Jacob Murphy an FPL must have and the return to form of Foden and Fernandes - Top tips for GW22

Welcome back to the Hive FPL blog.

It's a quick turnaround in GWs with the action from midweek still fresh in everyone's minds.

It's also worth remembering that next week sees the return of European football making this time of year the real acid test for the strength of any squad. Will we see rotation and/or injuries? It seems inevitable.

It also makes the question of when to play your 2nd wildcard really interesting. Many an FPL manager's plans for the season have been scuppered by mid-season injuries or activity in the transfer window.

When are you planning to use your 2nd wildcard or if you've used it already, how are the changes working out for you?

Here are the weekend's fixtures and the players to watch out for

With 6 wins on the bounce, Newcastle are the form team at the moment and that run has catapulted them into the top 4. The obvious fantasy picks for managers are star players Isak (FWD) and Gordon (MID)

However, don't disregard the likes of Murphy (MID) as well particularly at the very reasonable price of £5.1mil. The midfielder has 8 goal involvements in his last 6 Premier League matches and is 12th on the ICT rating for that same period.

Bournemouth meanwhile are unbeaten in those same half dozen matches so this will not be an easy task for Newcastle even at fortress St James Park. Semenyo (MID) is back in the points following a bit of lean spell and that includes goal involvements in all 3 of his last away matches.

I don't think we can call it a wobble just yet from Liverpool but they are perhaps losing some momentum in 2025. This of course won't be an easy game with Brentford particularly good at home and I'm sure keen to overturn yet another failure in the FA Cup.

This is also a head to head between 2 of the best performers in the FPL this season in Salah (MID) and Mbeumo (MID). Both blanked last week but you'd be surprised if lightening struck twice given the numbers they've put up throughout 24/25.

Elsewhere, Gakpo's (MID) ownership has steadily grown over the past 3 game weeks thanks not only to consistent points returns but the fact that he's now started 9 Premier League games in a row by far his best run in the starting XI since he joined the Reds.

Be careful what you wish for as a football supporter. I don't think anyone would argue that Steve Cooper's Foxes side were great or a joy to watch but when he left, Leicester weren't in the relegation zone. They are now 2 points adrift of safety and with 6 straight defeats are sinking fast.

Fulham would be very happy to take 3 points from them because while they continue to overachieve, they are finding it difficult to finish teams off at present and with the league table still so congested, turning a couple of draws in wins might be the difference between 3 or 4 places comes the final reckonings.

Worryingly for Leicester, they've not scored in any of their last 3 home matches so Fulham's fullbacks Robinson (DEF) and Castagne (DEF) who are routinely involved in goals too would be very good bets for this fixture.

As the managerial merry-go-round cranks into gear, I routinely find myself forgetting who is in charge at the clubs who have made a change recently.

Potter! It's Graham Potter. That's right. He's the man in the West Ham hot seat these days and he got off to a winning start with the 3-2 victory against Fulham. Another win at home would certainly help establish his credentials with a supporter base who are known for being a bit fickle.

With so many injuries in the forward line, the main question for the new manager is who does he pick upfront? However, Potter's difficulty could be turned to FPL managers advantage with the likes of Soucek (MID), Paquetta (MID) and Kudus (MID) all potentially getting into more goal scoring positions than they might otherwise if West Ham had their full squad available.

Palace players were very in vogue at the start of the season but have fallen out of favour as the months roll by. Might it be the time to bring them back in with what looks like a decent run of fixtures?

If so, Sarr (MID) who I've been recommending as an option for some time, might be the man to go for. Still under £6mil, the winger is Palace's 2nd highest points scorer this season with 74, not bad considering he didn't become a regular in the first team until GW9.

It's been an odd season for Villa. In many ways they'll be happy that they are still very much in the hunt for another Champions League place but they've struggled to find any kind of consistency and they still have a negative goal difference, the only side in the top half of the league to possess that.

Watkins (FWD) has at least returned to fitness and form over the last few game weeks although I dare say that he'll find the Arsenal defence harder to crack than the opponents he's faced of late. He's probably worth consideration for the few games after this with Villa having a nice run up until mid-February.

With Saka (MID) out injured it's difficult to really pick out an Arsenal asset to add to your squad. Jesus (FWD) was looking good with 4 back to back starts and 5 goal involvements but his ACL injury has ruled him out for the season and beyond. Havertz (FWD) and Martinelli (MID) get in plenty of goal scoring positions but lack that killer instinct to make them a solid pick especially when there are cheaper players available who are putting up superior numbers.

