How to save your FPL season with a few brave choices

If you are one of the many Fantasy Premier League managers struggling this season, way off the pace in your mini-league, then you might feel like giving up.

But fear not! There is hope. Every year, many FPL managers surge up the rankings to salvage their seasons.

How?

A few brave choices are needed and our experts FPL Heisenberg and Holly Shand are here with six bold suggestions to kickstart your comeback.

Manchester United are among the highest scoring teams in recent gameweeks and only rivals Manchester City have a higher expected goals (xG) this season.

No European football - and therefore fewer midweek fixtures - is seemingly helping their Premier League form and they have some great games on the horizon.

Bruno Fernandes' injury will put many FPL managers off investment in United's attack, especially with Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo at the Africa Cup of Nations.

However, Matheus Cunha (£8m) is an excellent pick and leads the way for shots in recent games.

The Brazilian has picked up goal involvements in three consecutive matches since returning from injury and is my top replacement for Fernandes heading into this congested festive period.

He faces his former employers Wolves in gameweek 19 which is a really juicy match-up.

And Fernandes should return within three to four gameweeks. Despite being the joint-top-scoring midfielder, he was less than 30% owned before getting injured - Holly

Switching to Cole Palmer (£10.4m) now is obviously a risky play - his minutes are likely to be patchy while he gets back to full fitness.

However, if you need to chase mini-league rivals then the gamble could be worth it.

The midfielder may have reduced playing time initially, but will likely still be the Chelsea penalty taker and, when he is properly on his game, he can score hat-tricks and blow teams away. Not many players have produced multiple 20-point gameweeks like him.

Chelsea's fixtures are reasonably good from now until gameweek 27, so he should be a solid long-term hold before others jump on the bandwagon - Heisenberg

While it looks like Mohamed Salah's tenure as Liverpool's FPL king may have come to a premature end, their current balance of form and fixtures suggests that they remain a side to be invested in.

There's freedom in their attacking play without the Egyptian as their talisman. Hugo Ekitike (£8.9m) is now top of the shopping list with Alexander Isak out long-term with an injury.

Ekitike is their leading goalscorer after netting eight times in the Premier League and is in a rich vein of form.

Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m) is an FPL differential who looks set to take penalty duties in Salah's absence and is another buy come gameweek 19, once his suspension has been served.

Florian Wirtz (£8.1m) is also worth a punt as his minutes look secure with Salah and Isak out - Holly

Arsenal players such as Bukayo Saka (£10.3m), Declan Rice (£7.2m) and David Raya (£6m) are all popular picks - and for good reason too.

However, for those chasing, this is an opportunity to avoid the Gunners and jump on some differentials with better fixtures instead.

Yes, a lot of the Arsenal assets have done well so far and they are one of the best teams in the league.

However, their fixtures are looking tough for the foreseeable future so there's no reason why some of the alternative options can't out-score them.

For example, you could pick Manchester City's Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.7m) over Raya and Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers (£7.3m) over Rice - Heisenberg

FPL's player of the week this season (the highest point scorer) is yet to be won by a forward, which makes you wonder whether it is worth captaining midfielders instead.

Backing Erling Haaland has been the safe play to date, but with team-mate Phil Foden back to his best this season, we have a viable alternative from the Manchester City attack for their favourable fixtures.

Add into the mix the other midfield premiums such as Saka, Palmer and the in-form Cunha, we could be covered for the foreseeable with captaincy differentials to chase points and rise up the rankings - Holly

One way to differentiate your team when chasing is to switch formations from a popular one such as 3-5-2 and 3-4-3 to a formation using five defenders.

Especially with defensive contributions (defcon) playing a massive role this season, defenders have the chance at double-digit hauls even in 0-0 games if they get a clean sheet, bonus points and defcon.

As defcon points favour centre-backs, this is also handy for getting in rotation-proof players with centre-backs rarely being rested, whereas some full-backs, midfielders and forwards will often share minutes with their team-mates.

Take Liverpool for example: Virgil van Dijk always plays, but Milos Kerkez and Andy Robertson often rotate for the left-back berth - Heisenberg