Rice, Watkins & Cunha make cut - FPL team of the week

After Erling Haaland, the next five top-scoring FPL assets are all priced at £7.1m or under.

It feels like the game has really turned on its head this season, with so many mid-priced options - and this week's team includes four of those players in Gabriel, Declan Rice, Bruno Guimaraes and Igor Thiago.

The variety of options around the £7m mark has really broken open the template and made FPL even more exciting. Bring on another week of chaos!

The team of the week is selected based on current FPL prices to fit within a £100m budget, as if you were playing a Free Hit.

Don't miss our FPL special Q&A with expert FPL Heisenberg, live on the BBC Sport website on Tuesday, 6 January at 15:30 GMT.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manchester City, keeper, £5.7m - Brighton (h)

There's enough money in the budget this week to go with a premium keeper and City have as good a chance as any of a clean sheet against Brighton.

Gabriel, Arsenal, £6.6m - Liverpool (h)

The Brazilian is an easy every-week pick now he is fit again.

Scores goals, gets defensive contribution (defcon) points, a good shout for clean sheets.

And he faces a Liverpool side this week potentially without Hugo Ekitike, to go with the absent Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah.

Malick Thiaw, Newcastle, £5.1m - Leeds (h)

The 17-point hero from the last gameweek gets another starting spot.

Leeds travel to St James' Park and, even though they have been playing really well recently, they are in the bottom four for goals away from home, bottom six for shots on target and bottom eight for expected goals (xG).

I fancy a Newcastle clean sheet.

Ayden Heaven, Manchester United, £3.9m - Burnley (a)

Burnley have failed to score in five of their 10 home games and have only two goals in their past four matches.

Heaven is playing well for United and has picked up defcon in four of his seven recent starts.

And he is a budget steal!

James Tarkowski, Everton, £5.6m - Wolves (h)

Backing Everton defence did not work last time out as they shipped four to Brentford, but Tarkowski did reliably get defcon points again.

If you think Wolves have suddenly turned a corner after thrashing West Ham at home, then maybe avoid Everton's backline.

But I see a Wolves side that has zero away wins and only four goals on the road.

Bruno Guimaraes, Newcastle, £7.1m - Leeds (h)

Another hero from last gameweek's team, Guimaraes now has two double-digit hauls in a row.

He's a great case for not always putting emphasis on underlying data.

The Brazilian had one shot against Crystal Palace on Sunday, scored and took home 10 points. The week before his goal came in the final minutes when a keeper howler gave him a virtually open goal.

But the points keep coming and he has a nice home fixture, so pick him with confidence.

Matheus Cunha, Manchester United, £8.2m - Burnley (a)

Cunha is United's talisman at the moment, with three goals in five games.

He's had more shots (22) than any other midfielder in that time and is worth backing at a struggling Burnley side.

Declan Rice, Arsenal, £7.2m - Liverpool (h)

Rice is now the top-scoring FPL midfielder after his two goals at Bournemouth.

He's a fantastic all-round pick with goals and assists in his locker.

Against Liverpool, he should also easily accumulate defcon points as well, which gives him a four-point floor.

Erling Haaland (captain), Manchester City, £15.1m - Brighton (h)

Haaland will make this team almost every week, given the lack of other premium options, but his recent form is a bit of a worry and should give FPL managers more confidence to back against him as captain.

Six blanks in nine games is not really captaincy material but this week he takes on a Brighton side that has not been watertight on the road - conceding 18 in 10 games - and he still managed five shots in the draw with Chelsea, albeit not scoring.

If he blanks again, we can panic.

Igor Thiago, Brentford, £6.9m - Sunderland (h)

Thiago had as many shots (six) during his hat-trick performance at Everton on Sunday as he'd taken in the previous five matches.

Owners will hope he continues that form against a decent Sunderland defence.

He also has penalties going for him and, given the lack of strong striker options elsewhere, Thiago is worth a punt this week.

Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa, £8.7m - Crystal Palace (a)

Watkins has suddenly found form, with four goals in three games, and FPL managers can confidently jump on the bandwagon.

In the past three gameweeks, no striker has had more shots, big chances or scored more goals.

And he faces a Palace side this week that has suddenly started conceding.

Martin Dubravka, Burnley, keeper, £4m - Manchester United (h)

Granit Xhaka, Sunderland, midfielder, £5.2m - Brentford (a)

James Garner, Everton, midfielder, £5.1m - Wolves (h)

Nathan Collins, Brentford, defender, £4.9m - Sunderland (h)

Team total cost: £99.3m