Cristiano Ronaldo is experiencing the wrath of FPL managers ahead of the return of the Premier League, but who is replacing the Manchester United man?
We’ve taken a look at how the market has moved during the international break to find out just that – and it would appear a couple of Wolves have been the main beneficiaries this week.
Wolves and a fox
Three wins in four have seen Wolves players return to many FPL managers’ squads, with strikers Hwang Hee-chan and Raul Jimenez impressing in front of goal.
Hwang is perhaps the surprise of the two, the £5.6m forward reaching three goals for the season with his brace against Newcastle in gameweek seven.
The 25-year-old has seen an increase in ownership of around 175,000 as a result ahead of GW8, while his consistent Threat scores suggest he is no flash in the pan.
Hwang’s colleague Jimenez meanwhile has seen an increase in ownership of around 60,000 ahead of Wolves’ game against Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Mexican ended a run of five games without a goal when he scored in GW6, and in GW7 he notched both assists for Hwang’s brace.
Jimenez is the top ranked striker for Creativity so far this season, demonstrating an all-round ability which will appeal to FPL bosses keen to avoid too many blanks.
At £7.5m – and with 17 goals and seven assists in 2019-20 showing what he is capable of – he could represent excellent value once again.
At Leicester meanwhile, Jamie Vardy has seen an increase in ownership of around 90,000 this week thanks to a hot streak of four goals in three games.
At £10.5m the Englishman represents a more expensive option than both Wolves men, but has scored six goals already this season and ranks second of all forwards for Threat.
Forward favourites fall
As ownership among some forwards rises, so it must fall among others, and Ronaldo is bearing the brunt ahead of GW8.
The Portuguese has seen a drop of around 200,000 managers ahead of Manchester United’s game against Vardy’s Leicester, a fixture which kicks off a tricky run for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men which includes Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City.
Ronaldo meanwhile has blanked in his last two league games, playing just 33 minutes during the 1-1 draw against Everton and unable to affect the outcome during the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.
At £12.6m, FPL managers won’t have much patience for his or the team’s lack of form.
Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis is another whose ownership has dipped after a couple of blanks.
Dennis’ ownership has dropped by around 50,000 after disappointing returns against Newcastle and Leeds, games which the £5.3m man would have been expected to make an impact in.
The 23-year-old’s Threat totals in those games were actually quite impressive, but with the Hornets facing six fixtures in their next eight ranked four out of five for difficulty, perhaps many are anticipating a longer goal drought.
And last but not least, Aston Villa forward Danny Ings has seen an ownership drop of around 50,000 too after five games without a goal.
Things started brightly for Ings at his new club, but after two goals in his first two games the striker looks far off the form that bagged him 22 goals in the 2019-20 season.
