In the latest article from our team of Hall of Famers and guest contributors, FPL General talks about the big decisions he faces on his Gameweek 20 Wildcard.
Sitting at 64k in the world, there’s not a lot of tinkering needed – but there are decisions to be made over Son Heung-min, Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.
If you’ve still got your first Wildcard in tact, Gameweek 20 is your last window for playing it.
The time has finally come: the Wildcard is active! The season has gone well up to this point so I’m reluctant to make wholesale changes just because I can this week.
Getting Erling Haaland (£13.9m) back was the plan but it now looks like the Norwegian will miss Gameweek 20, which muddies the waters for the last-ditch Wildcarders. Do we still pick him and hope he’s back for Gameweek 21 or do we avoid and leave cash aside for a transfer in when he’s fit? Does that mean Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) can now stay for Gameweek 20?
It’s certainly not a straightforward Wildcard squad to construct.
Gameweek 19 Review
Here’s the team I’ll be moving away from. I couldn’t afford the Konstantinos Tsimkas (£4.8m) to Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m) transfer for Gameweek 19 so I brought in Alisson (£5.6m) for the injured Sam Johnstone (£4.5m) to insure myself against the Liverpool clean sheet. Alexander-Arnold is one of the first picks in the new Wildcard squad.
Following six blanks in his last seven appearances, Kieran Trippier (£6.9m) is making way for Alexander-Arnold. Newcastle face Liverpool (away), Manchester City (home) and Aston Villa (away) in their next three fixtures, which means Anthony Gordon (£6.2m) is leaving the squad, too. Elsewhere, Tsimikas will be replaced and two new goalkeepers will be drafted in, although Matt Turner (£3.9m) might keep his place as the bench ‘keeper due to his bargain basement price tag.
Having purchased Malo Gusto (£4.1m) way back in Gameweek 3 for his base price of £4.0m, and now that he’s back in the Chelsea starting XI, he’s another one that could survive the Wildcard cull – not that it’s going to be much of a cull, mind you.
If Turner and Gusto survive, it’s very possible that 11 of my current 15 don’t change. It would feel very odd making just four changes on a Wildcard but I’ve done similar before and I’m fine with that. If the team is already in a healthy state, there’s no need for major surgery. I’m keen to avoid falling into the trap of making changes just for the sake of it for shiny new toys that aren’t necessarily better picks.
WHAT TO DO WITH SALAH AND SON
The big decisions revolve around what to do with Salah and Son Heung-min (£9.9m), both of whom will be highly captained players in Gameweek 20 before they head off on international duty for a few weeks. I don’t really want to lose either player a week earlier than planned and now that Haaland can be swerved for a little longer, it provides the opportunity to keep both players.
One approach I’m exploring is opting for a strong front eight for Gameweek 20, which includes Salah and Son. Then, in Gameweek 21, Son could be sold for an Arsenal midfielder and Salah benched as there would be seven strong attackers available. Manchester City play Newcastle (away) in Gameweek 21 so I don’t mind waiting until Gameweek 22 for Haaland. Salah would be the cash cow to enable Haaland back in. A cheap midfielder would come in for Salah and one of the forwards would be upgraded to Haaland for a -4.
GAMEWEEK 20 WILDCARD DRAFT
Check out this week’s General’s Orders video, where I discuss the Wildcard in more detail with Joe.
There will be a new 59th Minute Podcast on Friday, too.
Best of luck for Gameweek 20, especially to my fellow Wildcarders!
