Best FPL GW21 Midfielders | Salah & Son FPL Replacements

The timeless question of who are the best Salah and Son replacements is one which has remained on FPL managers minds for many weeks now, and with both AFCON and the Asia Cup set to begin at the end of next week now is the time to decide. The question has been made an even more challenging one by some unfortunate injuries in recent days, meaning players who had been touted as potential replacements (eg. Bowen), are now confirmed out for an extended period. Let’s have a look at the best Salah and Son Replacements ahead of FPL GW21.

Link to all our FPL GW21 blogs including Buy, Hold, Sell analysis, Differentials, Captaincy metrics, Scout picks, Wildcard Drafts, Tips, and more. Completely free to access as well!

Best FPL GW21 Midfielders

To hold or not to hold, that is the question.

If you were unaware – Salah, Son, and other key FPL assets(Hwang, Kudus) are set to participate in their respective regional tournaments starting next weekend and are likely to be out of FPL action for the foreseeable. Twitter user @DbAbsur(Make sure to follow!) calculated when Salah and Son are likely to return to their teams based on how far they are likely to progress through their respective competitions, and had Salah at 72% likely to return for GW24 and 99% in GW25. Similarly, Son (and Hwang) sat at 74% for GW24 and 99% for GW25.

Seeling both of them does make sense as it frees up funds to get back Haaland who has returned to training!

Do note: Liverpool currently only need to get past Fulham to progress to the Carabao Cup final, there’s a high chance that Klopp’s team could blank in GW26 (Carabao Cup final). However, there is a high chance that Liverpool will double in GW25!

Less chance of happening: If both Liverpool and Luton are out of the FA Cup & Liverpool reach the Carabao Cup final by beating Fulham then their GW26 fixture which clashes with the Carabao Cup final can simply move to the midweek(FA Cup 5th round) and stay in GW26!

Further Read: Confirmed & Likely FPL Double/Blank Gameweeks | 23/24 Season

Premium FPL Alternatives to Salah and Son

Saka 9.0 / Ødegaard 8.4

Despite Arsenal being in poor form recently, their attackers remain great options for managers who are looking for a straight swap for Son and/or Salah. Saka is still the best Arsenal option, producing 0.76xGI/90, the highest of any player in the squad to have played 800 minutes or more in the league this season. The young Englishman has also played the 3rd most minutes, behind only Saliba and Rice, and is renowned for his availability, so his minutes are never a worry.

Ødegaard is a solid option, but I don’t think he justifies his price tag of 8.4 million as he is only managing 0.48xGI/90 in the prem this term, which, while isn’t awful, is blown out of the water by some of the other players we will come to discuss…

Moreover, after Palace in GW21, they face a revitalized Forest Away in GW22, Liverpool in GW23 and then West Ham in GW24, so I’m not sure the double-up is worth it for the price, especially considering The Gunners’ recent form.

Further Read: Confirmed & Likely FPL Double/Blank Gameweeks | 23/24 Season

De Bruyne 10.2 / Foden 7.8

The citizens are on a roll, after breezing past Sheffield United, Pep’s men are weeks away from a fully fit squad with the ever closer return of both KDB and Haaland. Pep suggested in a recent press conference that De Bruyne, Doku and Haaland may all to be back for GW22, which unfortunately may limit Foden’s minutes in his preferred N.10 role, but could make KDB a superb ‘differential’.

Foden currently has the best xGI of any city midfielder, and is only bettered by Haaland and Alvarez (who are classed as forwards on FPL), but one expects KDB to take his place in the team, when the belgian is fully fit, forcing Foden out-wide instead.

De Bruyne was named on the bench against Sheffield United and played 30+ minutes against Huddersfield in the FA cup, which could signify that his PL return is edging closer, and at 10.2 million, he could be a bargain. However, with Newcastle at St James’ in GW21 it may be best to wait until GW22 to bring him in, especially after his midweek comments, which suggested that he himself expects to be on the bench in the north east.

With City’s next Premier league fixture after their game against Newcastle (13th January) not coming until the 31st January, there is plenty of time for both De Bruyne and Doku to return to full fitness and threaten Foden’s starting spot in the team. Having said this, Foden has the third highest minutes, only behind Alvarez and Walker in the league for Pep this season, showing his ever-growing importance to the team and system – he is a risk, but the rewards he offers are endless…

Further Read: Confirmed & Likely FPL Double/Blank Gameweeks | 23/24 Season

Mid-Priced Replacements for Salah and Son Ahead of FPL GW21

Richarlison 6.9 / Jota 7.7

If you already have Saka, which is highly probable, and you are worried about the minutes risk that comes with both Foden and KDB, then these 3 are the ones you should consider. The fixtures for both Spurs and Liverpool are very mixed, with Fantasy Football Hub’s Fixture analyser predicting Liverpool 6.3 and Spurs 6.8 points over the next 5 gameweeks, so let’s instead take a look at the numbers…

Jota is the obvious straight swap for Salah, and his impact off the bench in recent games has been excellent; now that he is fully fit, expect both his minutes and FPL returns to increase drastically. He ranks second out of Liverpool midfielders for xG/90 and xGI/90 behind only Salah and has the joint second most goals in the league in the Liverpool squad with 5 (joint with Nunez). The Portuguese attacker has been slightly outperforming his xG so far this season, but is well known for his finishing, so this is of no concern.

