Manchester City
Etihad Stadium
Manchester City FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid
The call — Manchester City: the value is at the back, and nobody's looking The meanest defence in the league has a £5.5m centre-back that fewer than 2 in 10... no, sorry — fewer than 1 in 5 managers combined own between them. Rúben Dias sits in roughly 1 in 50 squads. That's the sort of arithmetic that pays for the shiny stuff…
What has not being with FFIQ cost you this season?
One squad, picked before a ball was kicked and run for six gameweeks on three transfers — no hits taken. Scored on FPL’s own results.
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↓ Start here — your name, then your team.
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Let's do the honest bit first. City's attack ranks mid-table by our model — eighth — with an average run of fixtures. Haaland still tops our list of City assets because he's Haaland: nailed, on penalties, and good for a monster week whenever he fancies it. But at £15.5m with about 7 in 10 managers already holding him, he's not a decision. You own him or you're taking a deliberate gamble. Fine. Moving on.
The actual value conversation is the defence, because our model rates it the best in the league and the fixtures are very kind for shutouts: Sunderland at home, Ipswich at home, Brighton at home, trips to Villa and Forest. Only Liverpool away spoils the picture — bench week, not a dealbreaker.
Guéhi is the model's preferred route in, and I can see why: £6.0m, starts every week, projected for a proper haul over the six, and fewer than 2 in 10 own him. Gvardiol is £5.7m and offers the same clean sheets with a bit more forward licence. Rúben is the deep-value play at £5.5m — same defence, same fixtures, owned by basically nobody. Even Donnarumma at £5.5m is a quietly sensible keeper pick if you're shopping in that aisle.
The caveat, because there always is one: City rotate, and Guardiola's back line isn't immune. All four defensive names above have started every game so far, but a small sample is a small sample, and if the minutes start wobbling this whole case wobbles with it. Watch the team sheets; a benching would change the call.
Cherki, for what it's worth, is on free kicks and corners but has only started three of four — that's a rotation risk at £7.8m, and I don't pay midfield money for a maybe.
The call: buy into City through the defence. Guéhi if the £6.0m fits, Rúben if you're funding a premium elsewhere. One of them belongs in your side before Sunderland at home.