Follow Sky Sports for Fantasy Premier League coverage throughout the season, including tips, expert advice and the latest team news; the big questions are answered ahead of Gameweek 24
Friday 17 February 2023 06:16, UK
Sky Sports continues its weekly column, bringing you essential tips from the best Fantasy Premier League managers in the world.
In our latest column, Holly Shand and Lee from FPL Family discuss their FPL teams ahead of Double Gameweek 23, including the best assets to buy, whether to use the Free Hit or Triple Captain chips and tips for future tricky Gameweeks.
FPL Family: For a fixture against Nottingham Forest, it's a good idea to keep faith in your City assets, particularly after the momentum they'll gain from the Arsenal game.
Erling Haaland (£12.2m) of course is a hold in FPL and given the influence Kevin De Bruyne (£12.4m) had at the Emirates the other night, Pep must see the Belgian as key to the title push that they surely now will make. Riyad Mahrez (£7.8m) too, has a enough credit in the bank over the last few weeks to get the nod on the right hand-side, although it wouldn't surprise me to see either of them go off early with Pep potentially managing minutes ahead of the Champions League.
Holly Shand: I'll be keeping - I've seen enough form from Manchester City over recent weeks to hold them now through this next period.
They've won four of their last five Premier League games, and with their noses back in front in the table, I expect them to have the bit between their teeth. That being said, a strong bench might come in useful with Riyad Mahrez regularly rotated around the Champions League in recent seasons.
Haaland might not be the go-to captain candidate every week now, especially for away games where his goalscoring has been less prolific.
Holly Shand: It's a two horse race between Erling Haaland and Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) with pros and cons for each.
Haaland has the form but is away from home, where Nottingham Forest have some injury concerns in their defence. Marcus Rashford has the home form at Old Trafford, with goals in all five games since the restart but Manchester United still have Casemiro suspended and their opponents Leicester are a team on the up, scoring eight goals across their last two games.
For me, I'm not prepared to take the risk of backing against Haaland, especially given his hat-trick the last time these sides met.
FPL Family: Many an FPL manager will go to Haaland, as we have done most weeks this season - but since the Premier League returned after the World Cup break, Marcus Rashford has scored 13 goals to the Norwegian's nine.
Everything he touches turns to goals right now, and although Leicester are improving in attack with James Maddison (£8.0m) in particular finding form, they haven't kept a clean sheet in their last seven GWs, which leads me to predict plenty of goals at Old Trafford this weekend and for Rashford to profit. Cue the 0-0 draw!
Holly Shand: Mo Salah (£12.6m) is the only one on my radar right now, with some glimmers of form shown in the Merseyside derby last gameweek.
I don't think Liverpool players are going to be must-haves for their double in gameweek 25, especially when we have Arsenal players available for captaincy.
I'll be scouting hard in Gameweek 24 before making a final decision, but I don't want to rip up my squad and make wholesale changes just to get an out of form Salah in for the double gameweek.
FPL Family: I already have Darwin Nunez (£8.7m) in my side and will be looking at others going into Liverpool's double gameweek.
There was a marked improvement in the Merseyside derby on Monday night, but can Liverpool raise their game again in a very tricky-looking fixture at St. James' Park against a stingy Newcastle side that have only shipped one goal in their last six home games?
I'll not be investing in any other Liverpool players this week in GW24, but I will be scouting them intently during the Newcastle game.
If we get another good performance from Klopp's side, then perhaps they really have turned a corner just in time for us to pile into them in FPL for double game week 25. With Kevin De Bruyne currently in my side, it would be a pretty easy move to get to Mo Salah for example.
FPL Family: Firstly, I'll be rolling a transfer this week, so that I have two for next week. There are plenty of moves I'd like to make in GW24, but my team looks good enough to get through this week without a transfer - pending any major injury news from the Premier League manager press conferences.
Secondly, I'll be looking to use those free transfers next week on swapping blankers for doublers. Switching out from Manchester United for example and moving to Liverpool, Arsenal or perhaps even Everton assets if we see further improvements from the Toffees against Leeds this weekend.
Holly Shand: Rolling the transfer seems the most sensible move this week, as two free transfers will be very valuable when arriving at double gameweek 25. Things can change fast in FPL so it's important not to plan too far in advance, especially with so many of our players also involved in midweek European action again now too.
A mini wildcard, using two free transfers plus a hit or two, will be on the cards for a lot of managers going into the double and blank. I currently have five players with no fixture in 25 and two free transfers to freshen things up when we get there.
Holly Shand: Kieran Trippier (£6.1m) and Marcus Rashford should be absolute locks in our squads given the consistency that they can provide, and it's likely FPL managers will have a lot of value tied up in them which will make it costly when you eventually transfer them back in.
The most important piece of advice is to not sell long-term holds just because of one blank gameweek, although other assets from Manchester United and Newcastle United like Bruno Fernandes (£9.9m) and Miguel Almiron (£5.6m) are more disposable.
FPL Family: I'll be holding Trippier and Rashford through the blank and letting them sit on my bench. I have a lot of FPL value tied up in these guys and if I sell them, I know I'll want them back after the blank. Both are having terrific seasons and Tripper in particular has been the proverbial season-keeper.
However, I also have Fernandes and Luke Shaw (£5.3m), so if I want to field a full XI in GW25 I'll need to switch one or both of them out. There's a lot of football to be played between now and GW25, but right now transferring out Bruno Fernandes feels a priority - although it would be reluctant, as both he and United are in good form.
With an Arsenal defender already in my squad, I'm also eyeing up a potential move from Luke Shaw to James Tarkowski (£4.2m), who looks a threat from set pieces under Sean Dyche's new-look Everton side.
