Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 14 Preview: Essential Arsenal and a Liverpool defensive bargain

We are into the crunch period of the Premier League season.

With the games coming thick and fast, we must be more vigilant than ever when optimising our Fantasy Premier League teams.

Gameweek 14, which gets underway on Tuesday (deadline 6pm GMT; 1pm ET), is the first midweek gameweek of the season. Between now and January 4, when we head into Gameweek 20, it’s going to be non-stop.

For engaged Fantasy Premier League managers, this is the time of the year when we can capitalise and look to make some inroads.

Here, we will go over the main talking points from Gameweek 13 and preview Gameweek 14.

Arsenal players are essential

On Saturday, Arsenal won 5-2 in an entertaining game against West Ham United. Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) was the star with an 18-point haul via three FPL assists and a goal.

If you don’t own the England international, make him a priority transfer — especially before their home game against Manchester United on Wednesday, for which they are strong favourites. He is exactly the type of player we need during the busy festive period: nailed to start, on penalties and consistent. Arsenal have some good fixtures coming up, too.

Defender Gabriel (£6.2m) scored and got an assist for winning a penalty, but he was substituted at half-time with what Mikel Areta described as a “niggle”. We might not get another update before tomorrow’s Gameweek 14 deadline, but he is a long-term hold if fit. Only sell Gabriel if he is out for a prolonged period.

Rashford and Fernandes are worth a punt — but there are risks

Ruben Amorim adopted his preferred 3-4-3 formation again as Manchester United beat Everton 4-0 but this time, he used Joshua Zirkee (£6.6m) as centre-forward, with Marcus Rashford (£6.9m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) deployed as attacking players behind him.

Rashford has three goals in his last two games and has already played in two positions under United’s new manager. He is an interesting option but give him one more game at least before you consider transferring him in, since Amorim’s side take on Arsenal next.

Fernandes was subbed off after 66 minutes with what looked like a knock. He was seen with ice strapped to his ankle as he sat on the bench. This is one to monitor for owners — if he’s a doubt going into Gameweek 14, he may also miss Gameweek 15 given the short gap between fixtures. At this time of the season, we cannot carry injury-risk players, especially one at his price.

If he is ruled out or a doubt, I would look to move him up to Saka or Cole Palmer (£10.9m).

Isak’s injury is a worry

Newcastle United underwhelmed again as they conceded a late goal against Crystal Palace in their 1-1 draw.

The biggest blow to them, though, was Alexander Isak (£8.5m) coming off injured after only 22 minutes. Isak’s injury doesn’t sound serious but he will probably miss the Liverpool game on Wednesday.

If he is only out for one game, he can be kept as his long-term fixtures are good but there are a few good replacements within his price range. The top two options to consider are Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson (£8.0m) and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins (£9.0m).

Chelsea have tempting fixtures coming up, starting with Southampton in Gameweek 14. Jackson is their clear first-choice striker and has registered an impressive eight goals and four assists in FPL.

He should start all of Chelsea’s league games, even if his minutes are reduced slightly due to the fixture congestion. Enzo Maresca typically plays his second-string team in the Conference League, so Jackson should get his rest in those games. The main downside is that he is on four yellow cards — if he gets another, he is suspended for the following game.

Aston Villa also have appealing fixtures coming up, especially their next two against Brentford and Southampton, which are both at home.

Watkins is nailed to start and is a regular contributor of goals and assists. Compared to Jackson, he has scored two fewer goals (six) and contributed two fewer assists (two) in FPL, but their key underlying numbers are almost identical, which suggests their contributions could level out. Watkins and Jackson have registered the same expected goals totals (xG of 6.8) and their expected assists (xA) totals are almost identical (0.6 to 0.5).

Aston Villa’s squad is not as deep as Chelsea’s, so although Watkins is likely to start all the league games, he will get some early subs and even possibly be benched for one given their Champions League schedule. Jhon Duran (£5.9m) is a capable replacement but Watkins is still a good long-term buy.

If you fancy going for someone cheaper to upgrade another position in your team, Wolves’ Matheus Cunha (£7.1m) looks good for the next five gameweeks. He is a reliable 90-minute man, with seven goals and three assists.

Wolves play Everton (A), West Ham (A), Ipswich Town (H), Leicester City (A) and Manchester United (H) next.

A Liverpool defensive bargain emerges

Going forward, consider Joe Gomez (£4.8m) at Liverpool. He partnered Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) against Manchester City and it seems Arne Slot prefers him to Jarell Quansah (£3.9m). Considering Ibrahima Konate (5.4m) is out with an injury, Gomez’s low price could be great value.

Liverpool have been solid in defence, conceding only eight goals (first) with an xGC (expected goals conceded) of 10.6 (first). They have some good fixtures over the festive period, including games against Everton (A), Fulham (H), Leicester City (H), West Ham (A) and Manchester United (H).

This is the time of the season when players tend to be absent more frequently. We already saw Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke (£7.6m) miss out against Fulham on Sunday due to illness.

He should be fine for Spurs’ Gameweek 14 fixture against Bournemouth (A) but the doubts over his availability show the importance of a strong overall squad.

(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)