Manchester United produced the biggest performance of Gameweek 4 in Fantasy Premier League with their 3-0 away win against Southampton. Two United assets made the FPL team of the week, with new signing Matthijs de Ligt sharing player of the week with Gabriel of Arsenal on 15 points.
Last season, United were not a side to invest in for FPL but in the early stages of this one, we seeing some consistency in their attacking and defensive performances. They followed the weekend win with a 7-0 demolition of Barnsley (with the caveat they were facing a side from League One — the third tier of English football — at home) in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
So, are United assets worth considering?
Who is their best attacking option?
The opening weeks of the season have been mixed for United, with Erik ten Hag’s side coming away with two wins and two losses, five goals scored and five conceded.
According to Opta, their underlying numbers are positive, with United joint-fourth in the league for shots on target with 22 and third behind Liverpool and Aston Villa for ‘big chances’ created (14). They have scored five goals from an expected goals (xG) metric of 7.9, with the VAR stepping in on two occasions to deny them.
There was a shift in formation for Gameweek 4. Summer signing Joshua Zirkzee (£7.0m) completed 90 minutes for the first time, with Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) registering his first assist of the season in his usual No 10 role after he operated as a false nine in the first two matches.
Fernandes had five shots and two big chances fell to Zirkzee.
The most interesting numbers came from Marcus Rashford (£6.9m), who managed three shots on target and scored his first goal of the season. As a midfielder in FPL, he has the potential to be underpriced if he can come close to repeating his 17 league goals in 2022-23.
Rashford then followed up that performance with two goals and an assist against Barnsley, where he started the game as the central striker before being substituted just after the 60-minute mark.
Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m) also impressed in midweek, with two goals and two assists in just his second club start of the season. He has two goal involvements in the Premier League but is behind Amad (£5.0m) for a starting berth. Amad has been sharing corner responsibilities with Fernandes, and has created the most chances of any United player, with 10.
When it comes to buying a United attacker, Fernandes remains the most attractive option given his routes to points, including being on penalties. He has had 13 shots on goal in the first four games (Zirkzee is second among United players with seven) while his creative numbers are down on his previous high standards given his more advanced role in the early phase of the season.
Amad is being overlooked as a budget pick, and also keep an eye on Rasmus Hojlund (£6.9m), who could make the squad for this weekend’s trip to Crystal Palace after not figuring yet this season because of a hamstring injury.
We’ve also seen this week that Mason Mount (£6.3m) is back in full team training, after making United’s first line-up of the season then going off at half-time in the second match and being absent since with his own hamstring problem. Mount managed only 509 league minutes and one goal last season after a summer move from Chelsea but is capable of double digits for goals and assists in a season, having registered 11 of each in 2021-22.
The biggest barrier comes in the difficulty of United’s next three league games: Palace (A), Tottenham Hotspur (H) and Aston Villa (A). The fixtures start to improve come Gameweek 8, when Brentford go to Old Trafford, which would be the natural purchase point.
Fernandes would be the one to buy at this point, as a replacement for popular midfielders Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer.
Arsenal are at the bottom of the fixture ticker for that period, with games against Liverpool, Newcastle United and Chelsea, while Chelsea face Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Arsenal.
What about in defence?
United’s defensive performances have also been a mixed bag, with two clean sheets and five goals conceded in the opening four Premier League gameweeks. Only Liverpool and Arsenal (three each) have kept more clean sheets, although United’s 11 big chances conceded are a concern.
There are options worth considering from the United defence, with all of their defenders coming in at £5million or below.
Diogo Dalot (£5.0m) provides the most potential, the full-back having accumulated an assist and three bonus points while playing the full 90 in all four matches. The Portugal international is having plenty of joy down the left but it’s unclear what will happen when Luke Shaw (£4.9m) returns to full fitness.
If Shaw can become a regular starter again, it’s likely Dalot will revert to his right-back role, meaning new signing Noussair Mazraoui (£4.5m) could drop out — he has been substituted in half of his Premier League appearances.
We can expect De Ligt (£5.0m) and Lisandro Martinez (£4.5m) to be the established centre-back pairing. De Ligt scored against Southampton in his second start of the season, en route to taking home all three bonus points.
By the time United’s fixtures become more appealing, Leny Yoro (£4.4m) could be close to his first competitive start for the club as he looks to return from a foot injury sustained during pre-season. The 18-year-old has absorbed a price drop already, and could see another before he returns. He has some goal threat, scoring twice for Lille in France’s Ligue 1 last season. Expect him to eventually disrupt United’s back four line-up.
In the meantime, it’s not worth investing until their fixtures improve in Gameweek 8. By then, we will have more knowledge of the first-choice starters in the full-back spots.
Many FPL managers will be bringing in Arsenal defenders for Gameweek 6 onwards but could then look to make the switch to their United counterparts for Gameweek 8.
(Top photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
