Two Liverpool Players Feature in FPL Banger’s Tips For Gameweek 4

Welcome to a new series for the 2024/25 season, provided by Siva & Sam, the minds behind the weekly podcast FPL Banger.  Below we take you through our FPL tips for Gameweek 4 as Erling Haaland looks to continue his purple patch.

FPL Banger FPL Tips Gameweek 4

BEST CAPTAIN

Erling Haaland (£15.2m)

• Fixture: Brentford, Home

“He’s playing much better. He stays after training sessions for half and hour for crosses and finishing. Last season not even once was he there because he didn’t feel good – he was tired, he had niggles.

What he needs is the team to give him more balls in the final 3rd. We’re going to create those situations. He’s unstoppable, there’s no central defender, not even with a gun, who can stop him.”

That’s Pep Guardiola speaking about Erling Haaland, whose record now stands at 70 goals and 17 assists in 69 Premier League games. And it makes complete sense.

Haaland looks like a man reborn and refreshed. He’s even started scoring goals from outside the box now. Now that he has entered “perma-cap” territory, I can see no reason not to captain the best attacker on the best team in the league. 

TOP PICKS 

Alisson (£5.5m)

• Fixture: Nottingham Forest, Home

Arne Slot’s men are the only team who have yet to concede a goal this season. There has been a massive change at Anfield, from the chaos and exhilaration of Klopp’s heavy metal football to the cool and controlled nature of Slot-ball, where Liverpool carefully manage games and bring on fresh wingers and full backs to run down the clock.

This newly solid Liverpool combined with Forest’s penchant for being a defensively-minded (in other words, boring) side under Nuno bodes well for another Liverpool clean sheet.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m)

• Fixture: Nottingham Forest, Home

One thing that has made me very happy this week is seeing so many wildcard drafts on X and Reddit with no Trent. At 7 million, Trent is a convenient sacrifice for FPL managers trying to squeeze the likes of Salah, Haaland and Palmer into their teams. However Trent is also the wrong sacrifice.

Not only is Liverpool’s defence an elite unit capable of cleaning in any match, but Trent remains the most attacking defender in the league and the fact that he has yet to return a goal or assist is purely down to bad luck, as demonstrated by his disallowed goal against Man United last week. A monster haul is in the post for Trent, and you don’t want to miss it.

Yankubah Minteh (£5.5m)

• Fixture: Ipswich, Home

If you don’t know the man who Brighton spent £30 million on this summer, you’re about to find out. 2 years ago Yankuba Minteh was playing amateur football in the Gambian league. Now he’s tearing it up on the big stage, and already has a very respectable 2 assists in 3 games.

Next up for Minteh is an Ipswich side, against whom every right winger has hauled so far: a goal and assist for Salah in GW1, 2 assists for Savinho in GW2 and a goal for Adama Traore in GW3. 

Leif Davis leaves a lot of space in behind him, and when you’re up against a winger who had 10 goals and 5 assists in just 27 games last season, there will be goals. It’s time for Yankuba Minteh to go mainstream. And if you’re doubting us, just remember that our midfield pick for GW3 was Bryan Mbeumo. You’re welcome.

Joshua Zirkzee (£7m)

• Fixture: Southampton, Away

Stay with me. Man United fans have begun their doom-cycle early this season, but the fact is that United were always losing to Liverpool, and there is little shame in a narrow defeat to Brighton at the Amex. One aspect that has gone unnoticed this season is how quickly Joshua Zirkzee has slotted in at United. A goal in his cameo in GW1, he also scored in GW2 (albeit he was just offside) before missing 2 great chances in GW3.

Those misses against Liverpool probably turned most people off, but those who were actually paying attention will have seen Zirkzee’s sublime backwards headed goal during the international break against Bosnia.

This is a kid with confidence, and Southampton’s novel tactic of passing the ball multiple times in their own box until they concede should help Zirkzee to return again. Trust the process United fans, that top 10 finish remains within reach.

Thanks for reading the article in this new series for Sportscasting. Be sure to follow @FPL_Banger for the best non-template FPL tips and hints including their weekly podcast and team reveals.