FPL’s first fortnight of 2024 has been an incredibly newsworthy period that is hard to keep up with. Not only has the deadline been moved from Saturday to Friday but flags are being added and removed at an equally rapid pace. 

We already knew Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min would be away on international duty – Scout is covering the AFCON and Asian Cup Fantasy games – but now Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jarrod Bowen are injured, with owners possibly having to keep the latter pair. Plus, Ivan Toney is finally back. Erling Haaland might be. Who honestly knows anymore?!?!

Naturally, Pro Pundits have spoken about their favoured midfield replacements. Zophar’s original team reveal preferred Richarlison but his later Q&A leans toward Phil Foden instead. Tom Freeman likes Pascal Gross, as the Brighton maestro has favourable underlying stats and strong upcoming fixtures.

Both they and FPL General like Bukayo Saka for captaincy. Sticking with General, the Great and the Good round-up analyses his Gameweek 20 Wildcard, also acknowledging that several others benched Cole Palmer’s 18-point haul at Luton. 

Despite Chelsea’s poor medium-term fixtures, Palmer is one of nine players picked unanimously for the Scout Squad, just like Toney and Pervis Estupinan – two names from our ‘Ones to Watch in 2024’ series that also features James Maddison, Kevin De Bruyne and Pedro Neto. Now-fit, the Wolves attacker is backed as a stand-out differential.

Amidst all the chaos, some managers may simply decide to activate their final Wildcard over the coming weeks. Simon March recommends choosing defenders purely on their attacking potential, based on this season’s lower rate of clean sheets. However, using the chip for Gameweek 21 means committing just before lots of important fixture information is expected to be released. 

Still to come before Friday evening’s deadline is Captain Sensible, a piece from Lateriser and an updated Watchlist. Also, keep an eye out for the FFS Cup quarter-finals that are about to take place.

As always, check out the Gameweek 21 page to quickly access all recent articles, plus the standard press conference updates from managers. Visit our Members Area for comparison tools and an in-depth collection of Opta data.

Over on our YouTube channel, alongside the usual Scoutcast, Burning Questions and Deadline Dilemmas episodes is General’s Orders. Additionally, Joe has been asking experts for their New Year’s resolutions.