FPL Gameweek 21: Transfer Tips, Captain & Team

It is time to prepare our Fantasy Premier League teams for Gameweek 21 and a period, where we will be without some key FPL assets, such as Salah, Son, Kudus, and Hwang, who are going to AFCON and Asian Cup. And while December schedule was very busy and we saw 7 gameweeks in just one month, there will be just 2 gameweeks in January due to the Winter Break.

Let’s jump to our FPL GW21 Tips with the best picks, fixtures, transfer targets, odds, captain picks, and team selection.

1. Dealing with AFCON and Asian Cup

How long will AFCON and Asian Cup players be out?

Some players might just miss one gameweek (or two gameweeks) – players that will be eliminated in the group stage. Gameweek 22 starts on January 30, while the last AFCON Group stage game is scheduled on January 24.

See more in our FPL calendar.

Other players (those who make it to the final will likely miss 4 gameweeks, as the AFCON final is scheduled on 11 February, while the GW25 starts on 17 February. Or it could even be 5 gameweeks – if there is a delay for returning players due to the winning celebration.

Read more about which players will miss PL due to AFCON and Asian Cup in our article: Which players go to AFCON and Asian Cup? (+Impact on FPL)

Selling AFCON and Asian Cup players

• If you have a lot of AFCON and Asian Cup players in your team, you could consider benching some of them – those who are less expensive and less likely to progress from the group stage (as they might miss just 1 gameweek)
• Prioritize selling more expensive players and players who are likely to progress deep in their tournaments

*If you have Onana and a playing bench goalkeeper, keep Onana as he actually might play in GW21

Transfer AFCON and Asian Cup players first

• If you have some players in your team that you are not happy long term (for example Diaby, Rashford, Darwin, etc…) it is not a priority to sell them now, so you should give them another chance. Prioritize selling players that went to AFCON or Asian Cup

Read more:

• When will players return from AFCON & Asian Cup to Premier League?
• Best Salah, Son, Kudus, Hwang Replacements for FPL GW21

2. Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 21 Tips

• Do not forget that the deadline for GW21 was moved to Friday!!
• There are FA Cup and Carabao Cup games before GW21 (see more in our FPL calendar), so anything could happen before GW21 deadline
• Toney should be back for Gameweek 21, so do not overlook him. Put him on your watchlist. But it remains to be seen whether he plays in GW21 or not, as there are rumors he might be sold in January.
• De Bruyne was back on Man. City bench – expect Alvarez to get fewer minutes in the future (but that should not be a problem right away)
• If you have one free transfer, just do not make an early transfer – it doesn’t make sense, save your free transfer close to the deadline as there are two weeks between GW20 – GW21 deadline. You will have to suffer a few price drops, but it is far better than transferring in a player who might get injured during two weeks long break.
• If you have two free transfers, you can potentially use one free transfer early, and save the other for the deadline, however, we would still advise saving both free transfers to Friday 12 January.

Should you take hits if you have too many injured players?

• Mini-wildcard is an option (2 free transfers + 1 hit for -4) to rebalance your squad to deal with AFCON absences
• We think it is okay to take up to -8 points hit this gameweek given how many absentees we have. If you cannot fix issues in your team with -8 points hit, you might consider suing your wildcard. But be careful, we still think the second wildcard will be more valuable a bit later in the season. Read more: When to use second wildcard in 2023/24 season?

Haaland plan for GW21/GW22

• Wait for Haaland’s injury news. Despite that Newcastle is struggling defensively, Haaland is not a priority transfer for us in GW21 (if fit).
• Haaland was back in training for City, but Guardiola said again that “maybe Newcastle”, so it is not 100% guaranteed he will start in GW21. But it looks like for GW22 he will be fit. Haaland also missed the Cup game against Huddersfield on January 7.
• As it stands, we are not going to buy Haaland in GW21. But that could change if there is new information before the deadline. Read more about it in our article: Our Haaland plan for GW21

PEP 💬 (Injury updates) Jeremy [Doku] feels really good, Kevin [De Bruyne] as well but his injury was for a long time… we have to be patient. Erling is a little bit better as well… but we need to be careful. I don’t know about Sunday, maybe Newcastle but for the rest, we will… pic.twitter.com/d1mEdPyY4v

— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 5, 2024

What to do with Bowen and Trent Alexander Arnold?

Read more in our articles:

• Bowen: Keep or Sell?
• Trent Alexander Arnold: Keep or Sell?

3. FPL Gameweek 21 Transfer Tips and Key Players to pick

Key players to pick

• Saka, Odegaard – aim to have at least one Arsenal midfielder – you could even double up on their midfield as you will be looking for Son and Salah replacement
• Gabriel/Saliba/Raya –  have at least one Arsenal defensive player
• Palmer – good stats, fixtures, on penalties
• Watkins
• Pedro Porro – attacking threat, on set pieces while Maddison is out

Transfer targets

• Jota
• Gross
• Foden
• Doughty
• Estupinan – back from injury, great fixture run
• Joao Pedro
• VVD
• Walker
• Richarlison
• Bowen, Ward Prowse, Souček

Who to transfer out – prioritize transferring out AFCON and Asian Cup players, solve other issues later

• Salah
• Son
• Kudus
• Hwang
• Mitoma
• Jackson
• Wissa
• Trent Alexander Arnold