Fantasy Premier League 2021 – 13th-17th Place Preview
Brighton
Fixtures
Attack 39%
Defence 33%
Brighton are an interesting case in FPL, with plenty of cheap options and the potential to do well, but also a manager who likes to chop and change. They have more centre backs than a Tony Pulis side so picking a defender is hard, but they also have great opening fixtures for the defence…
I have an alternative pick for the defence, but if you’re looking for rotating keepers then there aren’t many better pairings than Mat Ryan (4.5m) and Alex McCarthy (also 4.5m) of Southampton.
Main Pick
Neal Maupay (FWD, 6.5m)
10 goals and 3 assists is not a bad return in your debut Premier League season, or for just a 6.5m investment. Maupay is Brighton’s first-choice striker, especially now old man Murray has left, and he is very shot happy! No other striker under 7.5m took as many shots as him last year, and only Che Adams is cheaper than him but took more shots post restart. His accuracy of 40% is not bad either, so hopefully, more will be converted this year.
Differential Pick
Pascal Gross (MID, 6.0m)
Despite playing literally half a season (1802 mins of a possible 3420), Gross created 59 chances including 10 big chances, registering 5 assists. That’s more than either Silva at Man City, Traore or Sigurdsson.
His season was hampered by injury but if he can stay fit and maintain his spot in the starting line up for Brighton, he will be a gold mine for FPL managers. The good news is we can watch and wait while they go through the difficult run before jumping on.
Defensive Pick
Tariq Lamptey (DEF, 4.5m)
The youngster joined from Chelsea in January with an eye to building his Premier League career through Potter’s careful handling of youth team players. Instead, due to injury issues, he started 7 of the 9 games after lockdown and produced an assist to go with his 3 clean sheets.
That’s not much but for a 19-year-old it’s pretty impressive. He also created as many chances in that period as Luke Shaw and more than Serge Aurier. Not bad for just 4.5m.
I would also note Ben White, who has been the subject of a lot of transfer speculation and a few bids, but Brighton have held onto him, so you have to think he will be in line to play a big role for them and is also kindly priced at 4.5m.
Steer Clear
Adam Lallana (MID, 6.5m)
I was a big fan of him when he came up with Southampton, he was an FPL gem in that team and earned his move to Liverpool. However, in that time he has had minimal time on the pitch (just over 1000 minutes in 3 seasons) and suffered from a lot of injuries.
Even if he stays fit he will surely need time to bed into the side and get back the sharpness that made him so good before. So definitely give him time before bringing him in.