The only issue with Jota is his minutes; there’s no way of knowing if / where he will play, but he has demonstrated that he is perhaps the most clinical Liverpool’s attackers (I’m looking at you Nunez) so there is no doubt he will get significant game time in Salah’s absence. Having said this, he was benched against Arsenal in the FA cup and again made a great impact of the bench; add to this the fact that he is arguably less versatile than Diaz and Gakpo, and question marks remain over his minutes.

If you back Spurs to continue their fine form, then Richarlison offers great value as he often starts as the N.9 for Ange and is currently only 6.9 million. The Brazilian actually has the highest xG/90 and the joint highest xGI/90 of any Spurs player to have played over 900 minutes this season. As mentioned previously, he is nailed and is the cheapest of the 3.

Recent information has made Richarlison slightly less appealing however, with the news that Spurs have made the loan signing of Werner from RB Leipzig (formerly of Chelsea), who could rotate with all of the Tottenham attackers, but predominantly with the striker, so Richarlison’s minutes are not as set in stone as they once were either.

One thing to note is that Spurs could blank in FPL GW26 as their opponent in GW26, Chelsea could reach the Carabao Cup final (Scheduled to play Middlesbrough in the Semi Final)

Further Read: Confirmed & Likely FPL Double/Blank Gameweeks | 23/24 Season

Other Differential Options to replace Salah and Son:

• Pedro Neto(£5.6m): The Wolves star was racking up assists for fun before his injury, he’s now made his comeback and could once again be a great option to consider!
• Pascal Gross(£6.4)m: Brighton have a great run of fixtures and Gross could be an excellent differential option, he has 3 goals and 6 assists with an xGI/90 of 0.43 which isn’t too bad!

• Alejandro Garnacho(£4.8m): The Argentinian wonder kid is in excellent form and could be a great enabler, especially with Haaland back soon as well. He has started the last 10 games in the PL for the Red Devils and averages an xGI/90 of 0.38 this season
• Bruno Fernandes(£8.2m): No player has created more chances in the PL so far this season than Man United captain, Bruno(54). He’s definitely a punt with not a lot of managers potentially considering him due to Man United’s inconsistent form this season.
• Brenan Johnson(£5.8m): If you’re not keen on Richarlison then Johnson at £5.8m could be a good alternate to consider from the Spurs attack
• Luis Diaz (£7.3m): Similarly to Johnson, if you’re not keen on Jota or worried about his minutes, Diaz is slightly more versatile and arguably more nailed, his underlying numbers aren’t as good, but he’s cheaper and may play more.
• Morgan Gibbs White(£5.7m): Fixtures are a bit tricky for Forest but Gibbs White has been excellent under new manager Nuno!
• Eberechi Eze(£6.0m): Back from injury and Eze could be a decent asset to consider, Olise’s injury concern might reduce the appeal a bit slightly and the Eagles also have a tricky game in GW21 vs Arsenal

My plans for Replacing Salah & Son Ahead of FPL GW21

I have been on a great run recently and currently sit 23,814 overall, up from my GW19 rank of 39,127, but I am aware that that could change in an instant if I make a poor choice on the Salah replacement decision. Salah has been a mainstay in my team and had been my captain every week from GW8-GW19 when I made the switch to Foden which turned out to be a bad decision.

I am very aware of the fact that Saka hurt my rank in GW20, as I’ve been riding my luck in recent weeks, constantly worried that Saka would haul and I’d drop a couple hundred thousand places in rank. Moreover, I already own Richarlison and Foden so the choice for me is between Saka and Jota/Diaz. I am also aware of Haaland’s imminent return and Trent’s form and growing ownership, and worry that owning Saka could make future transfers, such as bringing in Trent or Haaland long term, slightly more challenging. However, this decision has been made more complex by Bowen’s injury…

Bowen’s injury means I will probably take a -4, and bring in both Saka and Jota/Diaz, and worry about Trent/Haaland later, as bringing in/back in the most expensive defender, the most expensive midfielder and the most expensive forward will probably require a major team restructure, which may have to be saved for a wildcard…

The best for Salah and Son replacements is quite a team dependent choice, and any of the players mentioned here are solid options, along with more budget choices such as Palmer, Olise (if fit), etc. But ultimately this decision is quite an individual one, and based on which other players you have in your team and your long term strategy for bringing back Haaland in the near future.

All data in this post was taken from understat.com

AFCON/Asia Cup probabilities were calculated by @DbAbsur on twitter

All FPL player prices are as of 5/01/24

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Best FPL GW21 Midfielders | Salah & Son FPL Replacements
Confirmed & Likely FPL Double/Blank Gameweeks | 23/24 Season
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Link to all our FPL GW21 blogs including buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

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