In this blog, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweek 20's numbers are analysed to determine the best players and teams to target going forward.

xFPL review

Salah tops the Custom Stats xFPL table for Gameweek 20 with a mammoth score of 20.5, the highest registered by a player in a single game since these numbers were recorded. The Egyptian international took six shots in the box (SiB), three of which were 'big chances' (BC), and he also created three BC. Foden's numbers were also impressive, the 23-year-old was the Gameweek's most creative player with six attempted assists and two of these were classified as BC. The English attacker also took two SiB and notched an xFPL score of 11.2. Palmer was the highest FPL scorer with 18 FPL points, and the 21-year-old scored from both of his SiBs, but had only one BC involvement which meant a relatively low xFPL score of 9.4. No player took more shots than Solanke (nine), seven of these were in the box but just one was a BC, the 26-year-old registered an xFPL score of 7.1.

What is xFPL?

xFPL is calculated primarily using expected goals (xG), assists (xA), which combine as Fantasy Premier League (FPL) involvements (xG + xA = xI), as well as expected clean sheets (xCS). These numbers are a result of underlying statistics (i.e. shot type and location will give a probability of scoring = xG). xFPL is the combination of these statistics and factors in appearance and bonus points to give an overall expected FPL point score.

Early Transfer Activity Analysed

As the above image from our Transfer Analytics feature shows, Palmer tops the transfers in with over 500,000 FPL managers bringing in the 21-year-old already. Bowen and Foden are also very popular with the duo seeing nearly 500,000 transfers in each. The respective AFCON and Asia Cup tournament departees; Salah, Kudus, Son and Hee Chan are the most sold, with the quartet all likely to miss a few Gameweeks. Haaland has split opinion amongst FPL managers, nearly 150,000 have sold the Norwegian international this week while a similar number have bought him. The top two forward transfer combinations are J. Alvarez to Haaland (6.2%) and Haaland to J. Alvarez (5.0%). In midfield, it is all about replacing Salah and Son with Bowen and Foden accounting for near 50% of that traffic, with Richarlison in third. In defence, Estupiñan is a popular pick with the Ecuadorian international taking up eight of the top 10 defender transfer combinations.

Bowen vs Foden

As the above image from our Fix Heatmaps feature shows, Bowen (34) and Foden (30) have scored similarly over the last six Gameweeks, but it is worth mentioning that Foden has played a game fewer due to Man. City's Gameweek 18 fixture being postponed.

The underlying numbers indicate the different roles both players have for their sides, with Bowen being more of a goal-scorer and Foden a creator. Bowen has averaged 0.5 goals per game to Foden's 0.21 and has notched nearly thrice the 'Expected Goals' (xG) (0.37 vs 0.14), despite Foden taking more shots (2.01 vs 2.70). Foden dominates the creative numbers with 2.49 attempted assists per game to just 0.84 for Bowen. His 'Expected Assists' (xA) (0.19 vs 0.50) is also significantly higher. Both players are good picks but it remains to be seen what impact De Bruyne's return to the side will have on Foden who has been playing in midfield of late.