Manchester City and Brentford do not play in Gameweek 18. What should FPL managers do with their players? Keep and bench or sell?
Why are Man. City and Brentford not playing in GW18? Manchester City vs Brentford game was postponed because Man. City plays in FIFA Club World Cup (as Champions League winner) in GW18. This caused a blank gameweek.
Should you sell Manchester City and Brentford players before the GW18 deadline?
- It depends on how many Man. City and Brentford players you have in your team and how strong the bench of your team is.
- If you have more than 3 players for City and Brentford, you could sell some of them, even for a -4 point hit – just to make sure you can field 11 players in BGW18
- If you have a good bench cover in your FPL team, you could bench 1-2 Man. City, and Brentford players IF you want them for their fixture runs from GW19 (and potential double gameweek)
- Brentford and City have good fixtures after GW19, so it makes sense to bench 1-2 of their players if you can cover it with solid bench players
- You also need to take into account, that the Manchester City and Brentford game could be rescheduled somewhere between GW20 – GW25, so both teams will likely have a double gameweek soon
What to do with Haaland?
If you did not sell him before GW17, you probably want to wait now whether he is fit for City’s first game in the FIFA Club World Cup (19.12).
Update: Haaland did not play, but it looks he is back in training:
🚨🔵 Erling Haaland, back in Man City training. pic.twitter.com/na7f9wHc2l
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 20, 2023
And if he is fit, you might consider just benching him (if you can cover it with your bench) and then have him ready for GW19 – this would save you 2 free transfers, as you would likely buy Haaland back in GW19.
However, now when Haaland did not play again (in FIFA Club World Cup), he is still doubt for GW20. Let’s see if he plays in final, but unfortunately, that is after GW18 deadline.
Currently, Haaland is a sell for us before GW18 deadline.
What to do with Alvarez/Foden/Walker/Dias/Ederson? Should you sell them?
If you want them in your team for City fixture and potential double gameweek after GW19, you might just bench one of them for GW18 – if you can cover his absence with a player from your bench.
But if Alvarez, Foden, Walker do not feature in your plans from GW19 onwards (and for City’s double gameweek) or you cannot cover their absence with bench players, sell them now.
What to do with Brentford players?
Brentford has also good fixtures after GW19, so you could possibly bench 1 of their players for GW18 and potential double gameweek later on.
If you have Wissa – he is a sell now, as he will likely go to AFCON in GW21, so he is just a transfer that will happen anyway. Of course sell Mbeumo, as he is out until March.
If you have Flekken or Brentford defenders, you might consider just benching some of them, as Brentford’s defensive stats are not bad (3rd lowest xG conceded of all teams this season) and their next 3 fixtures have a clean sheet potential.
To sum things up…
Neither Brentford and Manchester City are an urgent sell for blank gameweek 18, unless you cannot field XI players in GW18. You can bench 1 or 2 of them if they feature in your plans from GW19 onwards and you can cover their absence with the bench players (like Charlie Taylor) in your FPL team.
