Fantasy Football Scout member Obay Eid, aka FPL Milanista, is currently ranked 90th in the world in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), having finished 473rd in 2020/21.
With three other top 10k ranks to his name, he sits 10th in our Live Hall of Fame.
Obay also posted finishes of 141st in last season’s UCL Fantasy and 668th in Euro 2020 Fantasy, having finished second in the world in the 2016 edition of that tournament.
Here he discusses his push for the top 100 – and how he plans to do it without any chips.
There are three Gameweeks to go before we draw the curtain on what was an interesting, yet tiring FPL season that featured a lot of memories and weird incidents to remember in future years.
First off this week, let me give a brief of how my last couple of Gameweeks went. Unfortunately, I’ll be entering Gameweek 36 on the bounce of three consecutive red arrows that moved me from 27th overall to 90th! Ignoring Cristiano Ronaldo in Gameweek 33 and shifting out Son Heung-min to attack Chelsea’s doubles in Gameweek 34 backfired immensely but this is the game and that is why we all love FPL. So, let’s jump straight into Gameweek 36 thoughts now.
TARGET LEICESTER, VILLA AND EVERTON
The first question here for any FPL manager is whether any chip will be played in this Gameweek and/or whether Gameweek 37 will be a Free Hit week for you or not. In my case, I have no chips remaining and therefore my transfers will need to be beneficial for all three remaining Gameweeks. This will most likely shift our attention to teams like Leicester City, Everton, and Aston Villa, who are all heading towards a ‘double double’.
Leicester got knocked out of the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals and are sitting on top of the fixture ticker with 4/5 favorable matches to go. However, a short turnover to Sunday’s tie with Everton could still see the squad heavily rotated, especially given that Brendan Rodgers’ troops have nothing to play for in the Premier League.
Everton, on the other hand, are expected to be charged after a crucial win last week over Chelsea that placed them only two points away from safety with a game in hand. The Toffees will be eager to pick up some victories across the ‘double double’ and secure their stay in the Premier League before their last game away to Arsenal, so are definitely a team that I’m looking at when thinking of my transfers for this week.
Aston Villa, like Leicester, don’t really have much to play for now but are well-rested for this week so we should expect Steven Gerrard to continue playing a strong side across the last three weeks and ensure they finish their season on a high. I already have Philippe Coutinho and Ollie Watkins in my team, and they are going nowhere. It’s worth noting that the doubles for both Everton and Aston Villa in Gameweek 37 are nicer than those in Gameweek 36 and so as we mentioned earlier, your chip strategy could play a significant part as to who to prioritise going into this week.
TRANSFERS UNDER CONSIDERATION
Transfers are very team-dependent and in my case, it really feels wrong backing against Mohamed Salah in a Double Gameweek, especially after he had his rest last week and now has Son Heung-min appearing over his shoulder in the Golden Boot race. The Egyptian has the best minutes per non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI) over the last six Gameweeks and totally dominates all stats across the season. The only issue with bringing back Salah is the fact that my only Spurs player, Harry Kane, will have to make way to fund such a move and that’ll be for a hit, but I do like Richarlison as a forward pick for the obvious reasons mentioned earlier.
Another more aggressive transfer strategy that crossed my mind is to bring in Manchester City midfielders, specifically the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and/or Riyad Mahrez. However, minutes are still unpredictable with City assets (as ever) and their mental situation could be questioned after their horrible loss to Real Madrid.
One differential I could be punting on if I decide to ignore the Salah move is Luis Diaz, who turned things around in Spain after his half-time introduction against Villarreal. However, he does seem to be a one-week gamble and his minutes aren’t guaranteed either. There’ll be a few more hours of tinkering before the deadline but a hit is most likely happening this week.
So I’m prepared to enter this round outside of the top 100 but all hopes are on my starting XI to recover the hit and defend against the many Bench Boosters of the week.
GAMEWEEK 36 ‘BUS TEAM’
Best of luck everyone!
