Double Gameweek 37 justifies our collective show of faith as Alexis Sanchez nets twice to strengthen his position at the Fantasy Premier League summit, while Manchester City pair Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne both bag double-figure hauls at home to West Brom.
On the Rise
Alexis Sanchez
After a patchy last couple of months, the Chilean perfectly timed his return to form with a 27-point haul in Double Gameweek 37 – the highest tally from any individual this season.
Sanchez had approached the Gunners’ recent Double Gameweek 36 with just a single goal in six outings but, after initially struggling in the new 3-4-2-1 set-up, now seems to have found his feet.
Captained by 10.6% of FPL managers and triple captained by a massive 70,000+, the Arsenal attacker has served up three successive double-figure tallies ahead of a home encounter with an Everton side that already look to have their minds on pre-season.
Having cemented his spot as the top-scoring player in FPL, our faith in Sanchez is on the rise once again – with 11 double-digit hauls to his name, many will be happy to keep the armband on the South American for Gameweek 38 as Arsenal attempt to seal a top four finish.
The underlying numbers also back up that call – only three occasions this season has a player fired more attempts in a single match than Sanchez’s nine against the Black Cats.
Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud
Arsenal laid siege to the Sunderland goal and Ozil was the chief architect.
The German registered an astonishing 12 key passes for team-mates at the Emirates – at least four more than any player in a single match this season.
Despite only collecting an assist, Ozil still claimed the maximum bonus thanks to his creative endeavours.
A frustrating source of inconsistency, the Arsenal playmaker also seems to be benefitting from the new tactical tweak – he’s produced points in three successive matches for the first time this season, ending Double Gameweek 37 with 15 points for his 7% owners.
Giroud, meanwhile, retained his starting berth after bagging a brace in the weekend win at Stoke.
Drafted in by just over 17,000 for the Gunners’ pair of fixtures, he emerged as a huge differential by serving up 18 points for his 3% owners – the second best total among forwards in the Gameweek to date.
With Arsene Wenger looking to maintain momentum ahead of the upcoming FA Cup final, Giroud seems set to continue ahead of Danny Welbeck as the lone striker on Sunday afternoon.
Rob Holding
Priced at just 4.1, the summer signing from Bolton started all four of Arsenal’s matches across Double Gameweeks 36 and 37, amassing 22 points in the process.
Subject to over 100,000 transfers in ahead of last Friday’s deadline, Holding’s displays as part of Wenger’s back-three bodes well for his prospects next time around.
Indeed, the same can be said for the Gunners’ recent improvement in defence. Arsenal have four clean sheets in seven since that change of formation in Gameweek 33 – prior to that, they’d kept out their opponents in just two of nine league encounters.
Gabriel Jesus
The number one transfer target for Double Gameweek 37, Man City’s January signing duly delivered for his 217,000+ new owners.
Despite being shuffled onto the right wing to accommodate Sergio Aguero through the middle, Jesus still fired more shots (five), efforts inside the box (five) and attempts on target (four) than any team-mate on his way to grabbing a goal and assist against West Brom last night.
Averaging 7.8 FPL points per start, the Brazilian’s impact since arriving at the Etihad will have already earned him a place in many managers’ squads for next season.
Jesus has produced six goals and three assists in seven starts – the only time he failed to deliver returns when named in the first XI was back in Gameweek 25, when he limped off injured against Bournemouth after just 14 minutes.
Currently the top scoring forward for Double Gameweek 37 on 19 points, he’s set to challenge Sanchez for that Gameweek 38 armband as City visit a Watford defence hit hard by injury and suspension.
Kevin De Bruyne
Number one for transfers in (128,000+) among FPL midfielders ahead of the double Gameweek, the Belgian recovered from a weekend blank at home to Leicester to justify the investment.
De Bruyne’s goal, assist and maximum bonus helped him to a total of 15 points over City’s pair of fixtures – a 13-point tally against the Baggies was his third in the last six outings in an explosive end to the season.
Despite a relatively disappointing campaign, De Bruyne sits as the top creator in FPL – a total of 19 assists is more than any player and just one less than double his haul of 10 from 2015/16.
Providing he can up his goal threat in his second year under Pep Guardiola, City’s playmaker looks set to play a prominent part in our future plans.
In Decline
Sergio Aguero
Boasting more owners (17%) and armbands (8.1%) than any Man City player, the Argentine made a welcome return to Guardiola’s teamsheet after being utilised as a sub in the first match of their double Gameweek.
He was handed the central role as Jesus moved to the right flank, but mustered just one assist in the 3-1 victory and fired only a single attempt from inside the penalty area.
Although he’s picked up points in seven of his last eight league starts, there’s no doubt that the Argentine is struggling for explosive output – he’s managed just one double-figure haul from Gameweek 14 onwards, whereas Jesus has three in his seven starts over that period.
While Guardiola’s teamsheet again highlighted that he has no qualms over starting his two strikers, there’s also no question that Aguero has struggled to justify that lofty £12.7m price tag under the new manager this season.
Raheem Sterling
Guardiola’s decision to employ both Aguero and Jesus in the same XI saw Sterling drop to the bench.
As the season has unfolded under City’s new manager, the former Liverpool man’s influence has faded. He started 22 of their first 26 matches – no player was named in the first XI on more occasions – on his way to delivering six goals and 12 assists.
Since then, he’s started seven of the subsequent 11, serving up one goal and a pair of assists, and blanked in seven of his nine appearances.
With the versatile Jesus also more than able to deliver the goods from a wide position, Sterling’s security of pitch-time looks in question as Pep builds for next season. Guardiola has now played Jesus and Aguero together in two league matches – Sterling has failed to start on either of those occasions.
