After Erling Haaland, the next five highest-scoring FPL assets have all sold for £7.1 million or less.
It feels like the game has really changed this season, with so many mid-price options available – this week’s squad includes four players including Gabriel, Declan Rice, Bruno Guimaraes and Igor Thiago.
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The range of options around £7m really breaks the mold and makes FPL even more exciting. Another chaotic week ahead!
Teams of the Week are chosen based on current FPL prices to fit a £100m budget, just like you would if you were playing the free-to-play favorites.
Don’t miss our special FPL Q&A with FPL’s Heisenberg experts, live on the BBC Sport website on Tuesday 6 January at 15:30 GMT.
How did the team perform last week?
Malik Thiaw scored 17 points and his Newcastle teammate Bruno Guimarães scored 12 points. These two great scores led the team to 67 points, making up for the loss of the previous week’s game.
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FPL Team of the Week for Week 21 selected by BBC Sport
[BBC Sport]
goalkeeping and defense
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manchester City, goalkeeper, £5.7m – Brighton (H)
With enough money in the budget to hire a quality goalkeeper this week, City had the chance to keep a clean sheet against Brighton.
Gabriel, Arsenal, £6.6m – Liverpool (H)
The Brazilian is now fit and will be an easy pick every week.
Score goals, get defensive contribution (defcon) points and cheer for clean sheets.
He faces Liverpool this week, with Hugo Ekitic likely to miss out, while Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah will be absent.
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Malik Thiaw, Newcastle United, £5.1m – Leeds United (H)
The hero who scored 17 points in last week’s game once again earned the starting job.
Leeds United go to St James’ Park and despite playing very well of late, they are fourth from the bottom for away goals, sixth from the bottom for shots on goal and eighth from the bottom for expected goals.
I love Newcastle’s clean sheets.
Eden Paradise, Manchester United, £3.9m – Burnley (a)
Burnley has failed to score in 5 of their past 10 home games and has only scored 2 goals in their past 4 games.
Heaven has played well for United, making defensive appearances in four of his last seven starts.
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He is a budget stealer!
James Tarkowski, Everton, £5.6m – Wolves (H)
Supporting Everton’s defense didn’t work out last time out as they shipped four players to Brentford, but Tarkovsky did score defensive points reliably once again.
If you thought Wolves were suddenly turning a corner after beating West Ham at home, then perhaps avoid Everton’s backline.
But I see Wolves with zero away wins and only four away goals.
midfield
Four goals and seven assists make Declan Rice the highest-scoring midfielder in the FPL [Getty Images]
Bruno Guimarães, Newcastle, £7.1m – Leeds United (H)
Guimarães was another hero of the team last game week and he has now reached double figures for the second time in a row.
He’s a great example of someone who doesn’t always emphasize underlying numbers.
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The Brazilian scored a goal and scored 10 points against Crystal Palace on Sunday. The week before he scored, the goalkeeper’s roar gave him an almost empty-net chance in the final minutes.
But the points are still adding up and his home performance is good, so feel free to choose him.
Matheus Cunha, Manchester United, £8.2m – Burnley (away)
Cunha is currently United’s talisman, scoring three goals in five games.
He had more shots on goal (22) than any other midfielder at the time and was worthy of support at a struggling Burnley side.
Declan Rice, Arsenal, £7.2m – Liverpool (H)
After two goals against Bournemouth, Rice is now the FPL’s highest-scoring midfielder.
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He’s a great all-around rookie with goals and assists in his locker.
He should also easily rack up defensive points against Liverpool, which gives him a four-point baseline.
forward
Erling Haaland (captain), Manchester City, £15.1m – Brighton (home)
Haaland will be in the squad almost every week given the lack of other quality options, but his recent performances are a bit concerning and should give FPL managers more confidence against him as captain.
Six goals conceded in nine games isn’t exactly captaincy material, but this week he faced a poor away side at Brighton – conceding 18 goals in 10 games – and he still managed five shots in the draw with Chelsea, albeit without scoring.
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If he goes blank again, we’ll panic.
Igor Thiago, Brentford, £6.9m – Sunderland (H)
Thiago had as many shots in his hat-trick against Everton on Sunday (six) as he had in his previous five games.
The bosses will hope he can continue this form against Sunderland’s excellent defence.
He was also punished and given the lack of strong forward options elsewhere, Thiago deserves a try this week.
Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa, £8.7m – Crystal Palace (away)
Watkins has suddenly found form, scoring four goals in three games, and FPL managers can confidently jump on the bandwagon.
No striker has had more shots, chances or goals over the past three weeks.
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The Crystal Palace team he faced this week suddenly started conceding goals.
bench
Martin DubravkaBurnley, goalkeeper, £4m – Manchester United (h)
Granit XhakaSunderland, midfielder, £5.2m – Brentford (away)
James GarnerEverton, midfielder, £5.1m – Wolves (H)
Nathan CollinsBrentford, defender, £4.9m – Sunderland (H)
Total team cost: £99.3 million
