CORRECTS GOAL SCORER TO OWN GOAL Tottenham team players celebrate after an own goal scored by Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
James Maddison injury: How long Tottenham midfielder is out for and five Fantasy Premier League replacements
The Tottenham midfielder had a scan on a foot injury on Monday and is a doubt to face Bournemouth this weekend
Spurs fans were still celebrating their team’s impressive dismantling of Manchester United last Saturday when footage emerged showing James Maddison hobbling away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on crutches with a protective boot covering his right foot.
That sight will have been enough to temper the mood given Maddison has rapidly established himself as one of the key players of the Ange Postecoglou revolution in north London and a fans’ favourite. Supporters have demanded a player of his inventiveness ever since Christian Eriksen left in 2020.
Losing the 26-year-old for any length of time then would obviously be a major disappointment. Maddison played down the severity of the injury by telling journalists that it was just a precaution as he left the stadium, but the issue was serious enough for Spurs to send him for a scan on Monday.
Postecoglou will address Maddison’s fitness during his press conference on Friday lunchtime and Spurs fans won’t be the only ones waiting to hear what the Australian has to say as Maddison is currently one of the most popular midfielders in Fantasy Premier League.
This week’s FPL deadline is at 6.30pm on Friday so if you do have Maddison in your side, try to hold off making any decisions until after Postecoglou’s presser if at all possible. If Maddison is only ruled out of Saturday’s game against Bournemouth, it’s probably worth holding onto him; if he is out for any longer, he becomes a sell.
Here are five replacements to sign on FPL and how Maddison’s absence may impact other Spurs assets.
Phil Foden (Man City)
Unless you have a rainy day fund tucked away in your FPL bank account you may need to do some Todd Boehly inspired financial gymnastics to replace Maddison with Phil Foden as the latter rose to £7.6m earlier this week.
Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)
It has been some time since Raheem Sterling was a viable FPL option – as is reflected by his lowest price tag in almost a decade – but he showed flashes of rediscovering his top form during Chelsea’s defeat to West Ham last weekend.
Considering their alarming results this calendar year, the appeal of any Chelsea player at the moment is their fixtures rather than their form.
Their upcoming schedule reads Luton (h), Nottingham Forest (h), Bournemouth (a), Aston Villa (h), Fulham (a) and Burnley (a). Sterling could be a great differential pick during that run.
Price: £7m Points: 4 Gameweek 3 fixture: Luton (h)
Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford)
Bryan Mbeumo has shown the value of selecting penalty-takers in FPL by scoring back-to-back spot-kicks in Brentford’s opening two games of the campaign. The Cameroonian has obviously been studying teammate Ivan Toney’s technique as he is yet to miss any in five attempts for the Bees.
That is far from the only reason you should sign Mbeumo if you haven’t done so already. Mbeumo is listed as a midfielder in FPL but is playing up front for Thomas Frank’s side, meaning he earns an extra point per goal, and also has decent fixtures to come with Crystal Palace (h), Bournemouth (a) and Everton (h) in his next four.
Price: £6.7m Points: 23 Gameweek 3 fixture: Crystal Palace (h)
Moussa Diaby (Aston Villa)
Moussa Diaby was unable to build upon a debut goal at Newcastle in his second Aston Villa game in the 4-0 drubbing of Everton, but he still posted some encouraging statistics. The Frenchman attempted three shots on goal (two on target) and created two chances.
Villa have a trip to Anfield coming up in Gameweek 4 but otherwise have a relatively kind fixture run right the way through until the beginning of December when they face Manchester City and Arsenal in back-to-back matches.
Price: £6.6m Points: 10 Gameweek 3 fixture: Burnley (a)
Solly March (Brighton)
Currently the highest-scoring player in FPL, Solly March remains curiously underlooked by managers with an overall ownership of less than 10 per cent, at the time of writing. In contrast, his teammate Kaoru Mitoma is selected by 43.5 per cent of bosses despite costing the same and earning seven fewer points.
Brighton’s fixtures aren’t the best: they play Newcastle (h), Manchester United (a), Liverpool (h) and Manchester City (a) in their next six. However, Roberto De Zerbi’s side is well capable of causing any team trouble and March currently looks their biggest goal threat having recorded more shots and more big chances than anyone else.
Price: £6.6m Points: 24 Gameweek 3 fixture: West Ham (h)
How would Maddison’s injury impact Spurs?
Losing Maddison would undoubtedly be a big blow for Spurs. His total of eight chances created in the first two gameweeks is only bettered in the Premier League by Foden and Mitoma (both on nine) while it is also twice as many as Spurs’ next most creative player Son Heung-min.
Maddison is also currently £7.6m but if you bought him at his starting price of £7.5m that’s all you’ll receive from selling him. As per FPL’s rules, a 50 per cent sell-on fee is applied to any profits made on a player.
If you have the money, Foden should be top of your shopping list. He created seven chances against Newcastle in Gameweek 2, including the assist for Julian Alvarez’s winner, is playing in a more central role with Kevin De Bruyne injured and faces Sheffield United (a) and Fulham (h) in his next two games.
Price: £7.6m Points: 12 Gameweek 3 fixture: Sheffield United (a)
The most obvious beneficiary of Maddison’s absence would be Giovani Lo Celso (£4.9m). The Argentine hasn’t played for the club since a 3-2 win against Leicester in January 2022, but caught the eye during pre-season while playing as an advanced No 8 in Postecoglou’s 4-3-3 formation.
Lo Celso continues to be linked with a move away, though, with Aston Villa, Napoli and Barcelona among the clubs to have been credited with an interest during the summer window, so it would be best to avoid him as an FPL asset.
Alternatively, Postecoglou could recall Oliver Skipp (£4.9m) to the starting line-up and deploy Pape Matar Sarr (£4.5m) in a more offensive role.
Sarr scored his first Premier League goal in last weekend’s win against Manchester United and registered five shots in the box overall, a total only bettered by Brentford forward Yoane Wissa (six) in Gameweek 2.
