Differential Long offering incredible value for final matches of 2018/19

The penultimate Gameweek of the season is now upon us and it won’t be long before we can head to the beach, just like most of the mid-table Premier League teams.

With four English teams still fighting it out in European competition and the title race still being a two-way shoot-out, many variables are still in play.

It’s still important to look out for differentials that are free from the risk of rotation with a good fixture or two at hand.

Here are three low-owned players that may be worth considering for Gameweek 37…


Shane Long

Price: £4.7m

Ownership: 3.6%

GW37 fixture: West Ham (away)

Having scored four goals in his last five games, it’s hard to look past Shane Long (£4.7m), especially given his price.

During that time he has helped Southampton avoid the drop for another season, as well as scoring the fastest ever Premier League goal.

If timing is anything to go by he’s planned it to a tee as he only mustered one goal prior to Gameweek 33.

It’s also worth noting that he is currently ranked the best for form on the official FPL website for all strikers valued at less than £9.0m.

What’s also interesting is that in the last six Gameweeks he’s had 13 fewer goal attempts than Jamie Vardy, yet is only two goals behind him in the same period.

This is all the more remarkable when considering Long didn’t even play in Gameweek 32 and costs almost half the price.

It just goes to show how accurate he has been in front of goal of late and has made the most of the attacking opportunities available to him.

Southampton face off against West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday.

The Hammers have conceded the fifth-highest number of home goals this season, which suggests Long will have plenty of opportunities this weekend.

And don’t forget, Southampton are the only side remaining with a home fixture against Huddersfield…

Victor Lindelöf

Price: £4.9m

Ownership: 5.2%

GW37 fixture: Huddersfield (away)

It’s always a hard sell to even encourage buying a defender from a team that has only kept 7 clean sheets in the league from a possible 36 this season, but I guess that’s what I’m doing with Victor Lindelöf (£4.9m).

In fairness to him, he has put in substantially improved displays from last season and has gradually pushed himself as a regular starting defender for Manchester United.

For a club of this magnitude, you would have expected them to keep double the number of clean sheets in comparison to their current tally.

But questions over their number one goalkeeper’s performances and the transition between managers have not helped their backline woes.

At the same time, Lindelöf has hardly been a bastion of attacking fortitude for United with only 12 penalty area touches all season, and one goal.

With him, it’s less about his individual or team Fantasy returns and even more about who they play next.

Huddersfield are only averaging 0.5 goals per home game this season and it would take some doing for them to threaten United’s goal, let alone score.

As an added bonus, United will play Cardiff in the final Gameweek of the season against a possibly relegated Cardiff at Old Traffor.

They have only scored 11 goals on the road in 2018/19 which also bodes well for Lindelöf and his defensive colleagues, who will be hoping to sign off the campaign with clean sheets with two of the weakest attacks in the division.

Seamus Coleman

Price: £5.2m

Ownership: 1.6%

GW37 fixture: Burnley (home)

In the seasons of yesteryear, it would have been unheard of to say that Seamus Coleman (£5.2m) was anything but a must-have.

However, injuries and form issues have restricted him to only four attacking returns since August 2017.

Everton’s backline also struggled for clean sheets at the start of this season which also limited his worth in the eyes of FPL managers.

With that said, there has been something of a turnaround at Goodison Park, to say the least.

Everton have quietly registered seven clean sheets in their last nine games.

Coleman played a role in each of them, as well as contributing two assists.

And if his heatmap from Gameweek 1 is anything to go by he still seems to be dominating that entire right flank with almost 30% of his touches being in the final third.

At the same time, the burden of him having the pressure to deliver regular attacking output as he did in the past has waned somewhat with the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison in the team, as well as Lucas Digne providing similar creativity for the opposite flank of defence.

In addition, the season is far from over for Everton with them still mathematically in the hunt for seventh place.

Up next are Burnley, who are now safe from relegation and have been a shadow of their former selves.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Everton managed a clean sheet win against them based on both teams motivations and recent form.