Brighton FPL Gameweek 36: Dunk playing the best of a bad bunch
Hundreds of thousands of FPL Wildcards were activated in Double Gameweek 35 and the likes of Alexander Isak (£8.3 million), Kai Havertz (£7.4 million) and Josko Gvardiol (£5.0 million) all brought in big scores.
It was a less good week for Brighton assets. The Seagulls only played once – which may have been a blessing in disguise – and were well beaten 3-0 away at Bournemouth.
Gameweek 36 is much more peaceful-looking. Brighton again have a single fixture, hosting Aston Villa at the Amex on Sunday afternoon.
Whilst the Albion may be struggling for form, here are a couple of interesting Brighton players for FPL managers to think about.
Lewis Dunk (£5.2 million)
With impeccable timing, our Gameweek 36 recommendation of Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.1 million) was ruled out the following day with a hamstring injury.
Van Hecke was subsequently denied a 24th consecutive Premier League start. When revealing the news, Roberto De Zerbi was unable to put a timeframe on his return.
That means Brighton captain Lewis Dunk represents the best route into owning an Albion defender for FPL managers. He is a guaranteed starter in the fifth-best backline when it comes to restricting opponents’ attempts (423) and conceding shots inside the box (298).
On an individual level, Lewis Dunk ranks top amongst Brighton defenders and second across the whole of FPL for penalty area attempts (26) and shots on target (12).
With Double Gameweek 37 on the way, he will have 180 minutes to grab a goal to reward his owners. The Albion will face Newcastle United and Chelsea across those two fixtures after taking on Villa.
Danny Welbeck (£5.7 million)
At the other end of the pitch, Danny Welbeck is a differential pick with the potential to shoot managers up their mini-leagues.
He has netted twice in his last six starts, making him the only Brighton player to have scored a Premier League goal since Dunk against Everton on February 24th.
Brighton have given some of their best performances of the campaign against the sort of high-line defence Villa deploy.
And whilst that tactic has generally worked well for Unai Emery, it does mean they have conceded the fourth-most big chances (96).
Facing Villa represents a good opportunity for the Albion to break their duck. And if they are going to do so, Welbeck is amongst the most likely to find the target.
He has recorded Brighton’s joint-most big chances (10) alongside Joao Pedro (£5.2 million) but from fewer minutes than the Brazilian forward.
Captaincy
Chelsea and Spurs playing twice last week meant there were several obvious lead candidates to wear the armband. That is not the case this time around.
Arsenal assets are likely to prove popular against Bournemouth, including in-form Kai Havertz and penalty taker Bukayo Saka (£9.0 million).
The Cherries though are on two successive clean sheets and have been one of the best sides in the league since the turn of the year. They could represent a potential banana skin for the Gunners.
Erling Haaland (£14.1 million) was limited to a cameo appearance as Manchester City won at Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Although Haaland scored against the Tricky Trees, there is no guarantee he plays the whole 90 minutes at home to Wolves.
Newcastle United duo Isak and Anthony Gordon (£6.3 million) love playing at St James’ Park at the moment and would be popular choices if the Toon Army were at home.
They instead visit improving Burnley, meaning perhaps the strongest captaincy contender is Cole Palmer (£6.2 million) for Chelsea against West Ham.
You can pick up expert advice throughout the 2023-24 Fantasy Premier League season with Fantasy Football Scout
