The best FPL forwards for a Gameweek 34 Wildcard

Over 25% of site readers responding to our sidebar poll say they will activate the Wildcard this week, so it’s with that in mind that we have produced a four-part guide to pick out the best and most discussed Fantasy Premier League (FPL) options in each position.

You can read a rundown of the stand-out goalkeepers here, defenders here and midfielders here.

Now we turn to forwards, where the pool of talent is on the small side.

In fact, only one player in this Fantasy position features in the top 20 projected points-scorers for the run-in.

All stats taken from this article are from our Premium Members Area.

TIMO WERNER

Timo Werner (£8.6m) seems to be the flavour of the month among FPL managers at present and he’s currently a far cry from the laughing stock that flopped so badly in 2020/21.

A recent tactical tweak has seemingly unleashed the German and he racked up more big chances in the Gameweek 32 win over Southampton than he had registered in the rest of the season combined.

It should be stressed that we’re talking about a small sample pool of four matches in which he’s quite literally become a more central figure in the Chelsea attack, a period in which seven attacking returns have arrived:

The Southampton game does skew the stats somewhat: his expected goals (xG) tally in that match was 2.28 and it was back down to 0.15 against Arsenal in midweek.

There’ll also be a lot of concern about a spot of rotation in Gameweek 34 but such is Werner’s form and underlying numbers that at least one-and-a-bit games against the porous backlines of West Ham and Manchester United, neither of whom has kept a clean sheet in their last six matches, ought to present a path to points.

After Gameweek 34, it might be a case of assessing his expected minutes on a week-to-week basis to see if other options are preferable. The league matches around the FA Cup final in Gameweeks 36 and 37, for instance, might well be high-risk games.

TEEMU PUKKI

From Timo to Teemu and a club at the other end of the Premier League table.

Teemu Pukki (£6.0m) can’t be beaten by any Premier League forward for non-penalty expected goal involvement (xGI) over the last six matches – and, of course, he is actually on penalties, should a spot-kick be awarded to the Canaries.

The Finn has quietly delivered six attacking returns in that time, racking up 40 points in the process.

A regular 90-minute man embroiled in a relegation battle, we know that we can at least rely on him for starts while rotation rages elsewhere in the division.

A double-header in Gameweek 36 against two sides fresh off the back of European semi-finals catches the eye, while a potentially weary Newcastle side who have lost three away matches on the spin and are at the back-end of a three-game week are up next.

HARRY KANE

At the beginning of this piece, we mentioned that only one forward sits in the top 20 projected points-scorers for the run-in. That man, you won’t be surprised to hear, is Harry Kane (£12.6m).

Since Antonio Conte came to the helm, Kane is top among FPL forwards for everything from attacking returns and FPL points to shots, chances created and xGI. He is, in a direct comparison with other players in the same position, the best Fantasy striking option out there.

But it’s less about whether Kane trumps other forwards and more about how he compares with the premium midfielders from Liverpool and Manchester City for the run-in, as it’s they – along with teammate Son Heung-min (£11.1m) – who the Spurs striker is competing against for our make-believe money.

He’s certainly a strong captaincy contender in Gameweeks 35 and 38 (maybe even Gameweek 37, too, if we’re overlooking the ‘doubles’ elsewhere), but the double-header in Gameweek 36 is far from ideal and an in-form Brentford in Gameweek 34 may pose a stiff test.

He’s a definite name to consider for managers who are playing the Free Hit in Gameweek 36, as he’s perhaps expendable for that round of matches.

For everyone else, he does trail in the wake of premium alternatives such as Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m) for expected points over the run-in, and there are cheaper routes into the Spurs attack: since Dejan Kulusevski (£6.4m) started for the first time in a Spurs shirt, for instance, the Swede has scored a very reasonable 64 points to Kane’s 82 and Son’s 84.

OLLIE WATKINS

A trip to Europe-focused Leicester City and a clash with bottom-of-the-table Norwich City precede back-to-back doubles for Aston Villa, so interest in the Villans’ FPL assets is about to spike again.

Ollie Watkins (£7.4m) ranks a modest sixth among Fantasy forwards for non-penalty xGI since Steven Gerrard took charge and hasn’t wholly convinced, averaging less than 4.0 points per match under his current boss and failing to really click with Danny Ings (£7.7m) whenever the two were paired together.

The good thing is that the fixtures are about to improve, with five of Villa’s next six matches against sides sitting ninth or below – and that’s pertinent because, as we’ve been ramming home to you recently, the Villans’ record against the runaway top eight clubs is abysmal (12 defeats in 14 matches, one clean sheet).

Leicester, Norwich and Burnley (who Villa play twice) rank in the bottom four for expected goals conceded (xGC) in their last six matches, while no team has more fixtures remaining (seven) than Gerrard’s side.

