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The Complete Guide to FPL Double Gameweek 35 tips and advice

The final Double Gameweek of the season is upon us, and with it comes the opportunity to redeem ourselves. For many, Double Gameweek 34 was a chastening experience. And, as we now contemplate our FPL teams, we are left shaking our heads like bemused journalists at an Eric Cantona press conference – “Seagulls?”

We will forever wonder how so many Brighton players came to be in our teams, not that anyone blames the Scoutcast (Heaven forbid!), the question is now: what do we do with them?

As much as we might like to kung-fu kick them into row Z, there are points hits to consider and, well, maybe the FPL trawler will chuck us a sardine or two this week?

Plenty of FPL managers also have to deal with the consequences of Troy Deeney’s stray elbow. The Watford captain managed to get himself sent-off against Arsenal, landing himself a three match ban and leaving Double Gameweek 35 plans in tatters. Given Deeney’s suspension and Brighton’s horror show, is it still the best week to Bench Boost?

With injuries potentially adding to suspension and poor form, Neale observed that:

A transfer or two (perhaps at the expense of a hit) may fix the necessary issues but those Fantasy managers with a flag-heavy squad may now be mulling over a different strategy.

This would seem especially true for those still holding their Triple Captain chip. However, the effectiveness of using the Bench Boost chip in a Double Gameweek is not in question, as David discovered when researching the points gained on Bench Boost last season.

In our FPL Question Time this week, Ted (aka Rotation’s Alter Ego) thinks the best idea is to stick to the plan:

I wouldn’t overthink it. Fix the problem, play the Bench Boost, enjoy, then focus on nailing the rest of the Gameweeks. You’ve might have been dealt a bad hand but I’d want to put it behind you now and not let it drag into other weeks.

If you are looking to transfer out a Brighton defender, he thinks going cheap is a good idea:

You don’t want too much value sat on the bench post-Bench Boost anyway, so moving to cheaper defenders now could be a blessing in disguise.

For others, like Nick from Who Got The Assist?, it’s just a case of grin and bear it.

There were some positives for FPL managers last week: a dramatic and pulsating Champions League quarter-final resulted in defeat for Manchester City. As the FPL General points out, this could bode well for our FPL assets:

We should see less rotation now from Pep Guardiola as they aim to fight off the challenge of Liverpool for the title.

Their main protagonists, Sterling and Aguero, both make this week’s Scout Picks. The pair are also in contention for the armband despite facing two top-six teams this Double Gameweek. Of the two, Neale revealed in his members’ only article that Sterling actually has the better minutes per goal attempt record over the last six matches.

Meanwhile in his Captain Sensible article, David assessed their credentials along with the other candidates, including Captain Poll favourite Raúl Jiménez.

A guest on the Scoutcast this week, Adam Hopcroft highlighted that Wolves have done very well in their big midweek matches at Molineux, when the crowd creates a good atmosphere.  And in the Gameweek 35 Captaincy video, Neale highlighted that Jiménez has four attacking returns in his last five home matches, including three double-digit hauls.

For Spurs, their midweek triumph could prove to be a Pyrrhic victory as the injuries begin to mount. As Neale reported in his Team News Round-up, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has hinted heavily at rotation for today’s encounter with Manchester City:

We need to assess the players, we need to assess some players that cannot be possible to play. Some small issues that maybe makes it not possible for some players to play on Saturday again.

The positive aspect for us FPL managers is that the lengthening injury list brings to the fore a few possible differentials. The Chief picked out 1.2% owned Fernando Llorente as a potential beneficiary. At only £5.1m, the Spaniard could prove a canny pick:

With Kane highly unlikely to be involved in Double Gameweek 35 (or the rest of the season for that matter), Llorente is the ideal budget attacking asset from a top-five team.

It’s also worth noting that in-form Heung-Min Son, two goals on Wednesday, picked up a yellow card ruling him out of the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Ajax. This is good news for FPL managers as it makes him more likely to start the Premier League matches around that tie – in Gameweek 36 and Gameweek 37.

Title-chasing Liverpool should not be ignored either, especially with an encounter at home to already-relegated Huddersfield in Gameweek 36. Salah reminded us of his worth in midweek as he followed up his spectacular strike against Chelsea last weekend with a goal and an assist in his side’s 4-1 win over Porto. He registered seven of Liverpool’s 13 attempts on goal.

