It’s that time of the year that every football fan up and down the country looks forward to. Spring is in the air (or at least it should be by now), league titles, relegations and cup finals need deciding, and in this very unusual of all seasons, we have the prospect of fans returning to the stands to look forward to. With just 3 weeks of the domestic season remaining, now feels like a great time to take stock and make plans in order to navigate our way through the remaining fixtures and finish the Telegraph Fantasy Football (TFF) season as strongly as possible.
How Many Transfers?
The first consideration to make is the extremely limited number of transfers that many managers will have remaining (if any at all). The initial season allocation of 40 has already had to last us 8 months at this stage, in a season with many unexpected twists and turns, and fixtures being rescheduled at very short notice. It is important therefore that any transfers made from this point on are worthwhile, well thought out, and can ideally last until the end of the season.
On the flip side, if you are in the position of having a larger number remaining you can really attack the final stages of the season by swapping the big hitters in and out, and try to mount a serious charge up the leaderboards.
Don’t Forget the FA Cup!
It is worth remembering that the FA Cup final is coming up, and is included in the TFF season. It therefore should be considered when making transfers. Chelsea take on Leicester at Wembley on Saturday 15th May, giving both of these sides an extra fixture between now and the end of the season. The scoring matrix states that points are not awarded if a player scores in a penalty shoot-out, however any goals scored should the game go to extra time do count towards a player’s score. Could the importance of the Cup Final mean the big players in each club step up and score some good Fantasy points? I’ve certainly had success in the past using this approach, so Jamie Vardy (6.9) and Mason Mount (4.5) would be on my list to do well in this fixture.
Fixtures Remaining
One tactic to explore in order to maximise points between now and the end of the season is to take advantage of the number of fixtures remaining for each team. Even if your players fail to deliver returns, the extra appearance points alone should help you rise in the rankings.
At the time of writing (after the Monday night fixtures on the 3rd May), the majority of teams have 4 fixtures remaining this season, however the following 8 clubs will contest 5 fixtures in the Premier League and FA Cup:
Manchester United, Leicester, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Southampton.
Selecting players from these clubs could well be a good way to go, however the usual caution applies when selecting players who are either rotation-prone or who are generally not particularly good fantasy options in the first place.
Time those Transfers!
One way to really maximise the remaining transfers and fixtures is to take advantage of the ability to make changes to your team in between fixtures of a gameweek. For example, this weekend, you could hold onto any Tottenham players for their Saturday lunchtime fixture against Leeds, and then switch to a Chelsea or Liverpool player who will still have all 5 of their games remaining. This method really maximises the number of fixtures for each spot in your squad. A simple process that I go through when I’m considering transferring out a player is to check the fixture schedule to see if I can squeeze one final fixture from them before making the move.
What About Europe?
It is definitely worth considering the effect that the European competitions will have on the clubs who are still participating (Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal). The 2nd leg of the semi-finals take place this week before the next round of Premier League matches, so we could potentially see some rotated team sheets at the weekend. Squad rotation is a relatively important consideration in TFF as we don’t have a bench to fall back on should one of our 11 miss out.
Looking ahead to the end of the season, the Europa League and Champions League finals take place 3 and 6 days respectively after the final day of the Premier League season. This could have a major effect on the lineups that start in the league, should the clubs reach this stage.
For Manchester City and Chelsea, the final day of the league campaign could well be seen as a good opportunity to rehearse for the Champions League Final, and we could see their strongest lineups as a result. Manchester United and Arsenal on the other hand could see the final day as a chance to rest their key players with only 3 days before the Europa League final. This of course would also all depend on whether these teams still have something to play for in the Premier League, and of course is only a consideration should they reach the final!
My Value Picks
I will now lay out some of the low-price players that I am considering for the run-in which I can easily transfer into my team alongside my nailed-on heavy hitters.
Although Leeds only have 4 fixtures remaining, Raphinha (2.9) and Illan Meslier (2.1) have excellent fixtures to end the season (TOT, bur, sou, WBA). This of course is dependent of the fitness of Raphinha, but I feel both players should do well in the run-in. The Leeds defensive statistics have improved remarkably as the season has progressed, and the return of the Brazilian winger can only help improve the attack.
West Ham also fit the category of having a great run of games to close out the season (EVE, bha, wba, SOU) and will be pushing hard to try to clinch a Champions League spot. Jesse Lingard (3.2) is priced very attractively for anyone who still doesn’t own the in-form midfielder, and defender Vladimir Coufal (2.7) has a good chance of clean sheet points in addition to a strong attacking potential, especially if West Ham continue with a back five. Michail Antonio (4.7) is a slightly more expensive option, but made a very impressive surprise return from injury against Burnley, and I would back him to finish the season strongly if he can remain injury-free.
Liverpool are one of the clubs with 5 fixtures remaining, and will surely have all of their focus on the league. The fixtures are also incredibly strong (SOU, wba, bur, CRY) plus the re-arranged Manchester United match, whenever it is rescheduled. Nat Phillips (2.2) was named on the original team sheet at the weekend indicating his return to fitness, and is one of the least expensive players in the game. Liverpool’s defensive stats improved with Phillips in the side, and the remaining fixtures should offer clean sheet opportunities. Diogo Jota (4.1) should also see plenty of minutes and I expect him to grab a few more attacking returns before the season is complete.
Final Remarks
We will definitely look back at the 2020/21 season as something special, even if it has caused chaos in the Fantasy games that we all love. I’m sure we will have all learned a lot about ourselves as Fantasy managers, and we’ll be able to apply what we’ve learned to a hopefully more straightforward campaign after the summer. Good luck for the rest of the season, and hopefully we can all enjoy one final boost up the TFF Leaderboards!
