<p>A record attacking performance from Liverpool started 2024 in style as FPL Gameweek 20 neared a conclusion.</p>
<p>West Ham host Brighton tonight (Tuesday, January 2) in the final match of the gameweek, but here we review the action so far.</p>
<p>Gameweek 20 draws to a close a hectic period for fantasy managers, with seven gameweeks in December. January will bring a change of pace, with the winter break meaning there will be just two FPL deadlines this month.</p>

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<h2>FPL Gameweek 20 captaincy: Salah rewards backers as Liverpool set record</h2>
<p>Just over half of the top 250,000 FPL managers chose <strong>Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) </strong>as their captain in Gameweek 20.</p>
<p>And his backers were not disappointed, as he delivered two goals and one assist on his way to 16 points. Only Chelsea&#8217;s <strong>Cole Palmer (5.6m) </strong>managed a better return (18 points).</p>
<p>It could have been much better though, with the Africa Cup of Nations bound Egyptian racking up an expected points total of 20.79.</p>
<p>He saw his first-half penalty saved by Newcastle goalkeeper <strong>Martin Dubravka (£4.2m) </strong>and looked set to complete his hat-trick late on, missing a big chance.</p>
<p>But Salah, who has now missed six Premier League penalties in his career &#8211; more than any other player since 2017 &#8211; did however convert Liverpool&#8217;s second penalty of the 4-2 victory.</p>
<p>And more encouragingly from a statistical perspective, they racked up an expected goals (xG) tally of 7.72, the highest figure recorded in a Premier League game.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s worrying times for Newcastle, who have an expected goals conceded (xGC) of 12.6 over the last three games &#8211; more than five worse than any other team. They have conceded eight times, level with Everton.</p>
<div id="attachment_60909" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-60909" class="size-full wp-image-60909" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Captains-GW20.jpg" alt="Captaincy picks among the top 250,000 managers" width="1000" height="812" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Captains-GW20.jpg 1000w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Captains-GW20-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Captains-GW20-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Captains-GW20-610x495.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><p id="caption-attachment-60909" class="wp-caption-text">Captaincy picks among the top 250,000 managers</p></div>
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 20: Match Centre</h2>
<p>Our gameweek reviews are not intended to provide details of every goal and assist. You can see this, plus bonus scores, FPL points and more in our slick <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-match-centre">Match Centre</a>.</p>
<p>The Match Centre is updated live, with the latest information as games happen, so be sure to bookmark it and follow the action in future gameweeks!</p>
<div id="attachment_55901" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-55901" class="size-full wp-image-55901" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hub-match-centre.png" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hub-match-centre.png 1200w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hub-match-centre-300x157.png 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hub-match-centre-1024x536.png 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hub-match-centre-768x402.png 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hub-match-centre-610x319.png 610w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hub-match-centre-1080x565.png 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><p id="caption-attachment-55901" class="wp-caption-text">Hub Match Centre</p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 20 injuries: De Bruyne and Haaland latest</h2>
<p><strong>Kevin De Bruyne (£10.2m)</strong> received a rousing reception as he warmed up during Manchester City&#8217;s 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Saturday.</p>
<p>The midfielder did not make it on the pitch but his presence on the bench showed a return from a serious hamstring injury is imminent.</p>
<p>De Bruyne has not featured since being forced off against Burnley in the opening match of the season but although Pep Guardiola will be delighted to get his playmaker back, he is not rushing him.</p>
