Blank for captain favourite Jiménez opens door for top 10k movement

The chances of significant movement among the top 10,000 Fantasy Premier League managers looks increasingly likely in Gameweek 32+.

Raúl Jiménez (£8.3m) was backed for the captaincy by more than any other option among the world’s best-ranking players but produced a blank against Aston Villa’s largely improved defence.

The Mexican came into Gameweek 32+ with four goals in his last five Premier League matches, convincing 31.7% of the top 10k to back him with the armband.

As you can see, that was close to double the number of managers choosing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) as their captain.

16.2% of the top 10k were swayed by the Arsenal man’s upcoming meeting with Norwich, who have conceded the second-most number of goals this season (56).

Given the amount that backed Jiménez against Villa, any attacking return for Aubameyang is likely to trigger some movement for Fantasy managers.

The same is also true of Marcus Rashford (£9.0m) ahead of his trip to Brighton. The Manchester United man, who has 13 attacking returns in as many Premier League matches since Gameweek 12, was backed by 13.8% of the top 10k for Gameweek 32+.

Despite the Gameweek 31+ hat-trick, Anthony Martial (£8.1m) remains a differential, just 8% of managers in the top 10k brave enough to trust him with the armband.

Even more ominous is the power that Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) has once more. The trip to Manchester City means just 7.8% have captained him among the top 10k. Another haul for the Egyptian, combined with blanks for a selection of the other popular armbandees, could cause a massive shift in the rankings at this level.

Meanwhile, the chip usage for Gameweek 32+ was rather subdued, both in the top 10k and worldwide.

As you can see from the figures above, the Wildcard was the most popular of these, deployed by 5.7% of managers in the upper echelon of the game.

With just six Gameweeks left in 2019/20, 15.5% of the top 10k managers are leaving it late to make use of that chip. 

Manchester City’s upcoming hosting of Liverpool has also triggered a small flurry of chip usage.

With those two teams still among the most popular in the Fantasy community, it is no surprise to see a handful of managers deploying the Free Hit.

3.1% of the top 10k went for temporary squads for Gameweek 32+, Kevin De Bruyne (£10.7m) the only player from Manchester City’s meeting with Liverpool to make it into the template.

There is significant interest in the Manchester United attack from these squads, with Bruno Fernandes (£8.7m), Martial and Rashford all selected by over 64% of top 10k Free Hitters.

The price of Emiliano Martínez (£4.3m) is also proving appealing, with over half of the Free Hit squads at this level including the Arsenal man for an appealing home clash with Norwich.

The recent form of Christian Pulisic (£7.0m), which has seen him score twice since the Premier League restart, is enough for top 10k Free Hitters to consider him for their squads too, 57.7% of such managers including him.

Martial has already made a dent in the top 10k in terms of ownership.

One Gameweek after his hat-trick the out-of-position FPL midfielder is already selected by 38% of managers at this level.

That has not stopped investment in Fernandes or Rashford though, selected by 76.1% and 55.5% of top 10k managers respectively.

Salah’s 11-point haul against Crystal Palace has not led to much investment by the top managers just yet.

He is still owned by roughly half of the top 10k, although that figure will surely rise after the tricky trip to Manchester City is out of the way.

Another clean sheet for Matt Doherty (£6.4m) and Romain Saïss (£4.6m) against Aston Villa in Gameweek 32+’s early kick-off is good news for those managers in the top 10k invested in the Wolves double-up.

Doherty is now selected by 60% at this level, Wolves’ defensive displays increasingly robbing him of the differential potential at this level. However, Saïss is still only in just under a third of top 10k squads, acting as rank-climber when combined with Doherty.

Recent promising signs from Spurs defence has also propelled Serge Aurier (£5.0m) into differential territory among managers at this level. Ahead of a Gameweek 32+ clash with a goal-shy Sheffield United side, the right-back is owned by 26.1% of top 10k managers.

DATA TAKEN FROM LIVEFPL.NET