Liverpool come into Gameweek 13 with yet another budget defender in their starting line-up, this time to face Tottenham Hotspur.
Centre-back Joel Matip (£5.4m) sustained an injury against Fulham and misses out on a place Wednesday evening’s matchday squad, replaced by Rhys Williams (£4.0m).
He joins the more familiar names in Liverpool’s back-four, which features Andrew Robertson (£7.2m), Fabinho (£5.4m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m).
All of the premium attackers retain their berths for this table-topping clash, Mohamed Salah (£12.3m) and Sadio Mané (£11.9m) flanking Roberto Firmino (£9.2m).
It is the same story for Spurs, who feature a front-four of Son Heung-min (£9.6m), Giovani Lo Celso (£6.9m) and Steven Bergwijn (£7.0m) in support of Harry Kane (£10.9m).
However, Sergio Reguilón (£5.7m) misses out, dropping to the bench for Ben Davies (£4.6m) to come in and provide a little bit more defensive nouse and aerial ability.
Fabian Balbuena (£4.5m) appears to have been the mystery injury that David Moyes referenced in his pre-match press conference.
The centre-back is not part of the West Ham squad for their home clash with Crystal Palace, with Issa Diop (£4.4m) drafted into the Hammers’ back four.
“Fabian Balbuena just felt his groin slightly. If it was a one-off game and we weren’t in a busy period, we could have probably taken a risk with him, but I just felt with the amount of games coming up, we’re trying to keep the injuries to a minimum if possible.” – David Moyes
West Ham have confirmed that Balbuena misses out in Gameweek 13 with a “minor groin injury”.
The Irons are otherwise unchanged in their new-look 4-2-3-1 system. That includes a fluid attacking-midfield trio of Pablo Fornals (£6.3m), Saïd Benrahma (£6.0m) and Jarrod Bowen (£6.4m).
Sebastian Haller (£6.1m) continues up-front as Michail Antonio (£6.2m) remains absent.
“Michail is coming on, he is back on the grass. I think the game tomorrow [vs Palace] might come too early for him. He is coming on and we are getting him closer. We want to get him right, be correct with him.” – David Moyes
Arthur Masuaku (£4.5m), meanwhile, is set for an extended spell on the sidelines following a knee operation. The wing-back’s absence looks to have led Moyes to moving from 3-4-3 to 4-2-3-1.
“Arthur will probably be out for a few months. He has had a knee operation which I think will keep him out for three months but I am not a doctor. That is my guess.” – David Moyes
Roy Hodgson has left Gameweek 12 goalscorer Jeffrey Schlupp (£5.4m) on the bench at the London Stadium.
Andros Townsend (£5.8m) replaces Schlupp, while Scott Dann (£4.4m) and Joel Ward (£4.3m) come into Hodgson’s back-four.
Neither Gary Cahill nor Nathaniel Clyne (both £4.5m), who started in GW12, are part of the Palace matchday 18. That frees up a space on the bench for budget defender Tyrick Mitchell (£4.0m).
“We are concerned about Gary, in particular with the three games where he came back and did so well after the hamstring injury he picked up in the post-lockdown period. So I suppose that’s precautionary and to some extent the same with Nathaniel Clyne, as well. Jeff Schlupp took quite a nasty kick in the Tottenham game. It’s true, he could have probably played and he can play in the game but with Andros Townsend fully fit and ready to go, I thought it was the right decision to make that change.” – Roy Hodgson
Fulham are unchanged from the side that drew with Liverpool in Gameweek 12, which means yet another out-of-position start for penalty-taking FPL midfielder Ivan Cavaleiro (£5.3m).
Ademola Lookman (£5.0m) and Bobby De Cordova (£5.3m) provide the width either side of Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.9m) with André-Franck Zambo Anguissa (£4.5m) and Harrison Reed (£4.4m) the anchor men in midfield.
Brighton continue to search for a winning formula with Robert Sánchez (£4.4m) coming in for Mat Ryan (£4.4m) and Tariq Lamptey (£4.8m) returning at right wing-back.
Graham Potter has left Neal Maupay (£6.1m) and Pascal Groß (£5.8m) on the bench so Leandro Trossard (£5.8m) and Adam Lallana (£6.2m) are the attacking midfielders backing up Danny Welbeck (£5.5m), who makes his sixth successive Premier League start.
Gameweek 13 Line-ups
Fulham XI: Areola; A Robinson, Adarabioyo, Andersen, Aina; Zambo Anguissa, Reed; Lookman, Loftus-Cheek, De Cordova-Reid; Cavaleiro.
Brighton and Hove Albion XI: R Sánchez; Dunk, Webster, White; March, Bissouma, Alzate, Lamptey; Trossard, Lallana; Welbeck.
Liverpool XI: Alisson; Robertson, Fabinho, R Williams, Alexander-Arnold; C Jones, Wijnaldum, J Henderson; Mané, Firmino, Salah.
Tottenham Hotspur XI: Lloris; B Davies, Dier, Alderweireld, Aurier; Højbjerg, Sissoko; Son, Lo Celso, Bergwijn; Kane.
West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Cresswell, Ogbonna, Diop, Coufal; Rice, Soucek; Fornals, Benrahma, Bowen; Haller.
Crystal Palace XI: Guaita; Van Aanholt, Dann, Kouyaté, Ward; Eze, McArthur, Milivojevic, Townsend; Zaha, Benteke.
Written by David Munday and Colm Hayes
Lessons learned from FPL Gameweek 13
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