Fantasy Premier League

Wissa or Mbeumo: Who is the better Brentford pick in FPL?

22 Aug 2023

The Scout compares the Bees’ in-demand attackers ahead of a kind run of fixtures

Managers in Fantasy Premier League are moving quickly to invest in Bryan Mbeumo (£6.6m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.1m), aiming to capitalise on Brentford’s kind run of early fixtures.

Mbeumo and Wissa have both profited from Ivan Toney’s (£8.0m) lengthy suspension and currently rank among the three top-scoring players in Fantasy.

Player	Pts	Gls	Ass	GW3 Transfers in
Mbeumo	23	3	0	626,000
Wissa	20	2	1	472,000

Mbeumo has benefited from penalty duties in Toney’s absence, converting from the spot against Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham.

Wissa has also scored in those two matches and looks set to play as the Bees’ lone forward while Toney continues his suspension.

The pair place among the top three for transfers in ahead of Friday’s 18:30 BST deadline, with Mbeumo leading the way on 626,000.

See: Scout Selection: Best FPL team for Gameweek 3

Certainly, the Bees’ upcoming schedule suggests those new owners will be richly rewarded.

According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), four of their next five matches score only two.

Brentford's next five matches

GW	Opp.	FDR	GW	Opp.	FDR
3	CRY (H)	2	6	EVE (H)	2
4	BOU (H)	2	7	NFO (A)	2
5	NEW (A)	4	-	-	-

Wissa has been the standout goal threat in the first two Gameweeks of 2023/24, as highlighted by the underlying statistics.

His 10 shots, nine shots in the box and five shots on target all place among the top two players in Fantasy across the first two rounds of fixtures.

But Mbeumo has matched those five shots on target and has had double the number of big chances, with penalties making up two of his four.

2023/24	Wissa	Mbeumo
Shots	10	6
Shots in box	9	6
Big chances	2	4
Shots on target	5	5
Chances created	2	1

On pure goal threat alone, Wissa makes the stronger claim as Brentford’s go-to attacker.

Wissa's GW1 goal v Spurs

🅰️ @ricohenry14
⚽️ Wissa pic.twitter.com/rCcCT9hpQJ
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) August 13, 2023

However, his appeal in Fantasy is likely to be determined by managers’ tactics.

The 3-5-2 formation has proven popular this season, and with Erling Haaland (£14.0m) occupying one of those two spaces up front, the competition to partner the Manchester City forward is fierce.

For those managers, Wissa is essentially vying with Julian Alvarez (£6.5m) and Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m) for a role alongside Haaland right now, with both Man City and Chelsea also set to embark on kind upcoming schedules.

See: Best replacements for benched Joao Pedro in Fantasy

Set-piece threat

When assessing Mbeumo, Brentford’s reliance on goals from dead-ball situations must be factored in.

Thomas Frank’s side scored 16 goals from set-pieces last term, second only to the 17 of Liverpool.

Having also converted seven penalties, Brentford essentially scored 23 of their 58 goals – or 40 per cent – from either set-pieces or penalties.

By contrast, while Arsenal scored 18 goals from set-pieces or penalties, this only accounted for 20 per cent of their goals.

Most set-piece goals in 2022/23

Club	Set-pieces	Pens	Total goals	% from set-pieces/pens
Liverpool	17	2	75	25
Spurs	16	5	70	30
Brentford	16	7	58	40
Arsenal	15	3	88	20

This pattern is very similar to 2021/22, Brentford’s first season in the Premier League.

They scored 21 of their 48 goals – or 44 per cent – from set-pieces or penalties.

BRE

1-1

CRY

TV Info - Broadcasters

Although Mbeumo’s run of penalties is unsustainable, his share of corners and free-kicks for Brentford means he is likely to remain a rich source of returns in Fantasy.

While that all-round potential makes Mbeumo the best option for managers, the numbers show that doubling up with Wissa could clearly pay off.

Indeed, the growing number of mid-price options across both midfield and forwards in Fantasy suggests that having both players in a rotating squad, and playing them according to the fixtures, could be a very profitable tactic in the coming Gameweeks.