In Fantasy Premier League, one of the best ways to get an edge of your rivals and boost your rank is to pick players who outperform the most-popular stars.
Here, the Scout runs the rule over the six most-owned players to identify who is a must-have and who could be overlooked or sold.
How top six are performing
Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) has proven just as vital as Erling Haaland (£14.0m) for managers in Fantasy this season.
The Liverpool talisman is the first player to surpass the 100-point mark, producing 10 goals and four assists in his first 12 fixtures.
See: Why Salah has beaten Haaland to 100 points in FPL
Salah has delivered a league-high five double-figure hauls, bettering the four of Manchester City’s Haaland and Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min (£9.7m).
Haaland has rewarded his huge 83 per cent ownership with 16 attacking returns, scoring 13 goals and supplying three assists.
Son’s prospects, meanwhile, have been transformed since a move up front in Gameweek 4. The South Korean has amassed 82 points, scoring eight goals and supplying an assist.
Bukayo Saka (£8.6m) and Ollie Watkins’ (£8.4m) all-round style of play has been vital to their output.
Arsenal’s Saka is the most-selected midfielder in Fantasy, rewarding his 50 per cent owners with four goals and six assists.
Six goals and eight assists have helped Aston Villa’s Watkins establish himself as the preferred partner to Haaland in the 3-5-2 formation favoured by managers this season.
See: FPL Team of the Season so far
Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier (£7.0m) is by far the most-popular defender, selected by 50 per cent.
The right-back has combined five clean sheets with six assists, also collecting 15 bonus points.
Output of most-owned players
| Player | Owned % | Pts | Returns | Double-digit returns | Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 83 | 96 | 16 | 4 | 14 |
| Saka | 50 | 71 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| Trippier | 50 | 69 | 11 | 3 | 15 |
| Salah | 46 | 101 | 14 | 5 | 14 |
| Watkins | 43 | 80 | 14 | 2 | 9 |
| Son | 40 | 82 | 9 | 4 | 11 |
Further analysis of each player’s season highlights those who are less likely to frustrate managers, and those who have the potential to make managers regret selling them.
Salah’s two blanks in 12 matches essentially means he has delivered either a goal or an assist in 10 of his matches, or 83 per cent.
In those 10 matches in which he has produced attacking returns, he has averaged 9.8 points per match (ppm).
A comparison of Saka and Son shows their hugely contrasting seasons in terms of output.
Saka has blanked only twice and has averaged 7.3ppm in the nine matches where he has produced attacking returns.
Son, on the other hand, has failed to produce returns on seven occasions.
Essentially, 65 of his 82 points have come over five matches against Burnley, Arsenal, Liverpool, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
However, Son’s 13.0ppm in those outings shows why his ability to deliver monster hauls can reward managers’ patience.
See: Is it time to sell Son in FPL?
Trippier is a similar player, blanking in six of his 12 matches.
But when he returns, he scores big. Indeed, Trippier has averaged 10.5ppm in the six matches where he has produced either an attacking return or a clean sheet.
| Player | No. of matches with returns | Blanks | % of matches with returns | Ppm when returning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salah | 10 | 2 | 83 | 9.8 |
| Saka | 9 | 2 | 82 | 7.3 |
| Watkins | 9 | 3 | 75 | 8.2 |
| Haaland | 8 | 4 | 66 | 11.1 |
| Trippier | 6 | 6 | 50 | 10.5 |
| Son | 5 | 7 | 42 | 13.0 |
So, who can you go without?
Ultimately, Salah and Haaland should be non-negotiables for managers’ squads. Both are capable of huge hauls and, crucially, have the consistency to ensure their owners will rarely be disappointed.
Haaland’s ownership means he is always going to be the most-selected captain in any Gameweek, which also highlights the appeal of Salah as an armband alternative to the Norwegian.
Although Watkins has a testing upcoming schedule, his consistency, combined with a real lack of competition from other forwards in Fantasy, offers little reason to sell.
He will also be a big target at home to Sheffield United in Blank Gameweek 18, when Haaland is without a fixture.
See: Who is the best forward to partner Haaland in Fantasy?
Saka has only been involved in more than one goal in just one match this season and has clearly yet to find top form.
Both Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo (£6.8m) and West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m) cost less and have appealing schedules that could turn the heads of some Saka owners.
See: Who’s the best FPL midfielder under £7.0m for fixtures ahead?
Nonetheless, Arsenal also have a very kind schedule which could help Saka get back to his best. According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), just one of their next 10 matches score more than two.
Son and Trippier, meanwhile, are effectively what is known as “rank killers” - high-owned, inconsistent players who will deliver huge hauls and blanks in equal measure.
Notably, though, both players’ prospects have been affected by injuries to team-mates which could result in more blanks than huge hauls, in the short term at least.
An injury to Spurs playmaker James Maddison (£7.9m) means Son is the most disposable of all six players here, particularly with matches against Man City and Newcastle to come in the next four Gameweeks.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are without two of their first-choice back four, which could limit Trippier’s prospects of clean sheets.
However, the England star's potential for assists means there is a little more optimism than there is with Son. Trippier has created 33 chances this season, more than any other player in Fantasy.
View all the latest FPL tips ahead of Gameweek 13 in Fantasy Premier League