FPL GW12 Watchlist – Stand Out Players Who Impressed In GW11

Another international break that gives us FPL managers a well-deserved break from the highly ‘brain consuming’ 🤯 activity of weekly FPL team management! Moreover, this break is more or less similar to the calm before the storm. Gameweek 12 signals the start of a series of uninterrupted GWs without any breaks giving us managers a lot to think about & modify our teams accordingly. Also, this emphasizes the need to have a bench with starting players, since this is the time of the season where managers decide to rotate their players (Pep/Tuchel are you reading this?) owing to fatigue & short turnaround times between games.

Before going further, Do vote in this week’s FPL GW12 allaboutfpl captaincy poll. The same will be available in the captaincy analysis and metrics blog written by@AK_FPL1. The metrics has a 10/11 record this year. Last week the metric predicted Salah as the best captaincy candidate and he returned once again in GW11. Stay tuned for the GW10 Captaincy metric to see who tops it. Link to all our FPL Gameweek 12 blogs.

[Total_Soft_Poll id=”21″]

The results and the captaincy metric blog will be published soon based on the votes.

So, without further ado let’s dive into the FPL Watchlist for GW12 & look at players that caught our eye in GW11. We also look at their possible matchups in the coming Gameweek & whether they are worth our valuable free transfers. A bit of stats & heatmaps from GW11 are also used to validate these players.

FPL GW12 Player Watchlist based on their GW11 Performance

Leandro Trossard- 6.5m mid, 2.5% owned

GW11 performance: 10 points (1 goal)

Trossard was last season’s Mbeumo or maybe Mbeumo could be called this year’s Trossard for hitting the woodwork consistently. Maybe both of them take ‘hitting the woodwork’ challenge in training a bit too seriously! He was one of the most underachieving players of the 20/21 season. He caught the eye with an incredible performance against Man. Utd last season where he hit the woodwork 3 times! Since joining Brighton, he has been one of the standout players under Graham Potter. After Maupay was subbed off in the 58^th min. against Man. City, he has been playing as an OOP forward & has 2 goals & 19 FPL points against Liverpool & Newcastle United.  At 6.5m, he is one of the best differential players with only 1/10^th of the ownership of Benrahma. His ability to create chances & ghost past opposition defenders has been his main standout attribute.

• Goal attempts – 5 (2^nd)
• Shots inside box – 3 (2^nd)
• Shots on target – 3 (1^st)
• Penalty area touches – 9 (2^nd)
• Chances created – 3 (4^th)
• xG – 0.95 (2^nd)

Next fixture: AVL (A)

Villa’s defensive numbers over the last 4 Gameweeks:

Aston Villa under new manager Steven Gerrard is a completely unknown quantity but Potter will likely try to target the defensive vulnerabilities that the Villa defenders have shown this season. Below are some of the frailties Villa have shown in the last 4 GWs –

• Most chances conceded through the centre
• Most attempts conceded from set plays
• 2^nd most shots on target conceded
• 2^nd most big chances conceded
• 5^th most xG conceded

Further Read: FPL GW 12 Player Watch & Analysis | Callum Wilson

Conor Gallagher – 5.8m mid, 15.2% owned

GW11 performance: 11 points (1 goal)

Gallagher is the 2^nd highest scoring midfielder in the game behind Salah & looks like the best option under 6m. His ability to arrive in the box at the right time & find the right spaces has been immaculate & Viera deserves credit for utilizing him in that floating mid role. This is the 2nd time Gallagher has featured in our Watchlist article (previously in the FPL GW5 Watchlist). He is very involved in the attacking phases & is well adept at creating chances for his team mates. Based on their performances until now & Zaha back to being in his best form, there are high expectations from Gallagher. If you only have 1 FT & would like to bring in a budget mid for the long term, Gallagher seems to be the best bet of the lot. He will surely be buoyed with the recent call up to the England senior team as well. Also, he is probably one of the first 5 players to have in your team if you have activated your wildcard for GW12.

• Goal attempts – 2
• Shots inside box – 2  
• Penalty area touches – 2
• Chances created – 4
• Big chances – 1
• xG – 0.6

Next fixture: BUR (A)

The next match against a defensively vulnerable Burnley team signals the start of a good run of fixtures for Palace. Burnley has been more attack minded this season & have left a lot of open spaces behind to be attacked. Indeed their defensive form in the last 4 GWs is promising for their opponents.

