Pro Pundits

Tips and advice for FPL managers over the busy Christmas period

In our latest Pro Pundits article, Lateriser12 – who has overall ranks of 77th and 189th to his name  gives Fantasy Premier League managers some tips for the Christmas period.


It is the holiday season and the Gameweeks are coming thick and fast. For us Fantasy Premier League fans, this is a gift in itself. During these times, we don’t have too much time to dwell on our decisions and we need to be quick and precise. With this article, I hope to concisely present some important information which might hopefully help you with a few of your dilemmas this Gameweek. We can call it a ‘cheat sheet’, of sorts.

Last time I wrote, I spoke at length about playing the switch-hit against Jamie Vardy (£10.1m). I did it in Gameweek 17 with a Mohamed Salah (£12.2m)-sized captaincy and it led to me halving my rank and jumping from 124k to 66k. This despite not owning Kevin De Bruyne (£10.4m) in Gameweek 17 (else I would have been well inside the top 40k).

I also spoke about Marcus Rashford (£9.1m) at length and I went with my instinct and got him in Gameweek 18 and immediately gave him the captain’s armband. That did not go as well as planned (a small red arrow and I’m currently sitting at 85k) and admittedly I might have a certain bias when it comes to Manchester United assets. That said, when a certain Paul Pogba (£8.4m) came on with 26 minutes to play, we saw a different United playing. Armed with a silky smooth through-ball, he was carving open the Watford defence at will and from memory created three decent chances as soon as he came on. I wonder if the deep block struggle remains if Solskjaer starts using Pogba at number ten.

As a Son Heung-min (£10.0m) owner and a De Bruyne non-ower, the red card wasn’t that big of a problem for me. It led to probably the easiest decision I’ve made this season. In fact, I made the switch three minutes after the red card so as to not overthink this obvious move.

Yes, I can think of hacks and other ‘maverick’ moves to make ground but when it’s this obvious, one must do it. Some might say that De Bruyne is the best value FPL player this season. I say, on current form, De Bruyne is simply the most dangerous FPL asset in the game right now. How he has got away with just 23 points in the last two Gameweeks, I’ll never know.

This leads to one more week in my team for Anthony Martial (£7.7m), Rashford and Christian Pulisic (£7.3m). Hopefully, Mr. Pogba is in a merry mood and puts on a Santa coat gifting big chances to my United assets this Gameweek.

Enough self-indulgence. Now, I’m going to present you with a few pieces of information that might or might not help you with your FPL decisions this week.

First, let us look at fatigue and try determining which of the matches this week might be influenced by them.

If you haven’t already ready Zophar’s excellent piece on the same subject, I highly recommend reading it here. I’m borrowing his chart to determine the ‘fatigue’ factor we talk about here. 

  • Tottenham Hotspur play a Brighton team that have had 20 hours more rest. Both teams have a very short turn-around afterwards.
  • Arsenal have a nice rest period before this Gameweek and a good gap thereafter, as well. They are one of the teams, along with Everton, I will be closely monitoring to see how they line up. There could be some potential bargains from both sides under their new managers.
  • Chelsea face a Southampton team that has had 24 hours more rest than the Blues. That said, Chelsea have a bigger rest period than most teams after this game. We will surely see a fair amount of rotation from Chelsea and I half-expect Jorginho (£5.0m) and Pulisic to start the next game.
  • A tired and half-depleted Crystal Palace team faces a fully fit and rested West Ham side that showed some signs of rejuvenation in their last Gameweek. I wonder if this influences my benching decision between Martin Kelly (£4.4m) and Matt Targett (£4.4m). If he isn’t already, Michail Antonio (£6.9m) should be on your FPL radar.
  • Sheffield United will have had a full day’s rest more than Watford when they meet up. This looks good for Lys Mousset (£5.1m) and John Lundstram (£5.2m) owners. Mousset sat out the last game so he’s looking good to start this one, in my opinion.
  • Manchester United play a Newcastle team that has had a day’s rest more than them. In addition, we need to remember that both Rashford and Martial also played the midweek Carabao Cup tie last week. This means that they have effectively played four games in 12 days already if they start this Gameweek. This has me re-thinking giving the armband to Rashford or Martial despite the positive effect that Pogba might have on them.
  • Leicester and Liverpool will have had the same amount of rest when they play against each other. The big difference here is that most of the Liverpool players played 120 minutes in the game against Flamengo and then had to fly back from Qatar. That said, in the matches after Gameweek 19, Liverpool have a relatively good amount of rest-time to offer their players.
  • Manchester City and Wolves have the highest duration of rest before they meet up for their fixture. It is worth noting that in the two games that follow, both teams have a very short turnaround period. It is impossible to predict if and when De Bruyne gets a rest, but if I were a betting man, I’d say it would be in the home game versus Sheffield United. This will perhaps be influenced by David Silva’s (£7.5m) fitness.

