Who To Target for Fantasy Premier League 2024/25 Gameweek 21

Dive into our weekly analysis where we spotlight the top performers from the previous Gameweek, examine the latest FPL transfer trends, and reveal the must-have players to consider for your lineup this week.

Stay ahead of the competition in your Fantasy Premier League journey with our expert insights and strategic tips designed to boost your success!

Expected FPL Points Review - A Look at the Stats

As the below image shows, Mbeumo tops the Custom Stats xFPL table for Gameweek 20 with a score of 16.1. The 25-year-old took four shots in the box, two of which were classified as 'big chances' by Opta and also created two 'big chances'.

His teammate Wissa led the way for shots (eight), shots in the box (six) and 'big chances' (five). The Democratic Republic of Congo international landed five of his attempts on target and registered an xFPL score of 13.9.

Haaland bagged his first double-digit score since Gameweek 4 with 13 FPL points. The Norwegian international scored from his only two efforts, both of which were classified as 'big chances' and notched an xFPL score of 9.7.

Salah had a relatively quiet game by his standards. Although he took three shots in the box, only the penalty was classified as a 'big chance'. The Egyptian international also attempted two assists and registered an xFPL score of 8.6.

Palmer was joint-top for attempted assists (five), the England international took just one shot in the box leading to an xFPL score of 8.1

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 FPL Transfer Activity Analysed - Which Players are FPL managers buying and selling?

As the below image from our Transfer Analytics feature shows, Gordon is the most popular transfer in for Gameweek 21 so far. Nearly 250,000 FPL managers have brought him in at the time of writing.

Despite the fixture against Man. City, Mbeumo is the second most transferred in player. While Hall is in third despite the lack of any FPL returns in Gameweek 20.

Returns in back to back Gameweeks have seen Sávio emerge as a popular option, while Isak continues to be the most transferred in forward.

With just one goal over the last seven Gameweeks, N. Jackson's owners have lost patience with nearly 200,000 transferring out the Senegalese international ahead of Chelsea's home fixture against Bournemouth.

Maddison and Luis Díaz's one pointers have seen them sold by nearly 250,000 FPL managers combine. While Cunha continues to be sold despite his availability for Wolves' next fixture, as he serves the second game of his ban in the FA Cup.

A look at the Top 10 Forward transfer combinations below, shows that N. Jackson to Wood is only the sixth most popular forward transfer combination (3.8%) despite the New Zealand international's goal against Wolves. Isak, João Pedro and Mateta appear to be more popular with perhaps the fixture against Liverpool for Forest offputting.

In the Top 10 Midfield transfer combinations, bringing Gordon in accounts for seven of the top 10 transfer combinations with Mbeumo accounting for the other three. Maddison, Enzo, Luis Díaz and Ødegaard are amongst the players being sold.

The Top 10 Defender transfer combinations is dominated by transfers in for Hall. Faes, J. Timber, Gvardiol, Digne and Alexander-Arnold are the players making way.

Best Budget defenders - Hall vs Muñoz

As the above image from our Opta Player Heatmaps feature shows, Hall has been in sensational form over the last six Gameweeks with 43 FPL points at an average of 7.2 points per game. Muñoz has notched 25 FPL points fewer at an average of just 3.6 points per game.

Playing as a wing-back, Muñoz offers significantly more goal threat with 1.68 'Expected Goals' (xG) compared to just 0.21 for Hall. The Colombian international also wins out for shots (four vs six), shots on target (one vs four) and shots in the box (two vs six).

They are similar in terms of creativity, Hall has attempted one more assist (10 vs nine) and generated a slightly higher 'Expected Assists' (xA) tally (1.26 vs 0.91).

Both appear to be excellent options, but based on the above numbers Muñoz appears to have the higher ceiling with his goal threat.