FPL Fantasy Points Against – Blank Gameweek 31 Dream Team

In this article we have a Gameweek 31 Fantasy Points Against (FPA) Dream Team special.

If this metric is new to you make sure to check out my initial article here.

Now that the 5th round of the FA Cup has concluded, our Gameweek 31 fixture list looks like this:

• Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham
• Burnley v Watford
• Liverpool v Crystal Palace
• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Bournemouth

So, for those of us using our Free Hit chip in Gameweek 31, we would be looking at a squad of 15 from these teams.

The purpose of this article is to pick a “Dream Team” based on the fixtures that allow the most fantasy points at each position. The ideal game is where a green FPA team meets a green Fantasy Points For (FPF) team. We will consider player form as well, but the main rationale for the picks will be the metric itself – looking at Fantasy Points Against, Fantasy Points For and then drumming down into specifics in terms of home and away fixtures.

We will use a budget of £104m as most teams have an increased team value now.

Goalkeepers

Nick Pope – £4.8m

Pope as it stands is the top scoring goalkeeper in the game. He plays Watford at home, who give up the second most fantasy points to goalkeepers. Away from home, Watford are just outside the top five. Burnley at home score the most goalkeeper points. A no brainer in terms of the metric.

Ben Foster £4.9m

Watford are fourth overall for fantasy foints scored by goalkeepers (of the teams playing in Gameweek 31).

Defenders

Matt Doherty – £6.2m and Romain Saiss £4.5m

Bournemouth give up the second most fantasy points to defenders overall and the second most when playing away. Wolves defenders are in the top five overall for fantasy points scored by defenders. It’s also worth noting that Bournemouth give up a lot of chances down their right hand side. With Matt Doherty in exceptional form, he simply has to be part of this team.

Whilst Saiss doesn’t have the attacking threat of Doherty, he has still had plenty of headed attempts and has been on set pieces for Wolves

Trent Alexander-Arnold – £7.8m

Palace are in the top five teams for allowing fantasy points to defenders, Liverpool are in the top five for fantasy points scored by defenders. Given his attacking output and Liverpool’s mainly stingy (until recently) defence, another must have.

Charlie Taylor – £4.3m

Watford are in the top five teams for fantasy points allowed to defenders both overall and when playing away.

Serge Aurier – £5.0m

West Ham are just outside the top five overall for points allowed to defenders and in the top five when playing away. Granted, the Spurs defence don’t score a lot of points, but Aurier is arguably their most creative defender.

Midfielders

Mohamed Salah – £12.8m and Sadio Mané (£12.4m)

Both Salah and Mané need little explanation. In terms of midfielders playing this week they are well above the next midfielder for fantasy points scored. Palace are middling when playing away from home overall, but of the teams playing this week, they are a very good option to target in respect to the metric, and imagine they will both be in any free hit team. 

Ismaila Sarr – £6.3m

The Watford midfielder has been in great form under Nigel Pearson. Watford look a completely different side with him in the team. Burnley are in the top five for most fantasy points conceded to midfielders, so he could well get returns again.

Michail Antonio – £6.9m

Whilst Spurs are stingy in general for conceding fantasy points to midfielders, Antonio has been playing really high up in recent games. West Ham are just outside the top five overall for fantasy points scored by midfielders and with them looking like they’re about to hit form, combined with Spurs lack of form, Antonio could be a shrewd pick up here.

Steven Bergwijn £7.5m

West Ham are in the top five for fantasy points allowed to midfielders both overall and when playing away. Bergwijn seems to be playing quite far forward in a lot of the Spurs games with absences of Harry Kane (£10.8m) and Heung-Min Son (£9.8m) and is their form player. With Spurs form it is a gamble, but could pay off.

Forwards

Raúl Jiménez – £8.0m

Wolves are in the top five teams for fantasy points scored by forwards. Jimenez has been the main man for Wolves all season and I’d back him to continue his consistent returns. Bournemouth are middling overall for fantasy points allowed to forwards, but of the options available this week I like Jiménez to produce. Whilst Diogo Jota (£6.3m) has been in form, he is quite a patchy player, so my preference is Jiménez.

Troy Deeney – £6.2m

 Watford are just outside the top five for fantasy points scored by forwards this season, and Burnley are the team giving up the most points to forwards (of the teams playing in Gameweek 31). After the way they played against Liverpool, I’d back them to continue their form.

Chris Wood – £6.1m

Burnley are fourth overall (second of the teams playing in Gameweek 31) and in the top five for points scored by forwards at home. Whilst Watford are pretty stingy on forwards, Wood could pick up where he left off before he got injured.

We’ve come in slightly under budget at £103.7m with a really solid team.

So there you have it. I hope you found this useful, as a metric that isn’t well known or considered. I certainly wouldn’t use it on its own as it has hits and misses like any other, but it can help with decision making no end and it throws up some interesting points not noticed with other metrics.

Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed the article make sure to share it. You can also follow me @richp_fpl both on Twitter and Instagram!

Good luck with your Blank Gameweek 31 planning.