Haaland Gets Ipswich, Liverpool Lose Their Forwards, and the Wildcard Can Wait: Your Gameweek 7 Weekly Review

Gameweek 6 produced 36 goals, one 18-point midfielder who costs £4.9m, and a captaincy verdict this site would prefer to forget. Haaland scored at Anfield for the fifth gameweek running and returned six points to 4.8 million captains. Saka returned two and Fernandes one, and they were last week’s armband picks here. Joao Pedro, Jordan Henderson, De Cuyper and Dewsbury-Hall supplied the hauls. Manchester City are six from six.

Gameweek 7 brings a different problem. The best Triple Captain fixture of the first half arrives on Saturday afternoon, Haaland at home to Ipswich, while Liverpool’s front line waits on three fitness tests. The deadline is 11:00 BST on Saturday, 17 October, ninety minutes before Everton host Chelsea. Press conferences run today and tomorrow, and Friday’s news will move some of what follows. Every section below links to its full article.

Gameweek 6 Roundup

Manchester City beat ten-man Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield, with Haaland, Doku off the bench and Cherki scoring, and sit top on 18 points from six wins. Arsenal beat Leeds 2-1 on goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Bruno Guimaraes and are second on 15, with Brighton third on 13 after a 2-0 win at Sunderland. Brentford, Everton and Chelsea all have 10. Chelsea hit five against Bournemouth, who are now in the bottom three with Tottenham on three points. Fulham are bottom with two after losing 2-1 at Ipswich.

The armband market split. The five most-captained players returned 6 (Haaland, 4.8 million captains), 1 (Fernandes, 1.12 million), 12 (Pedro, 1.06 million), 2 (Saka, about 536,000) and 8 (Palmer, about 405,000). Pedro’s 12 became 24 for the million who picked him. Henderson led the gameweek with 18, and De Cuyper and Sessegnon scored 15 each, the latter in a defeat. Coventry beat Newcastle 4-1 on Monday night, the second time Newcastle have lost by that score this season.

Captain Recommendations

Last week this section chose Saka and floated Fernandes as the differential. Both blanked. This week the case is simpler. Haaland hosts Ipswich, who have conceded 12 in six matches, have not kept a clean sheet and have allowed 20 big chances. He leads the league with six goals and has scored in five straight gameweeks. At about 75 percent ownership, captaining him protects rank as much as it chases it.

Second choice is Joao Pedro at Everton at 12:30 BST, with five goals and three double-digit hauls this season. Saka at Nottingham Forest is a differential hold, owned by about 17 percent, but his three goals and 34 points do not yet justify the armband. Bruno Fernandes is the fade, with a blank in five of United’s six league matches by one count and a trip to a tight Leeds defence. Jeremy Doku, at under one percent ownership, is the rank-chasing differential and a rotation risk.

Read the full Captain Recommendations article

Chip Strategy

Last week the Wildcard was the headline, and by one count about 760,000 managers pressed it. This week the Triple Captain is. The first set of chips must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline on 2 January, and Haaland’s only other home fixture against a promoted side in that window is Hull in Gameweek 16, nine weeks away. Hull have conceded half as many goals as Ipswich, so the later fixture is not obviously kinder. Play it, and activate it tentatively, since chips can be cancelled until the deadline.

The caveat is variance. More than 1.7 million managers triple-captained Haaland in Gameweek 3, and the reward was one goal in a 1-0 win. The Wildcard is a hold unless four or more starters need replacing, since Isak, Gakpo, Tzolis and Scott are the injuries that matter and two free transfers cover most squads. A Bench Boost belongs only after a Gameweek 6 Wildcard, and Gameweek 8, when all three promoted sides are at home, is the earliest sensible pairing for anyone Wildcarding now. Save the Free Hit.

Read the full Chip Strategy article

Differential Picks

Last week’s column named Gyokeres, Kostoulas and Garcia. This week’s list is a defender and two midfielders, each owned by fewer than one in ten managers and each at home.

Luka Vuskovic (Brighton, £5.0m). The best form of any player under 10 percent owned, at 7.3, with returns of 6, 8 and 8 in his last three, four clean sheets and a goal. Crystal Palace visit having conceded 12 in six. The catch is that Brighton then play Liverpool and Manchester City away, and Fabian Hurzeler has reportedly signalled rotation. Marcus Tavernier (Bournemouth, £6.1m). Three league goals, about 7 percent owned, and Sunderland at home. Bournemouth have not won in six, which is why he is cheap. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Everton, £6.6m). A 13-point gameweek at Hull and Chelsea at home. One haul is not a trend.

