Brighton FPL Gameweek 27: What does Brighton xG mean for FPL?
Brighton and xG has been a hot topic in recent weeks and now the subject is being broached in Fantasy Premier League circles – the question being are underperforming Albion assets worth having in your FPL team?
Over the last four gameweeks, Brighton have registered 76 attempts on goal – the most in the Premier League. 50 of these shots were from inside the box, again the most in the top flight. Yet in that time Brighton have only scored two goals.
Not great, is it? But from an FPL perspective, this should not be off putting. Whilst the Albion’s players have not registered many attacking points in their previous four matches, this has not been for a want of opportunities.
When they do start to convert the chances they are creating, goals, assists and indeed FPL points will be on the cards – and hopefully everyone can stop obsessing over Brighton and xG.
Brighton players Pascal Gross (£5.8 million), Danny Welbeck (£5.5 million) and Aaron Connolly (£5.2 million) were in the top four in the xG underachievers table for the first 11 matches of FPL double gameweek 26, placing first, second and fourth respectively.
Gross registered 110 touches, 43 of those in the final third and seven in the penalty area. His two goal attempts meant he was averaging a chance every 45 minutes, which bodes well for a Gameweek 27 tie with Leicester City who currently have a number of key players out injured, including defenders James Justin (£4.9 million) and Jonny Evans (£5.5 million).
Lewis Dunk (£4.9 million) also continues to look like a great option. He was unlucky to see his quick free kick equaliser controversially ruled out by VAR in the 1-0 defeat at West Brom. On a different day, Dunk could have been on for a double-digit haul with a goal and likely bonus points at the Hawthorns.
Given Brighton are just one of eight teams playing in Blank gameweek 29, Dunk looks like an excellent option with potential for a clean sheet against an out-of-form Newcastle United side who are likely to be without Callum Wilson (£6.5 million) and Allan Saint-Maximin (£5.1 million) among others.
Brighton’s captain topped the WAB Power Rankings in January 2021 and buying him ahead of the gameweek 27 deadline feels like a transfer with both short term and long-term gains in mind.
Captain Fantastic
With Manchester City playing twice in double gameweek 27, many FPL managers will place the captain’s armband on one of Pep Guardiola’s players.
However, with Joao Cancelo (£6.2 million), John Stones (£5.2 million), Riyad Mahrez (£8.1 million), Phil Foden (£6.1 million), Gabriel Jesus (£9.2 million), Sergio Aguero (£10.3 million) and Ilkay Gundogan (£6.2 million) all casualties of Guardiola roulette in double gameweek 26, it is worth thinking carefully about which City assets are likely to avoid rotation.
Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8 million) and Ruben Dias (£6.1 million) are the players Guardiola rotates the least, making them the best captaincy options if you want to give the armband to a City player.
Southampton are the other side with two matches in the double gameweek and Danny Ings (£8.4 million) might fancy a weekend goal against Sheffield United before the midweek fixture with Manchester City.
Ings though only managed three penalty area touches and one chance in gameweek 26. FPL managers should therefore look to the single gameweek players for the best captaincy options.
Son Heung-Min (£9.5 million) and Harry Kane (£11.1 million) both found their form in their first fixture of gameweek 26. Son registered two assists and two bonus points and Kane was unlucky only to score once in Spurs’ match versus Burnley.
Kane and Son were both second for bonus point in their positions after the first 10 matches of gameweek 26, with Kane’s total of five shots leaving him third in the charts and Son top of the list for chances created with seven.
Facing a Crystal Palace side who have conceded the second highest number of chances in the last four gameweeks and have only registered one clean sheet in that period, the Spurs boys look like great captaincy options.
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