The Premier League fixtures are coming thick and fast, and with that comes another brand-new Fantasy Premier League Gameweek this weekend.
Following our 2-0 victory over Brentford at Emirates Stadium, we’re straight back into action within 72 hours as we make the trip to face Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime.
WHITE SHINES BRIGHT
Of our Gunners to deliver in Gameweek 14, Ben White (£5.3m) was brought into the side by Mikel Arteta and grabbed an excellent 14 points via a clean sheet and an assist for Mikel Merino’s latest goal. The Spaniard (£5.9m) himself is one of FPL’s form players, scooping a 13-point boost which now makes it 32 points in his last four Gameweeks.
Piero Hincapie (£5.4m) also shone as he got another league start under his belt, and registered eight points. Amazingly, the trio have shown themselves to be great differential picks with a combined ownership of just 2.1% of FPL managers at present.
Meanwhile, Martin Odegaard (£7.8m) played his first full match since October, and remains owned by just 1.4% of FPL teams. When his ownership inevitably begins to rise, his price will move in tandem – so if you want the skipper running your midfield, be sure to either act now or for GW16, when we host Wolves and all FPL players will be handed up to five free transfers.
Villa have been in inspired form with a run of six successive wins in all competitions, and have crept up to third in the table, six points behind us. Perhaps down to their sluggish start, none of their players hold an ownership of over 10% – rendering their entire squad as, by Fantasy Football definition, differentials.
Chief among the popular players is Morgan Rogers (£6.9m), owned by 9.7% of bosses. The England international has collected 24 points in his last three Gameweeks, and a season total of 59, second only to Matty Cash (£4.7m), a sporadically-owned defensive option who has exhibited the added attacking prowess to earn him 64 points.
Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) started the season at £9.0m, but is surely about to see his price gradually return to its former state as he begins to hit form. The forward’s brace in their midweek 4-3 win at Brighton & Hove Albion secured his owners a healthy 13-point prize.
Lastly comes a very intriguing pick, owned by fewer than 1%, and that is midfield man Amadou Onana (£4.8m). A handy enabler for premium-priced options such as Bukayo Saka (£10.1m), Onana may be a risk with his gametime but likes to pop up with a goal, evident in midweek and also in GW11 against Bournemouth.
MAKE YOUR AFCON PLANS
If you haven’t yet considered it, now is certainly high time to put a strategy in place ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, which gets underway in Morocco on December 21. While we will not see any players depart Emirates Stadium for the tournament, numerous popular Premier League stars are set to leave their clubs for periods that could last over a month.
Luckily for many, as referenced, GW16 – which begins on Saturday, December 13 – will enable all managers to use up to five free transfers to help protect their side against AFCON absences.
Some players have been allowed to remain with their clubs for the fixtures in both GW15 and GW16, as those selected in AFCON-competing squads must report for their national teams by the following Monday. However, some could depart as early as next week, and could consequently miss GW16.
Popular Fantasy performers from this season who will depart for a potentially lengthy period are Bryan Mbeumo (£8.6m) of Manchester United and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (£14.1m). Selling these stars would see your side blessed with plenty of funds, but it’s about how you use that credit and build your revamped side with your free transfers, which can be saved for a rainy day but teams are only allowed to bank up to five.
It’s also important to be mindful of how the temporary exits of certain players could affect a team. For instance, Sunderland are expected to lose seven players to the tournament, while in-form Crystal Palace could dispense with four, and Manchester United are anticipating three important players to depart: Mbeumo, Amad Diallo (£6.3m) and Noussair Mazraoui (£4.9m).
These departures act as a double-edged sword – you may find your reliable assets from high-performing sides begin to falter as their African teammates’ absences weaken them, but there also remains the possibility that cheap hidden gems fill their voids over the festive fixtures.
FORM FAVOURITES
The dilemma when it comes to FPL transfer targets hits when you wonder how short-term a player’s form could be. Is it just a purple patch, or will their goals, assists or clean sheets last the majority of the season?
Brentford forward Igor Thiago (£6.7m) was rotated for his side’s trip to Emirates Stadium, with the 78-point Brazilian playing just the final 30 minutes. This move by Keith Andrews should see Thiago fresh for a favourable run of fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United and Wolves, plus Bournemouth – whose games have often yielded plenty of goals at both ends – ideal for a striker of his quality.
Crystal Palace centre-half Maxence Lacroix (£5.1m) has been the overlooked regular in a reliable backline this season, selected by just over 6% of competitors, despite now holding an equal price tag to 35%-picked defensive partner Marc Guehi. While many possess either Guehi or the currently unstoppable wing-back Daniel Munoz (£6.0m) – both of whom hauled a 14-point total against Burnley in GW14 – Lacroix would be a welcome addition, a clash with Man City on GW16 the only real repellent for now.
For a cheaper alternative, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£4.7m) is a man who has delivered recently. The Everton attacking midfielder’s only fixture above ‘3’ on the Premier League’s difficulty algorithm is the Toffees’ GW17 trip to Emirates Stadium – which could be a handy time for a Free Hit chip if you still have it intact. Dewsbury-Hall has averaged eight points across his last five Gameweeks, and will become a more pivotal player in David Moyes’ side with Iliman Ndiaye (£6.6m) away at AFCON. Everton host Nottingham Forest this weekend, and travel to Burnley in GW18.
Be sure to stay alert for the Gameweek 15 deadline this Saturday at 11am, 90 minutes before we raise the curtain on the weekend’s action with our showdown at Villa Park!
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
