As the deadline looms closer, it is time to decide what to do with our precious free transfer(s). Aside from playing chips or selecting a captain, our transfers are the single most important aspect of our FPL campaign, and the importance of getting it right cannot be overstated.

In this article we crunch the numbers, analyse the fixtures, take advice from the Algorithm, and decide which player to buy, which player to sell, and which player to keep for Gameweek 13.

BUY: Phil Foden

• Cost: £8.4m
• Selected by: 23.2%
• Projected Points (5 GWs): 24.9

Phil Foden has been playing in very advanced areas this season - click here for Opta Player Heatmaps

Blank Gameweek 12 offered a unique challenge in that only one fixture was missing, yet that fixture featured many of the most highly owned FPL assets. This made managers reluctant to play their Free Hit (although over a million managers did – see FPL Statistics) yet demanded squad surgery, which most of us would rather not have performed.

With normality restored, and a clear run to the winter World Cup, getting our Arsenal and Manchester City assets back will be a priority for many. A very popular target this Gameweek is Phil Foden (£8.4m) who rose in price last night (Price Change Predictor) and, according to our Transfer Analytics tool, has featured in the most popular transfer combinations.

His popularity is unsurprising; Foden has always been a bundle of talent waiting to explode, but (historically) has been carefully managed by Pep Guardiola. But now he seems to be as close to first choice as one can get with this Manchester City team. With six goal involvements in his last four appearances, Foden’s stats speak for themselves.

According to the Opta Stats Sandbox tool, Foden is ranked 2nd amongst midfielders for shots on target (13), although his xG of 3.39, compared to his actual goal output (6), shows that he is over performing against his underlying data. How that data is interpreted is a personal choice; one thing is clear, however, Foden is in great form and about to enter a fantastic run of fixtures.