Every once in a while, I reach out to the community for their questions. Before another big Double Gameweek, I thought I would answer some more of these in this article.
Q) With what you know now, what was the best chip strategy this season? (From @Beerfuelledman)
Hi Sergeant, thanks for the question. I picked this one out to give a quick answer.
There was no ‘one size fits all’ approach this season. It is always about the current position of your Fantasy Premier League team and how you consolidate that. For example, if you are heavy on Arsenal and Liverpool assets in Gameweek 26, you don’t probably need to Wildcard then. If you’re not, you probably do. I strongly feel that there is no “best” chip strategy and would like to quote Antonio Conte from his Chelsea days at this point.
“The coach must understand and find the right suit. We are like a tailor.”
Change ‘coach’ to ‘FPL manager’ and this is what my opinion is.
Q) Is the million saving worth it for Gabriel Martinelli over Bukayo Saka? (From @MitchKeing)
Thanks for the question, Mitch. I have always been a big Gabriel Martinelli (£5.3m) fan but for me, Bukayo Saka (£6.5m) has gone above him in the pecking order from an FPL point of view.
Firstly, I think Saka is as nailed as they come when it comes to the Arsenal team. I have a feeling that Martinelli is facing some competition from Emile Smith Rowe (£5.8m) and Nicolas Pepe (£6.9m). Even in the last game against Watford, Saka shifted to the left in Martinelli’s position when Pepe came on. So if you’re looking for a stable mid-term pick that you can comfortably hold for a while, Saka is that guy for me. I’m actually looking at maybe doubling up this week because I love the match-up for Martinelli due to the high line that he’s going to face against Liverpool.
What I like about Saka the most as a pick is the selflessness of his teammates. Both Alexandre Lacazette (£8.3m) and Martin Odegaard (£5.5m) are always looking to play one-twos with Saka, which leads to the midfielder sprinting and getting through on many occasions. He is one of the best value assets in the game that you can set and forget for a while at that price point – a proper ‘Glue Guy’. As Tom points out in his article, since Gameweek 16, Saka is third for shots, eighth for chances created and 13th for expected goal involvement (xGI) among midfielders. That said, I am not against the double-up with Martinelli, who’s a much more short-term pick in my eye.
Q) If you have one Free Hit left, do you use it in Gameweek 30 or save for a later opportunity? How many guys can you get away with playing in Gameweek 30 if saving the Free Hit? (From @ChetoChip)
Thanks for the question, Cheto. I was earlier looking at using the Free Hit in Gameweek 30 but on my Wildcard in Gameweek 28, I thought better of it and I think it’s better to save it. I think there might be better opportunities with bigger upsides in Gameweek 33, 36 or 37. If you target Arsenal or Spurs players right now, they have a Double Gameweek in 29, a confirmed match in Blank Gameweek 30 and have good fixtures until the end of the season. So if you have already used your Wildcard, I wouldn’t shy away from taking hits for assets from these teams, both of whom have good FPL picks in their teams. In terms of a ‘number’ in Gameweek 30, it’s about getting quality rather than quantity and I’d feel confident with six to seven picks from Arsenal, Spurs and Leicester City combined.
Q) Thoughts on doubling up on Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson until the end of the season? It was an idea that was catchy a few weeks ago but seems to be less popular now, I assume for budgetary reasons. (From @FPL_Banger)
Hi Siva, thanks for the question. I like the idea of Andrew Robertson (£7.2m) as the third Liverpool asset (it is obvious who the first two are) a lot if you’re looking at mid-term. I got a lot of questions with regards to the third Liverpool option so I will answer both questions with this answer.
At the moment, I think there are three attackers competing for that third spot in the Liverpool frontline and if I was in the market for a one-week punt, I’d go Luis Diaz (£8.0m) or Diogo Jota (£8.3m) – but it would strictly be a one-week punt, for me. My inkling is because of the importance of the games in the league, Luis Diaz would get more minutes in Double Gameweek 29, especially after Jota got a lengthy run-out in the Champions League in midweek and didn’t particularly impress.
Whichever Liverpool attacker of the two you pick for a short-term punt, I would expect not more than 120 minutes – which still might be enough. These quotes from Jurgen Klopp have put me off from a second Liverpool attacker if I’m looking at someone mid-term but you can always go from a Reds asset to a Leicester City midfielder next week.
“The boys have now really proper quality in-depth, but we cannot play all competitions and go far in the competitions if we don’t have this depth, there is no chance. You can do it for a year when you are lucky with injuries, but I think we had years where Bobby, Sadio and Mo played pretty much all the games, if I am right. Sometimes they came from the bench, but the next game they started again. In a week, especially like this – Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday and Tuesday, when we play again against Inter, there is no chance that you try to get through with the same line-up.” – Jurgen Klopp on rotation
If you’re looking for a mid-term pick, Robertson is just back into his groove, isn’t he? He’s top for chances created and attacking returns amongst all defenders in the last six matches and also has a very handy home fixture against Watford in Gameweek 31. He’s sharing corner-taking duties now, too, and generally just has a lot of avenues to points. A lot of us have sold Joao Cancelo (£7.0m) of late and what I like about Robertson is it is an easy switch to the Manchester City man if you fancy that at some point in the season.
That’s it from me. I’ve received a lot of Spurs questions as well this week and the fact that I went Harry Kane (£12.3m), Dejan Kulusevski (£6.1m) and Matt Doherty (£4.7m) on my Gameweek 28 Wildcard should tell you a lot about my opinion there. I think all three of them along with Son are good picks but going Son and Kane in one team might not enable a lot of other things. Both Kulusevski and Doherty offer a lot of value in their price brackets. And plus, it gets you singing some ABBA which always helps. This two-minute short clip should give you my opinion with regards to them:
GAMEWEEK 29 TEAM PLANS
I was pleased with how my Double Gameweek 29 Wildcard went, which led to a huge green arrow and an entry into the top 10k – which is honestly a relief after the debacle of a season last year. I’m hoping the guys at Fantasy Football Scout will now keep me writing for them next year!
This is what my Wildcard looked like. I am likely going to use the Bench Boost chip in Gameweek 29 and have a couple of transfers in mind, which I’ll only decide after Thursday’s games.
We will be streaming the next episode of The FPL Wire on Wednesday at 1.30pm, so do catch us via the link below.
