Brighton FPL Gameweek 35: Van Hecke underrated star of season
FPL Double Gameweek 34 offered managers the chance to achieve huge scores whilst at the same time putting underrated stars of the season like Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke into consideration for the final few weeks of the campaign.
Brighton losing 4-0 to Manchester City would not appear on the face of it to be reason for FPL managers to include Van Hecke going forward.
But Gameweek 35 is popular for Wildcard usage and knowing the Albion will feature twice in Double Gameweek 37, Seagulls assets are likely to prove popular.
Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.1 million)
Every FPL squad needs a cheap defender or two who guarantee minutes and that is exactly what managers get when they pick Van Hecke.
The Dutchman has started 23 consecutive Premier League games and could therefore bring 180 minutes of points potential when Brighton travel to Newcastle United before hosting Chelsea in Double Gameweek 37.
Gameweek 35 features a trip to Bournemouth with the Albion rounding their season off at home against Manchester United. Brighton picked up clean sheets in both those equivalent matches in 2022-23.
As a team, the Albion’s defensive stats have been decent throughout the season. They have conceded the fifth-fewest attempts (408) and the sixth-fewest shots on target (141). Only Arsenal and Manchester City have recorded more clean sheets than Brighton since Gameweek 20 (five).
Van Hecke has been central to all this as the Seagulls’ best defender in 2023-24, even outperforming England international Lewis Dunk.
That has left Van Hecke as one of the favourites to win Brighton Player of the Season, whilst recent performances have been good enough to see him voted WAB Player of the Month for March.
The only thing missing from a fine first full campaign as an Albion regular is a goal. Van Hecke has had 13 headed efforts, a total bettered by just four defenders and yet he is still to score. A hint that Van Hecke is due to find the back of the net, maybe?
Joao Pedro (£5.2 million)
Another low-price Brighton player who allows managers to spread their budget elsewhere is Joao Pedro. Having such squad depth will be particularly useful for the many Bench Boost activations anticipated in Double Gameweek 37.
Pedro is finding his way back from a hamstring injury suffered in Gameweek 23. He appeared to be getting fitter against City, causing the visiting defence a few problems at the Amex – most notably when being unlucky not to win a second half penalty.
Had Jarred Gillett pointed to the spot, then Pedro would have taken the kick himself. He offers FPL managers penalty duties, with a perfect record of 10 from 10 so far this season in all competitions.
Before his injury, Pedro ranked joint-sixth overall for shots inside the box (44). That was despite being in De Zerbi’s starting XI for only 12 of his 23 appearances.
Amongst the Brighton squad, Pedro is the individual with the most penalty area touches (164), goals (eight), attempts (61) and shots on target (22) so far.
Captaincy
As for this week’s armband, the natural place to look is Chelsea and Spurs for the fact they play twice. If Cole Palmer (£6.2 million) recovers from a midweek illness, his recent form of 10 goals and 79 FPL points from five matches is absolutely incredible and will surely make him the most popular pick.
Teammate Nicolas Jackson (£6.8 million) is frustrating but ranks sixth for big chances (27), whilst Ange Postecoglou’s lot have had a fortnight to recover from a heavy defeat at Newcastle United.
The break could reinvigorate Tottenham captain Son Heung-min (£9.8 million) after a few under-par outings in recent weeks.
You can pick up expert advice throughout the 2023-24 Fantasy Premier League season with Fantasy Football Scout
