The Scout says players whose countries did not qualify for World Cup will be popular picks

Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) and Erling Haaland (£11.5m) will be key targets during the unlimited free transfers period in Fantasy Premier League. 

In addition to two Wildcards this season, managers can also freshen up their 15-man squads when domestic action pauses for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

See: What’s new in FPL – Unlimited transfers during World Cup

The unlimited free transfers period starts after the Gameweek 16 deadline on Saturday 12 November at 13:30 GMT and ends on the Gameweek 17 deadline of 13:30 GMT on Monday 26 December.

Prior to this window, managers should look to employ the “dead-ending tactic” favoured by last season’s champion Jamie Pigott to take advantage of the schedule.

The American manager targeted teams with strong fixtures over the opening Gameweeks in 2021/22 Fantasy before playing his first Wildcard in Gameweek 8 to pinpoint favourable turns in schedules for Chelsea and Manchester City.

This season, managers can focus their transfers purely on the teams and players with kind matches leading up to Gameweek 16, before making unlimited trades immediately afterwards.

Salah and Haaland are among a number of big-name players in Fantasy whose countries failed to qualify for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Those players who have benefitted from a break will be fresher and less likely to be rotated than team-mates who have played in the latter stages of the winter tournament.

Liverpool to benefit?

Notably, Liverpool have a number of key players at both ends of the pitch who won’t feature.

Salah’s fellow winger Luis Diaz (£8.0m), along with defensive duo Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) and Joel Matip, won’t take part.

Crucially, the Reds have a very kind schedule from Gameweek 17 onwards. They face only one of last term’s top seven in their subsequent seven matches.

Other options

Haaland and Man City team-mate Riyad Mahrez (£8.0m) offer further options with the potential for huge hauls.

Arsenal pair Martin Odegaard (£6.5m) and Kieran Tierney (£5.0m), along with West Ham United’s Said Benrahma (£6.0m) and Michail Antonio (£7.5m), will be fresh ahead of kind schedules for both clubs.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Dejan JClusevski (£8.0m) and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha (£7.0m) will also not feature in Qatar and could prove popular during the unlimited free transfer period.

See: Fantasy Premier League 2022/23 is live