Pro Pundits

Gameweek 7 Wildcard team reveal: Lukaku over Ronaldo plus double City and Arsenal

Ex-FPL winner Simon March: How to avoid getting carried away with your GW1 picks

After a Gameweek 6 score of 44 and a fourth red arrow in succession, I embraced the ‘Sunday night Wildcard’ cliche and finally pushed the button. For this article, I’ll be sharing my current draft and a bit of the thinking behind it.

First off, a word on the timing of the Wildcard. While I had my fair share of yellow flags and underperforming players, it was mainly the concern that I would be priced out of the team I wanted that made me choose this Gameweek. As you’ll see, this necessitates greater investment in the Liverpool v Man City fixture than I’d ideally have liked and a Gameweek 8 Wildcard would not only have avoided that but, also, have allowed me to better mop up any problems that might occur during the preceding international break. 

However, neither of those factors seemed significant enough to warrant holding off and, equally, there are opportunities to be gained from tapping into some of the good Gameweek 7 fixtures.

Finally, I’m approaching this Wildcard with a fairly long horizon and am targeting the players and teams that I think can deliver for the foreseeable future. Equally I’m seeking enough depth that my squad can cope with the unexpected. My hope is that this will help me establish a reliable enough foundation that I can use my transfers progressively rather than reactively going forwards.

So, without further ado, here’s my current Wildcard draft.

Goalkeepers

The Kasper Schmeichel (£5.1m) / Danny Ward (£4.0m) Leicester goalkeeper rotation is a hill I’m willing to die on this season having already had it from the start. While they are not the most popular picks between the sticks (ooh that rhymes), at least not in the FPL community, they haven’t done badly, averaging 3.0 points per game so far, despite Leicester’s dismal defending.

Schmeichel is second for saves made, which helps him in terms of save points and bonus points but just the one clean sheet is not all that convincing a return. That said, I do believe Leicester will improve, particularly with the return of Jonny Evans (£5.4m), and, also, that it is more likely that they will sort out their defensive problems than some currently better-performing options are likely to maintain their defensive solidity.

Finally, at £9.1m combined (£9.0m for me), Schmeichel/Ward offers a strong certainty of a playing goalkeeper for a fairly low cost.

Defenders

My strategy for the defence is to get three near-to-nailed-on players from what appear to be the three best defences in the league (Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea) and then, ideally, leave them for the rest of the season so I can focus my transfers elsewhere.

1,736 Comments Post a Comment
  1. FPL_Crisis
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Just the confirmation bias I was looking for!

    The 28-year-old has faced Southampton on 12 previous occasions and boasts a record of seven wins, two draws and three defeats against the Saints in the Premier League.

    Lukaku has certainly enjoyed himself against Southampton, finding the back of the net nine times, in addition to providing three assists.

    1. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Up until last weekend Ronaldo had a great record vs Aston Villa. Not sure how much salt these things are worth.

      1. FPL_Crisis
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        Early kickoffs trump previous records 🙂

        1. circusmonkey
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          2 years, 5 months ago

          More irrational bias.

          1. FPL_Crisis
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 13 Years
            2 years, 5 months ago

            Cheers for your input

    2. The Mentaculus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 2 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      I guess these stats are a little more recent/relevant than Ronaldo v Villa, but checking the Soton lineups from previous matchups, theres only 2 players remaining (JWP & Redmond). I think the most encouraging sign for Lukaku captaincy was how Jimenez outmuscled Bednarek last week for his goal.

      1. FPL_Crisis
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        Yeh not expecting a big scoring week again.
        Would gladly take a goal for my captain

    3. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Stats for players against certain clubs are my least favorite that get bandied about.

      It's a small sample size at best and at worst it's flat out misleading when they're playing in a different team entirely several years ago.

      Last week it was Antonio had never scored against Leeds in 9 appearances. 6 of them were as a sub and most of them were for Forest. It's ridiculous.

      1. FPL_Crisis
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        Who you going with this week Camzy?

        Lukaku or Salah for me

        1. Camzy
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          2 years, 5 months ago

          There's no chance in hell I'm captaining Salah.

          Lukaku or Antonio. And I'm like 70/30 Lukaku.

