The Hard Tackle presents a list of candidates to replace Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland in the blank FPL Gamweek 18.
We are deep into the festive period, with games coming thick and fast across England. Gameweek 18 of the 2023/24 Premier League season will kick off on Thursday with the match between Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion. So, the FPL managers will have a rare Thursday deadline to prepare for this week.
The main topic of conversation heading into the deadline is the Blank Gameweek for Manchester City and Brentford, the first of the 2023/24 season. While these teams will return to action in Gameweek 19, FPL is renowned for drastic knee-jerking by a major proportion of the managers.
In addition, it might be worth their while for managers to offload Julian Alvarez, whose returns have reduced in the last few weeks. Meanwhile, Erling Haaland’s fitness situation is uncertain, with Pep Guardiola not revealing the timeline of his return.
With the two attackers being the most-owned players from Manchester City and Brentford, it is not surprising that they will see many managers offloading them. With that in mind, The Hard Tackle presents the list of candidates to pursue to replace Haaland and Alvarez this week.
Ollie Watkins
The most obvious pick, if you do not already have him in your squad, is Ollie Watkins. The Aston Villa striker has been in excellent touch thus far this season, amassing 14 goals and eight assists in 24 appearances.
The English international has contributed to 17 goals in the Premier League, making him one of the top performers in the top flight. That has also translated in FPL, with Watkins only behind Haaland in the tally, that too by just four points.
The 27-year-old has an attractive fixture list for the upcoming weeks, even though the Fixture Difficulty Rating may suggest otherwise. Watkins has produced a haul in four of his last six FPL outings, making him an appealing prospect to replace Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.
Dominic Solanke
From one mid-priced striker to another, we present a like-for-like replacement for Julian Alvarez. We are talking about Dominic Solanke, who has been exceptional in the 2023/24 season, which has already been the best campaign in his career.
The Englishman’s exploits have not gone unnoticed, with several well-known clubs, including Arsenal, setting their sights on him. Meanwhile, Solanke is the fourth-highest scorer among forwards in FPL this season, with only Erling Haaland, Ollie Watkins, and Alvarez ahead of him.
Like Watkins, Solanke has produced hauls in four of his last six outings, making him one of the most in-form players in FPL. In addition, his underlying numbers are impressive, with the 26-year-old having the best shot-conversion rate among the forwards in the Premier League since Gameweek 11. So, at £6.8m, he is an attractive prospect for your teams.
Callum Wilson
Our next candidate is slowly getting into the groove after recently returning from an injury-enforced spell on the sidelines. We are talking about Callum Wilson, Newcastle United’s goalscoring talisman.
The English international missed four Premier League games due to his latest fitness issue. But he has returned to action with a bang, producing a haul in one of his two top-flight outings since returning. In addition, he found the back of the net against Chelsea in the EFL Cup as Newcastle United bowed out of the competition.
Meanwhile, signing Wilson will also enable you to have a solid differential in your squad. The veteran striker features in only 4.2% of the FPL teams, with his price also dropping while he was out of action. So, securing his services will be sensible.
Nicolas Jackson
Our last pick might surprise readers of this column, considering this player’s inconsistencies this season. But Nicolas Jackson has been among the best performers in the Premier League since Gameweek 11.
The Senegalese international has five goals and one assist in his last seven appearances in the Premier League. In addition, six of Chelsea’s upcoming seven fixtures have an FPL Fixture Difficulty Rating of just 2, making this run an appealing period to take a punt on Jackson.
Chance creation has rarely been an issue for Chelsea this season. So, the 22-year-old will get many opportunities coming his way. At £6.9m, his price tag is appealing. In addition, Jackson features in only 6.9% of the FPL teams. So, it might be worth gambling on the former Villarreal forward.
