With Bruno Fernandes sidelined through injury — and owned by over 50% of the top one million managers — this could be the perfect moment to explore a high-upside differential replacement.
As we move fully into the festive period, the opportunity to make up serious ground becomes even greater. Multiple Gameweeks in a short space of time bring fixture congestion, increased rotation risk and growing rank volatility. That combination makes this an ideal window to target low-owned FPL differentials who can deliver a genuine edge in Gameweek 18 and beyond.
Our strategy balances attacking potential with defensive coverage:
⚽ 3 attacking player – midfielders or forwards
🛡️ 2 defensive players – defenders or goalkeepers
This ensures coverage across the pitch while prioritising FPL points, essential for Gameweek success.
It has undoubtedly been an underwhelming season by his own high standards, but the 28-year-old England international remains West Ham’s talisman. Despite the Hammers’ struggles, Bowen is still the fourth-highest scoring forward in the game with 75 FPL points, underlining just how central he has been to their attacking output.
Across his 17 appearances, Bowen has scored eight goals, provided two assists and collected 14 bonus points. Data from the Opta Stats Sandbox reinforces his status as West Ham’s go-to FPL asset, particularly for managers eyeing their upcoming fixture run.
Home matches against Fulham and Brighton, followed by trips to Wolves and Nottingham Forest, place West Ham second for attacking difficulty on the Fixture Planner, leaving Bowen well positioned to add to his tally if the Hammers are to boost their survival hopes.
This is a pick that may divide opinion. The 22-year-old Germany international arrived with huge expectations following a major summer move, but for long spells this season the returns simply have not followed. However, there are growing signs that Wirtz may finally be settling into his new surroundings.
Across his 16 league appearances, Wirtz has yet to score, despite posting an expected goals figure of 2.58, highlighting a degree of underperformance. Encouragingly, his recent output has improved significantly. Over the last four Gameweeks, he has registered two assists, five bonus points and 23 FPL points, averaging a healthy 5.8 points per game during this period, as shown in the Opta Heatmaps tool.
For managers searching for a Bruno Fernandes replacement, Wirtz is currently the third most popular option according to the Transfer Analytics tool, with 10.8% of managers making the switch.
Tom Dollimore, the world’s number one FPL manager, also hinted at this move via the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool, saying:
“I don’t mind Ekitiké short term, but I’m more likely to go for Wirtz as my Bruno replacement. That’s mainly because I don’t like the number of transfers required to reshuffle the team to get Ekitiké in and out efficiently.”
With Wolves and Leeds at home, followed by a trip to Fulham, Wirtz shapes up as a compelling differential with both short-term appeal and longer-term upside.
Cunha could emerge as one of the more intriguing midfield options over the coming weeks. The 26-year-old Brazilian looks set for increased responsibility, with penalties and additional set-piece duties potentially falling his way following Bruno Fernandes’ injury.
There is some uncertainty over how Fernandes’ absence will impact overall creativity, but Cunha’s individual numbers remain encouraging. Across Manchester United’s last five matches, as shown in the Match Centre feature, he ranks second for goals (two), second for expected goals (3.0) and second for shots on target (eight). He has also recorded an assist from seven attempted assists, despite featuring in only four of those five matches.
With upcoming fixtures against Newcastle (H), Wolves (H), Leeds (A) and Burnley (A), Cunha shapes up as a very interesting differential option for managers looking to move early.
At first glance, this may look like a knee-jerk pick following a 21-point haul, but there is sound reasoning behind the selection. With Brentford affected by AFCON absences, the 24-year-old England defender has been deployed higher up the pitch in a far more advanced role. As highlighted by the Match Centre’s average position map from the Wolves fixture, he was in fact Brentford’s most advanced player.
Brentford also have three home fixtures in their next four matches, all of which look favourable on paper. At under 1% ownership, even modest returns could translate into a significant rank boost for managers willing to take the gamble.
Rounding off the list is the 32-year-old former England international, who offers a strong blend of security and differential appeal. Everton have quietly tightened up at the back, keeping six clean sheets — the fifth most in the league — while conceding just 20 goals, the seventh fewest overall. A trip to Burnley also stands out as one of the more appealing clean-sheet opportunities in Gameweek 18.
Looking slightly further ahead, the Toffees rank third for defensive fixture difficulty over the next four Gameweeks according to the Fixture Planner, making Keane an attractive medium-term differential. However, he does come with a note of caution. David Moyes recently suggested that Branthwaite is “getting closer to the grass”, adding:
“We hope we can maybe get him by the end of the month, but it might be a bit longer than that.”
As things stand, Keane looks likely to start over the next four Gameweeks, though his security beyond that point is less certain. For managers looking to move away from heavily owned defenders in the short term, he still presents a low-risk, high-reward alternative.
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