GameDay Squad Football: Round 25 Preview
- Feb 6
- 6 min read
The transfer window has come to a close and the new player pool is here with plenty of options to choose from! While most of them are yet to grace our clubs, we’ll take a look at who we can play in the meantime.
Leeds v Forest:
Forest have been in fine form recently with no league defeats in their past four, but with a key player suspended in Neco Williams, Leeds have every chance of winning this one at home. While Leeds have been inconsistent as of late, they’ve only suffered three home league losses this season with two of those against top three teams. For Leeds, they’ll also be missing a key player in Stach, however an ideal replacement with Longstaff now back up to full fitness. Given Forest are poor at defending set pieces and Leeds are good at scoring from set pieces, it could finally be DCL time.
Recommended Players:
● D Calvert-Lewin
● S Longstaff
● J Rodon
● E Anderson
● M Gibbs-White
Man Utd v Tottenham:
United continued their surging form under Carrick beating Fulham 3-2, while Spurs clawed back an impressive draw to Manchester City on the back of a Solanke masterclass in the second half. Spurs have had the wood over United in their recent history, which includes a 1-0 win in the Europa League Final. With no losses in the last eight meetings, Spurs have every chance of ending Carrick’s run of wins. Solanke and Mbeumo have been the form players across a fixture that’ll likely have plenty of goals.
Recommended Players:
● D Solanke
● B Mbeumo
● B Fernandes
● C Romero
● X Simons
● A Diallo
● M Cunha
Wolves v Chelsea:
After a decent run under their new manager, Wolves have once again fallen away. Having put Wolves to the sword earlier in the season (3-0), we're most likely going to see a repeat here as Chelsea continue their top four chase. Chelsea have scored ten goals in the last two Wolves home meetings, however it’ll be a task selecting the correct Chelsea attackers given rotation is likely to occur.
Recommended Players:
● Estevao
● C Palmer
● M Caicedo
● R Sanchez
● T Chalobah
● M Cucurella
Fulham v Everton:
This one’s quite an intriguing fixture, which could genuinely go either way. Surprisingly, Fulham are one of the better home teams in the league this season, particularly when it comes to scoring goals (21 goals in 12 games). They do, however, meet the defensively capable Everton, who have conceded no more than one goal in the last six meetings with Fulham. Not only have Fulham struggled to score against Everton, but they’ve also failed to beat them in their last four home meetings. The Everton defence seems a safe pick here.
Recommended Players:
● H Wilson
● J Tarkowski
● J Pickford
● J O’Brien
● S Chukwueze
● A Robinson
Burnley v West Ham:
The meeting of two teams in the relegation zone with two completely different mentalities. On the one hand, Burnley look almost defeated as if to appear as though relegation is already a foregone conclusion, meanwhile West Ham are doing everything possible to escape it. Without having to even rely on the result here, we know it’s typical for players to stack points against Burnley, particularly the midfielders. Mateus Fernandes has been quietly stacking impressive performances, while we could see a spike in scoring from Soucek here. Attackers Castellanos and Pablo are selectable (along with Bowen), however as new players in GDS their supply is presumably very low.
Recommended Players:
● M Fernandes
● T Soucek
● A Wan-Bissaka
● C Summerville
● T Castellanos
● Pablo
● M Dubravka
● J Anthony
● Z Flemming
● J Bowen
Arsenal v Sunderland:
Arsenal are coming off of a professional 1-0 win over Chelsea during the week that secured their place in the EFL Cup Final. This, however, is likely to lead to rotation from a manager who’ll drop no hints in the pre-match press conference. Saka is apparently still out injured, which leads one to believe it’ll be Madueke on the right wing once again. Kai Havertz came on as a striker during that game however, if Odegaard fails to play, we could see him used in an attacking midfield role. The back four will be anyone’s guess, given the return to fitness of Calafiori, White and Mosquera. Sunderland have been a dramatically different team away from home this season as they sit 17th in the away table with only 10 points from 12 games. In those 12 games they’ve conceded 17 goals and only scored six themselves. This is the sort of form that makes it a very targetable fixture for coaches with Arsenal players.
Recommended Players:
● K Havertz
● N Madueke
● L Trossard
● D Rice
● Gabriel
● D Raya
● J Timber
Bournemouth v Aston Villa:
Despite losing Antoine Semenyo in the January transfer window, Bournemouth have been able to maintain steady form ever since. With only one defeat (to Arsenal) in their last five league fixtures they’ll be a chance against an injury hit Aston Villa. Kamara, McGinn and Tielemans all remain out as Villa’s creativeness will once again be stretched. Bournemouth have been far more competitive in this fixture at home in recent times with two wins in the last five. Watkins has been a pain for Bournemouth in these meetings, however with question marks over his fitness, it puts further doubt over Villa here.
Recommended Players:
● D Petrovic
● E Martinez
● A Truffert
● M Senesi
● M Rogers
● E Buendia
● M Cash
● E Konsa
Newcastle v Brentford:
Brentford turned around their away form last round with an impressive 1-0 win at Villa, whilst playing the entire second half one player down. Kevin Schade’s red card does mean they lose some of their attacking potency (he should last time they met) here, however it was a double strike from Thiago last time the teams met that was the difference in the end. Newcastle will need to keep Thiago quiet in this one, while also dealing with their own attacking selection issues due to the fitness question marks over Gordon. Barnes has prior form against Brentford and could be a difference maker here.
Recommended Players:
● H Barnes
● B Guimaraes
● I Thiago
● C Kelleher
● N Pope
● M Thiaw
● L Hall
● Y Wissa
Brighton v Palace:
It’s starting to look better for Palace after the conclusion of the transfer window, albeit they do run into a capable home side in Brighton. Munoz is now fully back to fitness, Sarr reintegrated (and shouldn’t be required at striker this round), Wharton returns and Strand-Larsen could start his first game for the club. It’s another game that could go either way, making it difficult for coaches to select options from this game.
Recommended Players:
● B Verbruggen
● J P van Hecke
● D Munoz
● D Henderson
● I Sarr
Liverpool v Man City:
The game of the round to complete the round. Usually a fantastic fixture to watch, but a difficult one to call meaning a tough one to select from. Man City’s superior season should mean they win here, however they haven’t beaten Liverpool in the past five Anfield meetings. There’s potential for a Haaland fade here given he hasn’t scored at Anfield, whilst playing for City, in his four attempts. There’s a chance of some rotation, but it’s more likely Pep plays his strongest team, which means we should see Semenyo who was dominant against Liverpool at the start of the season while playing for Bournemouth. The attackers are probably the only ones on the menu here.
Recommended Players:
● G Donnarumma
● M Guehi
● F Wirtz
● D Szoboszlai
● A Semenyo
● E Haaland
Goalkeepers:
● Sanchez ⭐️
● Raya
● Verbruggen
● Pope
● Dubravka
Uniques: Kelleher and Leno
Defenders:
● Gabriel ⭐️
● Cucurella
● Timber
● van Hecke
● Tarkowski
● Thiaw
● Wan-Bissaka
● Chalobah
● Robinson
● Munoz
Uniques: Botman and Rodon
Midfielders:
● B Fernandes ⭐️
● E Anderson
● Palmer
● Longstaff
● Rice
● Mbeumo
● Wilson
● Guimaraes
● E Fernandez
● M Fernandes
Uniques: Soucek and Simons
Forwards:
● Madueke ⭐️
● Havertz
● Estevao
● J Pedro
● Haaland
● Sarr
● Thiago
● Bowen
● Calvert-Lewin
● Semenyo
Uniques: Solanke and Castellanos
…And that’s a wrap! Best of luck with round twenty five.
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