Gameweek nine keeps getting more and more complicated as Fantasy Premier League managers face yet another Dilemma. Egypt’s Football association confirmed on Friday that Mohamed Salah had tested positive for Coronavirus. FPL managers now need to decide whether to keep the Egyptian in their FPL sides or not.
Fantasy Premier League Dilemma: Is It Time to Sell Mohamed Salah?
Liverpool’s Woeful Luck with Injuries Continues
Liverpool just cannot catch a break this season. Jürgen Klopp already has many players out with injuries, and just earlier this week, he got the terrible news that Joe Gomez had suffered a serious injury. Salah has now joined that list which includes Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho and Gomez. It will be interesting to see the starting lineup that Klopp puts out in their next match against an in-form Leicester City.
Which Matches will Salah Miss
With COVID-19, it is not possible to accurately predict the time that a player will miss. Some players have come back quite quickly whereas others have taken longer. Recently, Cristiano Ronaldo missed four matches after testing positive. As Salah is now in Egypt, it is likely that he will need to return a negative test result before he is allowed to travel to England. Obviously, it is possible that he can do that before the Leicester match as it is more than a week after his positive test result. However, one can safely expect him to miss that game.
It is likely that Salah will return to Liverpool before their gameweek ten encounter with Brighton & Hove Albion. However, he may not be fit to start. FPL managers can bench Salah for one match without any issue but if the Egyptian misses the clash with the seagulls, that will hurt. Unfortunately, at this moment, nobody can say for sure when exactly he will be back.
Possible Replacements
Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Bruno Fernandes, Sadio Mané and Hakim Ziyech provide great options with which to replace Salah.
Fernandes is an especially tantalizing prospect as he faces struggling West Bromwich Albion next week. The lure of instant points after switching to the Portuguese is definitely there. Fernandes is the best contender for captaincy this week as well.
De Bruyne and Sterling face Burnley and Fulham at home after their clash with Tottenham Hotspur next week. It may not be a bad idea to bring one of them in ahead of those fixtures.
Mané could provide a direct replacement for Salah as well. The Senegalese may well thrive in the Egyptian’s absence.
On the other hand, Hakim Ziyech has been consistent in recent matches for Chelsea and is available at a cheaper price. Bringing in the Moroccan will provide funds that can be used to address other issues with one’s FPL side.
Should Mohamed Salah be sold?
So far, many FPL managers have sold Salah to bring in Bruno Fernandes. That move has the most appeal if one is after instant results. However, Manchester United have struggled at home this season. In fact, they are yet to win a Premier League match at Old Trafford this campaign. Fernandes also has not done well in those home matches, so, it is not guaranteed that he will deliver the goods this week. However, he does have the best fixture on paper.
Mohamed Salah is a player that one simply cannot ignore in Fantasy Premier League. Most FPL managers bought him at the price of £12.0 million on gameweek one. The Egyptian now costs £12.4 million. If he is back before the Brighton match, he could do really well in that fixture.
The decision of whether to sell Salah is a really tricky one. On one hand, replacing him with Bruno provides the lure of instant points. However, buying Salah back later could cost more money.
If one has a free transfer, replacing Salah is probably a much easier decision than taking a hit to do so. No matter what, the decision should be made as late as possible. Nothing will feel worse than to see the replacement one brings in for Salah getting injured or even catching COVID-19.
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