Brighton FPL Gameweek 8: Mitoma a bargain even with rotation
Following their impressive comeback 2-2 from a daunting trip to Marseille on Thursday night, Brighton returning to Premier League action will leave a lot of FPL managers wondering how much rotation Roberto De Zerbi will opt for.
Liverpool visit the Amex having lost trips to Sussex in both the league and FA Cup last season. The Seagulls also picked up a hugely impressive 3-3 draw at Anfield in De Zerbi’s first game in charge.
Brighton come into the game sixth in the table thanks to their attacking output. Even in the 6-1 defeat to Aston Villa in Gameweek 6, the Albion racked up three big chances – a total only five other teams bettered.
If the Albion can keep creating opportunities, then they will hope to repeat the three goals they put past Liverpool back in January.
Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m)
Just three players have a higher Fantasy Premier League (FPL) ownership than the 43 percent of Kaoru Mitoma. One of those is his Brighton teammate Pervis Estupinan (£5.3 million), although the revelation earlier in the week that Estpuinan is out injured for at least a month may dent that.
But back to Mitoma, and it is not hard to see why the winger is such a popular pick. Over the first four Gameweeks, Mitoma was the join-second-best at creating chances for team-mates (14) and number two for penalty area touches (40).
Aided by his 12-point haul in Gameweek 2, Mitoma’s four attacking returns were only bettered by Manchester City forwards Erling Haaland (£14.1 million) and Julian Alvarez (£7.0 million).
Crucially, Mitoma has still managed to deliver for FPL managers even when rested as part of De Zerbi’s rotation of Brighton players.
The Japanese Bullet Train started on the bench when Bournemouth came to the Amex before coming on at half time.
Mitoma scored within 16 seconds to put the Seagulls 2-1 ahead. He then struck again later in the day to finish on 14 points.
Throughout the league, Mitoma currently ranks fourth for take-ons (36) and fifth for in-box touches. Three of the players above him in both those metrics have played more minutes.
An FPL bargain, Kaoru Mitoma has the platform to continue delivering attacking returns to grateful owners at a time when the Brighton defence is proving a little leaky.
Captain Fantastic
This is a very interesting week for captaincy. Haaland is the usual default option for most but he faces Arsenal in North London.
24 hours earlier and the Gunners’ rivals Spurs face newly promoted Luton Town in a fixture most are expecting to be a walkover for Tottenham.
Over 1.8 million managers have bought in Son Heung-min (£9.3 million) since Gameweek 4. He is classified in FPL as a midfielder but has spent most of the season so far playing as a forward.
Six goals have arrived in four recent matches and many of those managers who have recently purchased Son probably did so with the intention of making him captain in Gameweek 8.
A third option could be Sons’ Spurs colleague James Maddison (£7.9 million). He is enjoying an excellent campaign since moving to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from Leicester City and is second overall for both chances created (21) and shots on target (13).
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