<p>Asked post-match whether he was tempted to bring the Belgian on for a cameo appearance, Guardiola said:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;No. He&#8217;s close but we asked each other to come to the bench, to start to be in the locker room. It&#8217;s three months, so it&#8217;s a lot of time, but he&#8217;s close, he&#8217;s starting to train good he will start to get minutes to get to his best.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The City boss went on to discuss the second half of the season and commented briefly on <strong>Erling Haaland (£13.9m)</strong>, who could be in the frame for a return in Gameweek 21. Guardiola said:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re awaiting Jeremy, Erling, John Stones because the second part of the season is already here. January will disappear because we have three, potentially four games, and after February the Champions League is here and the last part of the season we need everyone, and it&#8217;s incredible news Kevin is back and Erling as well and Jeremy [Doku] as well.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Elsewhere, Liverpool lost <strong>Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.1m) </strong>to a hamstring injury, while <strong>Kieran Trippier (£6.8m) </strong>and <strong>Callum Wilson (£7.8m) </strong>were missing from Newcastle&#8217;s squad.</p>
<p>Eddie Howe said the pair &#8216;picked up injuries&#8217; in the Magpies&#8217; last game &#8211; but he didn&#8217;t think the problems were &#8216;too serious&#8217;.</p>
<p><strong>Pau Torres (£4.7m) </strong>was back on Aston Villa&#8217;s bench following an ankle injury but <strong>Matty Cash (£4.7m) </strong>missed Gameweek 20 through illness, as did <strong>Rasmus Hojlund (£6.8m)</strong>. A calf complaint kept <strong>Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.2m) </strong>out of Arsenal&#8217;s squad.</p>
<div class="epyt-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy"  id="_ytid_94645"  width="1080" height="608"  data-origwidth="1080" data-origheight="608"  data-relstop="1" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V0seezOS0Nc?enablejsapi=1&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&modestbranding=1&rel=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&" class="__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload" title="YouTube player"  allow="fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy="1" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=""></iframe></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 20: Stars head to AFCON and Asian Cup</h2>
<p>Gameweek 20 was the final chance of Premier League action for a while for players heading to AFCON and the Asian Cup.</p>
<p>Those taking part in the international tournaments could be away between Gameweek 21 and 24, although it has been reported that <strong>Mohammed Kudus (£6.9m) </strong>will miss West Ham&#8217;s match tonight having been summoned to Ghana&#8217;s training camp.</p>
<p>African teams have until tomorrow (Wednesday, January 3) to finalise their squads for the competition.</p>
<p>We will confirm the full list of players heading to both competitions on the Hub soon, however Salah and <strong>Son Heung-min (£9.9m) </strong>are undoubtedly the major absentees from many an FPL squad.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ll be bringing you detailed coverage of the potential replacements at a variety of price points nearer to the Gameweek 21 deadline.</p>
<p>In the meantime, you can keep track of their potential price falls with our excellent <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-price-rises">price changes prediction tool</a>.</p>
<div id="attachment_60910" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-60910" class="wp-image-60910 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AFCON-and-Asian-Cup.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="812" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AFCON-and-Asian-Cup.jpg 1000w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AFCON-and-Asian-Cup-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AFCON-and-Asian-Cup-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AFCON-and-Asian-Cup-610x495.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><p id="caption-attachment-60910" class="wp-caption-text">Mohammed Kudus, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min</p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 20: Olise at the double</h2>
<p>Crystal Palace headed into Gameweek 20 on an eight-game winless run, with manager Roy Hodgson tipped for the sack.</p>
<p>But they recorded a 3-1 home win over Brentford, despite conceding in the second minute.</p>
<p><strong>Michael Olise (£5.9m) </strong>and <strong>Eberechi Eze (£6.0m) </strong>are Palace&#8217;s main men, whose fitness will be crucial to their success.</p>
<p>Olise scored twice against the Bees, with Eze adding a third, underlining their importance to the Eagles&#8217; attack.</p>
<p>Since returning from injury in Gameweek 12, Olise has five goals and an assist to his name. Only <strong>Dominic Solanke (£7.1m) </strong>and Salah have more goals in that time.</p>
<p>Eze has two goals and no assists in the same period, although he has been limited to just 336 minutes due to injury.</p>
<p>Palace have mixed fixtures over the next six but rank inside the top 10 for overall difficulty, according to the <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fixture-ticker">Hub fixture ticker</a>. They will inevitably be part of the conversation for those looking to replace Salah and Son.</p>