So Villa can’t really be beaten for quality or quantity of match between now and Gameweek 37 – but a punt on Watkins is definitely in the ‘fixtures over form’ envelope based on his so-so displays.

BENCH BOOST/FODDER OPTIONS

The chances are that, given the wealth of premium defenders and midfielders at your disposal and the abject returns of forwards as a collective in 2021/22, you’ll have probably pencilled in at least one sub-£6.0m striker for your Wildcard – maybe even two or three!

Those managers without a Bench Boost in hand don’t need to spend too much on a ‘third’, non-playing forward, as only in emergency circumstances will they be called upon in the final five Gameweeks.

Joe Gelhardt (£4.6m) is probably the pick of the bunch as he should see a decent amount of minutes in the run-in, likely as a substitute. The teenager has had a stop-start beginning to life under new Leeds manager Jesse Marsch thanks to injury and illness but the head coach recently pledged that Gelhardt will “play a much bigger role going forwards”, and the consensus among Whites fans is that he is ahead of Sam Greenwood (£4.6m) providing he stays fit.

For Gameweek 36 Bench Boosters and maybe others not playing that chip, Eddie Nketiah (£5.4m) and Watford duo Joao Pedro (£5.4m) and Emmanuel Dennis (£5.8m) are about the pick of a mediocre bunch.

It’s far too early to say whether Nketiah will keep Alexandre Lacazette (£8.4m) out of the Arsenal side for an extended period but he can’t have done much more on Wednesday, scoring a brace of poacher’s strikes at Stamford Bridge and matching Lacazette’s season tally for open-play goals in one fell swoop.

Mikel Arteta, surely, has to reward that with another start in Gameweek 34 at least.

Even if Nketiah relinquishes his spot or has to share game-time, he should still guarantee minutes in the run-in: he’s featured in every single one of Arsenal’s last 12 Premier League fixtures, a run that started when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang became persona non grata and Nketiah shifted up the striking pecking order as a result.

As for Dennis and Pedro, they are part of a Watford side that has scored just seven goals in Roy Hodgson’s 12 matches in charge – only Brighton have found the net less often in that time.

Not one Watford asset features in the list of top 25 forwards for minutes-per-xGI in Hodgson’s era, which is another damning indictment, although Dennis did make a habit of defying the Opta bods earlier in the campaign.

And the Hornets do at least face three bottom-half clubs in Gameweeks 34/35, followed by a clash with Leicester City side that may have one eye on a Europa League final by that point. Whether Watford themselves are competing for anything by that stage, of course, is another question.

The meddlesome Patrick Vieira has already put paid to one early-season bandwagon in the form of Odsonne Edouard (£6.1m) and after a midweek benching for Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.3m), there is a horrible sense of deja vu creeping in.

Perhaps it was merely energy preservation after Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final defeat but with little to play for domestically, there is always the chance that Vieira may take the opportunity to look at alternative forward-line options like in the run-in, having recently pledged to do likewise with Eberechi Eze (£5.9m).

Mateta’s chances of regaining his start for Gameweek 34 at least were buoyed by Palace and Edouard turning in a very poor showing against Newcastle on Wednesday.

And, like Nketiah, he at least seems to guarantee minutes even when benched, having made it onto the field in each of the Eagles’ last 15 Premier League fixtures.

He’s ranked a so-so 14th among FPL forwards for minutes-per-xG since his unbroken run of appearances started in Gameweek 19, although he’s second only behind Gelhardt when we filter out forwards costing £6.0m or more.

And Palace’s next five opponents are all in the bottom half, with a ropey Man Utd backline to follow in Gameweek 38: in fact, all six remaining teams they face are ranked 11th or lower for goals conceded in 2021/22.

THE REST…

Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.2m) is arguably the stand-out (only?) Man Utd candidate for their Double Gameweek 34, level as he is with Pukki for non-penalty xGI in the last six matches.

He’s perhaps someone who can be played this Gameweek and then jettisoned for Kane or a cheaper forward immediately afterwards, with the improved backlines of Brentford and Brighton and a Blank Gameweek 37 to follow.

Injury-hit Arsenal and Chelsea’s current struggles at the back increase the appeal of the veteran hitman, although we’ll have to wait to hear if he is still up for selection following the devastating loss of his baby son.

Richarlison (£7.5m) is someone who may become of interest in Gameweeks 36 and 37 but the fixtures around it aren’t great, so he’s perhaps a transfer or Free Hit punt to book in rather than a Wildcard pick from the off. Ronaldo is the only forward who has had more goal attempts than the penalty-taking Brazilian over the last six matches, although the bulk of those have been badly spurned.

Finally, a word on a forward that many of us are overlooking mainly because he doesn’t have a ‘double’. Ivan Toney (£6.9m) has 10 attacking returns in his last eight matches, a tally beaten only by Kane, and is second to the England striker for xGI – so the recent output hasn’t been a total statistical aberration.