An FPL Q&A with three-time top 200 finisher Lateriser

The reigning Fantasy Premier League champion of India takes questions from the FPL community ahead of Gameweek 34.

I would like to start off this article by urging all of you to stay safe and take care of your loved ones. The situation in India right now has spiraled and things are looking very bad at the moment. To our Indian readers: if you need any information amplified on Twitter, feel free to reach out to me (@lateriser12) and I’ll be happy to share and help.

Every once in a while, I do a ‘Burning Question’ article where I let the community ask questions and I answer a few of them. I’ve picked out some conundrums relevant to Gameweek 34 and beyond, so I hope you find this piece useful.

Q) Should the Leeds defence be seriously talked about now? They have been showing some great numbers. Are budget buys Pascal Strujik and Diego Llorente worthy of consideration? (@predictators23)

A) Thank you for the question! I hope you are keeping safe. Leeds United’s underlying numbers have definitely been very impressive. In the last six matches, only Chelsea have conceded more big chances than the Whites and only Manchester United have shipped more goals.

Head coach Marcelo Bielsa himself talked about this ‘evolution’ of the team:

In the game, we defended well. We couldn’t attack how we wanted to. Even if we didn’t dominate, we avoided the game becoming unbalanced. There are signs of evolution. We have been playing against teams like Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City and in games like this, we have to concede some things. The group of players have constructed a solid group. Throughout this time they have made errors and have learned how to correct them. And in the same way, they have learned to avoid errors that are avoidable. I have the feeling that there has been a growth in the maturity [and] in the experience to manage these games.

What I find interesting from these quotes is that he talks about teams like Chelsea and Manchester City when discussing maturity and there is some conjecture in terms of whether they might not be so balanced against other sides. That said, I feel like the Whites are not going suddenly going to change drastically and more so, I am of the opinion that the addition of Llorente in their defence has certainly made them a stronger unit.

Keeping these things in mind, I think it’s definitely time to jump in on Stuart Dallas (£5.3m), who has the most goals this season amongst all defenders. It is certainly not a fluke – he has very much replaced Mateusz Klich (£5.2m) in a midfield role and what is even more encouraging is Bielsa’s explanation for why:

The place that Dallas occupies in the team at the moment is the role that [Matuesz] Klich usually has. In the majority of the games that the team played, he [Klich] was one of the best players in our team. When Dallas started to play in this position, he started to show different ways of playing in this position.

To score goals was a clear expectation when he started to play in this position and as the minutes go by, he manages to have a marked influence or definition in the finalisation of our chances. In this sense it’s something that’s a novelty, even though it’s a novelty – it’s within his facilities as he’s managed to maintain it.

The line “to score goals was a clear expectation” absolutely convinces me to go for him and if you watch the Leeds United games, you’ll notice that he’s just a very trigger-happy player. I will be very surprised to see him as a defender in FPL next season, so make the most of this opportunity.

If you’re in the market for someone cheaper, I quite like Ezgjan Alioski (£4.3m) as a pick who has started the last six games and has had Eight shots in the same period.

Q) Is it time to finally bin Bruno Fernandes? (@rohanisapunk)

A) I’ve been asked this question a lot and my answer is “no”. I haven’t owned him since Gameweek 27 and I’m currently contemplating buying him, as he has a potentially good-looking Double Gameweek 35 should the fixtures be rearranged. I have been watching all the Manchester United matches and he is still occupying great positions inside the opposition box.

Moreover, his underlying numbers are pretty good as well. He’s fifth for expected goal involvement (xGI) amongst all players in the last six matches, having racked up 19 shots and 13 key passes in that period. If you want to, you can bin him after Gameweek 35 – but I definitely wouldn’t encourage doing so now.

Q) With so much ambiguity around the form of popular attacking picks like Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min, is it time to switch to a five-man defence? (@HitManUtd)

A) That’s certainly not my opinion as all these players you mentioned above still have good-looking fixtures remaining. And in the last six Gameweeks, we have only seen five clean sheets per Gameweek on average so I’m not entirely sure which defences are completely reliable right now except for Chelsea. Liverpool, Manchester United and as discussed above, Leeds United do have some interesting options in defence, however.

Q) Who are some high-upside differential options? (@UnderstandingF8)

A) Call it my gut instinct but I really like the look of Gareth Bale (£9.1m) as an option for the run-in. I just have a feeling that he will have the same impact that Paul Pogba (£7.6m) had once Jose Mourinho left Manchester United. They both were similarly sidelined under Mourinho and if Bale plays, he will get you Fantasy points given his sheer quality. He does play Sheffield United at home this Gameweek and he’s just a differential punt I really fancy.

Last week’s hat-trick hero, Chris Wood (£6.3m), is still only owned by 2.6% of FPL managers and his underlying numbers look very encouraging to me. He is second for goal attempts and shots in the box and has accumulated the highest number of big chances amongst all outfielders in the last six matches. I quite like his fixtures until the end of the season as he’s playing for a Burnley team that honestly look very unlike the traditional Clarets teams we are used to. Indeed, only two teams have scored more goals than Sean Dyche’s troops in the last six matches.

That’s it from me for this week. The one piece of advice I’d give is if you can help it, try saving a transfer this week because we might get confirmed Double Gameweek news after Friday’s deadline, and two transfers might come in handy. If you want to know more, you can watch this week’s edition of The FPL Wire below: