We have chosen our best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players for Gameweek 28 ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 GMT deadline.
We line up in a 4-4-2 formation and are limited to £83.5m – the small, annual increase to the starting budget that you can read more about here – for our first XI.
Our four substitutes, meanwhile, are always picked from the budget/cheaper crop of players, not to serve as bench fodder but to give some alternative options who don’t cost as much as some of the names in our line-up.
GOALKEEPER AND DEFENDERS
The game’s joint-highest scoring stopper, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Jose Sa (£5.3m), gets the nod between the posts. Wolves previously went through a binary period whereby every score between Gameweeks 12 and 21 was either 1-0 or 0-0 and their defence kept six clean sheets out of a possible eight. The shut-outs have dried up of late, with their expected goals conceded (xGC) tally catching up with them after a season of overachievement.
A huge reason for this overachievement has been the form of, and 56 save made by, Sa, which has brought in 14 save points and eight bonuses. A promising Double Gameweek at home to both Crystal Palace and goal-shy Watford should be a great way for Wolves’ backline to get back on track.
Romain Saiss (£5.0m) follows Sa into the Scout Picks, with the Moroccan one of Wolves’ main aerial threats. Crystal Palace have made a habit out of conceding from set plays this season.
Chelsea’s upcoming games against Burnley and Norwich City are close to perfection as a double-header, notwithstanding the Clarets’ recent upturn in form. From a defensive point of view, the two fixtures particularly appeal: these sides are the lowest scorers in the division and, even during their recent purple patch, Sean Dyche’s troops have still only found the net on six occasions in their last seven games.
Thomas Tuchel’s cautious words on the fit-again Reece James (£6.2m) call into question the wing-back’s game-time in the league over the coming weeks but an injury to Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.6m), a midweek breather for James and the generous Sunday-Thursday turnaround has led to us taking a gamble on the England international. Antonio Rudiger (£6.1m), who has started every single top-flight match that he has been available for this season, is alongside him as a securer pick.
James averages 5.7 points per match this season, while only Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) and Joao Cancelo (£7.1m) have registered more shots amongst defenders than Rudiger.
The ever-unpredictable Lucas Digne (£5.1m) is joint-second among FPL defenders for chances created since his Aston Villa debut, and now takes on Southampton and Leeds United in Double Gameweek 28. Steven Gerrard’s switch to a more compact 4-3-1-2 formation at Brighton on Saturday may have reigned in the Frenchman’s attacking instincts a little, but he still has a share of set pieces, whilst his team’s new, more defensive approach should boost his clean sheet prospects.
MIDFIELDERS
