It’s feast and famine in north London, as our midfields get flooded with Spurs assets while Arsenal’s big ticket item hits the buffers. Meanwhile, up front, the decision to shun the runaway contender for the Golden Boot nears as Manchester United’s one-man attack makes his play. All this and more occupies our hearts and minds following Gameweek 32.
Spurs are really spoiling us…
Their chase of leaders Chelsea may ultimately prove fruitless, but there can be no doubt that Spurs’ end of season form has presented us with a rich array of Fantasy options.
Son Heung-min’s explosive 19 points provided the latest contribution, adding to Dele Alli’s prolific goal tally and Christian Eriksen’s continuous stream of assists. Throw a fit-again Harry Kane – with more points per match than any other striker – into the mix, and there can be no question that Mauricio Pochettino’s squad are currently our key provider of talent.
Don’t be distracted by the clamour for other double Gameweek assets. Arguably Spurs’ form is so compelling, we should look to fill the three slots in our squads as a priority above all others.
United’s reliance on Zlatan lives on…
While Kane is potentially an immediate target for Gameweek 33’s White Hart Lane visit from Bournemouth, there’s little doubt that we have to be mindful of reserving a place for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
United’s attacking fluidity cannot compare to Spurs’ imaginative, expansive football but, in Ibrahimovic, Jose Mourinho’s side have a player that dominates almost every aspect of their attacking ploys.
Sunday’s clincial strike at Sunderland, coupled with the late assist for Marcus Rashford’s third goal, again highlighted just why we still need to consider the Swede.
A determined Chelsea defence will visit in Gameweek 33, while United’s two fixtures in Gameweek 34 – Burnley and Man City away – are hardly favourable, and yet they need only need to score two or three goals over those matches for Ibrahimovic to provide us with reward.
Lukaku is a difficult habit to break…
The situation in our frontlines is clouded further by Romelu Lukaku’s remarkable form at Goodison Park.
While on paper a Kane/Ibrahimovic pairing looks to be an optimum route for those employing just two heavy-hitting strikers, shedding the Premier League’s leading scorer is a daunting prospect.
Lukaku has now scored in seven successive home matches, notching twelve goals in those fixtures. Burnley drop in on Merseyside at the weekend, making it almost impossible for us to contemplate swapping the Toffees’ striker out at this point.
The “perfect” window appears to be ahead of Gameweek 34, with Ibrahimovic an obvious replacement and Lukaku facing an away trip to West Ham followed by Chelsea’s visit to Goodison.
There is logic to support the swap to United’s talisman but, at the same time, there is no question that Lukaku is the more devastating – Sunday’s 12-point return from Ibrahimovic was his biggest since Gameweek 18.
Leading the Golden Boot race, we know all too well that Lukaku is capable of punishing us should we surrender to the allure of double Gameweek assets.
The heavy-hitting defenders are deserting us…
Dazzled by choice up front, in defence, our options now appear sparse.
Robbed of Seamus Coleman, the prospects of both Kyle Walker and Antonio Valencia are now in question following recent absence.
Walker, as the top-owned FPL defender, faces a continued threat of rotation over his remaining seven matches with Kieran Trippier proving a more than capable replacement. While the former Burnley full-back remains an understudy, Pochettino is aware that he can bring in Trippier to help open up stubborn defences with the accuracy and frequency of his crosses from the flank. The away trip to Palace, in Gameweek 34, would appear to be the next point of vulnerability for Walker.
As for Valencia, his absence from Manchester United’s last two matches remains something of a mystery; we’re not certain on the nature of any injury or whether it’s just pure exhaustion from recent international exertions and long-haul flights. The Ecuadorian is expected to return for the UEFA Europa League trip to Anderlecht, but then there will be question marks over his pitch-time for the Gameweek 33 visit of Chelsea.
Like Walker, the United defender is no longer a “fire and forget” option – he’s an uncertainty that’s unwelcome at a time when we’re seeking to exploit double Gameweek opportunities and focus transfers on attacking areas.
Alonso has added a new string…
At least Marcos Alonso has discovered a way to compensate for the failings of Chelsea’s defence and his heavy-hitting peers.
The Spaniard’s beautifully flighted effort at the Vitality Stadium brought his fifth goal of the campaign and at last rewarded his technique from direct free-kicks. With David Luiz belatedly giving way to Alonso at dead-balls, the wing-back may now even promise further profit to help balance Chelsea’s alarming propensity to leak goals.
Antonio Conte’s defence have now conceded in each of their last nine Gameweeks, shipping once in eight of those matches.
Gibson and Yoshida have killed the debate…
As we reconsider the pricey options in our backlines, we now appear to be settled on our targets lower down the price brackets.
The Middlesbrough and Southampton defences come into focus with the double Gameweeks in mind and, where once there was debate on the preferred options, the argument has now settled down.
Ben Gibson was always the most assured route into Steve Agnew’s rearguard but in recent Gameweeks the centre-back has confirmed this status. Admittedly, injuries to team-mates have limited our choice but, with an assist and four bonus points in his last three Gameweeks, Gibson has taken significant strides.
As for Southampton, Maya Yoshida appears to have snatched the initiative from team-mate Ryan Bertrand. Now settled as the Saints’ defensive lynchpin, Yoshida has claimed a first Premier League goal of the season and registered bonus points over each of the last three Gameweeks – a timely burst of points that has seen his ownership swell and his rank on our double Gameweek shopping list rise.
Sanchez desperately needs centre stage…
Spurs are doing their bit to populate our midfields but, across north London, Arsenal continue to deal us a troublesome scenario.
Alexis Sanchez surely remains integral to their fading hopes of sealing a top-four placing and yet, based on recent evidence, his ability to influence Arsenal’s results is being severely hampered by a new instruction to remain tight to the left flank.
Monday night’s performance at Selhurst Park offered little indication that Sanchez can overcome the situation. The Chilean had four shots and ten touches from inside the Palace box, but those numbers fail to illustrate the lack of punch that he was able to provide.
Having blanked in three successive Gameweeks for the first time this season, these are now desperate times for Sanchez, with Fantasy managers surely now considering how his funds could be exploited elsewhere.
The double Gameweek announcement may yet go some way to relieve concerns, but we ideally need Wenger to see the light, revert to “Plan A” and return Sanchez to the central attacking role at Middlesbrough.
Sigurdsson is on his last legs…
While Sanchez has stalled badly, Gylfi Sigurdsson has ground to a halt.
A run of four successive blanks has seen the Icelander time his decline to allow a seamless transition to double Gameweek assets, with Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha the most obvious benefactor.
The return of Fernando Llorente for Swansea’s City’s vital trip to Watford could yet re-ignite Sigurdsson. The Spanish target man undoubtedly peps up Paul Clement’s attack and acts as a springboard for Sigurdsson in the final third. But, with Palace in form and facing a leg-weary Leicester City, the Gameweek 33 move from Sigurdsson to Zaha appears logical and a major temptation.
…and so, it seems, is McAuley…
Replaced before the hour-mark in his last two Gameweek outings, we could well be witnessing the slow decline of Gareth McAuley as a Fantasy asset.
While the West Brom fixture list appeared punishing over the run-in, with the Gameweek 34 blank consigning McAuley to significant sales, there was still hope that the centre-back could yet deliver a seventh goal of the season.
With Tony Pulis now intent on sparing the 37-year-old’s legs in a bid to chase matches, there’s every chance that we’re already being offered a glimpse of the future. Craig Dawson seems destined for the role alongside Jonny Evans next season, which would mean we have limited time to exploit McAuley’s remaining goal threat.
