In his FPL Gameweek 11 review, Fantasy Premier League author David Wardale found defenders grabbing the headlines (and the points) yet again.

Meanwhile, strikers endured another forgettable Premier League weekend and two managers lost their jobs.

Four of the top six transfers-in did at least produce returns, so it wasn’t all doom and gloom, which was just as well with yet another international break now here to darken our mood ahead of Gameweek 12.

Don’t forget to check out all our brilliant FPL Gameweek 12 tips right here.

Fantasy Premier League Tips for Blank Gameweek 27 | FPL Tips 2021/22

Manchester United 0 Manchester City 2 – Art Attack

A curiously routine Manchester derby win for City piled the pressure on United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

His opposite number, Pep Guardiola, praised his squad as ‘the real artists for the way we played’. Running with that metaphor, United’s stars had problems keeping their crayonning inside the lines.

The big Fantasy winners on the day were the 26.6% of managers on Joao Cancelo (£6.4m).

FPL Gameweek 11 review Cancelo

The full-back recorded a season-best 14 points from a clean sheet, two assists and maximum bonus which took him top of the defenders’ standings and second overall behind Mo Salah (£13.0m).

A goal from Bernardo Silva (£7.1m) meant a third haul in four Gameweeks for the Portugal international.

No fewer than seven of his teammates have bigger ownership than his 5.8%, but Silva has started all but one of City’s league fixtures thus far and is quietly amassing points.

In our frequently feverish attempts to tap into Guardiola’s selection thinking – especially in midfield – Silva’s ‘slow and steady wins the race’ approach might be dull, but it’s undeniably effective.

As an example, the last four Gameweeks have involved Phil Foden (£8.3m) producing 29 points for more than a million new owners.

Over the same period, Silva has managed just four points fewer while saving owners a chunky £1.2m to spend elsewhere.

Apart from the net 27,600 FPL managers who sold him ahead of Saturday’s game, that is.

United were outclassed on Saturday and while both sides have a good run of fixtures to come soon enough, consistent returns are likely only from the blue half of Manchester for the time being.

Chelsea 1 Burnley 1 – More Joy From James

After a wretched start to the campaign, the Burnley of old are back, defying the odds and spoiling defensive double-ups as they go.

A Chelsea clean sheet looked sufficiently probable for some to bench the likes of Cancelo in favour of twice the defensive delights of current points magnets such as Ben Chilwell (£6.0m and 19.8%) and the Gameweek’s most purchased player, Reece James (£5.9m and 19.5%).

But a dominant display involving 70% possession and 25 shots to five failed to produce more than one goal. As a consequence, the Clarets punished them with a late leveller from substitute Matej Vydra (£5.2m).

Burnley are now unbeaten in three matches and have a decent run of fixtures to come. Good luck finding many better options than Maxwel Cornet (£6.0m).

Options abound for Chelsea, with Kai Havertz (£8.1m) belatedly finding some form – he scored his first goal since Gameweek 3.

FPL Gameweek 11 review Havertz

This is just in time for the international break to stop him in his tracks and hand the likes of Romelu Lukaku (£11.5m) the chance to fully recover from injury.

Should the big man return, Havertz will have to join a lengthy queue hoping for central midfield action.

Manager Thomas Tuchel likes to tinker in that area and he handed Ross Barkley (£5.2m) his first start of the season just to hammer home that particular point.

At least the (close to a) million managers who bought into James still came away with a decent haul thanks to an assist and maximum bonus.

He’s now scored 41 points from his last three outings, courtesy of three goals, two clean sheets and an assist.

Chelsea’s short-term schedule is not that easy, but arguably the biggest obstacle to James continuing his amazing form is his manager’s willingness to chop and change his team.

Just ask the 15.8% invested in Mason Mount (£7.5m).

Illness kept him out of action last week, but he was fit and ready for the Burnley game, only to be handed five measly minutes from the bench.

FPL Fixture Ticker

West Ham 3 Liverpool 2 – The Moyes The Merrier

West Ham continued their extended relationship with excellence by seeing off the mighty Liverpool in a vibrant Sunday clash.

Midfielders Pablo Fornals (£6.0m) and Jarrod Bowen (£6.3m) stole the show, with 12 and nine points respectively.

FPL Gameweek 11 review Bowen

But the 47.4% of managers with Michail Antonio (£8.2m) in their squads endured a fourth blank in five matches.

Indeed, over that period, the attacking trio of Fornals, Bowen and Said Benrahma (£6.4m) have eclipsed the striker for threat and, most importantly, points.

