Pro Pundits - Lateriser

My FPL tips on team value, Wildcarding and more for Gameweek 31+ and beyond

In his latest Pro Pundits article, Lateriser12 – who has overall ranks of 77th and 189th to his name  shares his thoughts on the Fantasy landscape ahead of the run-in.


Games are coming thick and fast and there is no time to breathe in terms of processing information and building a strategy. This is when isolated thinking, acquiring information, eye-test and quick thinking comes into play.

My advice to every FPL manager out there would be don’t indulge in too much tinkering. Instead, process as much information as you can and the answers will come to you easier. If I ever have a “this or that” question in my head, I normally tend to re-watch the highlights of the same game and look at some stats in the Members Area and the answer is there in front of me.

I am desperately trying to not overthink the coming eight Gameweeks, which does become a little difficult when you’re just outside the top 500. But nothing needs to change in terms of my strategy and I just need to keep doing what I am doing and we will see where I land in Gameweek 38+.

I have been thinking long and hard on what to write.

I could take you guys through my Wildcard team but I’m still tinkering and most of my thoughts are on the Scoutcast I just did with Joe and Andy. Give it a listen.

I thought of giving you guys differentials to consider but Tom has a great track record doing those and we’ve covered a fair bit of them on the Scoutcast as well.

With eight Gameweeks to go, I’m just going to freestyle this article and talk about a few strategy-focused things that have been playing on my mind and that you might find useful. I did speak about a few of these on the Scoutcast but I think you might find it useful if I elaborate further.

1) What am I doing with Manchester City?

De Bruyne out of Manchester derby as Aguero starts City's Double Gameweek 29 opener

I am writing this article before the Manchester City v Burnley game but as it stands, I have no Manchester City player in my Wildcard draft. The reasoning is quite simple for me: I expect major rotation for them in the next two Gameweeks and I don’t think the games will be easy.

They have the FA Cup (Pep mentioned that it was their most important game apart from the UEFA Champions League game against Real Madrid) just three days after the Chelsea game and I think it is near-impossible to predict who will get the majority share of minutes in these three games.

You could say that they will play their strongest team against Liverpool, which doesn’t sound like a very attractive prospect. Holding Kevin De Bruyne (£10.6m) is a very reasonable move if you have value attached to him but I’ve sold him four times this season already and I’m looking elsewhere for the next Gameweek to hunt for hauls.

You should know that this is generally how I play FPL in general, though, as I’m very comfortable switching big hitters in the search of double-digit hauls from premium assets and I don’t indulge in ‘cover picks’ as much as others.

The two players from Manchester City that I did consider on my wildcard are Ederson (£6.0m) and Phil Foden (£5.1m). Here’s why.

Manchester City have great fixtures after these two Gameweeks, they looked the fittest and most solid team so far and I expect Ederson to keep a ton of clean sheets until Gameweek 38+.

When it comes to Foden, I expect him to get a lot of minutes and I think he’s a really good option for your eighth attacker. What I would do with Foden is that if he is rested for a particular game, I would probably start him in my FPL team in the next game as we expect Pep to rotate and Foden’s upside is very high.

In fact, this is exactly what I intend on doing with Manchester City assets. Since I am expecting them to be heavily rotated, I will try second-guessing Pep and get the Manchester City attacker for a particular run or even a single fixture (they have a lot of ‘captainable’ fixtures Gameweek 33+ onwards).

As things stand, I am looking to add one or two City attackers in my team from Gameweek 33+ onwards and I am being careful to not spread my funds too much with my Wildcard squad so as to afford them in two or three moves.

2) What are my thoughts on the Spurs attackers?

What the FA Cup replay results mean for the Blank Gameweek 31 picture

I have seen a lot of the community struggle with what to do when it comes to the Spurs assets. I would first like to bring your attention to this excellent piece written by Neale.

When I read this article, I had made up my mind that Son Heung-min (£9.7m) was going to be my go-to asset for the Spurs run-in.

My view of the Spurs attackers are that all the midfielders are correctly priced and you will get what you pay for. I personally would not consider Steven Bergwijn (£7.4m) as I think he is more prone to rotation than Son or Dele Alli (£8.3m). This quote from Jose Mourinho after the first game for Spurs led to this thinking:

We played with Bergwijn, Lamela, Kane and Son, and our bench was very strong in defensive options. We had Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen on the bench but we didn’t have Lucas or Dele or Lamela or Bergwijn. Imagine Bergwijn on the bench and Lucas playing and coming out minute 60-65 and Bergwijn coming for the last period, I can imagine the impact that we could have. So a bit of frustration but at the same time really happy with the players.

This makes me think that Son and Alli are less prone to rotation compared to Bergwijn.

Another thing I’d like to mention is that Spurs are third on the defensive ticker when sorted until Gameweek 38+ and, as mentioned by Mourinho in the press conference on Monday, Serge Aurier’s (£4.9m) competitors for that spot are injured which makes him a good pick in my books:

The only position where we don’t have [competition] is right-back because we have only Serge [Aurier] and nobody else. The other options, Tanganga and Foyth, they are both out.

3) But what about value?

Alexander-Arnold's consistency continues as Firmino unlucky to blank

I just didn’t think I could write an article at this point of time without addressing the value question.

Personally, I don’t attach too much importance to value as I always like shifting big hitters.

But even for the more traditional managers, you have accumulated value until this point of the season so that you can use it.

I would not worry about value too much with just eight Gameweeks to go. If you find a higher upside pick that has the potential to bring home a double-digit haul and the only reason you are not selling that player is value, you are playing this game wrong. I assure you that you will be able to buy that player later and if it means paying £0.5m more, so be it.

4) Don’t be afraid to chase hauls

I would also encourage all managers to use this unique situation that we are in to go haul-hunting.

All the transfers you make right now should be more focused towards chasing bigger hauls rather than making ‘balance-friendly’ moves that might not have a huge points impact.

We aren’t going to get very many opportunities this season to get the likes of a differential Richarlison (£8.3m) against a leaky Norwich defence.

While earlier in the season, you might think that you are going to be stuck with a transfer for a long time, as the Gameweeks keep passing us, you are only going to hold players for a shorter and shorter time period. That should help you increase your risk appetite.

5) I am looking at structure and price points

Is it time to invest in Arsenal assets after Gameweek 28? 9

While I’m on my Wildcard, I’m thinking about whether I want to go ahead with a 3-4-3 formation or a 3-5-2. I normally play a 3-4-3 but in this case I am considering switching to a 3-5-2 because I see more options in midfield than I do in the strike force.

I am also making sure all my money is spent on the pitch and not on the bench because I will want to bring in Manchester City assets in the near future and I want to keep those funds condensed into my attackers. That said, I do like fifth midfielders like Bukayo Saka (£4.7m) and Phil Foden (£5.1m) more than I like the budget strikers.

6) Short-term punts?

If you are interested in short-term gambles, there are a few I like depending on your team structure. I will mention four that I really like here:

  • Matt Ritchie (£5.3m)
  • Richarlison (£8.3m)
  • Ismaila Sarr (£6.4m) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (£5.6m)

7) Why am I Wildcarding so early?

Many are not confident about Wildcarding so early into Project Restart because of the lack of enough information. While I see value in that point of view, I also think that we only have eight Gameweeks to play.

Being pro-active is the way I like playing the game and while you might argue that your team is ‘good enough’ for the week, my counter to you would be ‘why not go for ideal instead of good enough?’. 

Like I mentioned earlier, there are very few hauls left for the taking and I want to try being there for as many as possible. In addition, I don’t see the eco-system changing too much between Gameweek 31+ and Gameweek 33+ (famous last words).

On that note, I will take your leave. I will leave you with my latest Wildcard tinker but I cannot assure you that it will be my final team (I still have to watch Manchester City v Burnley):

I hope you will find my slightly unstructured article useful. Good luck for the Gameweek!


Fantasy Football Scout user Lateriser12 has a very impressive Fantasy CV. He has registered two finishes in the top 200 (one of them equating to number one in India) and four in the top 10,000 in the last six seasons. The secret to his success has been playing non-conventionally and fearlessly, swearing by ‘upside chasing’ and not giving ownership much of a look.

Double Gameweek 30+ FPL Lessons Learned

875 Comments Post a Comment
  1. GUSFRING
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Thinking...

    Bergwijn & KDB to Son & Richarlison..
    Worth the risk?

    1. jason_ni
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Son and Rich should outscore Berg and KDB over next few weeks.

    2. Dele
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      I'm also thinking of moving KDB on for Son

    3. Easy Cheesy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Same here. Who knows whether I’ll get balls to get rid of kdb before 5pm

      1. Flynniesta
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Me too

  2. Liastro ⭐️
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    9k rank but low TV - RMWCT please!

    DDG
    TAA Doherty Lascelles
    Mane KDB Fernandes Bergwijn
    Rashford Jimenez DCL

    Button - Kiko Guendouzi 3.9

    1. JBG
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      G2G imo.

    2. Ajax Hamsterdam
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      bench far too weak imo.

    3. TheDragon
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Looks good

      Personally I’d prefer to downgrade Bergwijn to Sarr or someone and then upgrade the 3.9 to Holgate / Justin (who rotate beautifully with Lascelles)

      1. JabariParkersEyelid
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Agree with this.

    4. iveseenitall
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      KDB to Mahrez and use the funds to upgrade your bench

  3. Bruno Bruno!!
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Aubameyang - Keep or Sell?

    1. jason_ni
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      for free with no other fires, hard to see.. maybe hold for next 2

    2. Ajax Hamsterdam
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      i d keep for 2 weeks

    3. zon
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Sell

    4. pingissimus
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      I’d hold

      Could easily have had a couple and prime captain in 32

  4. How I met your Mata
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Bench one

    A Saiss
    B Lacelles
    C Soy

    1. LC1
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Lascelles

    2. How I met your Mata
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      *Lascelles

    3. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      soy

    4. Ajax Hamsterdam
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      b

  5. S.Kuqi
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Bottomed.

    Vardy or Rashford for this gw only?

    1. LC1
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Vardy for this GW

    2. How I met your Mata
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Vardy

    3. Ajax Hamsterdam
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      vardy

    4. S.Kuqi
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Cheers all

  6. Aftermath
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Select one team:

    A)
    Patricio
    TAA Doherty Fernandez
    KDB Son Bruno Salah
    Rashford Jimenez DCL

    B)
    DDG
    TAA Doherty Boly
    Salah KDB Son Bruno Richarlison/Martial
    Jimenez DCL

    1. How I met your Mata
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      a

    2. JabariParkersEyelid
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Much prefer B, ideal front 7 imo

  7. Fishy
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Gone for free hit over wildcard what do we think?
    Schmeichel 
    Aurier taa Doherty 
    Traore fernandea richarlison salah
    Rashford vardy jota
    Martinez lascelles Robinson saka

  8. gamesmad11
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    WC team thoughts?
    De Gea (3.9 GK)
    TAA Aurier Doherty (Kiko, Robinson)
    Salah (C) Bruno KDB Son (Guendouzi)
    Jimenez Ings Calvert-Lewis
    Much appreciated

    1. zon
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Looks good. Spreading funds for The bench is a possibility by downgrading Ings to Jota. I see less rotation in 4th place fighting Wolves side.

  9. pingissimus
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    On FH

    A KdB + VVD
    B Mo + Ritchie/AWB

    Pat
    TAA Doherty xxx
    Son Rich Bruno xxxx
    Vardy Rash DCL

    1. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Very tough.
      Probably B.

      I'm not sure about Son. Maybe KDB over him?

      1. pingissimus
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Ty

        Could get there if I do Rash to Jim I suppose - tempting as I have an awful relationship with Rash

    2. TheDragon
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      B for me

      1. pingissimus
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Cheers

    3. iveseenitall
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      B with AWB

      1. pingissimus
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Ty

        That seems unanimous then

  10. RVP20
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    On FH. Which one?

    (A) De Gea & Aurier
    (B) Lloris & Wan-Bissaka

    1. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      A

    2. pingissimus
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      A

    3. Bobby_Baggio
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Lloris should not be in the options list - Prefer Patricio

      1. Bobby_Baggio
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        A

  11. HD7
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    De Gea Fernandez (Ncastle) or Pope Maguire?

    Is Fernandez attacking threat like Harry when there are set pieces?

  12. Oh Dear
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Is anyone bringing Jesus in after last night's Kun injury? Something like Jimi-Jesus-DCL? How are you releasing funds for that?

    1. The Ejiptian King
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      I might bring him in after the next two.

    2. Bobby_Baggio
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      not yet but maybe after a couple

  13. Tmel
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    On WC:

    1) Bergwijn & DCL
    2) Son & 1 of Lasc/Holgate/Greenwood each week

    1. Bobby_Baggio
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      2

    2. Liastro ⭐️
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      1

  14. FPL Xylophone
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    John Egan has missed only one game all season. It was on Nov. 24, where they conceded three goals to Manchester United team. They will face the same team in GW31+.
    Will history repeat itself? Itself...

