Picture this: It’s the last gameweek of the season, there’s everything to play for in your mini-league and you’re hanging on to dear life for the top position. Your Bench Boost failed, your Triple Captain was a disgraceful decision, but you’ve saved the best chip till last, the chip you know will bring you all the joy in the world to end the season on an inevitable high…but what do you do with it?
Well, I just so happen to be that guy who saved his Free Hit chip for the last gameweek of the season, so let me walk you through what I, and quite possibly a fair few of you, could do with the Free Hit chip in GW38+.
David Silva’s Swansong
This looks to be written in the stars, especially when you consider his recent form. After 10 successful years, over 300 appearances for the club and 11 major trophies (I won’t count the Community Shield), David Silva (£7.4m) has decided not to renew his contract at Man City, therefore making the game against Norwich his last for the Sky Blues. Taking into account Pep Roulette which we all know and love, he has still managed 3 goals and 3 assists from 5 starts, the 2nd most in-form Man City player behind the slightly (a lot) more expensive Raheem Sterling (£11.9m). With all these factors considered, I’d like to think Pep will allow David Silva to have the send-off he deserves and therefore he won’t be a victim to rotation, making him my No.1 captaincy choice for GW38+.
Teams fighting for something at both ends of the table
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the end of season run-ins, its never about who the better team is, it’s about who is fighting for something. Everton, Newcastle and Crystal Palace have been perfect examples of teams that know they are safe and are fully aware that Europe is an unachievable dream this season. Thankfully, there are plenty of teams still looking for something! Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Watford scrapping to stay in the Premier League, Chelsea, Leicester and Man Utd challenging for the final 2 Champions League spots, and the likes of Wolves and Sheffield United dreaming of European football. These are the teams who will be pushing for a big result on the final day of the season and that more often than not means there will be goals! With this in mind, here are a few players I think will be looking to make a difference and carry their team into Europe or away from the dreaded drop:
- Vardy, Fernandes, Rashford, Martial, Barnes (LEI v MNU)
- Pulisic, Giroud, Wilian, Jimenez, Traore, Doherty (CHE v WOL)
- Aubameyang, Lacazette, Deeney, Sarr (ARS v WAT)
- Kane, Son, Stanislas, Antonio, Trezeguet, McBurnie, Trossard (The rest)
Too many choices, plenty of time to deliberate and make some bad decisions.
Avoid Norwich and Crystal Palace
This is fairly straightforward and pretty self-explanatory. Norwich have given up following their impending relegation and Crystal Palace look like they were told to get to 40 points and then go back to the beach. Between them, they have won 1 and lost the other 13 since the restart, needless to say, it’s not something you go shouting about. The plan – avoid any Norwich or Palace players and strongly consider investing in Spurs and Man City players.
Must-have cheap youngsters
The last games of the season often give us an insight into the youth coming through the ranks, possibly a hint at what players we might be seeing feature in the first team more often in the following season. For FPL managers, it means saving that extra bit of cash to be used elsewhere in the team, whilst having a few players that look to be fairly nailed on in the starting XI. We’ve already seen Mason Greenwood (£4.8m) for Man Utd and Eric Garcia (£4.5m) for Man City providing us with great options and value for money in teams competing in the top 4 and have recently seen other youngsters becoming viable first-team options. Luke Thomas (£4m) for Leicester is capitalising on injuries to Chilwell and Fuchs, Emiliano Martinez (£4.4m) for Arsenal is also showing promise between the sticks following an injury to Leno and Tariq Lamptey (£4.1m) for Brighton is showing off his pace and making to right-back position his own after some solid performances. If I am going to get the players in my team that I want, these 5 guys will be crucial to making sure that I stay within budget.
Who really wants to win the Golden Boot?
Let’s get selfish for a minute, let’s talk about the guys who will be chasing the beautiful trophy they call The Golden Boot. At the time of writing, Jamie Vardy (£9.7m) looks odds-on to secure the award (23 goals), with the likes of Danny Ings (£7.6m) (21) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.9m) (20) still thinking they are in with a chance. Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) (19) is explosive and cannot be discounted, especially against a frail Newcastle United who’s defence is currently being blighted by injury, could he score 4 goals? I wouldn’t be brave enough to say no. Like most goals, you ultimately need to be looking at who is going to be setting them up, so making sure you know who is most likely to be helping out the players chasing the Golden Boot are just as important. Players who immediately come to mind are Barnes (LEI), Alexander-Arnold and Robertson (LIV), Pepe and Lacazette (ARS) and Ward-Prowse (SOU). Plenty to consider, the form of the players is absolutely pivotal and all of the leading candidates are thankfully firing on all cylinders!
Final Thoughts
After I finished writing all of this, I don’t think I even realised how much I had to think about! To think this is all for one gameweek is incredible, but that’s what happens when you are desperate to finish as high as possible in your mini-league. Here are the key points that I’ve highlighted above for picking my free hit team in GW38+
- Captain David Silva for his final game for Man City
- Pick players for teams that are fighting for something
- Find those cheap enablers to allow the budget to be spent elsewhere
- Keep Golden Boot contenders and their assisters in mind
- Don’t pick Norwich or Palace assets
I hope this helps, good luck to everyone and if all fails…don’t worry, next season is just around the corner!
3 years, 9 months agoThank you for submitting Franco!
It's interesting you bring up Silva - surely he starts in that game, especially given it's at home, but how good is it?
Not having a crowd there might lessen his desire to put in a masterclass perhaps, but equally may mean he's less likely to be subbed early as there would be no crowd to clap him off like a standard final game. However I think the bigger issue is the kind of a player he is - if it was, say, Aguero leaving City, you know he'd be taking every penalty and looking to leave with a hattrick.
I'm not so sure Silva is the same - he's very much a team player. Will he be interested in one final goal? Probably, but I think he'd probably be happier looking for assists and maybe taking over all direct free kicks.
I certainly want him, but I'm not sure I'd go as far as to captain. Will be interesting to hear what others think!