Now I’ll present some important statistical information that might influence your captaincy decision this weekend. We’ll most likely see a split captaincy in Gameweek 19, with there being a number of viable candidates. Here are some noteworthy stats:

Here’s how my squad currently looks for Gameweek 19:

Before I sign off, I would like to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year. May your holiday season be full of green arrows! I hope this attempt to create a cheat sheet has helped you guys. Until next time.


Fantasy Football Scout user Lateriser12 has a very impressive Fantasy CV. He has registered two finishes in the top 200 (one of them equating to number one in India) and four in the top 10,000 in the last six seasons. The secret to his success has been playing non-conventionally and fearlessly, swearing by ‘upside chasing’ and not giving ownership much of a look.

1,457 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Punter
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Lundy C any takers?? Last 4 home games 2 goals 2 assist s, 4 big chances 11 goal attempts, 5 on target, 14 crosses, playing very high...

    I'm gonna do it not too high on anybody else and will be a bit of fun. Also have Rash, Alli, Abraham but not confident in them, and Mane, KDB, Vardy have slightly hard fixtures.

    Good luck and merry Xmas!

    1. Srv210
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Maverick move, but Lundy has been brilliant this season

    2. Clintymints
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Perfect time for the punt and the logic is there

      However I’ve seen those picks before many times and it rarely works out

      This weeks captain is a countdown conundrum

      1. Punter
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Yeah Watford looking a bit soft both ways playing away lately too. To be honest I've botched my captain pick so many times this season and picked the "logical choice" just about every week. The usual suspects have tricky fixtures so why not go a little punty. Can't go too wrong unless he gets a red haha

        1. GoonSquad
          • 13 Years
          4 years, 3 months ago

          This is a good week to take a shot...casual choice could be 2 or 1 points.

  2. noahzark22
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Antonio or Moura for GW 19?

    1. Dthinger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Moura

      1. GoonSquad
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Seriously? Why?

        Even Moura admits he is awful in FPL.

  3. KUN_DE_BRU_YNE
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Which budget keeper you suggest for Hendo replacement:
    A)Ryan
    B)Ramsdale
    C)Gazzaniga

    1. Clintymints
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Just keep? He’s done well

      Others are not wise at the minute

    2. Dthinger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Why would you replace him?

      1. Rocky FPL
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Fixtures

  4. Aubamazette
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Who’s the safest captain option this week?

    1. Bushwhacker
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Abraham. Or Kane.

    2. Rocky FPL
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Kdb/Salah

  5. FCSB
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Happy Christmas!!

    It’s quite interesting I’ve done this poll a couple of times now, one time I’ve got loads of 2s and thought that’s the way to go then got a few 1s... it’s really hard to gauge the best wildcard.

    1.
    Henderson McGovern
    ROBERTSON Lundstram Kelly Soyuncu Rico
    Mane ALLI De Bruyne Grealish Dendoncker
    Vardy RASHFORD Abraham

    2.
    Henderson McGovern
    AURIER Lundstram Kelly Soyuncu Rico
    Mane SALAH De Bruyne Grealish Dendoncker
    Vardy JIMENEZ Abraham

    Thanks!