          1. FPL_Crisis
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 13 Years
            2 years, 5 months ago

            The 12th man at Anfield is going to be rocking this weekend. Could definitely see a Salah goal but Lukaku seems a good choice as long as they freshen the team up with some creativity

  2. Offs!de
    • 11 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    a) TAA& Bamford to Rudiger & Vardy for free
    b) TAA, Greenwood, Bamford to Rudiger, Raphinha, Lukaku with -4?.
    Have wc in back pocket

    1. Steiger
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Really like B and will be worth the hit imo.

  3. RedJive79
    • 4 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Am I GTG?

    Sanchez
    Cancelo / Rudiger / Livra
    Salah / Benrahma / Raphinha / Greenwood
    Toney / Ronaldo (c) / Antonio

    Foster / Gilmour / TAA / Amartey

  4. circusmonkey
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Is Edouard really odds on?

  5. SKENG
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Best midfielder for under 6.0 short/mid-term? Currently on Harrison

    1. circusmonkey
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Gallagher.

      1. SKENG
        • 8 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        Gallagher (LEI, ars, NEW, mci) vs Harrison (WAT, sou, WOL, nor)?

    2. lilmessipran
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Mbuemo/Gray/Gallagher ..tricky to chose the right one

    3. FPL_Crisis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Started with Harrison myself after last season and what a disaster he’s been.
      Gallagher will tick along but maybe not been huge for fantasy.
      Gray or ESR for me

  6. Gunners in Haaland
    • 4 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Already on -4 (Jota/Bamford -> Townsend/Lukaku)
    No WC left and no money itb.

    Sánchez
    TAA Semedo Rüdiger
    Traore Gallagher Salah Townsend
    Lukaku(c) Antonio Ronaldo(vc)

    Steele Jansson Williams Sissoko

    Good to go?

    1. Macam Dave
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Taa out??

      1. Gunners in Haaland
        • 4 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        Keeping Trent

  7. Macam Dave
    • 6 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    To get 11 players out I have to play Williams in defence. Should I take a -4 to

    1) Bamford > jimimez
    2) Ayling to White
    3) save and play Williams

    Thanks

    1. Gunners in Haaland
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      1 for me mate

  8. vova
    • 13 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Could Trent fall down to 7.4 before the Watford match?

    1. Gunners in Haaland
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Doubt it

  9. curious_zombie
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Reposting cos it ended up as the last post on the page:

    Hi Could you pls critique my thremium WC:

    Ramsdale, Foster
    Cancelo, Alonso, Rudiger, Duffy, Livramento
    Salah, Sarr, Mbuemo, Douglas Luiz, Sissoko
    Antonio, Lukaku, Ronaldo

    0.9 ITB

    Plan:
    1. 442 with Duffy/Livramento rotating nicely with good fixtures (Is Duffy nailed though?)
    2. Sarr to be moved on next week. Most likely to another 5.5-6m player(Gallagher/ESR). This will give me enough cash to bring in TAA, though I could go without him for the next 6 GWs and get another city defender instead as well.
    3. Convert Ronaldo + 4.5 m midfielder into one 7-8 mil forward and another 7-8 mil midfielder if any emerges
    4. I feel threemium is the most flexible formation - Would be difficult to get Ronaldo back if I spread the cash on midfield

    Thoughts?

    1. Pops15
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Wouldnt keep Sarr on a WC if you plan on moving him out anyways.

      I'm not a fan of the thremium team so I highly disagree with your post about it being the most flexible formation. If you're not going to captain CR7 for 5+ gameweeks then hes too expensive to hold imo.

      The rest of the side looks great

      1. curious_zombie
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        Thanks! Still in two minds about Sarr.
        About Threemium - Its flexible because it allows me to move either way - stay with three premiums if Ronaldo goes big OR move to mid-price if he doesn't and 7-8 mil players emerge...It also keeps the option of moving to other premiums with good fixtures (KDB, Auba, Kane) if they start looking like premiums again...

        1. The Mentaculus
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 2 Years
          2 years, 5 months ago

          I think the point about threemium inflexibility is that you need to roll transfer / take a hit to restructure when downgrading Ronaldo (i.e. at least 2 moves). But this looks pretty decent (esp good defence for threemium) so maybe give it a go for a couple more GWs

  10. lilmessipran
    • 11 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    On a WC

    1 Jimi + Son +0.5
    2 Ronaldo + Mbuemo

    1. Gunners in Haaland
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      2

    2. curious_zombie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      2

  11. Jeremiah
    • 11 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    For those WC'ing next week;

    Anyone fancy a punt on Zaha this week? 😀

    1. The Mentaculus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 2 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Why not? Leicester defence looks pretty terrrible at the moment

    2. The Invincibles
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Me. Can't decide between Sarr and Zaha for a 1 week punt.

