Bukayo Saka is a much better player than you think. But Bruno is out of this world

What to do with Palace players, Bruno, Saka and more FPL stuff

⭐ Welcome to your Data Dribble deep dive!

This week pays tribute to Bruno Fernandes and Bukayo Saka.

Other FPL content includes how to handle Crystal Palace, whether to sell or hold Chelsea players, how to stack Bournemouth, Brighton and Everton effectively, my new favourite under-£5m pick, and a player with the potential to become a club legend.

---

Only three weeks of FPL remain, folks.

That said, the season’s far from over and has the potential to finish strongly, with several exciting battles to be fought and won across the league table.

❓ Last week, I published a wildcard guide that included 11 sensible ways to differentiate for the rest of the season. We’ll discuss many of these, as well as other ways to extract value from upcoming gameweeks.

Bruno Fernandes: Watch and enjoy this mastery

My writing style is best described as analytical storytelling.

These two things might seem like an odd pairing, but somehow they work perfectly. Sometimes, there are events that make this an easy job for me.

Like every time Bruno Fernandes (£10.4m) steps on the pitch.

In the Gameweek 35 clash against Liverpool, the Portuguese racked up five passes that led directly to a shot, totalling 1.18 expected goals assisted (xGA), a figure bettered only by Bukayo Saka’s 1.26.

However you look at it, it’s elite production in a single football game. But Bruno produces this kind of creative final product regularly.

Since Michael Carrick’s appointment as United’s head coach, Bruno has recorded 99th+ percentile xGA in 71% of gameweeks.

Since Gameweek 22, when he stepped into the more advanced role permanently, he’s on 0.47 xGA per 90, the highest among players with at least 600 minutes played during that time. His ability to set up a teammate for a big chance is simply unmatched this season.

(source: Scout Lab)

If you trust Bruno with captaincy in most weeks that are not affected by doubles or by some heavy-hitters playing Burnley, you’re essentially betting that he’ll continue to provide this volume of final passes, which will lead to assists.

This is what I’ve included in that “sensible differential list” last week:

Extremely simple idea, yes.

Still, somehow underutilised for FPL purposes.

Bruno set up Šeško as early as the 6th minute of the game, and man, what a chance that was:

A few moments later, the two combined again – this time, Šeško redeemed himself, while Bruno earned a fantasy assist:

There was another set-piece synergy between him and Casemiro in the 71st minute:

Look at the area where Casemiro received the ball…

💡 FPL is often a game of synergies that solvers don’t see, and you can utilise them if you know where (and what for) to look.

They come in different forms: on-pitch understanding, set-piece link-up, opposition weakness, be it positional or match-up specific, or an opportunity driven by injury or suspension, etc.

When there’s a creative player, you can often spot a standout partnership right away. This season, it’s Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland, or the understanding between David Brooks and Antoine Semenyo before Semenyo moved to Manchester City.

With Bruno, it’s more complicated, as he creates for everyone. Of the total xG he created for his teammates, these are the shares among the most popular FPL assets:

• Benjamin Šeško: 20.4% of the total xG Bruno created (1.622 minutes together on the pitch)

• Bryan Mbeumo: 17.40% (2.661)

• Matheus Cunha: 14.60% (2.200)

• Casemiro: 13.40% (2.400)

You can see they work exceptionally well together with Benjamin Šeško (£7.3m), and it’s not too shabby for Casemiro (£5.8m). Who cares that most of it is from set pieces? Just look for good match-ups.

What about Sunderland and Forest that come next? Yes, they fall firmly under that category.

Brighton? Not so much, but hey, I was cautious about that Brentford game, as they defend dead-ball situations magnificently, and Casemiro ended up scoring anyway. Plus, it’s DEFCON season, so the floor is there, which is nice.

It’s a shame Šeško was hooked off at half-time with a shin problem, so let’s see about updates later this week.

Bukayo Saka: He’s back, and he’s great

I’m glad I discussed Bukayo Saka last week, before his Fulham haul, so this section doesn’t appear reactionary:

If he gets proper minutes in the run-in, he’s another player who will create a ton of dangerous shots.

What about goals?