The theme of this week's Fantasy Challenge is "Restricted Budget". In this Gameweek, managers only have £25.0m to spend on their 5-a-side team. When deciding which players to invest in, it is important to look at how they rank in the key stats, as well as the fixtures.
Here, FPL expert Sam Bonfield reveals how she’s tackling Gameweek 22.
Pick your Fantasy Challenge team NOW!
Limited budgets always make for some very difficult decisions. On average there is £5.0m to spend on each player. However, finding good attacking players for £5.0m and under is difficult. Especially because there are so many players in fantastic form with great fixtures this weekend. In a regular Gameweek, Mohamed Salah (£13.7m), Alexander Isak (£9.4m) and Chris Wood (£6.9m) would have been top of my list. I spent a long time trying to work Wood into my team, but the implications of spending £6.9m on one player on the other four spots is too great. I have, however, allowed my team to be dominated by two clubs this week, plus one pick from a third side.
Goalkeepers
Putting Matz Sels (£5.0m) in my team was my instant gut feeling. Nottingham Forest have kept nine clean sheets this season, more than any other team in the league. They also host Southampton, who have scored the fewest goals in the league this season, with just 13. However, having Sels along with my four other picks meant I was £0.5m over budget. As a result, I have swapped Sels for Tottenham Hotspur's new goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky (£4.5m).
Kinsky has had a baptism of fire since arriving at Spurs. He kept clean sheets against both Liverpool and Tamworth in the EFL Cup and FA Cup respectively, and was then thrown into the north London derby in midweek. Kinsky made three saves against Arsenal in Gameweek 21, and with the way Spurs play, he is likely to be kept busy. Kinsky and Spurs visit Everton this weekend. The Toffees have only scored once since Gameweek 14.
Defenders
Without the budget for Sels, going for a Nottingham Forest defender felt essential. Neco Williams (£4.3m) is the cheapest of the Forest defenders and has started each of their last seven Premier League matches. In that time he has registered four clean sheets and an assist, as well as two bonus points. If managers have more funds available, I would still opt for Nikola Milenkovic (£4.8m), but that extra £0.5m is difficult to find with a restricted budget. I did also consider Antonee Robinson (£5.0m), as well as Lewis Hall (£5.0m), as both boast some attacking threat, while Hall also takes corners for Newcastle. However, in order to spend more than £5.0m in attack, I couldn't find the additional budget.
Midfielders
Normally in FPL Challenge I like to set up in a 1-2-1 formation if it is 5-a-side theme, and this week is no exception. This allows me to make the most of the additional points for midfielders. This week is no different. First up is Anthony Elanga (£5.3m). Without the budget for Wood in attack, I have opted for Elanga as I expect Forest to do well at home to Southampton. Elanga has scored or assisted in each of the last six matches, registering 45 points. Only Salah and Isak have more attacking returns than Elanga over that period. The Sweden international will also be my captain.
Alongside Elanga I have opted for Fulham's Harry Wilson (£5.2m). Wilson has two goals and an assist over the last four Gameweeks. In that time, only four midfielders have had more attempts on goal than the 13 of Wilson. He has also created eight chances for his team-mates.
Other options that I considered are Amad (£5.5m), following his hat-trick in Gameweek 21, along with West Ham's Carlos Soler (£5.0m), who scored his first goal for the Hammers and picked up two bonus points in midweek. However, the fixtures for Fulham and Nottingham Forest fixtures are more appealing this week, hence going with Wilson and Elanga.
Forwards
As mentioned, I would really have liked to have had Wood as my forward this week. However, he is now £6.9m and just unaffordable this week. This means that doubling up on the Fulham attack with Raul Jimenez (£5.7m) seems very sensible. The Mexican has scored three goals across his last three matches, registering 23 points. Meanwhile, only Brentford's Yoane Wissa (£6.2m) has had more attempts on goal than Jimenez during that period.
Ipswich's Liam Delap (£5.6m) is another player that I considered, but he has a difficult fixture against a Man City team who are coming back into form. This is also true of the other budget forwards who are available such as Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.4m) who faces Chelsea, and Jamie Vardy (£5.5m), who is up against Fulham.
