De Bruyne absence forces FPL rethink

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that his Manchester City side will be without Kevin De Bruyne (£10.8m) for the next few weeks following the Belgian's recent hamstring injury.

"Kevin is not a big injury," he told mancity.com last night. "In two and a half or three weeks, maybe he will be ready."

Fantasy Premier League managers must now consider their plans.

De Bruyne's stunning early season form had played him into more than 20% of FPL squads. 

He had attracted 160,832 new owners ahead of Gameweek 5 and 416,228 before Saturday's 10-point return at Swansea City, De Bruyne's third consecutive double-figure haul. 

The City man will sit out Sunday's trip to Tottenham Hotspur and possibly the Etihad Stadium meeting with Everton which follows the international break in Gameweek 8.

There is perhaps a solution close to home, as team-mate Raheem Sterling (£8.6m) looks tailor-made to step up in De Bruyne's absence.

Rejuvenated under Guardiola, Sterling has produced four goals in his last three outings and, like De Bruyne, has returned points in five of the opening six Gameweeks.

However, with Sergio Aguero (£13.0m) unquestionably the form option up front, FPL managers may want to overlook Sterling in midfield for fear of City's attack stalling without De Bruyne's influence.

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez (£11.1m) is the other obvious route.

A like-for-like option the Gunners winger is priced in the same bracket, allowing many managers the option to make a straight swap. The Chilean's form also mirrors that of De Bruyne. 

Sanchez has fired four goals in his last three Premier League starts, only stumbling in the Gameweek 4 home encounter with Southampton having been limited to 29 minutes from the bench.

That appearance followed the previous international break and, with Arsenal only seeing off the Saints thanks to a 94th-minute penalty, it would suggest that Arsene Wenger will be mindful of resting his prize asset in Gameweek 8 against Swansea City.

Sanchez has found his way into 140,000+ new squads this week; only the aforementioned Aguero has seen more investment.

There are other worthy alternatives.

Son Heung-min's blossoming form is difficult to overlook after producing five goals in his last five outings in all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur.  

His price, coupled with an average of 3.7 goal attempts in the box per match, threatens to override any concerns of competition in Mauricio Pochettino’s starting XI. 

More than 80,000 FPL managers have acquired Son this week, with 11,000+ of those making the straight swap from De Bruyne. 

Liverpool's midfielders continue to thrive as a source of FPL points but, with a rich cast of candidates on offer from Jurgen Klopp's ranks, it is difficult to pin down a single target.

Adam Lallana (£7.2m) looks to be the prize option at the lower end of the market, with his kind price allowing investment elsewhere.

More than 114,000 FPL managers have explored this option this week, making Lallana the third-most transferred in FPL asset. 

Sadio Mane (£9.0m) sits at the other end of the price scale but has the goal threat to back it up with an average of 2.2 goal attempts in the box per match this season.

Both Philippe Coutinho (£8.2m) and Roberto Firmino (£8.4m) offer alternatives and, with Liverpool about to embark on a prolonged spell of favourable fixtures, investment in at least one of the Reds' quartet looks almost essential.

Everton and Manchester United are Liverpool's only opponents in the current top eight from now until Boxing Day - a spell that spans 12 Gameweeks.

With those fixtures Liverpool's midfield contingent have the potential to replace De Bruyne in our squads for the long-term.

Remember the Gameweek 7 deadline is at 7pm BST Friday 30 September