Fantasy managers were handed yet another injury blow in midweek as Brentford midfielder Bryan Mbeumo hobbled off against Brighton with an ankle knock.
Bees manager Thomas Frank has confirmed the Cameroon international will now miss weeks of action after sustaining the blow on the south coast. He’s in almost a third of sides and already faces a blank Gameweek 18, so he needs to be moved out.
I’ve picked out the top midfield replacements in conjunction with Fantasy Football Hub’s powerful AI Points Predictions tool to show their predicted points for FPL Gameweek 16.
Jarrod Bowen
Bowen has recovered from his own injury knock / Vince Mignott/MB Media/GettyImages
- Fixture: Fulham (A); Predicted Points: 5.2
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen has become the forgotten man after missing out with injury in Gameweek 13 and is being overlooked as a Mbeumo replacement. Aside from that injury, he has played 90 minutes in every single game and is a key man in the Hammers attack.
Bowen has eight goals this season, with premiums Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min the only players to have a better goalscoring record. Opponents Fulham have kept just four clean sheets this campaign, conceding nine goals in their last four games.
Cole Palmer
Palmer is earning regular FPL returns with Chelsea / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/GettyImages
- Fixture: Everton (A): Predicted Points: 4.7
Chelsea’s Cole Palmer is dominating much of the transfer traffic this gameweek after scoring his fifth goal of the season in the defeat at Manchester United on Wednesday. Expect his ownership to steadily climb as we get close to the Gameweek 16 deadline.
The big appeal with Palmer is Chelsea’s upcoming fixture list, with games against Everton, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace and Luton Town in their next five. In fact, their next difficult fixture isn’t until the end of January, giving longevity to Palmer as a fantasy pick.
Anthony Gordon
Gordon is a big game player for Newcastle / Clive Brunskill/GettyImages
- Fixture: Tottenham (A); Predicted Points: 4.0
Anthony Gordon was back in training ahead of Newcastle’s trip to Everton in midweek and looks set to be another popular Mbeumo replacement given his six goals and five assists so far this season.
The trip to Tottenham is a tough one, but Spurs’ last clean sheet came back in Gameweek 9. Gordon has delivered in every home game so far this season and faces both Fulham and Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park in the next four gameweeks.