<div id="attachment_60912" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-60912" class="size-full wp-image-60912" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Eze-v-Olise.jpg" alt="Eberechi Eze v Michael Olise from a stats perspective" width="1000" height="812" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Eze-v-Olise.jpg 1000w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Eze-v-Olise-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Eze-v-Olise-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Eze-v-Olise-610x495.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><p id="caption-attachment-60912" class="wp-caption-text">Eberechi Eze v Michael Olise</p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 20: Doughty an unlikely name for the watchlist?</h2>
<p>A Luton defender is unlikely to be top of many managers&#8217; watchlists, given the Hatters have the highest xGC in the league (40.2).</p>
<p><strong>Alfie Doughty (£4.4m) </strong>may be a case for making an exception though, delivering a nine-pointer in Luton&#8217;s 3-2 defeat against Chelsea on Saturday.</p>
<p>Doughty provided two assists, picking up two bonus points. He has recorded 33 points since Gameweek 15, scoring one goal and assisting four, making him the third-highest scoring defender in that time.</p>
<p>Only <strong>Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) </strong>and <strong>Marcos Senesi (£4.5m) </strong>have scored more points.</p>
<p>Doughty&#8217;s five goal involvements top the chart among defenders, with Alexander-Arnold the only one to better his three big chances created.</p>
<p>He has significantly over-performed his expected assists (xA) of 0.91, however with clean sheets hard to come by this season, Luton&#8217;s leakiness may not be as much of an issue if Doughty can continue delivering attacking returns.</p>
<div id="attachment_60913" style="width: 1007px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-60913" class="size-full wp-image-60913" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Doughty-stats.jpg" alt="Alfie Doughty's stats" width="997" height="812" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Doughty-stats.jpg 997w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Doughty-stats-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Doughty-stats-768x625.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Doughty-stats-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 997px) 100vw, 997px" /><p id="caption-attachment-60913" class="wp-caption-text">Alfie Doughty&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<h2>Key FPL Gameweek 20 stats</h2>
<p>Here are the gameweek&#8217;s player and team leaders in full.</p>
<h3>Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 20: Players</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Shots </strong>&#8211; Dominic Solanke &#8211; 9</li>
<li><strong>Shots on target </strong>&#8211; Darwin Nunez &#8211; 5</li>
<li><strong>Shots in the box </strong>&#8211; Darwin Nunez and Dominic Solanke &#8211; 7</li>
<li><strong>Big chances </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez &#8211; 3</li>
<li><strong>Goals </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and Michael Olise &#8211; 2</li>
<li><strong>xG </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah &#8211; 2.71</li>
<li><strong>Non-penalty xG (NpxG) </strong>&#8211; Darwin Nunez &#8211; 1.67</li>
<li><strong>Key passes</strong> &#8211; Phil Foden &#8211; 6</li>
<li><strong>Big chances created </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah &#8211; 3</li>
<li><strong>Assists </strong>&#8211; Phil Foden, Diogo Jota, Giovani Lo Celso, Alfie Doughty and Ollie Watkins &#8211; 2</li>
<li><strong>Expected assists (xA)</strong> &#8211; Mohamed Salah &#8211; 1.17</li>
<li><strong>FPL points </strong>&#8211; Cole Palmer &#8211; 18</li>
<li><strong>Expected points (xPts) </strong>&#8211; Mohamed Salah &#8211; 20.79</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_47676" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47676" class="size-full wp-image-47676" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1410247944-1.jpg" alt="Mohamed Salah FPL" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1410247944-1.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1410247944-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1410247944-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1410247944-1-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-47676" class="wp-caption-text">Mohamed Salah. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
<h3 class="mceTemp"><strong>Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 20: Teams</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Most shots </strong>&#8211; Liverpool &#8211; 34</li>
<li><strong>Highest xG </strong>&#8211; Liverpool &#8211; 7.72</li>
<li><strong>Highest xGC </strong>&#8211; Newcastle &#8211; 7.72</li>
<li><strong>Lowest xG </strong>&#8211; Sheffield United &#8211; 0.32</li>
<li><strong>Lowest xGC</strong> &#8211; Manchester City &#8211; 0.32</li>
</ul>
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FPL Gameweek 20 review: Salah stars amid Liverpool record, De Bruyne and Haaland injury latest

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