  12. FC Hakkebøf
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Is Alonso now a bad pick after he got hooked at half time versus Juventus?

    1. Gunners in Haaland
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Tuchel knows

    2. Kodap
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Nah think he was off because he had a yellow more than anything, he's definitely a risk but high risk high reward?

    3. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      No idea but it's put enough doubt that I went Rudiger this week.

  13. prichardson311
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Wood, Watkins or Toney?

    1. Gunners in Haaland
      • 4 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Watkins

    2. Offs!de
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Watkins for long term.
      Wood only for this ge

    3. Pops15
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Toney

  14. focaccia
    • 6 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Thoughts on this WC?

    Ramsdale
    Rudiger - James - Cancelo
    Jota - Raphinha - Salah (v) - Smith Rowe - Sarr
    Antonio - Lukaku

    subs: Foster - Edouard - Cash - Veltman

    1. The Invincibles
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      The only issues I'd have would be Jota's minutes now that Firmino is back and Sarr's upcoming fixtures after Leeds.

    2. curious_zombie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Why James? Its not confirmed if he's really back...

      1. Camzy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        He's been called up for England. I think he's a great pick.

    3. The Mentaculus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 2 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Wouldn't want Sarr beyond this week. Bench maybe a bit too strong..?

  15. OptimusBlack
    • 10 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    GTG ? Any Thoughts ?
    Sanchez
    Coady White Rüdiger ( Livra Willimas)
    Salah Sarr Traoré Benrahma (Allan)
    Ronaldo © Vardy Antonio

  16. Von Lipwig
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Is now a good time to dump Jota?

    Jota > Raph -4 ?

    1. The Invincibles
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      I would. Big risk of a 1 pointer.

      1. Von Lipwig
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        If you're right Raph would need 5 to break even... But then I'll be rid of that problem later... Maybe I will

    2. The Mentaculus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 2 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      I think so. Dont get why so many people seem ok with him being benched / playing 20-30mins when same logic doesnt extend to any other players/teams.
      Not 100% sure if I'd do it for a hit, but maybe ok for this specific move as Raphinha could really haul v Watford

    3. Carefree Crew
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      What timescale do you judge if a minus 4 is worth it?

      Personally I don't judge it on one week. Raphina is a long term hold, even if he doesn't play GW 8.

      Jota has both Manchester clubs in his next 3. Firmino obviously back fit. Leeds fixtures are better.

      FWIW I've sold him.

      1. Von Lipwig
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        Ah, I get ya. It's because I'll do the transfer in 2 weeks for free if not now. But your point is well taken

  17. Shark Team
    • 6 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Do you think Bamford will be back after the break?

    1. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Yes.

  18. Aimar
    • 4 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    On a WC
    Deff : cancelo - Rudiger - Tomiyasu - livra. -**
    Mid : Øde- Salah - Saka - Raphinha - ***
    Fwd : lukaku - Jimmi - ***

    A) Son + Dias + 4.5 fwd

    B) Kane + 4,5 mid & 4 Deff

    Cheers guys

    1. ResultatFar
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Kane isn't a good pick based on his last perfomances, look elsewhere. Vardy might be worth a shout

      1. Aimar
        • 4 Years
        2 years, 5 months ago

        I think spurs will have to gather themselves together in the upcoming fixtures

  19. PocketZola
    • 6 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Auba on wc?

  20. chriskon
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Sarr or Cancelo for the long run?

    1. Akwasi199090
      • 2 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Cancelo

  21. Akwasi199090
    • 2 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    How about Jiminez captain this week?

    1. chriskon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      2 years, 5 months ago

      Tempting. Depends who else you have I suppose. I'm going with Lukaku as it feels safer but my guts telling me Ronny and Jimenez are banging goals in this week.

  22. De Kaekke Drenge
    • 2 Years
    2 years, 5 months ago

    Transfer out Shaw or Greenwood? 1,9 mio ITB. And who to transfer in?