Our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers provide Fantasy Premier League (FPL) tips and advice throughout the season. Here, two-time Indian FPL champion Lateriser looks at some three-week punts for those on a Gameweek 35 Wildcard.
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There are a lot of Fantasy Premier League managers dead-ending in Gameweek 34 with a view to Wildcarding in Gameweek 35.
Keeping that in mind, I am going to cite a few short-term punts and match-ups with high upsides that I like in the next three Gameweeks.
In this article, I will consider people who are and aren’t Free Hitting in Gameweek 34 with some of the match-ups I like.
MANCHESTER CITY
The first thing I want to cite is Manchester City are the first kick-off in Gameweek 32. They also play the 3pm kick-off on Saturday in Gameweek 33. Keeping that in mind, we are very likely to get team leaks for City in each of the next two Gameweeks.
They are pretty good-looking fixtures, as well. One trip is away to Crystal Palace, who are missing Marc Guehi (£4.2m) and Sam Johnstone (£4.4m) at the back. But the key fixture is against Luton Town, which is sandwiched between the two Real Madrid games. Luton are in the bottom five defences in the last six matches for xG conceded, while they have conceded the highest number of big chances in that same period.
If we find out that the likes of Phil Foden (£8.2m) or Julian Alvarez (£6.4m) are starting that game, they make for good punts. Even getting team news about the likes of Josko Gvardiol (£4.8m) will make for a good two-week gamble, especially since Nathan Ake (£5.0m) is injured for ‘some games’. Obviously, the caveat is that Manchester City aren’t a team to target for those who don’t have a Free Hit to dispatch in Gameweek 34.
CHELSEA
If you’re in the market for a differential punt, Chelsea play two teams back-to-back who are 19th and 14th for xGC over the last six Gameweeks.
Now, the Blues are a bit Jekyll and Hyde. But with the form that Cole Palmer (£6.0m) is in, with a hat-trick of double-digit hauls, Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m) is an intriguing differential punt.
These are his xGI totals in the last five league games:
- MUN (H) – 0.17
- BUR (H) – 0.77
- NEW (H) – 0.42
- BRE (A) – 1.19
- MCI (A) – 0.81
He had poor underlying numbers against Manchester United but in the other four games, he averaged 0.8 xGI per game. Given the opposition he’s facing in the next two Gameweeks, and the extremely low ownership of 5.1%, he’s a differential with considerable upside in the upcoming weeks.
In addition, if you are someone who doesn’t have a Wildcard for Gameweek 35, Jackson still makes an enticing buy as Chelsea have Double Gameweeks in 35 and 37. As long as you can afford to bench him or Free Hit him out in Gameweek 34, Jackson is a good differential purchase for those chasing, in my opinion.
Just watch those yellow cards!
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
For those who are dead-ending their teams in Gameweek 34 and have to build a team with Double Gameweek 34 in mind, one pick I’d definitely like to recommend is Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.7m). He’s been in incredible form of late, clocking five shots on target, four big chances and two goals in the last three matches. He’s currently playing as a winger but with Hwang Hee-chan (£5.4m) looking like he’s back, he might have to move to wing-back. However, he’s also been good in that role.
In the game against Burnley, he could have easily had a brace and an assist. His current form is such that the best chances his team are cultivating seem to be falling to him. For a £4.7m defender, that is gold dust. And he’s still only 5.1% owned.
Gary O’Neil definitely likes his attacking contributions.
“He’s very talented. Since we’ve moved him further forward he’s continued to do well. He’ll be key for us tomorrow.” – Gary O’Neil in his press conference on Friday
Matheus Cunha (£5.5m) also had a 14-minute cameo against Burnley, which is worth mentioning.
LIVERPOOL
When looking at Liverpool, Luis Diaz (£7.6m) is the stand-out differential for me. Still in only 11.3% of FPL squads, Diaz has eight returns in the last nine games for Liverpool. He has started the last 11 league games in a row, implying that his expected minutes look pretty solid.
Unlike Manchester City and Arsenal, who have crunch ties against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Liverpool have a Europa League tie which you’d presume won’t be given as much priority as the league. You’d expect that the first-choice team firmly plays in the league and the able ‘second choice’ XI starts in the Europa League.
To cite how good his underlying numbers are, in the last six matches, Diaz is only behind Erling Haaland (£14.3m) and Mohamed Salah (£13.4m) for xG non-penalty. He sits amongst the top five attackers in the league in the last six matches for big chances, shots, shots inside the box, xG and xGI. The case for him is very strong.
That is all from my end this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and good luck this week.
