In his latest article, three-time top 200 finisher Lateriser looks at the players you should be considering in Gameweek 31, whether you’re playing Wildcard in Gameweek 32 or later in the season.
As time passes, we get more and more information about potential blanks and doubles beyond Gameweek 31. Of course, a lot also depends on whether Crystal Palace progress or not in their UEFA Conference League tie on Thursday but most of the information you can view here.
Now, largely speaking, what you do this week is also a little dictated by chip strategy and what you do in the future (if you have a Wildcard in hand). I’ll also give my two cents about what you can do if you don’t have a Wildcard in hand at the end of the article.
THE THREE CHIP STRATEGIES
Three of the chip strategies currently being contemplated, provided most of the doubles fall in Gameweek 33 and blanks fall in Gameweek 34, are:
- Wildcard in Gameweek 32, Bench Boost in Gameweek 33, Free Hit in Gameweek 34
- Wildcard in Gameweek 35, Free Hit in Gameweek 33
- Wildcard Gameweek 33, Free Hit in Gameweek 34, Bench Boost in Gameweek 36
A lot of this largely depends on your own team, which I tried contextualising in my previous article, here.
GAMEWEEK 32 WILDCARD V GAMEWEEK 35 WILDCARD: TRANSFER TARGETS
Now, if you are looking at a Gameweek 35 Wildcard, your transfer targets this week may differ from those you’d be considering if you’re looking at a Gameweek 32 Wildcard.
If you’re set on a Gameweek 32 Wildcard, you can look at picks from Fulham, Newcastle United or even Chelsea without wondering too much about the future.
If you’re looking at a Gameweek 35 Wildcard (which might mean a Gameweek 33 Free Hit), this is what your Fixture Ticker might look like:
Long story short, if you’re playing a later Wildcard, you will be looking at players who have decent matches in Gameweeks 31 and 32 and an unaffected fixture in Gameweek 34.
That would immediately rule out Newcastle United players, as they will likely blank in Gameweek 34. They have an important derby against Sunderland on Sunday, followed by a trip to Crystal Palace. I do feel like the likes of Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) and Lewis Hall (£5.3m) are some of the better picks for this week in isolation, as Sunderland have posted the second-lowest xG in the league in the last six matches. Thiaw also possesses a potent set-piece threat, has decent DefCon potential (which he should clock against Sunderland, who love to hoof) and offers reasonable clean sheet prospects as well.
If you’re hunting for defenders and need someone who plays in Blank Gameweek 34 as well, then you’re looking at someone like Joachim Andersen (£4.5m). He has a decent fixture against Burnley at home in Gameweek 31 and a home tie against Aston Villa in Gameweek 34. The Villans sit bottom of the league for xG in the last six matches.
There are other, punty options who might not have the best fixture this week but have decent matches over Gameweeks 31, 32 and 34.
Manchester United (bou, LEE, BRE)
The likes of Harry Maguire (£4.4m) or Diogo Dalot (£4.6m) are reasonable options if you trust Manchester United to keep a clean sheet or two (which is always difficult for us United fans!). Dalot has been making some eye-catching forward runs of late, with Luke Shaw (£4.5m) sitting back, but his finishing ability still needs a lot of work. That said, only Brighton and Hove Albion, Arsenal and Manchester City have conceded fewer xG than Manchester United in the last six games.
Tottenham Hotspur (NFO, sun, wol)
Yes, yes, I know Spurs haven’t inspired confidence of late and sit in the bottom two for xG conceded in the last six matches. However, I’m only citing the punty alternates if you’re Wildcarding later. The fixtures are pretty decent over this period and Spurs now have all of Pedro Porro (£5.1m), Cristian Romero (£5.0m) and Micky van de Ven (£4.4m) back. Romero is pretty good for set pieces and bonus points but there’s always a high chance for a card, too.
I did preface by saying there were alternate punty teams but with the Wildcard in the back pocket, the threshold for risk always goes higher.
To summarise, I’d say that if Wildcarding in Gameweek 32, I would go for a Newcastle United defender (I see only one goal in the derby) this week. If Wildcarding later, I’d look at Fulham, United or Spurs based on when you need to play/bench your defenders in those games.
With attackers, I really like the Fulham v Burnley match-up as I expect that to be a basketball-y game. Burnley sit bottom three for xGC in the last six matches and Harry Wilson (£6.0m) did clock his 16-point haul against the Clarets in the reverse fixture, when he delivered three attacking returns in a game full of goals.
When it comes to the Anthony Gordon (£7.3m) vs Wilson debate, in this case, I do prefer Wilson, whether you’re picking for one week or three.
IF YOU’VE ALREADY PLAYED YOUR WILDCARD…
I did mention that I’d throw some advice for non-Wildcarders, as well.
With Newcastle out of Europe and having a good end to the season, I do think that they are solid purchases for the long term, as long as you are sorting Blank Gameweek 34 out. The likes of Thiaw and Gordon are good buys and you’d only hope that the latter decides to bring his European form into the league. His being a striker, on penalties, in that team, with a potential double in Gameweek 33, is a pretty attractive proposition.
BEWARE LIVERPOOL ROTATION IN GAMEWEEK 32
One last thing I would like to mention with regards to Liverpool is that they have got the Wednesday-Tuesday turnaround for their Champions League quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain. The home game against Fulham in Gameweek 32 is between the two European games, which might lead to some rotation/managed minutes.
It is worth mentioning that both Liverpool and Spurs showed a lot of spark in their European games last night, and I wonder if this translates into better league form, especially in attack.
Whether Liverpool play or not in Gameweek 34 depends on their FA Cup tie against Manchester City. If they beat City, they blank.
That is all from me today. If you want more, you can catch this week’s episode of The FPL Wire here:
