his purple patch when he faces a weak Bournemouth side.

~

Luis Díaz (£8.1m, Arsenal v Liverpool)

Yesterday’s UCL victory over Rangers notwithstanding, Liverpool have struggled this season, not able to compete at the highest level like they used to. Although both players notched yesterday, studs Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold haven’t scored a league goal since August. Diaz has been a spark recently though. He was subbed on at halftime in the loss to Brighton and almost immediately provided an assist for an in-form Firmino (£7.9), who also makes a fine choice this week (albeit at FWD). The Brazilian has a goal plus a brace of braces over Liverpool’s last four league games.

~

Kevin De Bruyne (£12.4m, Manchester City v Southampton)

KDB just registered his seventh and eighth assists of the season on Sunday against Man United and now has at least three more than any other FPL player. The Belgian international has been phenomenal and is becoming a “must-have” in your squad.

---

Forwards

Harry Kane (£11.4m, Brighton v Tottenham)

With Erling Haaland sucking up all the oxygen in the room (and 100& rightly so), Harry Kane’s exploits have perhaps gone a bit under the radar. Yet Kane is the league’s #2 goal scorer, consistently satisfying the trust placed in him by his fantasy managers. Brighton is no easy team to break down, but I expect the England captain to find a way to unlock the Seagulls’ defense and put up more attacking returns.

~

Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m, Arsenal v Liverpool)

Jesus has been waiting years for the opportunity to be ‘the guy’ up front and he has surely found that with Arsenal. Scoring in two weeks on the trot, the Brazilian has played an essential role in all of the Gunners’ games, including the North London Derby. And on Friday he’ll welcome a Liverpool backline that has kept only two clean sheets all season.

~

Erling Haaland (£12.1m, Manchester City v Southampton)

What can be said about this generational talent we are witnessing? Haaland is the most-owned FPL asset in history, and has been the most popular FPL captain for five straight weeks. In the Manchester derby he produced a brilliant hat-trick, two assists, and maximum bonus to deliver 23 points in City’s 6-3 win.

Ten games in he has amassed 14 goals, failing to score just once (and even then he notched an assist), and he collected his three EPL hat tricks 40 matches quicker than anybody else in league history. Has 2022-23’s set-and-forget captain already sewn up the Golden Boot?

~

What do you think of our picks this week? What is your FPL strategy? Who will be a hit or a miss? Who’s your captain? Please log in and let us know in the comments below!

~