<p><strong>Mohamed Salah</strong> extended his FPL points lead over <strong>Erling Haaland </strong>and Ruben Amorim took charge of Manchester United for the first time in a busy Gameweek 12.</p>
<p>With Newcastle hosting West Ham tonight (January 25), here&#8217;s the main headlines of the gameweek so far.</p>
<p>If you want details of every goalscorer and assister, plus bonus points and more, see our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-match-centre">Match Centre</a>, which updates live during matches.</p>
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<h2>United will take time to adapt to Amorim&#8217;s system</h2>
<p>Ruben Amorim&#8217;s first game in charge of Manchester United got off to a fast start, with <strong>Marcus Rashford </strong>scoring inside two minutes.</p>
<p>With <strong>Amad Diallo </strong>providing the assist from wing-back, it looked like the Red Devils had adapted well to their new 3-4-3 formation.</p>
<p>But that was as good as it got, with Ipswich equalising through <strong>Omari Hutchinson</strong>, and without <strong>Andre Onana </strong>twice denying <strong>Liam Delap </strong>with some superb saves, Amorim&#8217;s men could have come away from Portman Road empty handed.</p>
<p>Amorim&#8217;s team selection was impacted by the international break, with the Portuguese noting some players had only had one training session under him.</p>
<p>His starting 11 could look somewhat different in future weeks then, however against Ipswich it was Rashford who started up front, with <strong>Diogo Dalot </strong>and Amad at wing-back and <strong>Noussair Mazraoui </strong>at right centre-back.</p>
<p>Amad was praised by his new head coach. Having hinted earlier in the week that he would start defenders at wing-back, he explained post-match that the Ivorian had impressed in training:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I think he was very good. Since these three days, he improved so much defensively.</p>
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<p>&#8220;The opponent that he had all the team was the left-back, so it’s like a winger that follows the left-back. It’s so much easier I think, because he doesn’t have to think, ‘can I jump on the centre-back or no?’.</p>
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<p>“You just follow one guy, and go forward with the same guy, it’s man-to-man in that area. He was so focused on everything. I think he did a great job.”</p>
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<p><strong>Bruno Fernandes </strong>&#8211; the most popular transfer in ahead of the deadline &#8211; was one of two number 10s but was often seen dropping deep. He had three shots and created one big chance for a combined expected goal involvement of 0.5.</p>
<p><strong>Luke Shaw </strong>returned from injury and played 34 minutes at left centre-back, while <strong>Tyrell Malacia </strong>was named on the bench after an extensive layoff.</p>
<div id="attachment_68678" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-68678" class="size-full wp-image-68678" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Bruno-GW12.jpg" alt="Bruno Fernandes's stats" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Bruno-GW12.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Bruno-GW12-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Bruno-GW12-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Bruno-GW12-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" /><p id="caption-attachment-68678" class="wp-caption-text">Bruno Fernandes&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Speaking after the match, Amorim underlined how his players would need time to click:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I think my players were thinking too much during the game. They were thinking not just on the ball but where they are supposed to be &#8211; and that is hard.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The United head coach hinted at potential rotation over the coming weeks as he seeks to embed his system in limited training time amid a busy schedule. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="mol-para-with-font">&#8220;We have to find a way [to get ideas across quickly]. The only way to do it is that we have games and the guys that don&#8217;t play have to train.</p>
<p class="mol-para-with-font">&#8220;Without time we have to find the time and that is the only way. Some of the guys will play and the next day some of the guys will work on our idea. And then they will change the position.&#8221;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All things considered, FPL managers who have not already jumped on United assets may wish to wait a while to see how they settle down in the weeks ahead.</p>
<div id="attachment_68668" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-68668" class="size-full wp-image-68668" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim.jpg" alt="Ruben Amorim. Picture by Getty Images" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-68668" class="wp-caption-text">Ruben Amorim. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
<h2>City at crisis point as Liverpool and Salah extend lead</h2>
