Brighton FPL Gameweek 28: Mitoma injury might put onus on Estupinan
The wins keep coming for Brighton as impressive successes over Bournemouth and Newcastle United made it five consecutive victories in all competitions – although the news that Kaoru Mitoma required a scan on a knee injury after the trip to St James’ Park will be of concern to FPL managers.
Potentially losing Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5 million) at such a pivotal stage of the season would be a massive blow for the Albion. He scored three times in five February outings, helping Brighton close to within a couple of points of fifth place in the table.
That leaves the Albion firmly amongst a very exciting, competitive cluster of teams battling for European qualification behind the top two of Liverpool and Arsenal.
Next up for Brighton is a home game against another of those clubs in the top six bunfight. Fulham are just a point behind the Seagulls in the standings and have not lost at the Amex since 2016.
Taking all this into account and considering the possible absence of Mitoma through injury, here are a couple of interesting Brighton players for FPL Gameweek 28.
Pervis Estupinan (£4.9 million)
Estupinan returned to the Albion starting XI after injury for the 2-1 win against Bournemouth. And if Mitoma does miss the Fulham game with a knee injury, there will be extra onus on Estupinan to provide an attacking threat down the left flank.
The Ecuador international is still goalless for the season. But he is part of a defence which has kept two clean sheets in three matches. Brighton have also conceded the third-fewest shots on target (102) this season.
Estupinan was an FPL darling at the start of the 2023-24 campaign, peaking at 6.2 million ownership. What may interest managers heading into the business end of 2024-25 is that he has produced 65 crosses this season, more than any other Brighton player.
Furthermore, Estupinan is the joint-fifth best defender for successful crosses (33). Everyone else with 19 or more in this position has played at least 400 more minutes, underlying the forward threat Estupinan poses.
Danny Welbeck (£5.5 million)
An ankle injury throughout December proved just how valuable Welbeck is to the Albion. No league win took place in the five matches he missed. Since Dat Guy returned, Brighton have won four games out six.
Welbeck assisted twice in the 3-0 victory over Chelsea on Valentine’s Day. He was not required as the Seagulls sank sorry Southampton 4-0 but came off the bench to score the winner against Bournemouth.
A through ball from Mitoma sent Welbeck clear, from where he gloriously pushed a left-footed out of reach of Kepa Arrizabalaga and in off the post.
It was Welbeck’s first league strike since Gameweek 9 and gave him seven Premier League goals for the season. The first time he has reached that number since the 2013-14 campaign.
Dat Guy again fulfilled the role of scoring substitute at Newcastle in the FA Cup on Sunday. Welbeck entered proceedings in the 80th minute of a match which went to extra time.
Penalties were looming large when Solly March (£6.5 million) played in Welbeck. He brilliantly twisted his body and dinked over Martin Dubravka to set up a quarter final tie with Nottingham Forest and leave Brighton fans dreaming of a repeat of the memorable 1983 FA Cup run.
But back to reasons why FPL managers should pick Dat Guy. Of all Albion players, Welbeck has the best minutes per goal rate (208.3) and ranks joint-second for shots on target (15).
Captaincy
For most, the big FPL dilemma heading into Gameweek 27 was whether to captain Mohamed Salah (£13.8 million) for his record-breaking form or opt for Cole Palmer (£11.1 million) having an enticing home fixture against Southampton.
In the end, Salah and Palmer combined brought in just nine points. That despite the Chelsea attacker having several golden one-on-one chances.
Chelsea and Palmer might well have another home game against struggling opponents in the form of Leicester. But there is unlikely to be much debate over whether he should take the armband over Salah, with it being the turn of Liverpool to host rock bottom Saints.
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