The FPL Draft waiver deadline for Gameweek 23 is this morning, so here is our timely round up of who the top performers have been so far, and who we expect to perform in weeks to come.

GW23 Fixtures Watford v Spurs Arsenal v Sheffield Utd Brighton v Aston Villa Man City v Crystal Palace Norwich v Bournemouth Southampton v Wolves West Ham v Everton Newcastle Palace v Chelsea Burnley v Leicester Liverpool v Man Utd

Waiver & Free Agent Targets:

Goalkeeper & Defence

Overall, clean sheets have been hard to come by this season, with the overall number of shut-outs dropping a whopping 25% from previous years. That being said, you have to play 3 defenders so it is always worth looking for who may keep clean sheets based on fixtures and form.

Brighton Hove & Albion

Upcoming Fixtures: AVL / bmouth / whu / WAT / shu / cry

An odd recommendation to make for a team currently sitting 14th in the table with a total goal difference of -5. However Brighton have looked a formidable team over the last 4 gameweeks – only conceding 3 goals.

In their last 6 games, Brighton have given their opponents (including Chelsea and Spurs) a run for their money, never conceding more than one goal a game.

If you couple this form with some favourable fixtures against struggling sides Aston Villa, Bournemouth and West Ham there is every chance that the south coast side can acheieve a clean sheet or two.

Goalkeeper Mathew Ryan is likely to be taken in your Draft League, however if he is sitting on the waiver wire then picking him up is a must. He is a save magnet and looks to pick up some CS points in the upcoming weeks.

At the back, Wesbster, Duffy, Dunk and Montoya are the players to look for. It may be worth getting more high value players in your waiver wire, then seeing which of these players are available in the Free Agent market after the deadline – a prudent pick as a 4th or 5th defender.

Southampton

Upcoming fixtures: WOL / cry / liv / BUR / AVL / whu /NEW / nor

Southampton have been in fine form over the last 5 games, scoring 9 goals and conceding 3 goals.

Much has been made of the in form striker Danny Ings who seems to have found his groove again after a few years moving clubs. So much so the BBC recently wrote a feature on it – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51021434

Apart from the game away at Liverpool in GW26, Southampton have a fine run of 8 fixtures, of which 6 teams sit 9th and below in the Premier League table.

The energy and running of Danny Ings and Shane Long has provided some much needed breathing space for Southampton’s defence, and we can hope for that to continue, resulting in some clean sheet points for the Southampton back line.

Jack Stevens is the defender to look for, the player most likely to pick up attacking returns in Southampton’s defence has picked up a goal and an assist in his last 6 games, as well as 2 clean sheets. Ryan Bertrand is also a mainstay in the back line, however his attackign returns have been tempered compared to seasons past.

Midfielders

Ismailia Sarr & Abdoulaye Doucoure

If Sarr has not been picked in your draft league then he is worth picking up for the next four weeks. Watford have turned a corner with 3 wins in a row, buoyed by the attacking performances of Sarr who has picked up 3 assists and 2 goals in his last 5 games (32 FPL Points / 5.16 PPGW).

Watford play Villa, Everton and Brighton in the next 4 weeks, all who are capable of conceding, not to mention Spurs’ troubles at the moment. If Watford put on a display in GW23 it will not be a guaranteed Spurs win.

If Sarr has been taken, there is slim chance Doucoure will have been. The direct and powerful midfielder has been stationed in the number 10 role, flanked by Deulofeu and supporting Troy Deeney. Doucoure has also turned a corner with 2 assists and 2 goals in the last 3 games, he likes to travel with the ball and isn’t afraid to take a chance.

Anwar El Ghazi

With the big injury blow to Wesley, El-Ghazi is now playing up front for Villa. There is a likelihood that the midfielder is available in your waiver wire considering he has mustered 2 returns in his last 8 games.

El Ghazi has quality around him in the likes of Grealish and it is now more likely that he will pick up the same type of form he had at the beginning of the season given his advanced position.

Villa have a test away to Brighton this week, where they will look to bounce back from their 6-0 trouncing to Man City, and then have winnable games against Watford and Bournemouth.

Forwards

Shane Long

Ralph Hassenhutl’s most recent press conference indicated that Danny Ings may be given a rest shortly, but more interestingly he touches on the need for his front two strikers to provide constant running and press.

This is something that would indicate the need to play Shane Long who featured for 77 minutes last game out in the Saints’ impressive win against Leiecester, bagging an assist for Ings.

Shane Long is averageing over 2 shots a game in his last 6 games and has created 8 chances. It is also worth noting that all but one shot has been inside the penalty area. If you couple this with Southampton’s form and recent fixtures there is every chance that he will be in amongst the goals over the upcoming weeks.

TRADE VALUES – looking to sell high & buy low

Players to consider selling high:

Jamie Vardy – This may sound mad, but now may be the time to look for a very good trade . But you must consider that you have to minus 10 points from every Leicester players total to account for the 9-0 drubbing they gave Southampton earlier in the season. The chances of this happening again are minimal and skew our view of future performance. Vardy as good as he is, hasn’t scored since GW 18 and are facing some tough fixtures in Chelsea, Wolves and man City in the next 5 gameweeks. The injury to Wilfred Ndidi will make a big difference to they way that Leicester play, who will now have to be a bit more reserved to make up for missing what is their N’golo Kante.



As Jamie Vardy has performed so well, you could look to trade him for the top srtrikers such as Aubameyang, Aguero or even take a 2-for-1 deal with the likes of Lacazette and Grealish.

Players to consider buying low:

Gylfi Sigurdsson

Ismalia Sarr

Alexandre Lacazette

Dele Alli

Gabriel Jesus

Chris Wood

For more insight on who to pick next week – head to the FPL Draft Hub Podcast, or follow our twitter @FplDraftHubPod

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