FPL Challenge: Expert reveals Gameweek 18 team

Sam Bonfield selects her side for a week in which six points will be awarded for each big chance created

This weekend's FPL Challenge is called "Gift Wrapped" as players will be rewarded with six additional points for every big chance that they create.

There is a limit of one player per club for your six-a-side team, but there is an unlimited budget. Here, FPL expert Sam Bonfield reveals her team and explains her thinking, to help you pick your own line-up.

Pick your GW18 Challenge team NOW

Goalkeeper
Jordan Pickford (Everton)

Goalkeepers rarely create chances for their team-mates, let alone big chances as they are so far away from the opposition's goal. However, we have seen three assists from goalkeepers this season so it is always possible that they might register a big chance, despite it being unlikely.

As a result, I have gone for a goalkeeper with a good chance of a clean sheet. Alisson, Gianluigi Donnarumma and David Raya look like the best options for this, but I have opted for an outfield player from each of their clubs. Therefore, I have selected Everton's Jordan Pickford.

Pickford has kept six clean sheets this season while his 45 saves made have resulted in eight save points. Sunderland's Robin Roefs and Raya are the only goalkeepers who have earned more points than Pickford this season, and Everton face a struggling Burnley side in Gameweek 18. 

Defender
Marcos Senesi (AFC Bournemouth)

Marcos Senesi was unlucky not to register another double-digit haul on Saturday - a last-minute Burnley goal wiped out the clean sheet and cost the defender all three bonus points, and he missed a very late opportunity to win the game when his header flew over the crossbar. Over the course of the season, Senesi has created four big chances which is level with Antoine Semenyo and David Brooks as a team-leading tally at Bournemouth. Therefore, Senesi has a good route to points as well as some potential for achieving the six-point bonus. 

Midfielders
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) 

Arsenal face a Brighton & Hove Albion side who have conceded some of the most big chances in the last four matches, with only struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United having conceded more. Over the course of the season, Bukayo Saka has created seven big chances which is only bettered in the Arsenal squad by Declan Rice who has made two appearances more.   

Florian Wirtz (Liverpool) 

Whilst in the main game FPL managers are flocking to Hugo Ekitike, in this week's FPL Challenge it feels like his Liverpool team-mate Florian Wirtz is the better pick. Wirtz has created two big chances in the last two weeks and in the absence of players like  the injured Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak, AFCON participant Mohamed Salah and the suspended Dominik Szoboszlai, Wirtz's creativity will be increasingly important. Whilst Ekitike is likely to score goals, the six additional points for big chances created could make Wirtz the highest-scoring Liverpool player in this week's Challenge. 

Forwards
Erling Haaland (Man City) 

Erling Haaland remains the highest scoring player in the game and comes up against a Nottingham Forest side who have just found themselves on the wrong end of a defeat in Gameweek 17. Over the course of the season, Manchester City have had more big chances than any other team with 59 and Haaland has created six of them. The only two Man City assets who have created more big chances are Rayan Cherki and the currently injured Jeremy Doku.

Jarrod Bowen (West Ham)

Despite a challenging start to the season, West Ham United's fixtures are about to swing for the better and this is their opportunity to try and get away from the relegation zone. Bowen is the man who feels most likely to help them achieve this. Lucas Paqueta and James Ward-Prowse are the only West Ham players who have created more big chances this season than Bowen, whose seven attacking returns, including three in the last three weeks, is also team-leading. 

Related Content