All Things FPL takes a look at Bruno Fernandes and his FPL potential ahead of Man Utd’s clash with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
For those that selected Bruno Fernandes for their Gameweek 1 squad and have carried the Portuguese international through to now, it has been frustrating to say the least. No goals and no assists in the Red Devils’ first two matches is hardly the return you want from a player in his price bracket, especially as other, cheaper midfielders such as Kaoru Mitoma and Bryan Mbeumo have been logging attacking returns for fun.
Successive blanks does not tell the full story though, as Fernandes has been heavily involved in Man Utd’s attacking play. This was particularly evident last weekend against Tottenham, where he had several opportunities to either get on the scoresheet or register an assist.
In fact, when we look at the xGI stats, we can see that the Man Utd playmaker sits second in the Premier League behind Mbeumo (whose numbers are inflated by two penalties). That tells you all you need to know about the positions Fernandes has been getting in to, and surely it is only a matter of time before he delivers for his owners.
We all know the heights Fernandes can reach. His pinnacle, so far at least, was his first full season at Old Trafford in 2020-21, where he registered 18 goals and 14 assists to make himself an essential pick in FPL. His numbers have dwindled a little since then, but he has remained a solid fantasy asset and there is nothing to say he can’t get back to those kinds of returns again.
Many FPL bosses have – over 300,000 – have lost patience with Fernandes and sold him this week, but that could prove to be a mistake with Man Utd’s Gameweek 3 fixture coming against a Nottingham Forest side who invariably concede on their travels. The time to sell could well be prior to the Gameweek 4 trip to Arsenal, but for now we are advocating for keeping the faith with Fernandes.
