Tottenham Hotspur’s Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) has been ruled out of Saturday’s home fixture against Everton.

In this article, we identify a few replacements for the Spurs striker in Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

INJURY LATEST AND WHAT’S BEEN SAID

The rumours began on Thursday when the £65m man wasn’t seen in training.

And in Friday’s press conference, Ange Postecoglou confirmed that the forward had picked up a knock in Gameweek 1 that subsequently “flared up”.

“Dom picked up a knock in the last game. He got through the game but it kind of flared up the day after and he’ll miss tomorrow.

“It’s an ankle injury. He copped a knock really early, somebody went across his ankle. He’s definitely out tomorrow and then it just depends on the recovery. Obviously next week, then there’s the international break. But it’s not serious, we know that. Just an ankle injury.” – Ange Postecoglou

In the embargoed section of the presser later in the day, Postecoglou said that Solanke had a “chance” of being back for Gameweek 3.

“It’s not serious enough to keep him out for five weeks, he’s still got a chance for the Newcastle game. That’s the extent of it, it’s just about how quickly he recovers.” – Ange Postecoglou on Dominic Solanke

KEEP OR SELL?

Even if Solanke returns for Gameweek 3, which is not guaranteed, he embarks on a so-so run of games.

In fact, our Season Ticker ranks Spurs bottom for fixture difficulty in Gameweeks 3-7.

Saying that, the Lilywhites actually scored 21 goals in 10 meetings with their upcoming five opponents in 2023/24. A second-best expected goals (xG) tally of 19.72 was generated.

The Spurs starting centre-forward, whether that was Richarlison (£7.0m) or Son Heung-min (£10.0m), scored on seven occasions in those 10 fixtures.

Above: Premier League teams sorted by xG in meetings with Newcastle, Arsenal, Brentford, Man Utd and Brighton last season

Opinion is split on whether to keep or sell Solanke in our on-site poll:

As ever, team dependency is key. If you also own the likes of Jarell Quansah (£4.4m) and Valentin Barco (£4.0m), and/or don’t have a strong bench to cover Solanke’s absence, then the urge to sell will be strong.

If, however, you’ve perhaps got an Emile Smith Rowe (£5.5m), a Morgan Rogers (£5.0m) or a Yankuba Minteh (£5.5m) as an ‘eighth attacker’, they’re eminently playable. It gives you another week of deliberation and the possibility of getting Solanke available for Gameweek 3, albeit while enduring a price drop or two – something that may price you out of a future sideways or upward move to a replacement.

BEST SOLANKE REPLACEMENTS IN FPL

RODRIGO MUNIZ (£6.0M)

Rate My Team’s best value forward over the next six Gameweeks, Muniz begins a very decent five-match run of games with clashes against two of last season’s promoted clubs.

Leicester City allowed more headed and set-piece chances than any other team in Gameweek 1. A small sample, granted, but Muniz averaged more headed shots per 90 minutes than any other forward last season.

Then, an Ipswich Town outfit that conceded a Gameweek-high six big chances last weekend precedes the visit of a West Ham United side in transition.

Since his run in the Fulham first team started in Gameweek 23, no forward has had more shots in the box.

JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA (£7.5M)

Like Muniz, Mateta hit a late-season purple patch from a bargain-bin FPL price tag.

He’s the Premier League’s leading scorer – ahead of Messrs Palmer, Salah and Haaland – since Oliver Glasner took over. That goalscoring knack hasn’t deserted him this summer: he netted on five occasions in six Olympic Games matches for France.

Glasner has turned Mateta from link-up guy to penalty box poacher. His rate of chances created for others dropped dramatically, from one every 59 minutes under Roy Hodgson to one every 103 for the rest of 2023/24.

But goal threat massively shot up. Just three big chances arrived in the first 25 Gameweeks. There were 18 in his last 13 matches of last season.

Glasner admitted that he wasn’t fully up to speed after a late return from the Olympics, hooking him at half-time in Gameweek 1. But with an extra week of training under his belt, he should be closer to full match fitness.

OTHERS

If you have cash in the bank, Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) is about to embark on an excellent run of matches – at least after the visit of Arsenal in Gameweek 2.

Seven clubs who finished outside of last season’s top seven all await in Gameweeks 3-9.

He averaged exactly one attacking return every match last season, delivering 19 goals and 18 assists. His near-constant availability is also an underrated factor.

He might not scale the same heights as last season, given that he overperformed his Opta expected assists (xA) by 8.8, but he needn’t be thought of as a season-keeper anyway as the fixtures stiffen again in Gameweek 10-13.

Nicolas Jackson (£7.5m) and Chris Wood (£6.1m) might be about to see competition arrive for their places, while Adam Armstrong (£5.5m), Danny Welbeck (£5.5m) and Joao Pedro (£5.5m) already have in the form of Cameron Archer (£5.0m) and Georginio Rutter (£5.5m).

Armstrong and Pedro are penalty takers at their respective clubs in the short term at least, with the former embarking on a favourable run of fixtures.

Wood, on a run of 12 goals in 17 starts under Nuno Espirito Santo, also ought to have enough credit in the bank for now, even if he sees a positional rival arrive – potentially Eddie Nketiah (£5.9m) – and delivers a goalless game or two.

Jamie Vardy (£5.6m) might be more secure for starts so long as Leicester are playing just once a week, even if those aged legs are likely to be hooked fairly early. Only once in 2023/24 did he complete 90 minutes.

With the Championship’s congested schedule, he was on the bench as much as in the starting XI last season, but that may be less of a concern in the opening months of 2024/25.

A three-goal campaign in 2022/23 hinted that his powers were waning but he responded with 18 strikes in the English second tier last year.

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