Picking the right trio of Liverpool players for Gameweek 36 will not be easy. Referring to the difficulty of Salah’s strike against Chelsea, and its corresponding low xG of 0.0395, David pointed out that:

There are two ways of looking at that statistic; either it proves the goal was a fluke and non-owners can worry less about his chances of doing the same again, or it demonstrates his exceptional quality as a finisher.

According to the Wisdom of the Crowd and G-Whizz’s DS stats, fixtures and clean sheet odds two more teams with double Gameweeks are worthy of our attention: Watford and Arsenal. The problem with both teams, perhaps, is identifying the right players.

Arsenal look set to rotate following their win away to Napoli in the Europa League, which sees them advance to the semi-finals of that competition. And who will start up front in place of Troy Deeney for Watford – Gray or Success? There are also fitness concerns surrounding Deulofeu and Pereyra. At the moment, Gray is proving popular among veteran managers.

The sideways transfer of Deeney to Gray could also be the popular transfer for The Great and The Good. There were only a handful of green arrows for this elite bunch, but given that the template for this group included three Brighton defenders and Deeney, it’s easy to understand why.

Deeney was also a thorn in the side for Pete Beswick, currently ranked 115 overall, and professional footballer and FPL manager Jordie van der Laan.

Pete, with three top 5,000 finishes in the last four years, featured in a Meet The Manager video with Joe. Unlike many FPL managers, Pete played his Wildcard in Gameweek 23. It’s a strategy that proved very successful taking him from 5,000 overall to the verge of the top 100.

Jordie, who finished 55th overall a couple of seasons ago, plays professional football in the Netherlands. He has first-hand experience of teams being ‘on the beach’ as revealed when he shared some of his insights to football and FPL with me in a community article.

Elsewhere on site, the Scandinavian fantasy games were covered in a selection of community articles. Thank you to Sebin and frfotballben for reviewing and previewing Norwegian Eliteserien, and to Meltens and scottmitchell92 for previewing Gameweek 4 in Fantasy Allsvenskan and discussing potential replacements for the high-scoring defender Aslak Fonn Witry who is injured.

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

COMMUNITY TOURNAMENTS

We are at the quarter-final stage in the Fantasy Football Scout Cup. Neale brought us all the drama from the sixth round in his cup round-up. In an open competition, the Quarter Finals feature three teams outside the top 100k along with three teams in the top 10,000. The final is scheduled for Gameweek 37.

In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing competition the safety score in Gameweek 34 was 47, this saw 32 managers eliminated. 44 teams are through to Gameweek 35, when the threshold for elimination moves up to 50%, a minimum of 22 managers will depart. The final will take place in Gameweek 37.

Adam Levy remains top of both our main FFS League and our FFS Members League, and for the sixth Gameweek in a row is number one in the world as he extended his lead to 51 points.

Adam needs 338 points to beat the record points total set by FFS member Jon Reeson (aka Westfield Irons) in the 2009/10 season. That’s an average of 85 points per Gameweek. He still has his Bench Boost chip available.

Mark and Rotation’s Alter Ego remain first and second respectively in the FFS Mods & Cons after both played their second Wildcard. Mark’s successful move to bring in Nathan Redmond was tempered slightly by Deeney’s sending off. Although thankfully Deeney remained on his bench.

Andy Sullivan held onto his lead in RedLightning’s Top 10k Any Season mini-league and is up another four places to 37th overall. Grey Head remains in second place, 22 points behind Andy.

Phil O’Connor (aka ‘jia you jia you’) is the new leader RedLightning’s January to May League. Like Pete Beswick, he played his Second Wildcard in Gameweek 23 and his Triple Captain chip in Gameweek 25. He decided to take an 8-point hit ahead of Gameweek 34 but he still outscored most Wildcarders! This is his seventh FPL season, his highest previous finish being 4,467 in 2016/17. Eight green arrows in the past 10 Gameweeks have taken him from 42k in Gameweek 24 to his current position just outside the top thousand (1,061).

Karen Goh moved 21 points ahead of Rotation’s Alter Ego in RedLightning’s The Last Ten Gameweeks mini-league. Karen used her second Wildcard in Gameweek 29, which would appear the better strategy compared to Rotation’s Alter Ego, who played his in Gameweek 34. Karen has risen from 112k in Gameweek 28 to 6,096 since playing her Second Wildcard.

Most of the mini-league leaders are expected to play their Bench Boost in Double Gameweek 35, the exception being ‘jia you jia you’ who played his in Gameweek 1 for a score of 100.