    1. Clintymints
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2

    2. Netley Lucas
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Ryan & Button look better from GW20. I'd save the Robbo cash by going Aurier for a while and have Dele, so just Mo. So it's a mix. Maybe get Cantwell in as 5th.

    3. Dthinger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2

    4. Bushwhacker
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I like a mix of both. Wouldn’t Salah and Mane, wouldn’t Rashford after last week.

    5. Tsssst
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2 with Alli instead of Salah and upgrade Aurier and Dendonkey

  6. AbsolutelyNoIdea
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Play

    A) Jimmy
    B) Maddison

    1. Letsgo!
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Have to be jimenez

  7. AppleDunk
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Play Cantwell or Mousset?

    1. Punter
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Mousset has the home fixture... Tough call tho. I'd lean towards him

      1. Bushwhacker
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Is he starting?

    2. Tsssst
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Cantwell more nailed on

    3. Gold Coast
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Cantwell

  8. Letsgo!
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Pope
    Aurier vvd lund
    Mane kdb alli zaha
    Abraham(C) rash vardy

    Subs:button, cantwell, soy, dunk

    I have 2ft but use one to sell calvert for abraham and give him the armband.

    Shld i do another and for who?

    Also i really wanted to start cantwell over vardy.

    1. Steiger
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Save

  9. Nabs Kebabs
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Got 9/11 of the starting scout picks:

    Henderson
    TAA Lundstram Kelly
    Salah(c) KDB Alli Maddison Grealish
    Vardy Abraham

    1. Wally711
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Is that good or bad?

      1. Nabs Kebabs
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        good

    2. La Roja
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Nailed on for a 22 pointer GW then

      1. Nabs Kebabs
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        😆

    3. PastaFasul
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      I have 8...and it always makes me nervous. Usually I have 5 or so and score well above the GW average so hopefully 8 will not result in a low score.

  10. Wally711
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Hey

    Pick 2 to play

    1) Periera
    2) Cantwell
    3) Fleck
    4) Kelly

    1. Steiger
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2 & 3

    2. PastaFasul
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2 & 4 imo

    3. Tsssst
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2 and 3 will get you more points

    4. JS team
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2 and 4 😉

    5. Gold Coast
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2 and 3

  11. jaguar shark
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Need advice on this group with 2 FT and 1.3 ITB.

    VVD, Lundstrom, Kelly, Soyuncu, Rico
    KDB, Mane, Pulisic, Alli, Cantwell
    Vardy, Rashford, Jimenez

    A) Downgrade VVD to spread funds
    B) Pulisic to Maddison
    C) Rashford to Ings to spread funds
    D) Give up a transfer and hold........

    1. Wally711
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Try to get Tammy in maybe for Jimenez

    2. Steiger
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Pulisic to Grealish
      Rashford to Kane

  12. olidooley
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Merry Christmas lads. Who would you captain here?

    Salah (lei)
    De Bruyne (wol)
    Abraham (SOU)
    Rashford (NEW)
    Alli (BHA)

    1. olidooley
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Or Lundstram (WAT)!

    2. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Abraham. But I won't stop you from putting captaincy on Lundstram either.

  13. qweriup
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    which one of my defenders should I choose to upgrade to digne have money ITB?

    Kelly, Rico, Targett

    1. Bushwhacker
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Hard to think the money couldn’t be spent better elsewhere.

    2. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Targett

      but he might keep a CS this week

  14. jdp219
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Not convinced I need to use both, but open to suggestions. 2FTs, 0.6itb
    1) Pope > Guaita & roll
    2) Rico > Kelly & roll
    3) Mane > Salah & roll
    Crazy option -- Alli, Trent > Salah, fodder

    Pope
    TAA, Aurier, Lunds
    Mane, KDB, Alli, Grealish
    Vardy, Tammy, Jimenez
    (Button; Cantwell, Soy, Rico)

    1. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      1

  15. luk46
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Who would you rather have on wc?

