All you need to know about Gameweek 13

If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 13.

WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 13 DEADLINE?

All transfers and team selections need to be done by 13:30 GMT on Saturday 29 November.

INJURY UPDATES

Two of FPL’s most-owned players missed Gameweek 12 entirely: Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.4m) and Antoine Semenyo (£7.9m).

While the Arsenal defender will be sidelined for several more weeks, Bournemouth’s star attacker should make their trip to Sunderland.

“He has been doing modified training with the team in previous days. So if everything goes well today, he’s going to be available for tomorrow, yes.” – Andoni Iraola on Antoine Semenyo

From press conferences, we’ve also learnt that Crystal Palace centre-backs Marc Guehi (£5.1m) and Chris Richards (£4.6m) are both fine, but Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) will still be unavailable after missing Manchester United’s home defeat to Everton and – heartbreakingly – the festive lights switch-on in Altrincham.

Managers needing to rely on Sean Longstaff (£4.9m) at some point won’t like the news of his four-to-six-week absence.

But Chelsea fans are rejoicing at the news that Cole Palmer (£10.3m) is both fit and able to start against Arsenal.

“He is available to start and to play. Everyone is happy, the teammates are happy, we are all happy and the most important thing is Cole is happy because a footballer wants to play games and make the sessions every day.” – Enzo Maresca on Cole Palmer

TIME TO FREE HIT?

In fact, this top-two clash is making a lot of popular FPL assets look briefly unattractive. And it’s the same for Crystal Palace v Man United.

Therefore, some managers believe Gameweek 13 is a great time to activate their Free Hit chip. That’s what Lateriser is doing, and Zophar might too, so we’ve provided three drafts that aim to take advantage of enticing Manchester City, Aston Villa and Brentford fixtures.

Pep Guardiola made 10 lineup changes in midweek, which hint at Saturday starts for Nico O’Reilly (£5.1m), Phil Foden (£8.0m) and Jeremy Doku (£6.6m). The midfield pair are due for some attacking joy, according to our Goals and Assists Imminent tables.

Erling Haaland (£14.9m) and Igor Thiago (£6.6m) are the league’s two top scorers, Dango Ouattara (£6.0m) could be an enjoyable differential punt, and Morgan Rogers (£6.9m) is a unanimous Scout Squad pick.

The Aston Villa man netted twice in Gameweek 12 and is about to face last-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers at home. He’s in the ‘Buy, Keep, Sell’ article, as is Eberechi Eze (£7.7m). Unluckily, one of ‘The Great and the Good’ sold Arsenal’s 27-year-old right before his north London derby hat-trick.

MEDIUM-TERM PICKS

Elsewhere, Liverpool’s trip to West Ham United feels less straightforward now that Arne Slot’s side has lost nine from 12 in all competitions. But they join Arsenal and Man United in having strong medium-term fixtures.

In his Q&A, Zophar says that more faith should be placed in the champions’ attacking talent than in their backline.

Yet a congested six-week period is about to begin, where rotation will become a huge issue. That’s why we’ve estimated when each of the Premier League’s nine European representatives is most likely to rest their key players.

Also not helpful is seeing Marcos Senesi (£5.0m), Daniel Munoz (£5.9m) and Granit Xhaka (£5.2m) be one yellow card away from suspension.

BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 13 CAPTAIN

At home to newly-promoted Leeds, it isn’t a surprise to see Erling Haaland be the recommended armband recipient of both Captain Sensible and our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm.

In second and third place, they back Igor Thiago and Mohamed Salah (£14.2m), but in different orders.

TEAM REVEALS

SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS

Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – is an ideal starting point for those using the chip.

PREDICTED LINE-UPS

We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 20 Premier League teams.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 13!