If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-Ups, please email us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition at geoff@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

3,542 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Mr_Barbs
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Last decision to make!

    A) Deeney & Duffy > Wilson & Yoshida -4
    B) Deeney & Eriksen > Llorente & KDB -4
    C) Deeney > Gray

    Current team:
    Lloris, Foster
    TAA, Doherty, Duffy, Dunk, Valery
    Sterling, Son, Eriksen, Mane, Jota
    Jimenez, Aguero, Deeney

    1. Bavarian
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      C

    2. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      C

    3. Hart-ake
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      A

    4. Paul Psychic Octopus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      A

    5. amplifiedAnt
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Almost identical squad, so obviously the same decision to make as you.

      Currently leaning towards A. None are ideal but it looks vaguely more long-term.

    6. Union_Jacks
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      C

    7. Mr_Barbs
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Thank you all! 50/50. Think i'm feeling A every so slightly more due to slightly better fixtures for the season run in.

  2. Bavarian
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    So who to captain?

  3. Hart-ake
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Already taken a -4. Should I take another to take out Dunk? Nothing itb.

    1. Hotdogs for Tea
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      No

    2. Paul Psychic Octopus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Depends who for and what the rest of your defence is

      1. Hart-ake
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        For a Soton def or Jonny?

    3. Business Cat
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      I wouldn't go -8

      -4 is OK, plus there's plenty of others going hit crazy this week

  4. Depldax
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    On bench boost
    Dunk to masina worth a hit?thanks

    1. Paul Psychic Octopus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Am thinking about it too

    2. adams_6
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Blimey. I’m unsure whether to for free! Not for a hit I don’t think.

  5. Vev
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Is captaining KDB too maveric? Would go for Aguero or Jimi otherwise...

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      No

    2. Hotdogs for Tea
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Do it ... not point playing safe at this stage 🙂

    3. Paul Psychic Octopus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      It's the time of the season for maverickism.

  6. Tmel
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Best option for rest of the season? (BBing this week)

    a) Llorente
    b) Gray
    c) King (can't afford Wilson)
    d) Ings

    1. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      C

    2. Hotdogs for Tea
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Ings probably if he can stay fit

    3. Paul Psychic Octopus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      D (also frees up funds for other transfers)

    4. Business Cat
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      C of those

    5. Union_Jacks
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      B

  7. Atimis
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    GTG or something for a hit?
    BB this week

    Lloris/Gunn
    Laporte/TAA/Duffy/Boly/Kiko
    Sterling(c)/Mane/Son/Deulofeu/Jota
    Kun/Vardy/Jimenez

    Vardy to Firmino next week. 1.1 ITB.

  8. FPL ElasticO
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Best captain option for this GWk??

    A. KDB
    B. Kun
    C. Jimenez

    1. Vev
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Currently on A

    2. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      A or B but if I owned A I'd be seriously tempted by him.

  9. NUFCAndrew
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Is it worth getting Duffy out for a -4?

    1. Hotdogs for Tea
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Nope

    2. Business Cat
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Depends who you're getting in

    3. wijohnson85
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      No. Still same goal threat as when you got him in.

    4. adams_6
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      No

  10. PlayPercentage
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    If Sane isn't in the starting eleven today, then he should put in a transfer request.
    He only came on for 7 mins in the two CL games.

  11. SALVA
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Ings or Long? Which one of them is more nailed?

    1. #FPLBhuna
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      ings.

  12. Baked baines
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Would you BB with a 75% fit Deulofeu and Dunk / Duffy also

    1. WVA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      No I'd take a hit to get rid of Dunk

    2. Baked baines
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Already taken a -4 for Eriksen and Vardy to Sterling & Wilson

  13. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Looking ahead for TC next week is Son perhaps the safest choice rather than Pool options?

    1. Hotdogs for Tea
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      It depends upon how many games Son plays this week maybe ?

      1. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        Im thinking 5 days rest and no CL makes him an auto pick v that West Ham defence

        1. Hotdogs for Tea
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 11 months ago

          You may find, in that case, that Poch wants to give his CL lineup a run out 😉

    2. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Possibly with CL coming up.

  14. Ninjaa
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    1 ft. 0.0m itb.
    Ryan Patricio
    TAA Kolasniac laporte Kiko bednarek
    Sterling mane son delefou jota
    Aguero Jiminez Murray

    What do I do here?
    Delefou injured?
    My plan was Murray > Deeney but that went down the Swanny. Any thoughts??