Burnley defensive numbers in last 4 Gameweeks:

• Most goal attempts conceded in the box
• 3^rd most big chances conceded
• Most crosses & 2^nd most chances conceded from the left (Gallagher would attack this area the most – check heatmap)

Further Read: FPL Planned Transfers based on Fixtures Between FPL GW12 to GW17

Alex McCarthy – 4.6m GK, 4.4% owned

GW11 performance: 9 points (1 CS, saves)

This is the first time a GK has been a part of our Watchlist article & McCarthy is well deserving of his inclusion based on Southampton’s recent defensive form. They have been solid at the back and are comfortably among the top 5 defenses in the last 4 GWs. McCarthy has been instrumental between the sticks & has marshalled his defenders well enough to become the 2^nd highest point scoring FPL goalkeeper after Mendy. Hasenhuttl has galvanized his team this season & has approached this season in a pragmatic manner playing to the strengths of the players at his disposal. He has rarely tinkered with the first XI, especially the defenders, & this has helped in better understanding between the players. For those on WC or those planning to replace Sanchez, McCarthy should definitely be in the discussion along with Ramsdale & Guaita.

Southampton’s defense stats in last 4 GWs –

• Most CS – 3
• Goal attempts in box conceded – 19 (2^nd)
• Least xG conceded – 2.57
• Best mins. per xG conceded – 2.57
• Least big chances conceded – 3

McCarthy season save % = 70% (5^th best)

Next fixture: NOR (A)

Norwich have appointed ex-Villa manager Dean Smith as their coach & he will have his task cut out to avoid relegation this season. They have been a poor attacking side & were lucky enough to escape with a win in their last game against Brentford. Southampton will stifle the toothless Norwich attack even further based on their above stats.

👀 Interestingly, Smith will be facing Hasenhuttl in consecutive GWs after he was sacked from the Villa job after the loss against the Saints last GW. Even though Smith is a very good manager, expect him to take a few more GWs to implement his attacking philosophy on the Norwich squad. Additionally, McCarthy has a good save % which means he could rake in the saves against tougher opposition as well. So he looks like a good bet for the long term.

Further Read: FPL Forwards Analysis Ahead of FPL Gameweek 12

Joao Cancelo – 6.5m def, 28.6% owned

GW11 performance: 14 points (2 assists)

Cancelo has been one of the best defenders in the league this season. He essentially plays as the left mid in the Man. City team. He is currently the top scoring FPL defender with 67 points & finally hauled in GW11 with 14 points after 4 weeks of lacklustre returns. Many are still averse to getting him onboard due to the fear of ‘Pep rotation’. But Pep has uncharacteristically stuck with a largely regular set of players in the Premier League, of which Cancelo looks like the no. 1 starter every GW. The below heat map shows us how much he is involved in the final third. Now, if you are still wavering on whether to get him, note that over the last 4 GWs, Cancelo has the joint most goal attempts & 2^nd most shots on target, after only King Mo Salah! 😲

• Goal attempts – 4 (3^rd)
• Shots inside box – 2 (2^nd)
• Penalty area touches – 3
• Chances created – 1
• xA – 0.69 (2^nd)

Next fixture: EVE (H)

City has the 2^nd best attack in the league after Liverpool & the best defence along with Chelsea. Everton have lacked the cutting edge in front of goal since the injury to DCL & hence the chance of City keeping a clean sheet will be enhanced. Also, last 4 GWs Everton have conceded the 3^rd most crosses from the right side. Have a look at the highlighted portion on the chances conceded heatmap from the last 6 GWs below. Cancelo could very well repeat a haul if all goes his way!

Hope you enjoyed reading the article as much as I did while writing it. Do share it & let us know your valuable comments. May your arrows be green this GW!

All stats & heatmaps are courtesy of Fantasy Football Scout & SofaScore respectively.

Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of FPL Gameweek 12:

FPL GW 12 Player Watch & Analysis | Callum Wilson
FPL Forwards Analysis Ahead of FPL Gameweek 12
Planned FPL Transfers based on Fixtures Between FPL GW12 to GW17
Everything Begins With The Fundamentals | Story On Son-Heung Min
FPL GW11 Saturday Fixtures Review Based on Stats and Eye Test
FPL GW11 Sunday Fixtures Review Based On Stats And Eye Test

Link to all our FPL Gameweek 12 blogs. All of the blogs are completely free to access and covers everything right from game week preview to captaincy!

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What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL Gameweek 12?

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