Brighton FPL Gameweek 23: Welbeck back from injury for Albion
It is safe to say things went quite well for the Albion at Old Trafford. A 3-1 win over Manchester United, no shots on target from open play for the opposition and for FPL managers awaiting the return of Danny Welbeck from injury, Dat Guy made his first start for Brighton since November.
Welbeck might not have scored against his former club. But his tireless work off the ball and stretching of the United defence made a big difference to the Albion’s overall performance.
This included creating space for Kaoru Mitoma (£6.3 million) and Yankubu Minteh (£5.5 million) to work their magic as Brighton made it six wins in their past seven meetings against United.
Having bigged up Mitoma in our Brighton FPL Gameweek 22 preview, it was satisfying to see him record a season-high 12 points at Old Trafford.
It was Mitoma’s second successive double-digit score, having also netted in the 2-0 win at Ipswich Town on Thursday night.
Back-to-back Premier League victories leave Brighton in a good place heading into Gameweek 23. Taking all this into account, here are a couple of interesting players to be considered ahead of Gameweek 23.
Danny Welbeck (£5.5 million)
Welbeck was a hugely popular FPL asset through the early months of 2024-25 before injury struck in November. Dat Guy netted six times to reach peak ownership of 2.4 million.
Said injury, however, means Welbeck has not scored since FPL Gameweek 9. This has led to many managers selling and a £0.5 million price job.
Welbeck is now in just 655,000 squads. And almost all of those managers sticking by him can be deemed inactive.
Despite going 13 Gameweeks without a goal, Welbeck remains Brighton’s top scorer this season. He is also joint with Mitoma for big chances (10).
Not only that, but Welbeck seems to bring the best out of teammate Joao Pedro (£5.6 million). Pedro’s strongest performances so far have come playing as a number 10 behind Dat Guy. The resumption of their partnership should therefore excite FPL managers who own Pedro.
Welbeck last reached seven league goals in a season back in 2013-14. Facing Everton provides a great chance to equal that tally.
After all, he grabbed a goal and an assist against them when Brighton ran out 3-0 victors at Goodison Park on the opening day.
Bart Verbruggen (£4.5 million)
The Albion’s clean sheet against Everton back in August was recorded by Jason Steele. Verbruggen was ruled out with an injury picked up at Euro 2024 but as soon as he recovered, Fabian Hurzeler installed the young Dutchman as his number one.
Verbruggen has gone onto have a good season since then. And there is potential for him to record a shutout against a Toffees side who have struggled in front of goal this season.
Before Everton won 3-2 against Tottenham on Sunday, the Toffees had scored just once in their past six matches.
Beyond this, Verbruggen is arguably the pick of goalkeepers in the £4.5 million price point. The last couple of campaigns have seen someone with this initial price finish as the highest-scoring goalkeeper, making it an area of good value.
Many owners of David Raya (£5.6 million) have him as part of an Arsenal defensive double-up. But they may be getting impatient with the Gunners’ knack of conceding goals.
When selling Raya, the cheaper Verbruggen looks like an increasingly good option to turn to.
Captaincy
For Gameweek 22, we mentioned Chris Wood £7.1 million) as an alternative armband contender based upon Nottingham Forest facing Southampton.
Handing the captaincy to a player facing the Tricky Trees proved a successful strategy with Wood; as it did earlier in the season when Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8 million) and Amad Diallo (£5.6 million) also hauled against the Saints.
Alexander Isak (£9.4 million) therefore stands out as a great option with Newcastle United next to take on Southampton – even if his eight-match scoring streak is over.
Speaking of newly-promoted sides stuck in the relegation zone, Ipswich must travel to Liverpool and face Mohamed Salah (£13.7 million).
It is strange to see the Egyptian sit on consecutive blanks when there were only two in his previous 19 appearances. But he is still far ahead of everyone else for points (214) and attacking returns (31).
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