FPL tips: Josh Maja, Mbaye Diagne options in attack

| 18 February 2021

Mbaye Diagne and Josh Maja have wasted no time making an impact for their new teams, while Leeds players will also be popular for gameweek 25.

A pair of new faces could help shake up your Fantasy Premier League attack, as the January transfer window finally makes an impact.

Leeds players are proving popular for gameweek 25, with several key men in scoring form and a relatively friendly run of fixtures coming up.

But if you are looking for goals, two of our top picks are currently selected by half a per cent of all managers or below.

Instant impact

Top attacking picks for FPL gameweek 25 — **Josh Maja** and **Mbaye Diagne** lead this week's attacking picks (PA graphic)

With many of the league's top attacking talents classed as midfielders in FPL, options for your three striker positions have been limited.

New blood was needed and despite a quiet January window overall, a couple of struggling teams may have given themselves – and fantasy managers – the necessary boost.

The PA news agency assigns every player in the league a Transfer Score each week, combining the game's statistics for form, cost, ownership and fixture difficulty rating (FDR), and the third category has helped Mbaye Diagne and Josh Maja to the top of this week's attacking recommendations.

Diagne has provided a much-needed focal point for West Brom, with assists in his first two appearances before a goal against Manchester United in his fourth, while Maja scored twice on his full debut after joining Fulham on loan from Bordeaux.

Maja is slightly cheaper, helping him to a transfer score of 65, and should continue to lead the line in the absence of Aleksandar Mitrovic, while Diagne (64) has the more appealing fixtures and his ownership, 0.3 per cent, is among the lowest of any player with a realistic shot at game time – Maja is just ahead at 0.5 per cent.

The same cannot be said for the third striker on our podium, with Patrick Bamford (59) owned by over half of all managers and more than any two other strikers combined – Ollie Watkins and Harry Kane are the only others over 20 per cent.

Leeds lead the way in midfield

Top midfield picks for FPL gameweek 25 — Leeds provide our top two midfielders (PA graphic)

Bamford is not the only Leeds player to come recommended this week, with Raphinha and Jack Harrison leading the midfield selections and ranking first and third overall this week with transfer scores of 85 and 75 respectively out of 100.

Raphinha has two goals and four assists in his last five games, with Harrison scoring three in that time, and the £5.4million pair represent value for money in games against Wolves, Southampton, Aston Villa and West Ham. Harrison's 2.7 per cent ownership helps eat into the form gap.

Matheus Pereira comes in third on 68, with the West Brom man's cost and ownership still low enough to tempt those seeking a repeat of his four goals from gameweeks 19 to 21.

Seagulls shutout

Top defensive picks for FPL gameweek 25 — Brighton dominate in defence (PA graphic)

Brighton manage a clean sweep of the defensive positions in this week's list, led by Lewis Dunk as the centre-back splits Raphinha and Harrison to rank second overall at 77.

He scored in the 1-1 draw with Burnley, the only game in the last six in which Albion have conceded – a run which also propels team-mates Ben White and Joel Veltman into our transfer score recommendations on 71 and 67 respectively.

Unsurprisingly, Robert Sanchez is also our top goalkeeper on 74, ahead of Leeds' Illan Meslier and Manchester City's Ederson – the latter still seems to be eyeing up his side's penalties and recorded an assist in the 3-0 win over Tottenham, if you fancy some long-odds attacking returns from your shot-stopper.