Brighton FPL Gameweek 14: Goodbye Mr Ryan, hello Señor Sanchez

Sometimes, being dull is the only way to go and in Fantasy Football terms, it doesn’t get much duller than buying a new goalkeeper – something which backers of Brighton players in FPL now find themselves facing as Robert Sanchez looks to have succeeded Maty Ryan as the Albion’s number one.

Graham Potter reserved zero Christmas cheer for Ryan (£4.4 million) in Brighton’s 0-0 draw against Fulham on Wednesday night. Not only was Ryan dropped from the starting XI, but he did not even make the bench with rumours now swirling that the Seagulls are looking to sell in January. What a rapid fall from grace that would be.

Mat’s Your Lot
The stalemate at Craven Cottage was the second time that Sanchez (£4.4 million) has replaced Ryan so far this season. Sanchez’s elevation was short lived last time as following a solid enough debut in the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham in FPL gameweek 7, he was not involved in the matchday 18 for the next game against Burnley.

Based on Potter’s comments following Wednesday night’s draw however, Sanchez might be in for a longer run this time around.

“Rob played tonight and Jason (Steele) plays the role as No.2 really well and that’s where we are at,” Potter said when asked about the goalkeeping position going forward. “Rob will keep his place, he earned it on merit, has trained well, worked hard and his performance was good tonight.”

So unless the manager is now playing Einstein-sized mind games – not out the question given some of Potter’s whacky ideas – then Sanchez is therefore between the sticks for the foreseeable future.

As for Ryan, he is the most popular Brighton player in FPL with 12.6% ownership levels which makes his replacement by Sanchez a headache for a lot of managers.

Making a sideways move from one team’s player to another is frequently frowned upon by Fantasy purists, for reasons of tedium, if nothing else.

But a sideways move from Ryan to Sanchez could be a smart FPL move if Brighton build on what was only their third clean sheet of the season in midweek.

The festive schedule for Brighton does suggest more of the same could be on the agenda. Sunday’s opponents, Sheffield United, have managed five goals in 12 matches. Two of the Albion’s other fixtures involve Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who have 11 and 13 goals from 13 games respectively.

Even Potter’s current batch of goal-shy Seagulls have managed more (15) than those three, so a move to Sanchez could be as smart as it is dull.

Facing opponents who have struggled to score means that now might be a shrewd time to invest in a Brighton defender as well (especially if you are moving away from Ryan).

Tariq Lamptey (4.8 million) still looks like the best option, especially now he has recovered from the injury that saw him miss gameweek 12 when Brighton were hammered 3-0 at Leicester City.

Captaincy Corner
By the time gameweek 14 ends on Monday night, every Premier League team will have played three matches in around 10 days. Finding guaranteed starters among all those tired troops will be tricky enough, and backing anyone with the energy to actually score any FPL points will be tougher still.

Clean sheets look likely for Brighton (as mentioned) and even a new-look Big Sam-inspired West Bromwich Albion might get one against Aston Villa. Captaining defenders is the stuff of fantasy madness, however, so a slightly saner suggestion would be to look at The Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford (£6.3 million).

He is cheap and consistent, with attacking returns in eight of his 13 appearances this season, and a goal or assist to his name over each of the last three matches.

More importantly, he’s thrived away from home – seven of his nine goals have come on the road. Marcelo Bielsa’s men will be at Old Trafford on Sunday to face a Manchester United side that’s won just one of six home games this campaign, and that was against the mighty (pre-Allardyce) West Bromwich.

United did hold cross-town rivals City to a goalless draw in gameweek 12, but Bielsa is unlikely to be as cautious as either Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Pep Guardiola were that day.

Bamford’s star, FPL ownership levels, and price are rising fast as he’s one of only seven players in the whole game to have at least 80 points so far – and he is easily the cheapest of that elite bunch and well worth a pre-Christmas punt.

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