    1. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Who will be stepping in for Egan?

      1. FPL Xylophone
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Jagielka i think

  15. Milk, 1 Šuker
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    HI!!!

    Hi guys, would appreciate your help here. Should I free hit this team:

    Foster
    TAA Boly AWB Holgate Fernandez
    KDB Martial Moutinho
    Vardy Jimenez

    Planning on transferring out Aguero for DCL to free up some funds.

    1. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Doesn't look far off what you would want for this week to be honest. Aguero to DCL and upgrade Moutinho to Son perhaps?

      What are your other midfielders? What other chips do you have?

      1. Milk, 1 Šuker
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Other mids are Mount and McGinn. McGinn I want out now that the DGW is over. Other chips include BB.

        1. The Count of Monte Cristo
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 9 months ago

          Ah that looks pretty good then. Keep Moutinho in as 5th mid I guess and upgrade McGinn with the cash from Aguero -> DCL. Should have enough for Son with a good chunk to spare and invest elsewhere?

          1. Milk, 1 Šuker
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 9 months ago

            Indeed! Thanks for the tips

  16. iveseenitall
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Struggling to put the final touches to my wildcard, who get more points?

    A) Cantwell & Auba
    B) Mahrez/Richarlison & DCL (0.8m - 1m) ITB

    1. turd ferguson
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      B

  17. Bobby_Baggio
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Which combo do you prefer to fill the gaps to the missing puzzle please?

    Martin - _______
    Lascelles- Holgate - TAA - Ngakia - _____
    Mane - Son - KDB - Fernandes - Guendozi
    DCL - Jimenez - Rashford

    A) DDG + Saiss
    B) Patricio + Saiss
    C) Martinez + Doherty

  18. turd ferguson
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Who should I start?
    A) Lascelles (Villa)
    B) Traore (Bourne)
    C) Barnes (Brighton)

    Thanks

    1. HTL
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Traore and work on the assumption that he will get at least half an hour if not more.

      1. turd ferguson
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 9 months ago

        Yeh that’s the issue. If he gets 30mins it helps the cause.

    2. iveseenitall
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Barnes for me

  19. LLoris
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Best GK for a WC team

    1. LC1
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Pope

    2. turd ferguson
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Ederson

    3. Liastro ⭐️
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      DDG

    4. Bobby_Baggio
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Ederson - Patricio - DDG

    5. SomewhatPleasing
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Well Ederson is the best GK.
      Context needed.

  20. grennans2
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Captain Son or Bruno?

    1. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Bruno

    2. SomewhatPleasing
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      Poll & hot topic if you're interested in what other people think.

  21. HTL
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Pope, Foster or McCarthy? The latter means a fully playing bench, the first two mean Simpson as a fifth defender.

  22. abaalan
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Anyone have any insight into Liv previous form vs Crystal Palace? Tempted to go Mane/Salah-less on WC....(for 2 weeks at least!)

  23. Meme2011
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    really struggling with my midfield guys.

    questions if poss

    1. is ricarlison worth the money even if keep for 1 week only
    2. is Son worth £2m more than bergwijn
    3. is fernandes over martial the correct descion

    please help, i'm slowly starting to panic

    thank you

  24. The Reptile
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    All

    I sold Ings for Abraham for G/W 30 (gutted about that)

    Now on W/c and had DCL/Rashford/Jimi until last night but bought Ings in to beat the Price Rise

    Really torn now as both Ings/DCL are facing poor defences this week

    Anyone else facing this dilemma? I really want both and considering selling Rashford for one week as I have Fernandes as cover

    Any advice appreciated

  25. Meme2011
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    anyone putting in Pepe or Pulisic in their WC teams this week?

  26. Tsparkes10
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    A) Rash, Bergwijn
    B) DCL, Son

    1. JelliedSpark968
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 9 months ago

      B if you have Bruno

  27. Mackans
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Thoughts on my WC draft? (0.0ib)

    Patricio
    Trent Doherty AWB
    Mané KDB Son Fernandes Sarr
    Jiménez DCL
    Bench: Button,Lascelles,Simpson,Greenwood

  28. SpaceCadet
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Too risky going with no liv attack specially if you don’t plan to cap them for the next 2 gws at least? Can afford Vardy and Richarlison if I dump Mane.

  29. JelliedSpark968
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    wow Bruno leading captain polls and I don't even have him. Is he essential?

  30. Tmel
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 9 months ago

    Captain Bruno or Jimi?