Are De Cuyper and Gross essential? FPL gameweek seven dilemmas — SkimNews
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- Maxim De Cuyper (£5.1m) and Pascal Gross of Brighton are near "must-have" FPL status, but Liverpool and Manchester City away in their next three matches makes the Crystal Palace home fixture the better entry point—with De Cuyper prioritized over Gross.
- Bruno Fernandes (£11.9m) is owned by a third of all FPL managers but has blanked five of six games, making him an easy sell, with Bukayo Saka (£9.6m) and Cole Palmer (£9.7m) recommended as replacements; United defenders should also go while Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m) is a hold, ranked 10th among midfielders on 33 points.
- Chelsea is described as having an attack-minded manager in Xabi Alonso with no European involvement, making striker Joao Pedro (£7.8m) "must have"; Morgan Rogers (£7.9m) has slightly better underlying data than Cole Palmer in open play.
- Erling Haaland has three standout home fixtures before year-end—Ipswich (GW7), Fulham (GW11), Hull (GW16)—but a double gameweek before GW19 appears unlikely, complicating the triple captain chip decision; Ipswich have already lost 5-2 at Manchester United this season.
- Riccardo Calafiori (£5.9m, Arsenal) is the strongest route into the league's top defence under Mikel Arteta, alongside defensive contribution picks Tarik Muharemovic (Leeds, £5m), Luka Vuskovic (Brighton, £5.1m), Antonio Silva (Bournemouth, £5m), and James Tarkowski (Everton, £6.2m).
Why it matters: With over a third of FPL managers holding Fernandes and blanks piling up, his sale frees budget for Arsenal's Saka or Chelsea's Palmer—two attackers with kinder upcoming fixtures—while the Haaland triple-captain calculus hinges on whether a more favourable double gameweek arrives before chips reset at GW19.
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