Brighton FPL Gameweek 13: Ansu Fati coming to the fore for Albion
With Brighton facing the prospect of being without up to 10 first choice players for the trip to Nottingham Forest, FPL managers can benefit by selecting Albion assets who are fit and likely to play – such as Ansu Fati.
The international break came at a good time for the Seagulls, who are currently winless in six Premier League matches – their worst run under Roberto De Zerbi.
In their previous two league outings, an own goal from Ashley Young earned Brighton a 1-1 draw at Everton. The boot was then on the other foot a week later, when Adam Webster (£4.3 million) was unfortunate to turn an interception past Jason Steele as Sheffield United left the Amex with a point.
A visit to the City Ground is by no means an easy fixture for the Seagulls – but having been well rested by the two week break, there are a couple of interesting players for FPL managers to consider.
Simon Adingra (£5.0 million)
It was Simon Adingra who gave Brighton an early lead against the Blades, capping off a wonderful individual run with a one-two with Facundo Buonanotte (£4.7 million) for his third league goal of the campaign.
Owned by just 109,000 managers, Adingra has started the Albion’s last five league matches since Solly March suffered a devastating ACL injury away at Manchester City.
Throughout the whole Premier League, Adingra ranks for third for take-ons during this period. Only Raheem Sterling (£6.9 million) and Jeremy Doku (£6.7 million) have more.
Adingra has not only been in good domestic form. He scored his first goal for the Ivory Coast in their 9-0 thrashing of Seychelles last Friday, having also bagged a goal and assist as Brighton beat Ajax 2-0 in Amsterdam.
Ansu Fati (£6.5 million)
Combining with Adingra for both those goals against Ajax was fellow youngster Fati. Whilst the on-loan Barcelona forward has been a regular for the Albion in the Europa League, his game time in the Premier League has been more carefully managed by De Zerbi.
After seven substitute appearances, Ansu Fati finally made his first Brighton start in the Premier League against Sheffield United in FPL Gameweek 12. He produced two shots on target against the Blades.
Fati’s numbers compare very favourably amongst Albion teammates considering he has only played 296 minutes of league football.
In this equivalent of just over three full matches, Fati has racked up two goals and 19 penalty area touches. His 11 box shots and seven on target sit joint-third amongst Brighton players, whilst he is also number two for big chances (five).
Captain Fantastic
Elsewhere, it is a particularly tough week for settling on an armband choice as most of the usual leading candidates are about to face each other.
Erling Haaland (£14.0 million) and Mohamed Salah (£13.0 million) collide in the early Saturday kick off between Manchester City and Liverpool, assuming the Norwegian shakes off the injury that forced a withdrawal from international duty.
Sunday then sees Son Heung-min (£9.7 million) and Ollie Watkins (£8.5 million) meet. Neither Spurs nor Aston Villa are defending particularly well right now, so there is some potential there.
Others though may instead be tempted to make a maverick decision by captaining Jarrod Bowen (£7.7 million) for West Ham at Burnley.
However, Bowen is another name with a precautionary international removal, so may represent something of a risk.
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