Fantasy Challenge: Pick ONLY midfielders and forwards

This week’s FPL Challenge allows managers to select a team of seven players made up of only midfielders and forwards for an unlimited budget. 

Here, FPL expert Sam Bonfield reveals how she’s tackling Gameweek 30.

Fantasy returns after a long break for international football as well as the FA Cup and we are straight into a midweek round of action for this week's FPL Challenge.

This week's challenge is called Fortified Front and rather than selecting a full team including a goalkeeper and defenders as well as the forward players, this week is purely about the midfielders and forwards. Managers have to utilise a 0-4-3 formation with four midfielders and three forwards selected.

There is interestingly no budget restrictions for this challenge meaning that if managers want, they can pick the likes of Erling Haaland (£14.8m), Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) and Cole Palmer (£10.8m) all in the same team without compromising elsewhere. 

Premium midfielders

In most seasons the Merseyside derby might make some managers shy away from picking the Egyptian in this challenge. However, Salah is the highest scoring player in history having already beaten his previous total in just 29 Gameweeks.

Salah's home record hasn't actually been as good as his away form this season, despite this I still think he is an essential pick.

Salah has returned four goals and an assist in the last four matches against Everton in the Premier League.

Salah's PL home & away record 24/25

I have opted not to pair him with Palmer simply because of the flag on the Chelsea midfielder who missed international duty as a result of the injury that kept him out of Gameweek 29.

Palmer has three goals and three assists in three Premier League matches against Gameweek 30 opponents Spurs so leaving him out could be a mistake.

If head coach Enzo Maresca rules him fit in his press conference ahead of Thursday's match, then I might yet bring him in, especially as the midfielder has been pictured in training.

However, with the Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur fixture the only match on Thursday, managers who do opt for Palmer will need a plan for a replacement from that fixture if he isn't in the starting XI. 

Palace duo

The rest of the midfielder slots, and actually the forward ones too, are all about attacking the fixtures. Crystal Palace have an appealing fixture against struggling Southampton. however choosing between Ismaila Saar (£5.7m) and Eberechi Eze (£6.7m) was a difficult one. There is even a case for owning both. 

Saar has registered back-to-back double digit hauls in the Premier League. The midfielder returned 11 points against Ipswich Town in Gameweek 28 as well as 15 points against Aston Villa in Gameweek 27.

Sarr also leads Eze for points scored this season with 113 compared to the Englishman's 86. Over the season Sarr has more goals than Eze. However, Eze has more assists than his team-mate.

Eze has however had more attempts on goal and is averaging one every 23.2 minutes in comparison to every 45.2 minutes for Sarr. Eze also has set-piece and corner responsibility which gives him an increased route to points.

Best of Bowen

I have currently opted for Sarr based on current form, however Palace's FA Cup fixture at the weekend might sway me back to Eze, especially as there are no budget restrictions. I might also end up with both if Palace impress in the FA Cup. If that happens it will likely be at the expense of Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m). 

In recent matches we are starting to see the return of the best of Bowen, which subsequently lead to an England call up in Thomas Tuchel's first squad. Bowen has returned in three of the last four Gameweeks and is absolutely vital to the Hammers' attack.

West Ham face a Wolves side in Gameweek 30 who have kept just one clean sheet in the last five Gameweeks. His 125 points over the course of the season makes him the seventh highest scoring midfielder in the game and so if the Hammers score he looks set to be involved. 

Kluivert or Semenyo?

Like with the Palace midfielders choosing between the Bournemouth midfielders is tough this week. Justin Kluivert (£6.3m) has 147 points this season, 36 more than team-mate Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m). Kluivert has 12 goals and six assists so far this season in comparison to seven goals and four assists for Semenyo.

This highlights the importance of the additional routes to points through set-pieces and penalties and explains why I have opted for the likes of Salah and Bowen for this additional potential.

Of Kluivert's 12 goals, six have come from penalties. He is however a doubt to face Ipswich Town, Bournemouth confirmed on their official website.

The data and the eye test made me opt for the Netherlands international over Semenyo. Whilst Semenyo has a higher expected assist tally, Kluivert betters him for both Expected Goals (xG) and Expected Goal Involvement (xGI).

Like with the Palace midfielders, I have given serious consideration to owning both in my Gameweek 30 Challenge team, however the lure of the set-piece and penalty takers elsewhere is too great. 

Who joins Marmoush?

There haven't been many times this season that I have wanted to select a Manchester City double up. However, in Gameweek 30 they have one of the most attractive fixtures of the week at home to Leicester City.

Haaland and Omar Marmoush (£7.4m) together was my plan until Haaland was forced off through injury and then pictured in a protective boot after the FA Cup quarter-final win at Bournemouth.

Marmoush has become an even better pick now though. He came on for Haaland and immediately scored the winning goal against Bournemouth. He also returned his second double digit haul in FPL in Gameweek 29.

Since his debut in Gameweek 23, Marmoush has scored four goals, which is the same as Haaland and is only bettered by Everton's Beto (£5.1m). His 38 points is also only one less than Chris Wood (£7.2m) who is having an incredible season. 

Alongside Marmoush, Jean Philippe-Mateta (£7.6m) returned from injury in the FA Cup. Although the Palace forward didn't score, his minutes were promising for a good return against Southampton in midweek.

Ahead of his injury Mateta had returned in seven of the previous eight Gameweeks and like Sarr and Eze has a great fixture as well as penalty responsibilities.

Taking Haaland out of my picks left a forward space to be filled. In this case I have opted for Bournemouth's Evanilson (£5.7m). Despite Bournemouth suffering from a recent dip in form they have an excellent fixture to help them bounce back from the FA Cup result.

Other players I considered were Alexander Isak (£9.4m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.4m) both could be good options if there are any surprises on the team sheets in midweek. 

With Haaland now not in the team, Salah wears the captain's armband.