This week’s FPL Challenge, called "Out Of Possession", is the last of a three-Gameweek series in collaboration with Sports Interactive's Football Manager game, after Football Manager 26 was released earlier this month.
So it's the LAST CHANCE to win the incredible prize of getting their own player profile added into the Football Manager 26 database as a newly generated ("newgen") player, given to the Fantasy manager with the highest score.
In Gameweek 13's challenge, every recovery is worth one extra point. A recovery is defined by Opta as where a player recovers the ball in a situation where neither team has possession or where the ball has been directly played to him by an opponent, thus securing possession for their team.
Here, expert Seb Wassell, from Sports Interactive, the creators of Football Manager 26, reveals his team and explains his thinking, to help managers pick their own line-up.
Pick your GW13 Challenge team NOW
Goalkeeper
Nick Pope (Newcastle)
Pope ranks second overall for recoveries this season, with 113, in a category that goalkeepers dominate.
Newcastle visit an Everton side that, given their style and relative strength, should provide an opportunity for him to make further recoveries without sacrificing too much clean-sheet potential.
Defender
Marcos Senesi (AFC Bournemouth)
Given the low output of defenders when it comes to recoveries, I’m opting for only one player from this position.
Bournemouth travel to Sunderland in a match that should be winnable. I’m less certain of the clean sheet, but that is where Senesi’s 51 recoveries so far, ranking sixth among defenders, comes into play.
In a match that could prove chaotic, with Sunderland looking to press the home advantage and Bournemouth playing to their strength of destabilising the opposition through transition, Senesi’s 146 defensive contributions (second only to Elliot Anderson overall) should also boost his points potential.
Midfielders
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
This season, Fernandes’ deeper-lying role has been a frustration for FPL managers, but this week we can use it to our advantage.
Sitting second for outfield players with 74 recoveries, he faces a Palace side that should see him required to add to that impressive tally.
An expectation of six recoveries, meaning six points, feels reasonable based on his seasonal average.
The potential for more, given the opposition, defensive contributions and Fernandes’ traditional route to points through goals and assists, leaves me feeling uncharacteristically comfortable picking the Portuguese star, given his slightly underwhelming output this season.
Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool)
Having forsaken him in Gameweek 12, Szoboszlai makes my team this week. A total of 72 recoveries puts him third among outfield players.
Even though we may assume he’ll have better opportunities for recoveries from deep, he’s been quite consistent in this area, not straying too far from an average of roughly six recoveries per match, regardless of position.
Notionally weaker, less-progressive opposition in West Ham may see him deliver fewer this week, but taking the probabilistic stance that Liverpool won’t keep putting up an Expected Goals (xG) tally of 2.0 or more and fail to score, as they have done in recent matches, his chances of attacking returns are solid.
Arguably, he has been one of the few players to perform well over recent weeks, be it at right-back or as an attacking midfielder, and he is likely to be involved should Liverpool turn things around.
Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest)
Outside of goalkeepers, no one but Anderson (98) gets close to 100 recoveries so far this season.
He is the only player in my team that I would pick on his potential for recoveries alone. He has delivered fewer than six in just one match this season (three against West Ham) and regularly puts up seven to nine, or even more.
Added to his formidable defensive contributions and potential for goals and assists, I don’t think there is a better option out there this week. Anderson will also be my captain.
Forward
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
The only recovery he is likely to be doing this week is recovering the ball from Leeds’ net, but that’ll do for me.
Daniel Farke’s men are in the bottom half for Expected Goals Against, with a score of 16.1, and are in poor form, having lost five of their last six league matches, giving Haaland every opportunity to add to his league-leading 14 goals from an xG of 12.6.
Honourable mentions
Don’t overlook goalkeepers. They are clear of the other positions in terms of recoveries.
Ideally you want someone that can provide the potential for a clean sheet too, but recoveries are king here. Just behind Nick Pope in my rankings are Sunderland’s Robin Roefs and Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen.
Robert Sanchez of Chelsea may struggle to keep a clean sheet at home to Arsenal, but he could be kept very busy racking up the save and recovery points.
Everton midfielder Iliman Ndiaye was close to making my team. He has 71 recoveries (only one behind Fernandes) and provides a good attacking threat, with an Expected Goal Involvement (xGI) of 0.46 per 90 minutes. The fact that his recoveries are less predictable and possibly only spike against tough opponents – the majority coming against Man City (A), Liverpool (A) and Villa (H) – mean that he doesn’t quite make the cut.