Eddie the Eagle can fly v Ipswich - FPL tips & team of the week

The trickiest Fantasy Premier League decisions to be made at the moment are around strikers and, with only 11 gameweeks left, getting a precious transfer right could make or break your season.

Chris Wood is the top-scoring striker and, despite facing Manchester City this week, is a solid hold for the rest of the season.

But there are question marks - some bigger than others - around the next six forwards in the FPL scoring charts:

Alexander Isak, Newcastle - has a blank next week, slight injury worries.

Erling Haaland, Manchester City - blooming expensive.

Matheus Cunha, Wolves - great fixtures, signed by nearly 700,000 managers last week but now banned for at least three games after his FA Cup red card.

Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa - not setting world alight with his form and also blanks next week.

Jean-Phillipe Mateta, Crystal Palace - popular signing with 200,000 bringing him in this week, eight goals in eight games but now likely out injured for a few games and blanks next week.

Yoane Wissa, Brentford - solid choice, cheapest option but with horrible fixture run.

So the question is, who do you look to beyond this bunch for a striker to lead you to your mini-league title?

The team of the week is selected based on current FPL prices to fit within a £100m budget, as if you were playing a Free Hit.

How did last week's team do?

Picking Cole Palmer over Mohamed Salah as captain didn't hurt too much in the end, with just three points the difference.

The team was led by Chelsea assets - Marc Cucurella (15 points) and Pedro Neto (11) - and a double West Ham clean sheet.

Patrick Dorgu getting sent off was not ideal but an above average 63 points was more than tolerable.

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Keeper and defence

David Raya, Arsenal, keeper, £5.5m - Manchester United (a)

An away game against struggling United should hold no fear for Arsenal and Raya, who has three clean sheets in his past five games.

Daniel Munoz, Crystal Palace, £5m - Ipswich (h)

The Colombian has a goal or assist in six of his past seven games in all competitions, which is incredible for a right-back.

His 24 shots in the box is the second highest among defenders and a home tie against Ipswich is juicy, even though they have scored in their past five games.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool, £7.4m - Southampton (h)

The game's best defender at home to a team trying to avoid the worst-ever Premier League season?

It's a straightforward choice and your only worry is whether Alexander-Arnold is rested, with a cup final and Champions League fixtures coming up for Liverpool.

Conor Bradley is injured, though, and you can't second guess what Arne Slot might do.

Marc Cucurella, Chelsea, £5.1m - Leicester (h)

The Spaniard keeps his spot in the team after last week's 15-pointer - and also because Chelsea have the second of two absolutely plum fixtures against struggling teams.

This time Leicester, who haven't scored in four games and have only 25 goals all season.

The cream rises to the top and Alexander-Arnold is now top of the FPL defender charts again after a slow-ish start to the season

Midfield

Mohamed Salah (captain), Liverpool, £13.8m - Southampton (h)

One of the easiest captain choices of the season, I'm expecting at least two returns.

Cole Palmer (vice captain), Chelsea, £11.1m - Leicester (h)

Despite blanking in Chelsea's 4-0 win last gameweek, you just can't ignore Palmer in what should be another comfortable victory at Stamford Bridge.

Another blank and there's a conversation to be had about selling him, but he had seven shots last week and an expected goals (xG) of 1.07.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool, £6.4m - Southampton (h)

The Hungarian has quietly become Liverpool's most reliable midfield option behind Salah, with five goals and seven assists this season.

He has goals in his past two games and five double-digit returns in 2024-25, which is the kind of explosiveness you want.

This is a smashing home game for Liverpool and definitely worth a triple up.

Bryan Mbeumo, Brentford, £8m - Aston Villa (h)

I always like a rested team at home taking on one that has played midweek and you have to fancy Brentford to get something against what should be a tired Villa side.

Mbeumo is their talisman with 20 returns now this season after his assist last gameweek.

Do you hold him for a tricky run coming up that includes Arsenal and Newcastle away? That will be a hard call to make soon.

Christopher Nkunku, Chelsea, £5.7m - Leicester (h)

Pedro Neto did a great job in this spot last week but Nkunku was perhaps even more impressive and has a much bigger goal threat than his Portuguese team-mate.

He's likely to be playing in the number nine position again, from where he had four shots and scored once against Southampton.

Nkunku has had an injury-hit Chelsea career but he is still only three seasons removed from a 20-goal league campaign (with RB Leipzig in Germany)

Strikers

Beto, Everton, £5m - Wolves (a)

With West Ham at home next week, Beto is a great shout for the next two weeks and a decent budget option for the rest of the season.

Despite a first blank in five games last time out against Brentford, his xG was 0.62. For context, it was 0.63 against Leicester when he scored twice.

So he is getting in positions to score and the fixture list shouldn't necessarily scare you with this David Moyes-led Everton side.

Eddie Nketiah, Crystal Palace, £5.9m - Ipswich (h)

A plum fixture for a talented but inconsistent striker who has not had the impact many thought he would have after joining Palace from Arsenal.

Nketiah has often scored in spurts - remember that hat-trick last season v Sheffield United? He has that kind of upside and you could take a flyer on him this week.

Ipswich have conceded a lot recently, even letting in two against Southampton, so this is a golden opportunity with Mateta out injured.

Nketiah scored his first league goal for Palace in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa last week

Subs bench

Dean Henderson, Crystal Palace, keeper, £4.6m - Ipswich (h)

Joao Pedro, Brighton, striker, £5.4m - Fulham (h)

Rayan Ait-Nouri, Wolves, defender, £4.7m - Everton (h)

Jake O'Brien, Everton, defender, £4.5m - Wolves (a)

Team total cost: £98.1m

Player to watch

Savinho is Manchester City's second-highest points scorer in midfield this season, with 88 points (behind Phil Foden)

Savinho, Manchester City, midfielder, £6.2m

If you are looking at City's upcoming fixtures but don't want to sign a striker, then what about bargain Brazilian Savinho?

He has started City's past four league games and now has 10 assists - more than any midfielder except Salah and Bukayo Saka.

Pep roulette is less likely to be an issue for the rest of the season too, with City out of Europe, meaning his starting place could be fairly secure.

Team to target

Tottenham - Bournemouth (h), Fulham (a), Chelsea (a)

Spurs play in the gameweek 29 blank and after the run of games above they have Southampton (h) and Wolves (a).

They've won three of their past four after a dreadful run so why not consider a midfield asset like Son Heung-min (£9.7m, 10 assists) or Brennan Johnson (£6.2m, nine goals)?