<p>Spurs secured a memorable victory against Manchester City on Saturday, winning 4-0 through a <strong>James Maddison </strong>brace and goals from <strong>Pedro Porro </strong>and <strong>Brennan Johnson</strong>.</p>
<p>Manchester City have now lost five games in a row in all competitions, a run Pep Guardiola has never experienced in his managerial career.</p>
<p>Three of those games have come in the league, and no team has a worse expected goals conceded (xGC) in that time than the reigning champions (6.6).</p>
<p>At the other end of the pitch, their xG of 6.15 is fourth best but they have scored just two goals.</p>
<p>By contrast, Spurs have scored nine in that time (6.97 xG) and title rivals Liverpool seven (6.8 xG).</p>
<div id="attachment_68680" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-68680" class="size-large wp-image-68680" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/xGC-GW10-12-1024x602.jpg" alt="Team expected goals conceded stats over the last three weeks" width="1024" height="602" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/xGC-GW10-12-1024x602.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/xGC-GW10-12-300x176.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/xGC-GW10-12-768x451.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/xGC-GW10-12-610x359.jpg 610w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/xGC-GW10-12-1080x635.jpg 1080w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/xGC-GW10-12.jpg 1140w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-68680" class="wp-caption-text">Team expected goals conceded <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a> over the last three weeks</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Haaland blanked again despite having several decent opportunities, including two big chances. He racked up 0.94 xG across seven shots on goal.</p>
<p>Again, it was a case of Salah outperforming him, with the Egyptian scoring twice in Liverpool&#8217;s 2-3 win over Southampton.</p>
<p>The midfielder converted a penalty and poked the ball past a stranded <strong>Alex McCarthy</strong>, who had a day to forget in the Saints goal.</p>
<p>He had five big chances in the game, according to Opta&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a>, with his seven shots the most of any player in the league alongside Haaland.</p>
<p>His 13 FPL points rewarded the vast majority of the top 250,000 managers who captained him.</p>
<p>For Haaland meanwhile, he is rapidly losing the backing of FPL managers, with more than 350,000 transfers out since the Gameweek 12 deadline.</p>
<p>Liverpool have an eight-point lead over City at the top of the Premier League table, with the two teams facing each other next week.</p>
<div id="attachment_68679" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-68679" class="size-full wp-image-68679" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GW12-captaincy-top-250k-2.jpg" alt="Gameweek 12 captaincy split" width="800" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GW12-captaincy-top-250k-2.jpg 800w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GW12-captaincy-top-250k-2-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GW12-captaincy-top-250k-2-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GW12-captaincy-top-250k-2-610x496.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><p id="caption-attachment-68679" class="wp-caption-text">Gameweek 12 captaincy split</p></div>
<h2>Cunha and Pedro will be popular Haaland alternatives</h2>
<p>While Haaland continues to disappoint, there&#8217;s no such issue with two budget forwards.</p>
<p><strong>Matheus Cunha </strong>and <strong>Joao Pedro </strong>impressed again at the weekend, collecting 16 and 12 points respectively.</p>
<p>Cunha was pivotal in Wolves&#8217; 1-4 win at Fulham, scoring two and assisting one while fellow cheap forward <strong>Raul Jimenez </strong>fluffed his lines on the opposing side, hitting the bar from a few yards out when he should have scored.</p>
<p>And Pedro was involved in both of Brighton&#8217;s two goals, scoring and assisting to pick up maximum bonus points.</p>
<p>The duo are the two most popular transfers in this week, with Cunha being brought into 386,000 teams and Pedro 245,000.</p>
<p>Encouragingly for Pedro owners, minutes rival <strong>Georginio Rutter </strong>started alongside him and <strong>Danny Welbeck</strong>, with Rutter on the right.</p>
<p>Fabian Hurzeler did however bring Pedro and Rutter off after 64 minutes, highlighting that the Brazilian is not immune to rotation or an early substitution.</p>
<p>His importance to the Seagulls is such that he should still provide excellent value at £5.6m &#8211; and he could <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-price-rises">rise in price</a> again before deadline.</p>
<div id="attachment_68681" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-68681" class="size-full wp-image-68681" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Pedro-v-Cunha.jpg" alt="Joao Pedro v Matheus Cunha" width="800" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Pedro-v-Cunha.jpg 800w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Pedro-v-Cunha-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Pedro-v-Cunha-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Pedro-v-Cunha-610x496.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><p id="caption-attachment-68681" class="wp-caption-text">Joao Pedro v Matheus Cunha</p></div>
<h2>Saka is fit &#8211; and firing</h2>
<p><strong>Bukayo Saka </strong>was an injury doubt going into Gameweek 12, having only partially trained at the point of Mikel Arteta&#8217;s pre-match press conference.</p>
<p>But the midfielder was named in the starting lineup for the Gunners&#8217; 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, playing 83 minutes and scoring and assisting.</p>
<p>Forest, who named <strong>Chris Wood </strong>on the bench after his busy international schedule, failed to have a shot on target, helping Arsenal to their first league clean sheet since Gameweek 4.</p>
<p>The Tricky Trees registered the lowest xG of the week (0.41), behind United on 0.9.</p>
<div id="attachment_68682" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-68682" class="size-full wp-image-68682" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Saka-gw12-2.jpg" alt="Bukayo Saka's stats" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Saka-gw12-2.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Saka-gw12-2-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Saka-gw12-2-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Saka-gw12-2-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" /><p id="caption-attachment-68682" class="wp-caption-text">Bukayo Saka&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<h2>Tielemans on penalties for Villa &#8211; at least for now&#8230;</h2>
<p>Aston Villa were awarded their first league penalty of the season on Saturday.</p>
<p><strong>Youri Tielemans</strong> saw his effort saved by <strong>Dean Henderson</strong>, which may or may not see spot-kick duties passed to another player.</p>
<p><strong>Jhon Duran </strong>took Villa&#8217;s only other penalty this season but this came in the Carabao Cup in a highly rotated lineup.</p>
<p>The missed penalty eventually proved costly, with Crystal Palace holding the home side to a 2-2 draw.</p>
<p>There was some fantasy interest in Villa full-back <strong>Lucas Digne </strong>ahead of the Gameweek 12 deadline, with the Frenchman having started every league match.</p>
<p>But in a classic FPL moment, <strong>Ian Maatsen </strong>got his first start of the season, playing 69 minutes before Digne replaced him.</p>
<div id="attachment_68683" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-68683" class="size-full wp-image-68683" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Tielemans-pen.jpg" alt="Youri Tielemans' penalty miss" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Tielemans-pen.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Tielemans-pen-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Tielemans-pen-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Tielemans-pen-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" /><p id="caption-attachment-68683" class="wp-caption-text">Youri Tielemans&#8217; penalty miss</p></div>
<h2>Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 12: Players</h2>
<p>Here are the gameweek&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a> leaders in full:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Shots </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland &#8211; 7</li>
<li><strong>Shots on target </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah &#8211; 4</li>
<li><strong>Shots in the box </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland &#8211; 7</li>
<li><strong>Big chances </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah &#8211; 5</li>
<li><strong>Goals </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah, Matheus Cunha and James Maddison &#8211; 2</li>
<li><strong>xG </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah &#8211; 1.84</li>
<li><strong>Non-penalty xG (NpxG) </strong>&#8211; Ollie Watkins &#8211; 1.29</li>
<li><strong>Key passes</strong> &#8211; Josko Gvardiol &#8211; 8</li>
<li><strong>Big chances created </strong>&#8211; Kevin De Bruyne, Dejan Kulusevski, John McGinn and Dominic Solanke &#8211; 2</li>
<li><strong>Assists </strong>&#8211; Multiple players &#8211; 1</li>
<li><strong>Expected assists (xA)</strong> &#8211; Joao Pedro &#8211; 0.66</li>
<li><strong>FPL points </strong>&#8211; James Maddison and Matheus Cunha &#8211; 16</li>
<li><strong>Expected points (xPts) </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah &#8211; 11.61</li>
</ul>
<h3 class="mceTemp"><strong>Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 12: Teams</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Most shots </strong>&#8211; Liverpool (v Southampton) and Everton (v Brentford) &#8211; 27</li>
<li><strong>Highest xG </strong>&#8211; Aston Villa (v Crystal Palace) &#8211; 3.18</li>
<li><strong>Lowest xG </strong>&#8211; Nottingham Forest (v Arsenal) &#8211; 0.41</li>
</ul>
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Five things we learned from Gameweek 12: Amorim’s first game, Saka fit and more

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