Read the full Differential Picks article

Fixture Analysis

Gameweek 7 opens with Everton v Chelsea at 12:30 BST on Saturday, 17 October, has Brighton v Palace, Leeds v Manchester United and Nottingham Forest v Arsenal on the Sunday, and closes with Tottenham v Coventry on Monday night. In between: Brentford v Liverpool, Fulham v Hull, Manchester City v Ipswich, Newcastle v Aston Villa and Bournemouth v Sunderland.

Best run: Manchester City. The kindest five-game run in the league on FPL’s own ratings, with nothing above a 3. Sleeper: Chelsea, whose run is the kindest in the league for attackers, though their defence has conceded 13. Worst run: Everton, at 3.4 on the same scale, with Arsenal away the only 5. Liverpool and Manchester United sit in the same group.

The runs that aren’t: Tottenham and Coventry. Both average 2.60 and meet on Monday night, but Spurs have scored three goals in six and Coventry have conceded 11. Fulham, second attempt: the September tip for their promoted-side run did not survive Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Ipswich, but Hull at home and Coventry away are still rated 2. Newcastle’s tip fell the same way, 4-1 at Coventry. A fixture list is a forecast.

Read the full Fixture Analysis article

Injury Updates

Everything below is the latest public information as of Thursday, 15 October, checked against Wednesday’s official FPL flags and this week’s press conferences. Several decisions will be made on Friday. Treat anything marked “doubt” as exactly that.

Good news: Phil Foden’s three-match ban ended with the Liverpool game, so he is eligible for Ipswich, though he started Wednesday’s Champions League tie on the bench. Manchester City report no injuries. Bournemouth have Justin Kluivert and Amine Adli back in the squad, Aston Villa have Leon Goretzka, Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood is expected to be available, and Moises Caicedo is back for Chelsea.

Read the full Injury Updates article

Player Performance

Henderson’s 18 is mostly a story about Chelsea scoring five, and the repeatable part is the attack around him. De Cuyper took over as the game’s top scorer with his third double-digit haul, and his points come from goals as well as clean sheets, which is rare for a defender. Pedro scored in his third straight start against Bournemouth after missing Gameweek 5 and the international break with injury. Dewsbury-Hall scored, assisted and created two big chances, while Thierno Barry leads the league with 13 big chances and has three goals to show for them.

Read the full Player Performance Review

Predicted Lineups

These are the calls that matter. Friday’s press conferences will settle most of them, and this review is the last word before then, not after.

Manchester City (v Ipswich): Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Gvardiol; Fernandez, Anderson; Ndiaye, Cherki, Semenyo; Haaland. Foden is eligible but not in the predicted XI, and Doku is the cameo. Chelsea (at Everton): Pedro is expected to start, with Palmer and Rogers behind him, and Reece James at 75 percent. One tracker disagrees with the others, which is a useful reminder that no single source is final. Brighton (v Palace): both trackers give the same eleven, including De Cuyper, Vuskovic and Gross, with the rotation hint attached.

Arsenal (at Forest): Saka starts. Havertz and Gyokeres compete up front, and Eze, who did not play against Leeds, is less certain than the 60 percent in one model suggests. Liverpool (at Brentford): no XI worth trusting until Friday. The spine looks like Alisson, Araujo, Van Dijk, Jacquet, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Wirtz and Barcola, and the rest depends on Isak, Gakpo and Szoboszlai. Leeds (v Manchester United): the calmest sheet of the week. United start Fernandes, Mbeumo and Cunha, with Shaw at 75 percent.

Read the full Predicted Lineups article

Transfer Suggestions

The market has already voted. De Cuyper, Gross, Pedro, Cherki and Morgan Rogers lead the transfers in. Fernandes, Isak, Szoboszlai, Gakpo and Schade lead the transfers out. The useful question is which moves still have points ahead of them.

Bring in: Joao Pedro (Chelsea, £7.8m). Already about 70 percent owned, so this is catch-up rather than differential, and Chelsea’s attacking run is the kindest in the league. Bring in: Rayan Cherki (Manchester City, £7.9m), if you own no other City attacker. He has four goals and the best fixture run, but minutes are a caveat now that Foden is back. With caution: Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton, £5.1m), for Palace only, since Liverpool and City away follow. Buy low: Marcus Tavernier (Bournemouth, £6.1m). Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.5m).

Moving on: Isak and Gakpo, who will keep falling in price, Tzolis, who is out until around 1 November, and Bruno Fernandes, with more than 270,000 sales so far. Hold Szoboszlai and Schade until Friday’s press conference.

Read the full Transfer Suggestions article

The deadline is 11:00 BST on Saturday, 17 October. Last week the advice was to read the press conferences and set the armband on Saka. This week it is the same first half and a different name. Read Friday’s news, make the moves, and put the armband on Haaland.