Itβs the final Gameweek of the season and my final punts article. To mark the occasion I will be running another competition, just as I did at Christmas, so see the end of the article for details on that. Last Gameweek only one of my punts managed to play. Glen Johnson sat on the bench for Liverpool and my Double Gameweek player Jordi Gomez picked up a knock so sat out of both of Sunderlandβs fixtures. The one player who did play was Enner Valencia but he failed to get involved in the Hammersβ goal against Everton. Here are Gameweek 38βs Best Punts as I look to finish the season on a high! Ownership figures are correct as of 21st May.
Kieran Gibbs
Position: Defender
Club: Arsenal
Price: 5.2
Ownership: 1.7%
They donβt have anything to play for with third position secure but Arsenal will be looking to finish the season strongly. ArsΓ¨ne Wengerβs sideβs final match of the season sees them welcome West Brom to the Emirates. The Gunners have been solidly defensively all season having kept 12 clean sheets and I think that West Brom will find that back four un-breachable this weekend. The Baggies are on a roll, unbeaten in their last five, but I can see that run coming to an end this Gameweek. Although Arsenalβs attacking flair has died out recently their defence continues to impress and Gibbs should profit from a clean sheet this week.
Gibbsβ attacking threat is undeniable. He is always consistent and creates a hatful of chances for his teammates each week. The full back has five assists to his name this season in only 17 appearances. In those appearances Gibbs has created 15 goal scoring chances for his side and attempted over 50 dribbles. The free flowing Arsenal attacking play has been missing but they will make sure it returns for their final home game. Should there be a goal glut this weekend then Gibbs could well be involved.
Moussa Sissoko
Position: Midfielder
Club: Newcastle
Price: 5.8
Ownership: 1.7%
Newcastle have been diabolical in the past couple months but one player who has continued to impress is Moussa Sissoko. The midfielder has struggled for goals and assists but his never say die attitude and dazzling dribbles have caught my eye. The Hammersβ season is coming to an anticlimactic end as they have only won one of their last six matches. Newcastle will go out all guns blazing this weekend and Sam Allardyceβs lackluster side will struggle to cope.
In the last six matches only Alexis Sanchez (17) has managed more shots in the box than Sissoko (11) of all midfieldersΒ and only Leroy Fer (4) has had more headed attempts (3). The Frenchman is willing to fire his shots of however he can! Sissoko is also a fantastic dribbler. It sometimes seems as if he is one man against the opposition’s eleven asΒ the midfielder has the skill to single-handedly carry the ball from one end of the pitch to the other. His dynamic runs and never-say-die attitude will be pivotal for the Magpies this weekend.
Nikica Jelavic
Position: Forward
Club: Hull
Price: 5.6
Ownership: 1.0%
Hull have to win. Manchester United are no push-overs but Steve Bruce will make sure that his side is raring to go. Nikica Jelavicβs return to the Hull starting line up last week will have gifted Bruce some hope. The Coratian is Hullβs top scorer this season and his performance was promising. Although he squandered many chances the fact that Jelavic managed to get onto the end of crosses and forge chances for himself shows that the desire to score is there. If Hull are to get anything this weekend goals will come from Jelavic.
Although it seems a daunting task ahead United havenβt kept a clean sheet since March and the fact that West Brom got a result at Old Trafford recently suggests that Hull might just well be able to as well. Where Hull have everything to play for United, just like Arsenal, have their league place secure. Louis Van Gaal might choose to rest his big names and a little bit of laziness may creep into this side. If Hull were ever to beat Manchester United you feel it could be this weekend and Jelavic could benefit!
Last Gameweekβs Highest Scoring Punts*
DEF β Billy Jones, SUN, 14 pts, 4.3, 0.1%
MID β Matt Phillips, QPR, 13 pts, 4.6, 0.8%
FWD β Shane Long, SOU, 18 pts, 5.4, 1.4%
*These are not my pics but the top scoring players in the official FPL game with 2.5% ownership or under.
COMPETITION
As this is my last punts article I wanted to say thanks to the community for their continued support all season. I won’t be doing the articles next year because of my A-Level studies and applying to university so, unfortunately, this is the very last one. I have decided to run a punts competition in the same format as I did in December. All you have to do is pick one defender, one midfielder and one forward all who have less than 2.5% ownership and comment them below. A Β£10 Amazon voucher is up for grabs for the winner! If someone has already selected a combination then donβt select it again as whoever picks it firsts will be the one who is counted. In the case of a draw the players with the lowest combined ownership will win. I will also be writing a re-cap article sometime next week to highlight my highs and lows this season. Thanks again and good luck everyone!
