Our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers continue to pore over Gameweek 6 Wildcard options. Here, Pras discusses three possible drafts – including a contingency plan for no David Raya (£5.6m).
I have bittersweet feelings about this week. The excitement of being on a Wildcard is obviously there – but the fact that we have landed on a week with such a strong fixture swing for Arsenal, Brentford and Manchester City, and some emerging great picks (data + eye test) like Luis Diaz (£8.0m) and Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m), means that there is an inevitable same-ness about the drafts.
That’s not a bad thing, of course. It’s a long game and with short-term picks like Diaz and Semenyo, the divergence will be quick. Notwithstanding the unexpected injuries that have now become a common theme over the last two seasons.
I will share below three drafts that I really like. I am close to certain (save for any new spanners in the press conferences) that I will be on one of these come the deadline on Saturday.
Big picture
Starting with the high level. There are few picks that feature in all three drafts, so let me talk about them:
- Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.1m)
Not much to say here. There are the top two picks from Arsenal and I want them long-term. David Raya would have been in here as well, but more on him later.
- Bryan Mbeumo (£7.2m)
The standout pick again from Brentford. Long-term really great fixtures, a no-brainer pick for most.
- Luis Diaz (£8.0m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.1m)
At the moment, these two are the best two Liverpool picks after Mohamed Salah (£12.8m). While budgetary constraints mean I can’t go for the Egyptian, I think there is value in the other two. I do think the Diaz pick is short term, though. I’ll be looking to ship him out either in Gameweek 7, if leaked not to start (they are the early kick-off), or possibly after the international break.
- Erling Haaland (£15.3m) and Rico Lewis (£4.7m)
I think there is a small boost to Lewis’ minutes from Rodri’s (£6.4m) injury – more need for inverting in midfield. Kyle Walker’s (£5.3m) form isn’t the best either. For £4.7m, Lewis is in as the third defender with adequate cover from playable and rotating fourth/fifth defenders. Haaland needs no explanation.
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m)
I don’t have a lot of conviction on this one but he is a cheap striker, on penalties and playing for a team with good long-term fixtures. He’ll probably become Joao Pedro (£5.6m) in Gameweek 12/13.
- Jacob Greaves (£4.0m)
The cheapest playing £4.0m defender, who actually rotates really well with Everton or Brentford. One of these two teams will likely supply my fourth defender.
That’s nine plus a £4.0m ‘keeper who are pretty much locked in. So, let’s see areas where I can be creative with five other picks below:
A warning: my team value is reasonably high. Look away now if that triggers you.
Wildcard Draft 1: Raya + Watkins + thin bench
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I hope the structure thinking has helped you a bit. We did a monster Wildcard pod on Tuesday on The FPL Wire that you can check out here:
Good luck with the final tinkering!
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