Brighton FPL Gameweek 20: Enciso edging closer to elusive goal
Three draws in a row over the festive period mean the Albion remain in mid table, firmly part of the competitive race for European qualification. Fabian Hurzeler shuffled his pack during Christmas, including giving game time to a player previously popular with FPL managers but who has been on the fringes for much of the season so far at Brighton – Julio Enciso.
The Paraguay international came off the bench for the 1-1 draw at West Ham before starting in both stalemates against Brentford and Aston Villa.
Arsenal are the visitors to the Amex in FPL Gameweek 20, after which Enciso and his Brighton teammates will receive a welcome mini-break from league action. The Seagulls travel to Norwich City next weekend in the FA Cup.
With rotation likely at Carrow Road, Hurzeler should look to go full strength against the Gunners. And Enciso may well have done enough to play himself into the Albion head coach’s best XI.
Taking all this into account, here are a couple of interesting Albion players for FPL managers to consider ahead of Gameweek 20.
Julio Enciso (£5.4 million)
Enciso had not started a Premier League game until Brentford rocked up at the Amex last Friday. In a mission to make up for lost time, he recorded a whopping eight shots in the opening 35 minutes.
It was the most by any player in an opening half of football since Luis Suarez for Liverpool almost 12 years ago. Not only that, but nobody is yet to exceed eight over the course of 90 minutes so far this season.
Although Enciso failed to hit the back of the net, his first attempt was unlucky to hit the post and three others were on target.
Three days later at Aston Villa and Enciso forced Emiliano Martinez into a fine save with a shot from distance.
Enciso has previous for scoring wonder goals, of course. His spectacular distance strike against Manchester City in the 2022-23 season won Premier League Goal of the Season (and the much more coveted WAB Brighton Goal of the Season Award).
Should Enciso continue to start for Brighton in the injury absence of Danny Welbeck (£5.5 million), this tendency to shoot could be good for FPL owners.
Enciso appears to be edging closer to that elusive first goal of the season and he is in just 0.1 percent of overall squads.
Lewis Dunk (£4.4 million)
Brighton captain Dunk meanwhile comes with a generously low price tag. It looked like he was on course for an assist at Villa Park, which would have meant returns in three consecutive matches following a clean sheet against Brentford and setting up Mats Wieffer (£4.7 million) to score at West Ham.
Dunk hit a long ball upfield, onto which Simon Adingra (£5.2 million) latched and fired past Martinez.
However, the FPL authorities ruled that Joao Pedro (£5.7 million) had lightly touched the ball when chasing down the Villa defence before it fell to Adingra. Pedro therefore took the three points for the assist instead.
Four of Dunk’s 14 starts so far have ended with a clean sheet. Upcoming clashes with Ipswich Town and Everton offer a chance to repeat shutouts from previous August and September meetings against the Tractor Boys and Toffees.
Furthermore, Dunk scored three times last season. He ended 2023-24 as the third-best defender for headed chances (21) and joint-third for shots inside the box (27), highlighting his attacking potential.
Captaincy
Other candidates can be discussed for the armband. But it just feels safest to trust Mohamed Salah (£13.6 million), who is experiencing arguably the greatest FPL season of all-time.
It took him only 18 games to reach 202 points. In 14 of those matches, Salah has finished with a score of at least nine.
Alexander Isak (£9.2 million) could also be tempting, considering the superb form of both himself and his club.
Newcastle have won four successive matches by a combined score of 13-0, the most recent of which was a 2-0 victory at Manchester United heaping more pressure on the hapless Reds.
Isak has eight goals and two assists from his past six appearances. He could have a field day against a leaky, injury-hit Spurs defence.
Alternatively, those keeping faith with Erling Haaland (£14.8 million) could captain him. Manchester City might be stuck in a rut but they face a West Ham team smarting from a heavy home defeat to Liverpool. Haaland bagged a hat-trick against the Hammers earlier in the season.
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