    A - TAA + Maddison + Jimenez
    B - Dunk + Alli + Rashford

    1. Steiger
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      A

  16. Eleven Hag
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    G2G?

    Guaita
    Kelly Lund Aurrier
    KDB Alli Mane Salah (C)
    Vardy Jimenez Tammy

    Bench - Taylor Soy Donker

    1. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Gtg. Almost the same team as mine. I have (K)ane and Zaha in place of Jimmy and Salah.

    2. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Salad cost you Taa then ....

  17. HNI
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Who would u remove for Salah?
    1) Alli
    or
    2) Maddison cant have all as playing 3-4-3 and cant think of removing any from Cantwell, KDB, grealish, Rash ,abraham, vardy :/
    Heavy heart to remove Madisson but that seems most sensible to spread risk

    1. The FPL Units
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2

    2. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      2

  18. St. Joseph
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Who's more likely to start :
    A) Mahrez
    B) Lucas Moura

    and what are the odds/?

    1. Tsssst
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Moura cos no Son

  19. b91jh
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    No love for Pogba here?

    1. Tsssst
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Too early to tell

  20. jdp219
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Captain?
    1) Alli
    2) Tammy
    3) KDB

    1. SpaceCadet
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Tammy

  21. SpaceCadet
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Anything worth a hit with 4.8m itb or g2g? Plan to get in Mo next gw. Thanks

    Pope
    Taa dunk lund
    Kdb Alli Richarlison Grealish
    Vardy Tammy rashford

    Button soy dendo Rico

    1. Thomas Shelby from Birmingh…
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      which players are you looking to drop? I have a similar team

  22. seewhyaxe
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Any Sterling cappers here?

  23. chaser123
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Chances of Henderson or Lundstram going up in price tonight?

  24. R.C
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Bench 1 (Have Guaita)

    1. Targett
    2. Kelly
    3. C. Taylor

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      3

  25. FirMinaMiMo
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Finally i m out of this fpl cup 🙂 !!!!

    Here's my WC team !!!

    Gazz 4.0*
    Gomez kelly lund soy* rico*
    Pogba salah dele kdb cantwell*
    Jimmy vardy rash

    Thoughts on my team??? 🙂 Lads

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Guaita over Gazzaniga if possible

      1. FirMinaMiMo
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Yup !!! Cheers lad!

      2. FirMinaMiMo
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        How's your gw18 mate??? Improved 🙂 ???

    2. Tsparkes10
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Double united could hurt but I like

  26. RyanMK
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Mane to Salah. Yay or nay?

    1. Hits from the Bong
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      Nah

  27. Hits from the Bong
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Merry Christmas all! Any Newcastle fans about... Is Willems fit? And how is Fernandez as an alternative? Same goals and assists in half the time

  28. FirMinaMiMo
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Armband options 🙂

    A) salah
    B) kdb
    C) tammy
    D) pogba
    E) alli

    1. Hits from the Bong
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      A or C

      1. FirMinaMiMo
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        So lemmie ask yu one!!!

        Ings vs chelsea
        Tammy vs saints ????

        I imagined ings wont be like grealish but in-reverse happened 🙂 #gw18

    2. Tsparkes10
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      C

      1. FirMinaMiMo
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 3 months ago

        Yup mate 🙂

  29. Hits from the Bong
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    Best budget defender? (4.7 or under) I’m assuming everyone has Kelly Lundstram and Rico. So who’s the best of the rest?

    A. Willems (4.7)
    B. Bardsley (4.3)
    C. C. Taylor (4.2)
    D. Dunk (4.7)
    E. Balbuena (4.3)
    F. Fernandez (4.4)

  30. Tsparkes10
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 3 months ago

    A) Bench Cantwell and get in Kane for a - 4

    B) Play Cantwell and have 12 mil to to bring a striker in next week

    C) Son to Pogba and bench Jota

    1. Hits from the Bong
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      B but I’d use it on a premium mid like Salah instead

    2. FirMinaMiMo
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 3 months ago

      B) mane