Has a Fantasy Premier League season ever been as hard as this one?

Indeed, football has been changed dramatically since play started behind closed doors, with many more goals, penalties and away wins than normal, and that has made playing FPL so much harder than we’re used to.

There are still the big-hitting players you can’t go without, but there are so many other traditional big hitters that are no longer guaranteed to return you big FPL points returns, which has made building an effective squad of 15 incredibly tricky.

And it has been made a lot harder for Raul Jimenez owners after the Mexican suffered a fractured skull during Wolves’ 2-1 victory at Arsenal last weekend.

It means we can’t realistically expect to see the striker on the pitch for a prolonged period of time, perhaps even for the rest of the season, resulting in FPL managers with him in their team to start looking for a worthy alternative ahead of GW11.

So we’ve taken a look at five potential Raul Jimenez alternatives for you to consider before Saturday’s FPL gameweek deadline…

Tammy Abraham - £7.2m

Tammy Abraham

The Chelsea striker has somewhat gone under the radar this season, with many looking at high profile summer arrival Timo Werner as their preferred striker option at Chelsea, but the England international has so far quietly delivered the goods in 20/21.

The 23-year-old has three goals and two assists to his name so far this term, including two goals in his last three outings, and has also picked up five FPL bonus points in the process.

While he might not be guaranteed 90 minutes every week, he is often named on the starting XI and should at least complete around 75 minutes before Frank Lampard opts to sub him for the likes of Olivier Giroud.

But perhaps the most important thing to consider here is that he’s over £2m cheaper than Werner and has a very low ownership of just 2.3%, meaning that if he keeps up his good run of form he’s a shrewd differential option for FPL managers.

Edinson Cavani - £8.0m

cavani

Choosing to go with the Man United striker is a risky one, because he’s not guaranteed to start each week and has been used as a bit of a super-sub by Ole Gunnar Solksjaer so far, albeit with effective results.

The Uruguayan came off the bench at the weekend to score two and assist the other as United came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Southampton, and that performance will have piqued the interest of some FPL managers looking for something a little different in their attack.

If you already have one or two premium striker options and can still afford to bring Cavani in then he’s an obvious pick, but obviously, his current super-sub status also makes him a serious risk for FPL bosses.

At an £8.0m cost and with 2.3% ownership, he’s an interesting differential to at least give some thought to.

Danny Welbeck - £5.5m

Danny Welbeck

You know it’s been a crazy season when you’re giving serious consideration to bringing Danny Welbeck into your FPL team, but stick with us here.

The 30-year-old has looked dangerous for Brighton over the last few weeks, picking up a goal and an assist in his previous two outings.

Brighton’s fixtures over the festive period are relatively favourable and if Welbeck can continue to improve while leading Graham Potter’s attack, you can bet on him to be amongst the FPL points.

And then there’s the fact he’s just £5.5m in value and is owned by less than 1% of FPL managers, making him a very, very interesting differential option.

Che Adams - £5.9m

Che Adams

Che Adams as finally finding his feet at Southampton after struggling for form and consistent game time last term, and it’s certainly showing in his record so far this term.

The striker has three goals and four assists so far this season and has also collected seven FPL bonus points along the way, which makes him a strike option managers can’t really afford to turn their noses up at.

With Danny Ings struggling with injury, albeit closing in on a return to action, Adams has a chance to be Ralph Hasenhuttl’s main man up top as Southampton quietly go under the radar as this season’s surprise package in the Premier League.

Adams is priced at just £5.9m and is owned by just under 6% of FPL managers – an absolute steal if you fancy something a little bit different.

Ollie Watkins - £6.1m

Ollie Watkins

Yes, we know he’s not playing in GW11 but that doesn’t mean to say he can’t be a worthwhile replacement for Jimenez FPL managers should be considering.

The former Brentford striker has taken his first few months as a Premier League player in his stride, netting six and assisting one in his first 10 games. On top of that, he was incredibly unlucky not to have left East London with at least one goal earlier this week, after a missed penalty and an offside goal ruled out by VAR preventing Villa from getting anything against West Ham.

But form isn’t just the best thing about Watkins at the moment. Firstly, he’s cheap, coming in at just £6.1m and secondly, Villa’s fixtures in the coming weeks looking good – a trip to Wolves is arguably their most difficult fixture between now and their visit to Stamford Bridge on December 28.

He’s surprisingly under-owned, too, with just 9.3% of FPL managers currently having him in their teams.

Raul Jimenez Alternatives