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Saka and Mbeumo are being ignored for the wrong reasons

Looking past recent points tables reveals two prime transfers before gameweek 7.

The points table is a unreliable friend after six matches. Groß leads the entire game with 53 points, which has coaxed 39.5% of managers into buying him. But he has racked up 3 goals and 5 assists from an xG of 2.02 and an xA of 1.05. An assists minus xA gap of +3.95 across 540 minutes is not a sustainable rate of return. That is a player coasting on his team-mates finishing hard chances.

0.83Saka xGI / 902nd among all players
16.7%Saka ownership34 pts in 6 games
+3.95Groß assist overperform5 assists from 1.05 xA

Data covers gameweeks 1 to 6. High overperformance suggests future regression.

The Master Transfer Score filters out these unsustainable runs by combining five-gameweek schedule ease with underlying chance generation. When you rank the algorithm's favorite transfers against actual manager ownership, two high-value gaps open up in midfield before gameweek 7.

Master Transfer Score target shortlist
GroßBHA mid, 6.0m (39.5% owned)
98.7 score
HaalandMCI fwd, 15.6m (75.2% owned)
97.2 score
BelloumiHUL mid, 5.2m (7.2% owned)
97 score
B.FernandesMUN mid, 11.9m (34.7% owned)
95.9 score
SakaARS mid, 9.6m (16.7% owned)
91.1 score
MbeumoMUN mid, 7.9m (19.9% owned)
90.5 score

Master Score covers a five gameweek window. Highlighted picks are under 20% owned.

Saka holds a 91.1 Master Score yet sits in only 16.7% of teams. Across six starts and 506 minutes, he has accumulated 4.67 expected goal involvement (3.63 xG and 1.04 xA). That gives him an xGI per 90 of 0.83. Among qualified players with over 60 minutes, only Haaland at 0.91 xGI per 90 generates chances at a higher rate.

Saka has 34 actual points, but his goals minus xG sits at -0.63 and his assists minus xA is -1.04. He is putting in the baseline work and getting undersold by the finishing around him. Throw in 6.94 defensive actions per 90 for baseline bonus support, and he is severely undervalued ahead of Nottingham Forest and Everton in two of his next three matches.

Mbeumo is another mid-priced option ignored by four out of five managers. Owned by 19.9%, he has produced 33 points across 540 minutes. His underlying output matches the price tag: 3.31 xG and 0.90 xA sum to 4.21 xGI, giving him 0.70 xGI per 90 over the opening six gameweeks. His goals minus xG of -0.31 shows his returns are honest, built on volume rather than wild deflections. Manchester United face Leeds and Bournemouth next.

Five gameweek fixture ease
GW7GW8GW9GW10GW11
Hull
ful (A)BRE (H)IPS (H)ars (A)BHA (H)
Man City
IPS (H)avl (A)BHA (H)nfo (A)FUL (H)
Arsenal
nfo (A)EVE (H)liv (A)HUL (H)new (A)
Man Utd
lee (A)BOU (H)che (A)AVL (H)liv (A)

easierharderInternal model rating, 0 to 100. Not FPL's fixture rating.

Ease rating on a 0-100 scale. Higher scores indicate easier fixtures for attacking assets.

If you need to free up funds, Belloumi is the standard budget pick in the system. Priced at 5.2m with just 7.2% ownership, he posts a 97.0 Master Transfer Score. Hull run into Fulham, Brentford, and Ipswich across the next three gameweeks. His overall five-week fixture ease score is 69.6, the best of any mid-range target in the database.

Underlying rate comparison through six gameweeks
SakaMbeumoGroß
Price
£9.6m
£7.9m
£6.0m
Ownership
16.7%
19.9%
39.5%
xGI per 90
0.83
0.7
0.51
Actual Points
34 pts
33 pts
53 pts
Defensive Actions / 90
6.94
4.67
6

Covers gameweeks 1 to 6. Saka and Mbeumo lead Groß in underlying rate metrics.

Compare Saka (0.83 xGI per 90) and Mbeumo (0.70 xGI per 90) to Groß at 0.51 xGI per 90. Groß has 20 more points on the board, but he has achieved that on roughly two-thirds of the expected chance output. When the finishing cold snap hits Brighton, those points will dry up quickly.

Swap out players who relied on long-range floats and team-mate conversions before the deadline on Friday night. Buy the underlying generation now, before the goals turn up and everybody else catches on.

Written from the FPL Stats model. Every number is live, and the window it covers is named beside it.