FPL experts: The best Man Utd and Liverpool picks for FPL Challenge

In the Gameweek 32 FPL Challenge players from Manchester United and Liverpool will score DOUBLE, and with many big hitters to choose from FPL experts Lee Bonfield and Pranil Sheth give their advice on which assets to select ahead of Sunday's match.

Lee Bonfield (@FPLFamily)

I’ll be heavily investing in my team Liverpool - with a couple of players from Man Utd for good measure.

I’d back Jurgen Klopp’s side to avenge the FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford a few weeks ago - so I’ll use all five of the available slots, particularly as Liverpool are top for Expected Goals (xG) over the last six Gameweeks. For all their attacking flair, however, Liverpool still like to concede xG and give the opponent chances, so I’ll likely have an attacker or two from United.

After racking up 12 shots on goal against Brighton & Hove Albion - his highest in a Premier League match - and coming off early against Sheffield United, Mohamed Salah (£13.4m) is nailed on in my FPL Challenge team.

After a couple of weeks’ break while others were on international duty, Salah looks fit and raring to go, with no signs that the hamstring injury from a few weeks ago was causing any issues.

The relationship between him, Alexis Mac Allister (£5.9m) and Conor Bradley (£4.3m) down that right flank has looked dangerous in recent weeks and led to Mac Allister directly creating five chances in the win over Brighton last weekend. Mac Allister also scored a screamer against Sheff Utd on Thursday, which means he has now returned in six-straight matches.

Next up, I’ll go for Darwin Nunez (£7.7m). I have some slight hesitation here, as his showing was not that impressive against Brighton, but I still think he is Liverpool’s most dangerous No 9. The way he occupied Brighton’s centre-halves made more space for players such as Salah and Luis Diaz (£7.6m) to operate.

My final selection is Diaz, who has retained his starting spot, with Cody Gakpo (£7.1m) again named among the substitutes. 

I will also have a couple of Man Utd attackers, Marcus Rashford (£8.4m) and Alejandro Garnacho (£4.9m), as I expect them to have some success on the counter-attack. Garnacho, in particular, looked great against Chelsea, despite the defeat.

Pranil Sheth (@Lateriser12)

Club loyalties are one thing and team ability and aptitude is another. When filtered by the last six matches, Man Utd are the worst team in the league for xG conceded, whereas Liverpool are the best.

What happens when you are a Man Utd fan and watch your club week in week out is that you realise the weaknesses of your club as well.

Keeping these two things in mind, and noting that the points are doubling for both Liverpool and Man Utd assets, I would definitely have a triple Liverpool attack at the minimum. Salah, Nunez and Diaz are the front three on Sunday and I would throw them all into the team. Infact, Salah and Diaz are the top two players in the league when filtered by Expected Goal Involvements (xGI) in the last six matches. Salah will also likely be on penalties, so this is where I would go.

With Alexander-Arnold still out, I would throw Bradley in there. He is very much capable of scoring a goal or creating an assist by sheer virtue of his attacking quality. Given that the match-up is, on paper, favourable for Liverpool, I’d throw Virgil van Dijk (£6.6m) in there, as he is always a threat from set-pieces.

When it comes to Man Utd, I wouldn’t really prioritise our defence. That said, we saw in the FA Cup tie that United always seem extra motivated in these matches, and they will be dangerous on the transition.

I would throw Rashford, Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) into my team. Even though Fernandes hasn’t looked too dangerous in open play, penalties are always a possibility and it just makes good sense to cover all the potential penalty-takers in your team because something like that is unpredictable.

If you are perhaps much more optimistic about Man Utd's chances, I'd recommend Rasmus Hojlund (£7.0m), who has been involved in a high percentage of their goals recently, and Andre Onana (£4.9m). Onana has made three or more saves in his last 10 league starts, and if United were to keep a clean sheet, there’s a chance he will have made more than a few saves. Even if Onana doesn’t keep a clean sheet, I am fully expecting those saves to add up.

Strategically, I would definitely look at five players from Liverpool and maybe three to four from Man Utd.