With their sights on the title, Arsenal are providing us with some great FPL options this season. The issue FPL managers face is which three to pick.
In this article, we look at the best Arsenal picks. We don’t want to sit on the fence, so we pick our top three as well.
Gabriel Magalhaes
Price: £6.7m Position: Defender
Despite missing six full games through injury, Gabriel has scored three goals and provided two assists this season. He dominates in dead-ball situations, in a team that excels at delivering them. Arsenal have scored more goals than anyone else from set pieces, and now that Gabriel is back from injury, they could pull away in this stat.
It would be unfair to say he just has goal threat. He has hit the defcon threshold in 5 out of his 14 starts so far and should continue to provide these. The combination of being part of the best defence in the league, as well as earning defcon points, is a dream for owners in FPL.
Gabriel is as nailed as they come. If he can avoid future injury, he should continue to play 90 minutes every week as Arsenal push for the title.
Most will own him already, as shown by his £0.5m price rise since coming back from injury. If you do not have him, you are playing with fire.
Jurrien Timber
Price: £6.3m Position: Defender
Timber has been an ever-present in the Arsenal backline this season, starting on 18 occasions. He has benefited from nine clean sheets in that time.
The big draw with Timber is his expected goal involvement (xGI). Amongst defenders, he is right up there with the best at 0.27 xGI per 90. Encouragingly, 0.22 of this comes from xG.
Frustratingly for Timber owners, his two goals this season both came in gameweek 2 against Leeds. Despite his strong underlying numbers, he has failed to deliver another goal since then.
Much like most other fullbacks in the league, his defcon numbers are not prolific. He has secured the extra two points on just two occasions.
Due to the consistent clean sheets, Timber is currently in the top three defenders for FPL points. It would be unsurprising to see him stay at this level, especially if he can produce another performance like his gameweek 2 showing against Leeds.
Bukayo Saka
Price: £10.2m Position: Midfielder
Saka has been a picture of consistency this season. Since his return from injury in gameweek 6, he hasn’t scored less than three points in any gameweek. He keeps finding routes to points, sometimes when he does not even produce an attacking return.
In attack, Saka really offers it all. He has good goal threat, taking just under three shots per 90. To accompany this, he is one of Arsenal’s main creative forces, creating over two chances per 90. He takes all left-footed in swinging set pieces as well, which is a massive bonus given how good Arsenal are at scoring from these deliveries.
We believe Saka is Arsenal’s main penalty taker. Unfortunately, he is prone to sharing these with his teammates, meaning that he does not truly have a 100% penalty share.
He has faced some competition for minutes this year from Madueke, which would have been unheard of in seasons past. Fortunately for Saka owners, Arsenal sit top of the Champions League table. This could mean that in the coming weeks, Saka gets his rest in these meaningless midweek fixtures and focuses solely on the Premier League.
With (nearly) all the talisman boxes ticked, Saka should continue to deliver consistent, reliable returns for his owners. If everything clicks for him, there is potential for a huge haul on the horizon.
Declan Rice
Price: £7.3m Position: Midfielder
Matching Saka’s four goals and seven assists, for almost £3m less, is Declan Rice. While admittedly some of the assists have been fortuitous, the former West Ham captain has seemingly reached another level this season in the Arsenal midfield.
A huge part of Rice’s threat is his set-piece delivery. No one in the league has taken as many corners and free kicks as him. His delivery from them is normally excellent, meaning that if his teammates don’t score from them, sometimes the opposition does it for them instead.
Across the season, Rice is taking just under 1.5 shots per 90. Since gameweek 14, however, this has jumped up to around 2.3 per 90. This may indicate that his role is developing slightly. His two goals against Bournemouth were well taken and came from late arrivals to the box. If he can add more of these types of goals to his game, he could go on to make a mockery of his price tag.
Rice’s duties in the team mean that he can also deliver on the defensive side of things. He has secured defcon points on eight occasions already this season.
All the above combine to make Rice an extremely well-rounded pick, and someone you could set and forget in your midfield.
Top Three Arsenal Assets to Own in FPL
Number 1: Gabriel Magalhaes
This is a straightforward choice. Gabriel is not only the best Arsenal asset to own, but probably the best asset in the game outside of Haaland. The defence is elite, he provides defcon and is a constant threat from set pieces. Barring injury, he will almost certainly finish the season as the top point-scoring defender and is worthy of the number one spot.
Number 2: Bukayo Saka
Considering how the season has gone so far, it is understandable that some FPL managers are leaning towards the cheaper option in Rice. In this top three list, Saka keeps the number two spot, for now. This is due to his higher open play goal and assist potential, as well as his penalty share. It is worth monitoring his gametime in the coming weeks. His appeal lies largely in his consistency, which fades if his minutes begin to drop.
Number 3 Declan Rice:
Rice edges out Timber for the third spot. Timber provides consistent clean sheets and good underlying data but has lacked the end product that Rice has provided this season. Timber is also now at a premium price point in defence, meaning he must do a lot more to justify his spot in teams. With Rice, you not only get the output, but you also have a steady, reliable floor of defcon and bonus points. Because of this, he rounds out the top three.
