The two-time FPL champion of India, Lateriser, discusses the return of home fans, what to do with Manchester United assets, Manchester City midfielders, Gareth Bale and his Free Hit draft for Gameweek 36.
It’s the business end of 2020/21 and I have a feeling that many of you are going to be making some season-defining decisions in Gameweek 36.
Keeping that in mind, I’m going to be talking about some of the key pointers for the end of the campaign in this article.
RETURN OF HOME FANS
First up, fans are going to be allowed back into stadiums in Gameweeks 37 and 38. This is a factor you simply can’t ignore.
Here are some noteworthy home games in the final two rounds:
Gameweek 37
- Manchester United v Fulham
- Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
Gameweek 38
- Liverpool v Crystal Palace
- Manchester City v Everton
- Leeds United v West Bromwich Albion
- Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur
- West Ham United v Southampton
I think you have to put some stock into these home games because the players will want to put on a show in front of their own fans after so long. We know Everton haven’t been good at home this season but playing Sheffield United in Gameweek 36 and then playing in front of their supporters against Wolves next week nullifies that abysmal home record, in my opinion.
In Gameweek 37, Gareth Bale (£9.1m) plays in front of the Tottenham Hotspur fans for the first – and last – time this season. There is even a small possibility that it is the final time a Golden Boot-chasing Harry Kane (£11.8m) dons a Spurs shirt in the presence of the Lilywhites’ faithful.
Leeds United also play in front of their fans in the Premier League for the first time this campaign in Gameweek 38. I think you need to consider the fan factor in the last two Gameweeks as I am personally expecting some strong home performances in these fixtures.
WHAT TO DO WITH UNITED ASSETS?
This brings us to the burning question for a lot of Fantasy Premier League managers in Gameweek 36: what to do with your Manchester United assets? They do have a strong home game in Gameweek 37 against Fulham but there are various factors at play here and I don’t want to sit on the fence with my opinion.
There are just three Gameweeks to go and you need to accumulate as many points as possible without worrying too much about the players you sell. If you’re not fielding enough players in Gameweek 36, there is a decision for you to make. I would personally lose Leicester City assets first but if you don’t own any of those, I think it is perfectly fine to ditch your Manchester United players now.
In Gameweek 37, Tottenham play Aston Villa at home and Liverpool play Burnley so you’re not left looking too hard for captaincy options as you should ideally have two Golden Boot-chasing options to consider. In addition to that, Manchester United play their Gameweek 38 fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers three days prior to the UEFA Europa League final. Even though some of the ‘first team’ might start, I would not be surprised to see limited minutes and early substitutions for the main assets.
If you don’t have Liverpool or Spurs players in your team, I don’t mind the switch from the United midfielders simply because you have more bites at the cherry to collect hauls. Again, I reiterate, I’d lose Leicester assets first.
If your squad is in a healthy condition, I don’t even mind a one-week switch to a Manchester City midfielder as there is great differential upside potential there. That said, I expect the City assets to play two or three fixtures in the final three Gameweeks of the season. I fully anticipate that the main team will play against Newcastle United because the likes of Riyad Mahrez (£8.0m) and John Stones (£5.1m) will not have played any minutes for 10 days and we know how Pep Guardiola loves match rhythm.
MAN CITY MIDFIELDERS
If you’re interested in a Manchester City midfield punt for the end of the season, I’ve looked at some statistics. These are the numbers per 90 minutes in the second half of the campaign.
That is it from me for this week and I hope this article helps you. If you want more of our thoughts, you can watch the latest episode of The FPL Wire below.
2 years, 10 months ago
Guys there is an Eid PARTY tonight in 9 hours
ALL the Salah Cappers invited, TCers to be VIP
We Shall FEAST oh yes we will!