New old manager David Moyes returns for his first home game in charge of Everton since departing to be United's coach. Not to sound too sentimental but just think about what has transpired both in football and the world more generally since the last time he was in charge of an Everton game...

In fact, Toffees fans would probably prefer not to remember those times as the club has been on a fairly steady downward trajectory. Moyes inherits a team that has won just 3 times in the league this season and whose survival prospects are only really boosted by the fact that there are probably 3 sides who even worse than they are!

Everton haven't scored in the league at Goodison Park since the 4-0 thrashing of Wolves 6 weeks ago but they might fancy their chances against a Spurs team who have conceded 32 goals this season and are still without the bulk of their preferred defence.

After an incredibly difficult finish to 2024, 2025 has so far been much kinder to United and their fans with excellent results against bitter rivals Liverpool and Arsenal and a routine victory over bottom side Southampton in midweek.

Of course, what we've come to learn about United over recent seasons is that any step forward is usually followed by a step back so I wouldn't immediately rush to claim that the Red Devils are back.

Lots of managers will be looking at Amad (MID) as an excellent and affordable pick and Fernandes (MID) too is beginning to find his feet in this new system. His finish against Arsenal in the cup was world class and he had plenty of chances to get on the scoresheet in midweek too.

This however isn't a match that United have enjoyed in recent seasons. Brighton have beaten them in 5 out of the last 6 Premier League meetings and do at least come into this fixture with a win against Ipswich, their first victory in the league since November!

How much longer can Forest maintain their lofty position? Well on current form you'd fancy they can get 3 points out of this match and with the teams above them having much tougher assignments in GW22, they could even close the gap on the top 2!

By contrast, you won't get long odds on Southampton playing Championship football next season. They are awful regardless of the manager!

With 3 goals in his last 3 games, Wood (FWD) continues to be Forest's main man. What a story it would be if a 33-year-old journeyman striker from New Zealand could lead his side to glory. Elanga (MID) too is in fine form at the moment with a goal involvement in each of his last 6 matches.

Any of Forest's defenders would also be good picks. Only Liverpool have managed to score past them in the past 5 league games and they come up against a team who have managed just 13 goals all season.

Man City are just starting to shift momentum following their disastrous run at the end of last year. Haaland (FWD) has a new mega contract that will keep him at the club until the end of time. That's the advantage of recruiting robots to play for your club, they're very long lasting...

Savinho (MID) is the player that many managers are giving serious consideration too. With just 3 assists across the first 18 GWs and far from a guaranteed starter in this City side, the young Brazilian wasn't really up for consideration. However, he's started the last 4 and delivered 6 involvements following some public praise by his manager in regards the efforts he makes during training (compared to some others wearing Sky blue).

Foden (MID) too appears to be returning to his best. 6 starts in a row with goal involvements in 4 of those games following a very odd first half to the season mean that he could well be a player that more managers return to in the future particularly via their 2nd wildcard.

For Ipswich, the impressive Delap (FWD) will be hoping to show his old club just what they're missing. It's not quite at Cole Palmer levels but City's decision to allow Delap to leave on a permanent basis isn't looking like the greatest call in the world, especially given that they don't have recognised back up for Haaland.

Chelsea's fairly average defence was always likely to be their undoing despite some fans and pundits suggesting they were in the title race. You'd have thought with their massive squad that this should be a period of the season where they hold a significant advantage over many other teams chasing a top 4 spot so they'll be keen to claim 3 points at home to Wolves.

Despite, Chelsea's stuttering form, Palmer (MID) has double figure returns in 3 out of his last 4 Premier League appearances but he does come into GW22 carrying a bit of a knock. The Blues reliance on him is obvious with Jackson (FWD) no goal in 5 EPL matches, Madueke (MID) no goal in 6 EPL matches while pretty much every other of their high price attackers are suffering from even longer scoring droughts.

Wolves enjoyed a bounce from the appointment of their new manager but have been well beaten in their last couple of matches. They probably should have scored in both those games and given Chelsea's aforementioned defensive problems you wouldn't bet against their usual suspects upfront adding to their goal tallies this year. That being said, looking at Wolves fixture list until the end of next month, I'd probably not rush to bring in any of their players at this point.

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Good Luck in GW22