Fantasy Premier League suggestions: £5m midfielder who cannot cease scoring and 4 ‘important’ defenders

FPL tips: the players to buy, hold and watch this Gameweek

With the dreariness of the international break firmly in the rear-view mirror, it feels like Fantasy Premier League deadlines are coming round thicker and faster than ever.

Unlike in the first few weeks, several players are beginning to stand out as ‘template’, with more and more teams seemingly featuring the same five or six names. Therefore, it is even more important to get ahead of the curve and bring in the top performers that nobody else has spotted yet.

Luckily for you, the Star has you covered. Our experts have crunched the numbers and handpicked a couple of players who could hold the keys to FPL glory.

Do nothing?

For a lot of managers, the best course of action this week is to do nothing.

Take a look at your team. If you see 14 fit players, all likely to start, with some decent fixtures to boot, ask yourself whether a transfer is really necessary or whether you’re just a bit bored.

With Manchester City and Arsenal both playing very winnable games, and Chelsea scoring and conceding about 40 goals no matter who they play, we think this week could see some bumper scores. If it ain’t broke, as they say, you should stockpile your transfers so you can better navigate the market.

In my defence

Sometimes FPL is hard. Sometimes it is easy. This year, at least when it comes to defence, it’s the latter.

Look, we’ve been banging on about defensive-contribution magnet Bobby Thomas (£4.0m) and Arsenal boys Ezri Konsa Ngoyo (£4.6m) and Riccardo Calafiori (£5.9m) for long enough, but it’s worth mentioning again that there’s simply no point not having all three.

Whack in Maxim De Cuyper (£5.1m), Joško Gvardiol (£5.8m) and/or Leeds defensive-contribution machine Tarik Muharemović (£5.0m), and you can set and forget the backline until Christmas.

On De Cuyper, many were hesitant about bringing in the Belgian considering his place on Brighton’s left wing seemed only temporary. However, the 25-year-old has been brilliant in a high-flying Brighton side, and so perhaps this positional quirk will continue.

Cheeky Cherki

Since the football world found out that they may have been fiddling the books for the best part of a decade, Manchester City have seemingly been released from their shackles in terms of attacking football.

Five goals in two games against Liverpool and PSG, with Erling Haaland (£15.6m) bagging in both — he remains an obvious must-have, by the way — represents incredibly good forward play. As the fixtures get easier, these goals will almost certainly keep coming.

As well as the Norwegian, Rayan Cherki (£7.9m) seems the obvious man to have a hand in these goals, and the French trickster appears to have fought off the likes of Phil Foden (£6.8m) and secured his place in the side. He’s also not too expensive at £7.9m.

If you’re a gambler, Jérémy Doku (£7.4m) could represent a really decent pick-up despite not starting a game so far this season. The Belgian has been working his way back from injury and, now he’s back, could see an extended run in the side — especially considering his form last season and his cameo off the bench at Anfield.

Ring my Belloumi

Every year, a surprise attacker or midfielder picks up a few goals, gets transferred in by thousands of trigger-happy managers, and then totally stinks out the gaff.

Mohamed Belloumi (£5.2m) is NOT that player. The Hull man is exciting, creates chances and isn’t afraid of taking a shot, all things reflected in his underlying data and output so far this campaign.

Plus, at his current price, he’s a steal.

The only caveat is that, with the emergence of Marcus Tavernier (£6.1m), Pascal Groß (£6.0m) and Josh King (£5.6m) as three reliable midfielders at below £6.5m, you maybe don’t need another budget option to add to the list.

For those worried, the FPL deadline this week is at 11am on Saturday morning, with Chelsea vs Everton kicking off what promises to be another cracking weekend of Prem action.