2021/22 – GW4 Waivers, Trades and Free Agents

Draft Hub Admin Trades, Waivers and Free Agents ESR, Harrison, Matip, Saiss, Tierney

Welcome back to GW4 – 2021/22 of the FPL Draft Hub waivers summary.

Each week we will provide a round up of waiver options and hidden gems, as long as ones to dump in some sell-high/buy-low targets as we look ahead to GW4.

International breaks can be a pain, but be prepared as they are coming thick and fast early this season, with further breaks in October and November to divide up the gameweeks into nice little bite sized chunks.

These breaks obviously provide a lot of time to think, which can be good or bad depending on your playing style. Just make sure you don’t forget about your teams and you’ll get the edge on many players.

Some of the players we’ll be discussing this week include Kieran Tierney, Emile Smith- Rowe and Romain Saiss as well as many more so let’s get into it.

Let’s start off with a bit of a fixture barometer, focussing on the teams who have a nice run of 4 weeks:
Arsenal – Norwich(H), Burnley(A), Spurs(H), Brighton(A)
Man United – Newcastle(H), West Ham(A), Aston Villa(H), Everton(H)
Watford – Wolves(H), Norwich(A), Newcastle(H), Leeds(A)
Wolves – Watford(A), Brentford(H), Southampton(A), Newcastle(H)

Those with a bad run over the next 4 weeks:
Aston Villa – Chelsea(A), Everton(H), Man United(A), Spurs(A)
Burnley – Everton(A), Arsenal(H), Leicester(A), Norwich(H)
Crystal Palace – Spurs(H), Liverpool(A), Brighton(H), Leicester(H)

So just at the point of writing, @FPLDraftHubPod had most points covered regarding the ongoing mess which is the South American World Cup qualifiers, with the news that the Brazilian, Mexican, Paraguayan, and Chilean FA are going to punish the Premier League clubs for blocking their players flying out by invoking a FIFA punishment, which bans the players for five days, thus missing GW4 in the Premier League.

Shortly after this, there were reports of a deal being made to stop this so it remains unclear at the point of recording whether or not they will be allowed to play. The players potentially affected are:
Ederson
Jesus
Allison
Fabinho
Fred
Jimenez
Raphina
Sierralta

As such there are some potential one week pumps that you might look to bring in, particularly the backup keepers for Liverpool and Manchester City, but really, it’s about making sure

Players to Waiver In

Each week, @FPLDraftHubPod uses the Global Dashboard to find players who have a lot of potential for the coming weeks and are likely to be available in your Draft League.

Romain Saiss – Wolves

The defender is owned in just 14% of leagues currently. We could suggest anyone from the Wolves back line, however Saiss has the potential to have a small scoring streak so has the additional attacking potential.

Emile Smith Rowe – Arsenal

The young talent is owned in just 17% of 8-person leagues – he is proving to be a regular starter under Arteta and Arsenal are finally looking to have a favourable run of games. If they click and start to score goals, ESR is likely to be involved.

Ben White – Arsenal

Owned in just 18% of leagues, and much like with Wolves, you could decide to pick up Any of the available Arsenal defenders. We think Ben White is a safe play as any of them and he’s really the player that the club are looking to build their defensive future on.

Joel Matip – Liverpool

The towering centre back is definitely worth picking up for the next few games.He is surprisingly only owned in 23% of 8-person leagues, which is still very low ownership for someone who appears to be a nailed on Liverpool defender. Keep an eye on the situation, with Alison out you may want to wait a week before backing their clean sheet away to Leeds.

Christiensen – Chelsea

Owned in just 30% of leagues, he’s played every minute of Chelsea so far and with Tiago Silva potentially missing out due to that FIFA ban, that’s likely to continue. To be honest, he may keep his spot regardless as he looked really solid so far. Chelsea are entering a small rough patch in their fixtures before a nice run in October. So you may want to wait a little bit longer to pick Christiensen up.

Harrison – Leeds

Owned in just 34% of leagues. Leeds have to play Liverpool before getting a really nice run of fixtures. But regardless of the victories I find it hard to believe one of last year’s best performers still has such low ownership. One fixture against Liverpool wouldn’t put me off picking him up this week if he is available. I wouldn’t put it past him to get a return against Liverpool who don’t yet look to be as solid at the back as they were prior to Van Dijk’s injury.

Sarr – Watford

Another midfielder with some nice pictures coming up. He was one of my three gems that @FPLDraftHubPod highlighted in the preseason podcast and he’s already put some decent points on the board. So if he was free, I would definitely go out and get him.

Kieran Tierney – Arsenal

Another Arsenal defender to mention is Kieran Tierney who does have modest ownership already, but he is still available in just over half of all 8 person leagues. The left back is always an injury risk but will now start when he’s fit and is very good value for an attacking return. He’s probably the most attractive for FPL as he carries that attacking threat, but you just have to live with the risk that his legs could fail at any time.

Varane – Man United

The new signing has already been picked up in 44% of leagues. There is usually slowness to pick some players up and we think his ownership will steadily creep up as everyone realises he’s a suret starter next to Maguire. And the fact that he got 12 points in his opening game means he’s quite unlikely to stay under the radar for very long.

Hidden Gems – Less than 10% Owned

@FPLDraftHubPod has picked out three players who have less than 10% ownership in 8 person FPL Draft leagues:

Demarai Gray – Everton

The young winger has bagged two goals from the opening three games, in which he started all three. Everton have some really nice fixtures coming up and he looks like a sure starter. He is definitely a more attractive prospect compared to previous years and could be a real handy points getter over the season. Gray is probably not one you’re going to pick up and keep forever and he will likely end up cropping up in a few different draft teams throughout your league across the season, but definitely want to consider.

Pascal Gross – Brighton

No major heroics so far, but two assists from the opening three games is absolutely fine. In larger leagues, he will do a very solid service as your fourth or fifth midfielder.

Odegaard – Arsenal

Finally back to Arsenal, Odegaard, who we did see towards the back end of last season on loan is now a permanent signing. There’s obviously quality here that’s you know, yet to really transfer into a solid output for Arsenal, but he could go off at any time he’s only 22 was made the captain of Norway earlier this year, so he’s obviously got something about him and could be a more of a panty pick for your fifth midfielder spot on to the get rid list.

Players to Drop

Tsimikas – Liverpool

Still owned in just over a third of leagues, the placeholder left back should be dropped. Robertson is now fit again. He sorted all of the games for Scotland in the international break and should go straight back into the team at the weekend. We can all thank Tsimikas for his loyal service to our draft teams. But he goes back to the substitutes bench.

Lindelof – Man United

Currently enjoying a high ownership of 63% in 8 person leagues. As we haveI mentioned already, Varane is clearly favoured next to Maguire now, so it’s tough luck for Lindelof. But Varane is too much of an upgrade to leave out so time to move him on.

Benteke – Crystal Palace

Moving upfront, @FPLDraftHubPod has highlighted Benteke, who’s owned in just under half of leagues should see his minutes cut short now with the arrival of Eduardo. Benteke is not really somebody who should have such high ownership in moderately sized leagues anyway, as there are better options out there.

Daka – Leicester

There was a lot of preseason hype which really saw his ownership shoot up on draft days to the point where he’s owned in 77% of draft leagues. Unfortunately it remains clear that Vardy is the main man,. so Daka doesn’t look like featuring much in the Premier League at this stage. There are definitely better options out there who are going to at least get you one or two points a game for playing.