FPL opinion: ‘Big game’ Salah + a Gameweek 32 Free Hit

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Here, two-time Indian FPL champion Lateriser explains why he is leaning towards a Gameweek 32 Free Hit, rather than in 34.

We are in the final stretch of the season and, with most of the fixtures in front of us, it becomes a lot easier to plan until the end. Whether they have chips left or not, FPL managers are being steered towards a direction that targets Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea for the run-in because of nice-looking fixtures, remaining doubles and being strong top-half teams.

For someone like me who has six players from Brighton, Man Utd and Chelsea, it becomes almost inevitable to use the Free Hit in Gameweek 32. I still don’t want to commit because it doesn’t feel great to use it in a single Gameweek, but it feels unavoidable. As much as I’d like to cherry-pick a team of assets for a Double Gameweek 34 Free Hit, they’re probably going to be the same players wanted before and after.

Brighton and Hove Albion

They already have a decent-looking home double in Gameweek 34. Most of us already own Seagulls assets so we’re very likely to carry them through to then. Also, you’d probably Free Hit in their attackers for Gameweek 34 anyway, so there isn’t a significant advantage in using the chip then.

Liverpool

From Gameweek 31, the Reds have a great run of fixtures that is without any cup games to divert focus. Furthermore, for the first time in a while, they’ll have all attackers fit and and raring to go. Having all of Mohamed Salah (£12.8m), Cody Gakpo (£7.7m), Darwin Nunez (£8.8m), Diogo Jota (£8.7m), Roberto Firmino (£8.0m) and Luis Diaz (£7.8m) available for the first time, along with Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) and Ibrahima Konate (£4.8m) at the back, is a huge plus that makes their assets worth strongly monitoring.

Liverpool will be very popular for this final stretch and, while Jurgen Klopp’s side has a Double Gameweek 34 of two home outings, their value will also diminish on a Free Hit because they’d ideally be targeted earlier. Then again, perhaps you can’t afford some of their expensive assets in your regular team.

In fact, speaking from a macro point of view, the fact that Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd all have Double Gameweek 34 makes me want to Bench Boost now instead of then because, if you’re trying to cram in pricey assets from all of these good teams, it’ll reduce the amount spent on your boosted bench.

Before we move on from Liverpool, a word on Salah. I think the Man City (a) and Chelsea (a) of Double Gameweek 29 gives a bit of a false impression. From memory, Liverpool versus Man City always has goals in it and Salah does his best work against the big teams. Thinking about it, one of the Egyptian’s greatest outlets for points is goals scored on the counter and I see more than a few of those opportunities coming to him during the next three matches.

Even when you look at his career record (above), he has scored his highest number of goals against Man United, Man City and Tottenham, with Arsenal and Chelsea also in the top eight. Simply put, he’s ‘big game Mo’.

Manchester United

While Manchester United don’t have the best immediate double, they have a great fixture run from Gameweek 30 which includes a Double Gameweek 34 and probably another one in Gameweek 37.

FPL managers will be faced with the dilemma of when to get their assets and most must be thinking they’d rather do it now than later. Not that there’s much room to get creative – if I was to confidently say which three assets you’d be comfortable owning until the end, it’d definitely be Bruno Fernandes (£9.6m), Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) and Luke Shaw (£5.2m). If you want to get creative and invest in other attackers, it’s worth a shot but I’m just not confident in their longevity.

There has been a lot of speculation about Fernandes’ positioning with and without Casemiro (£4.9m). In my honest opinion, it doesn’t really matter. He’s Bruno Fernandes and even if he plays slightly deeper, he’s going to play risky passes that are capable of finding the last man and he’s incredibly smart when making late runs into the box. He is going to remain a good FPL pick, just not an essential one.

Tottenham Hotspur

Finally, a bit on Tottenham Hotspur.

That Antonio Conte presser is well documented and the entire situation reminds me of when Man Utd switched from playing under Jose Mourinho to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Players were suddenly a lot happier and played with more freedom, leading to more goals. I’m sort of expecting similar from Spurs, with them being motivated to prove a point.

That is all from me this week. We discuss a lot more on this week’s episode of The FPL Wire which you can view below.