Keep or sell Konsa? FPL dilemmas ahead of Gameweek 10
FPL Heisenberg, BBC Sport's Fantasy Premier League expert, laid out transfer and captaincy dilemmas for managers ahead of gameweek 10 on 5 November 2026. He recommended against buying Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa (£4.8m) this week despite Konsa's recent involvement in three consecutive Premier League clean sheets.
Konsa's recent form has coincided with Arsenal keeping three clean sheets in three Premier League matches, but Mikel Arteta flagged knee issues after the midweek Champions League game that prompted Konsa's early substitution. William Saliba is now fit and was in the squad, which makes any new Konsa purchase vulnerable to a quick sale as early as gameweek 11. FPL Heisenberg said owners should not automatically sell him but noted there is still a chance Konsa starts Hull at home and added: "I am hoping he either starts or he isn't in the squad." He also advised: "He is a hold for this week, not a buy."
The current FPL landscape, Heisenberg said, favours defenders because they combine goal threat and defensive-contribution potential while playing for sides with genuine defensive strength. He described a shift away from the five-midfielder template towards a structure closer to four defenders, three or four midfielders and two or three strikers.
Managers do not always need to sell underperforming midfielders, Heisenberg argued; benching them for favourable fixtures can be the correct approach. He named Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.8m) as a reasonable pick because he is on penalties, is the club's talisman when goals are scarce and plays 90 minutes. Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m) was highlighted for his involvement in chances and goals at a struggling Manchester United side and for being unlucky not to return against Chelsea, while Kevin Schade (£6.2m) was noted for carrying attacking threat at a Brentford team on the up. He added there is no clear must-buy in midfield unless managers are specifically moving Pascal Gross (£6.2m) or Morgan Rogers (£8.2m) on.
Heisenberg warned that some early-season defensive options may not be as nailed as before, naming Konsa (£4.8m), Brighton's Maxim de Cuyper (£5.4m) and Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori (£5.9m) as ones to monitor. Bournemouth's Antonio Silva (£5.1m) and James Hill (£5.5m) were recommended this week and beyond, with both having "more than nine per 90 minutes" for defensive contributions and solid underlying data; playing Ipswich was cited as a decent time to buy. He also pointed to Tarik Muharemovic (£5.1m) at Leeds as an option and suggested a Liverpool defender could be attractive given Crystal Palace's set-piece vulnerability — noting Tottenham's Jan Paul van Hecke had a number of chances and scored last week — and that Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) or Jeremy Jacquet (£5.1m) look shrewd buys. If managers do not own De Cuyper, or can afford Gabriel (£8.0m), those remain strong options as this run of fixtures begins with Crystal Palace.
On attacking options, Heisenberg described midfield and forward choices as less clear-cut. Bradley Barcola (£8.1m) was said to be getting minutes but with weak underlying numbers, while Cody Gakpo (£7.1m) has produced good minutes and data in the past but has suffered recent early substitutions while competing with Victor Munoz (£6.5m) and Barcola out wide. Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m) was labelled underwhelming because of limited game time and an unclear role. Alexander Isak (£9.2m) was acknowledged as an excellent but expensive option, with Heisenberg asking why take Isak over the likes of Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m), Joao Pedro (£7.7m) or Erling Haaland (£15.8m), or cheaper forwards such as Thierno Barry (£5.6m) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.1m); he recommended it is reasonable to wait and reassess around gameweek 13.
This is a trickier captaincy week, Heisenberg said, because Erling Haaland is away at Nottingham Forest while Forest's attacking and defensive data has been reasonable despite their struggles at both ends, and Glasner has a record of making stronger sides difficult to break down from his Palace days. He added that if managers want to take on Haaland this is a reasonable week, but alternatives are limited; the clearest rivals are Gabriel or Calafiori. Heisenberg described Gabriel as bringing "excellent clean-sheet odds, the chance of a bullet header, and defensive-contribution points" and called him probably the strongest rival to Haaland. Regarding his own team he said he is "looking at Calafiori. He had a full midweek rest so he should start against Hull, and when Arsenal dominate the ball he gets very high up the pitch." He also noted defenders must now be treated as captaincy options after multiple double-digit hauls this season and admitted: "My head is still on the safer Haaland pick, but I am very tempted by Calafiori."
Arsenal host Hull in gameweek 10 and Erling Haaland is away at Nottingham Forest; Heisenberg expects Calafiori to start after his full midweek rest and says managers should weigh whether to captain Haaland, Gabriel or an Arsenal defender this week.
