Brighton FPL Gameweek 13: Lamptey, Cucurella & the value of wing backs
The Fantasy Premier League (FPL) community is full of chatter about the importance of wing backs this season and how we need to own as many of them as possible – which suddenly makes Brighton options Marc Cucurella and Tariq Lamptey look like must-have assets.
Most wing backs come with premium price tags which are well warranted. This makes it hard to budget for all of Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.8 million), Ben Chilwell (£6.0 million), Reece James (£6.1 million), Joao Cancelo (£6.6 million) and potentially one of the Spurs wingbacks, valued at £5.1 million and £4.9 million.
Those FPL managers willing to think outside the big six are now beginning to stumble across the reasonably priced Brighton duo of Cucurella (£5.0 million) and Lamptey (£4.4 million).
Cucurella has been excellent from the minute he joined the Albion from Getafe in the summer, especially last month when he topped the WAB October 2021 Power Rankings.
Lamptey meanwhile has put in some daring showings since returning from 10 months out injured, looking every bit the exciting talent who lit up the Premier League a year ago.
Despite the Albion’s disappointing result in losing 2-0 at Aston Villa in gameweek 12, both Cucurella and Lamptey offered solid FPL returns.
Neither had been kept on the pitch by Graham Potter by the time Villa scored, so they both earned clean sheet points for their owners.
That meant Cucurella delivered a haul of five points. Lamptey meanwhile recorded six, having had one of Brighton’s two shots on target.
If you are still in any doubt about the difference that the duo make, five of Villa’s nine attempts came once they had been removed.
They are as important defensively as they are going forward. Quite what was going through Potter’s mind with his decision making in the final 25 minutes at Villa Park is anyone’s guess.
Brighton’s upcoming fixtures offer clean sheet potential, especially with Robert Sanchez (£4.6 million) available again for gameweek 13 after missing the Villa game through suspension.
Captain Fantastic
Mohamed Salah (£13.0 million) will likely be highly-captained this week. Salah has now returned in 11 of the opening 12 gameweeks of the season and was unlucky not to bag more than one goal against Arsenal.
Salah faces a Southampton side who he averages 8.75 points per match against, having returned in six of his eight league matches against them.
Team mate Sadio Mane (£11.9 million) could also be a great option this weekend after bringing returns in four of Liverpool’s last six Premier League games, alongside two double-digit hauls from his last three appearances against former club Southampton.
With Spurs finding some sort of new manager bounce in the second half against Leeds, their assets could now be part of the captaincy conversation.
Whilst neither Harry Kane (£12.2 million) nor Son Heung-Min (£10.4 million) were involved in goals during gameweek 12, they both had opportunities and looked lively.
They about to face a Burnley side who have conceded in every game this season, apart from a 0-0 draw against lowly Norwich. There should be plenty of opportunity for the Spurs attackers to register FPL points this weekend.
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