Bowen leads the way with 36, Fornals has 25, Benrahma 15 and Antonio just 14.

The Hammers have some tough fixtures from now until mid-December and then a great run until mid-January.

On current form, Bowen offers the greatest mixture of consistency and value.

Liverpool’s day was not helped by an unusually error-prone display by the Brazilian Alisson (£6.0m).

But Fantasy heavyweights Mo Salah (£13.0m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.7m) still found a way to produce returns, with the latter chalking up a superb 12-point haul despite the defeat.

Everton 0 Spurs 0 – Conte Me Out

The brave new world of Antonio Conte at Spurs started with a heartfelt tribute to Nuno Espirito Santo involving neither goals nor a single shot on target.

There was more of a vague shuffle than a mad rush to bring in the likes of Harry Kane (£12.2m) and Heung-Min Son (£10.3m) for the trip to Everton, which was just as well when the former looked way out of form and the latter kept busy doing barely anything at all.

The pair ended the match with just two attempts and two key passes between them, and Kane produced three of those.

Unsurprisingly for a Conte side, it was the wing-backs who caught the eye. Sergio Reguilon (£5.0m) spurned the team’s one and only big chance while managing to have more touches in the box than Kane (three vs two).

FPL Gameweek 11 review Reguilon

The fixtures turn tasty for Spurs now, but many managers might well delay dining out on their assets until they can demonstrate a touch of form as well.

It was, at least, a first clean sheet since Gameweek 3 for Tottenham, and a first in six matches for Everton.

The Toffees also had the good grace to actually manage two whole shots on target, although the tetchy and general low quality feel to the game was neatly summed up by the busiest attacker on the day, Demarai Gray (£5.7m).

He had five attempts, three of which came in the box. None hit the target.

Everton have to face Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea over the next six Gameweeks.

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Leeds United 1 Leicester City 1 – Jamie (Points) Dodger

The Vardy Party reached the passed-out-on-the-floor stage as Leicester’s talisman blanked for a third straight match.

Jamie Vardy (£10.8m) was by far the most popular player on the pitch, but his 30.2% ownership are being treated to the slimmest of pickings at present.

He’s now had just two shots in the last three matches. His xG (0.33) is worse than centre-half Jonny Evans’ (£5.4m and 0.48) and he’s managed a mere 49 touches.

Harvey Barnes (£6.5m), for comparison, has registered 59 touches, but from nearly two hours less game-time.

FPL Gameweek 11 review

The latter, crucially, has also scored a goal, which earned the Foxes a point against a Leeds side definitely returning to last season’s more buccaneering ways.

Daniel James (£6.0m) had a Gameweek-leading six shots, while Rodrigo (£6.3m) was only one behind that tally.

However, a lack of goals is undoubtedly holding Marcelo Bielsa’s team back.

They’ve managed only 11 all season, with five of those coming from Raphinha (£6.6m), who brought in a second straight nine-point haul for his 19.2% ownership.

The two sides have kept just one clean sheet apiece, suggesting attacking options are the only way forward. On the other hand, both teams have upcoming fixtures that could buck that trend.

But, more pertinently, patience in Vardy is finally wearing rather thin, with more transfers-out in the last 24 hours (50,000+) than he experienced in the entire run-up to Gameweek 11 (-47,713).

Arsenal 1 Watford 0 – Top Gunner

Emile Smith-Rowe (£5.8m) continued his hot streak with the winner against Watford.

The Arsenal starlet has put on around 1.4 million owners and £0.5 in value across a six-match run involving four goals and two assists, although trips to Liverpool, Man United and Everton over the next four Gameweeks might slow things down.

The Gunners will at least bring a heap of form into those fixtures. They’re now unbeaten in eight league matches and have kept clean sheets in five of them.

Owners of that defence have enjoyed good (and cheap) returns, but a true measure of the side’s solidity will arrive now that their schedule stiffens.

A word of sympathy, also, to those with Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang (£10.1m) in their sides. Against the Hornets, the striker missed his second penalty in three starts and ended the day on -1.

FPL Gameweek 11 review

That elevated cut-price keeper Ben Foster (£4.1m) to Gassy American Lager Gameweek King status with an 11-point haul.

Watford’s next four – Man United, Leicester, Chelsea and Man City – suggest even busier times ahead for Foster.

Crystal Palace 2 Wolves 0 – Soaring Eagles

The rise and rise of Conor Gallagher (£5.8m) as a major Fantasy asset continued with a second successive double-digit haul as Crystal Palace made it six games unbeaten.