    1. Ninjaa
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Oh and im playing bench boost

  15. adams_6
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Dunk to Watford Def for free? Probably Masina.
    Just a quick Yes or No please.

    1. WVA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Yesssssss

    2. Here's Tom with the We…
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Yes

    3. Depldax
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Yes

    4. wijohnson85
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Rotation risk? No

      1. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        Surely he plays both.

      2. adams_6
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        Holebas injured?

    5. Paul Psychic Octopus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Y

    6. adams_6
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Cheers

  16. Paul Psychic Octopus
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Am forced in BB week into doing Deeney > Ings for -4. But still have double Brighton defence.

    Do people think it is worth going -8 to do Duffy > Jonny/Masina/Kola?
    (already have Foster, Ryan, Bennett).

    1. Van der Faart
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      -8 will negate any points gained on BB in my opinion, unless one of those transferred in scores heavily

      1. Paul Psychic Octopus
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        Well Deeney is happening.

        It's really whether another defender will outscore Duffy by 4pts

    2. WVA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      I was also forced into BB and took a -8 do yes I think it's worth it

    3. wijohnson85
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      None of those defenders mentioned are nailed a clean sheet or attacking returns (or even 2 starts). No

  17. zizoo10
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    should i do Batshuai > Llorente -4?

    1. Over Midwicket
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      No.

  18. alittlebitoffunman
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Foster
    Trippier, Laporte, Matip
    Sterling, Pogba, Jota, (Doucouré ?)
    Jimenez, Vardy, Firmino

    Subs: Moura, Dunk, Chilwell

    ===> dunk or Matip ?; Moura or Doucouré, or both ? If then, Vardy off ?

  19. Lukakwho
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Should Deulofue be removed for a hit?

    1. Limited & Mediocre Mana…
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Lol no

  20. Athletic Nasherbo
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Two questions:

    Captain Aguero or Jiminez?

    Duffy > Masina -4? Have Deulofeu on BB who may not play

    1. Over Midwicket
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Kün.

    2. WVA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Jimenez
      Yes

      1. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        Thanks both

  21. Over Midwicket
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Captain Kun or Kevin? Cheers.

  22. Bookmark
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Captain Kdb or Aguero?

    1. Over Midwicket
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Haha see above. Flip a coin

  23. TheDragon
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Captaincy:

    A) Jimenez
    B) Sterling
    C) Aguero
    D) Son

    Given Jimenez is the only one likely to be over 100% EO does it make sense to go for him as captain purely so all my players are gaining me rank (I have all 4 players)

    1. WVA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Yes A

    2. Concrete
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      C

      1. TheDragon
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        I’m pretty set on A or B

        1. Concrete
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 11 months ago

          B then

    3. Over Midwicket
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      B by a mile. Can't believe people are considering others

      1. Here's Tom with the We…
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        B or D

      2. TheDragon
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 11 months ago

        How certain are you that he plays both - I’ll be gutted if he doesn’t start

    4. Ragabolly
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Son will also probably exceed 100%. It sucks when you cheer against a player you have, but with the split, it's the best week to pick your own captain.

    5. xHaTr
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Literally have no idea, have the same four choices myself!

  24. Klaren
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Should I do Ryan to Foster for a -4?

    1. Concrete
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      No

    2. WVA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Yes

    3. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Ive done Ryan to Leno for a-4 as I see it as a good longer term move.

  25. Concrete
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    For minus 4

    A Duffy to Laporte?

    B Eriksen to KdB

    1. WVA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      A

  26. EL TANO
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    A. Rash + decoure
    B. Laca + delofeu

    1. Concrete
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      B for this week

    2. WVA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      A

  27. alittlebitoffunman
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    triple captain sterling, jimenez, jota ?

    1. Concrete
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Jiménez

  28. Kane Train
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Which one?

    A) Firmino
    B) Lukaku
    C) Aubameyang

    1. Concrete
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      A

  29. Forzancfc
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    Stick with Vardy or double up on rashford
    ?

    1. Concrete
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Stick

  30. zizoo10
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 11 months ago

    best 4.6 defender for rest of season? (not valery)

    1. TheDragon
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      Yoshi? Or a Watford one if you can find one who will play

    2. Business Cat
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 11 months ago

      I'd go Yoshida...5 fixtures and the nicest fixtures in that price bracket