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🔶 Sean Dyche returns: What does it mean for us? Look, maybe Dyche has spent the last 10 months studying all the current tactical trends used by top managers Maybe he experienced some aha-moments We don’t know What we know is what he did, quite recently, during his tenure

... Everton, meaning we can make an educated guess about how the new Nottingham Forest will play So far, it was the fixture to attack with your offensive players Losing that would be pretty annoying Before he took over Everton in January of the 22/23 season, they were...

... the worst Premier League side after 21 Gameweeks: • 19th in the Premier League table, level on points with Southampton • Only 15 points earned • Last for non-penalty xPoints • 2nd worst for xG conceded • 15th for xG, but the margins were tiny for the bottom five teams

Over the final 17 gameweeks, he visibly improved the team They were ranked 12th for xPoints during that period What’s quite interesting is that, although they remained one of the worst PL teams defensively, he managed to work some magic in attack They were ranked 7th...

... for expected goals When it comes to actual goals... well, it was much worse, but hey, he had Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Neal Maupay If you remember what Maupay did finishing-wise... yeah If you don’t remember, it was 32 shots with 1 goal Everton narrowly saved their...

... top-tier status, by just two points However, more advanced data metrics revealed that they played quite efficient direct football Dyche positioned them in the mid-block with quite solid pressing numbers After regaining possession, the instructions were clear:

Attack and shoot as quickly as possible They were among the quickest teams to shoot, had the 2nd least passes per possession, and the 4th most counter-attacks (and 6th highest xG) Also, they excelled at attacking set-pieces In the 23/24 season, they kept doing the same thing

Counters and set pieces They also finished 4th in the xG conceded table, though the gap between them and the team in 10th place was only 4 expected goals Nevertheless, being average was a good outcome compared to the previous season

In 24/25, that one trick in the final third stopped working, and he was sacked shortly after Christmas Anyway, there’s a clear resemblance between Dyche’s approach and what Nuno did when it comes to attack (but with worse pressing) Let’s set aside whether it makes sense...

... in the grand scheme of things Likely not Anyway, in FPL, it remains quite straightforward They have so many attacking players that it’s very hard to predict their line-up The only one who is safe is probably just Elliot Anderson And while Dyche may improve the defence...

... it’s difficult to guess to what extent and how quickly With fixtures that poor, we can just monitor • How many dangerous chances do they concede • What’s the DEFCON potential • And whether they will dominate attacking set pieces We have enough time now

🔥 They say you should promote your work: I’ve helped several well-known European clubs achieve historic results on the pitch — not in Football Manager, but real clubs And I believe Tuesday’s Data Dribble premium deep dives are the best educational FPL content out there But

🔶 Cody Gakpo I’ve been banging the drum for Cody Gakpo for quite some time in my newsletter But since then, he has played several more good games, so it’s time to make it mainstream Especially now that we have learned Alexander Isak had to go off because he felt his groin

They now hope it’s "not that bad" With Hugo Ekitiké available and given Isak’s injury history, it’s reasonable to assume they won’t rush him if it proves serious Gakpo is the best Liverpool player this season, period He’s someone who’s still disrespected by a large part of...

... their fanbase But I see a player who has it all so far this season Although it’s just 700+ minutes, it’s far from noise He shines in advanced goal probability added metrics that evaluate how his touches with the ball impact the team’s chance of scoring (and not conceding)

And he translates that into the final product: • a huge creative threat from open play (0.25 xA p90) • takes some set pieces • massive goal threat He takes 2.30 shots with 0.34 xG per 90 minutes, which already means 21 shots, including three within the six-yard box

What stands out to me is how he manipulates that cutback zone on the left — he can time a great pass into it, or run inside it and play the cutback pass himself Extremely valuable You also need to realise that Liverpool’s fixtures were quite challenging for most of the time

🔶 Bryan Mbeumo There are only a few midfielders this season who have combined genuine creativity with a goal-scoring threat Mbeumo is one of those few He takes many shots from good positions And he will likely continue to do so, as United are ranked top 5 for both...

... volume of counter-attacks and the quality of chances arising from them Which bodes well for him Also, he has an immense assist potential — one part of it is an open play threat, the second is the fact that he takes corners from the right side

(and United are dangerous from set pieces, which is related) In the next 8 GWs, they face: Brighton (H), Forest (A), Spurs (A), Everton (H), Palace (A), West Ham (H), Wolves (A), Bournemouth (H) And they are a firm part of that second major fixture swing of the season in GW13

🔶 Midfielders and what to do with them Remember that most decisions in FPL are heavily team-dependent (FTs, chips left, style of play, and the remaining 14 players), but in isolation: 🔹 Mohamed Kudus (£6.8): He’s in the 35.2% of the teams, which makes him the second-most...

... owned MID in the game Not too bad for someone with a bang average final product His 1.50 shots and 0.13 xG p90 are something I predicted during the pre-season — 4 shots centrally, 2 on goal Somehow, he has 4 assists (+1 fantasy assist) despite 30 other MIDs averaging...

... higher xA/90 From a broader perspective, Kudus is the biggest threat in that Spurs team However, they just don’t work well in the final third, and he’s often too isolated He’s one of the best dribblers in the league, but you can only truly use that in a YouTube compilation

There aren’t many fixtures to take a value from If you have a high-upside move in mind, he can be your scapegoat 🔹Iliman Ndiaye (£6.5m) Darling of the most "eye-testers" out there, as he’s one of the best dribblers in the league And one of the best defending wingers...

... who already met the DEFCON threshold 3 times (very close other times) Also, his 0.29 xA p90 is currently the 4th highest among midfielders, and he takes penalties However, the box is lava to him, and he took only two good shots in 700+ minutes Okay, but far from essential

🔹 Kiernan Dewsburry-Hall For £5.0m? Totally fine 🔹 Yankuba Minteh I’d say he’s still fine for £6m, but monitor him closely, as his goal threat is meh lately However, that GW12 to GW15 run might unleash the beast in him

🔹 Tijjani Reijnders (£5.7m) Good enough performance for that price, unlucky not to return more The only potential issue is his minutes going forward, with other players returning to contention But we need more information Monitor closely

🔶 Viktor Gyökeres, João Pedro and much more How to recognise when a player will start scoring? When should you set a stop-loss on a player? In-depth analysis of the most-discussed attacking players + a FREE section about Riccardo Calafiori Data Dribble goes beyond

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@11filipnovak Who to go for between Gakpo and Mbuemo if you could only pick one? Already moved Salah -> Saka. Reijnders Or Guiu (for Woltemade) next. Either for a -4. Upgrading Reijnders means 3rd striker spot will probably be occupied by Guiu for a while.