The midfielder scored and earned maximum bonus points as he leapt to joint-top of the value charts with a whopping 10.7 points per million (PPM).

Palace under Patrick Vieira are starting to look like the real deal, so the international break looks especially poorly-timed for them.

But if they can keep the essence of their recent success intact through the long days until Gameweek 12, the Eagles have some good fixtures to match their even better form.

That might even tempt a sniff at Wilfried Zaha (£6.9m), who scored for the second match running, and now could also be the time to tap into the side’s increasing solidity at the back.

FPL Gameweek 11 review

Having failed to keep a clean sheet since Gameweek 4, the Palace defence has now managed two in a row – one of which was earned at the Etihad, lest we forget.

Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m and 1%) could be a decent differential with a chance of returns at both ends of the pitch, seeing as he leads the back line for key passes (eight) and big chances created (two).

Those chances have come over the last three matches, with his one assist for the season also produced in that period.

The defeat was Wolves‘ first since Gameweek 5, but their upcoming fixture schedule would suggest a cooling of interest in their key assets.

Southampton 1 Aston Villa 0 – Tino Time

Southampton made it four matches unbeaten with a tight victory over Aston Villa secured by Adam Armstrong’s (£5.9m) early goal.

The Saints striker double act of Armstrong and Che Adams (£6.8m) have now scored two goals between them in the last two fixtures, but most FPL managers can’t look past the team’s defence at the moment and rightly so.

They’ve kept three clean sheets in four matches, bumping goalkeeper Alex McCarthy’s (£4.5m) total to 47 points – second only to Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy (£6.2m and 53 points) in FPL.

The key asset remains Tino Livramento (£4.5m), however.

Since recording his first decent return in Gameweek 4, only three players can better his 44 points. All of them, unsurprisingly, cost considerably more.

FPL Gameweek 11 review Livramento

During that same spell, McCarthy has managed 42 points, which puts him in the top 10.

Fixture-wise, Southampton will flick from the sublime (Norwich) to the ridiculous (Liverpool) after the international break.

But Livramento seems to have developed a taste for punishing those who bench him, with a superb five clean sheets, one goal and an assist across the last eight Gameweeks, including returns against West Ham, Man City and Chelsea.

Villa, meanwhile, are in a deep trough, and although a second-half revival impressed, it wasn’t enough to save under-fire manager Dean Smith.

Brentford 1 Norwich 2 – Toothless Toney

At least Villa had the decency to fire their manager after yet another defeat, whereas Norwich sacked Daniel Farke following their first win of the season.

It will be interesting to see if his successor can do any better – particularly defensively – but the brave few who stuck by Teemu Pukki (£5.8m) did at least get to celebrate a first goal since Gameweek 5 from their favourite Finn.

Such riches are beyond Brentford’s Ivan Toney (£6.7m and 22.8%), who blanked for a fifth consecutive match.

FPL Gameweek 11 review Toney

Curiously, he’s put on around 800,000 managers during that barren spell, so despite scoring just nine points from those last five starts, he now costs £0.4m more.

The rather more understated Bryan Mbeumo (£5.6m) fan club (membership: 4.6%) was denied a first goal in three starts by VAR as Brentford lost for the fourth straight game, three of which have come at home.

Their fixtures remain favourable, their form anything but.

Brighton 1 Newcastle 1 – Robert Roja

As Farke returned to the jobless, so Eddie Howe edged ever closer to the helm at Newcastle and he watched from the stands as the Magpies snatched a point despite an unconvincing display on the south coast.

Brighton’s Leandro Trossard (£6.4m) was again employed out of position as a false nine and responded by earning, and converting, a penalty for a second straight return.

FPL Gameweek 11 review Trossard

He recorded five attempts and also produced three key passes in an industrious display.

But the Seagulls failed to turn their dominance into more goals and were punished when Isaac Hayden (£4.5m) scored from the visitors’ one and only shot on target.

That led to much Fantasy anguish – the fixture’s two well-owned players belonged to Brighton’s defence – and that feeling was racked up a notch or two when 23%-owned keeper Robert Sanchez (£4.6m) was sent off for a late foul on Callum Wilson (£7.3m).

The Brighton stopper will now miss the Gameweek 12 trip to Aston Villa, with a fair few managers not having to lift a finger anyway as their second-choice keeper, Jason Steele (£4.0m), being Sanchez’s understudy.

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