In the latest article from our team of Hall of Famers and guest contributors, FPL Family’s Sam Bonfield talks us through her big team decisions for Gameweek 36.
Gosh, it’s been a tough few weeks.
In Gameweek 34, Cole Palmer (£6.2m) and Erling Haaland (£14.1m) decided they needed the day off. It was made worse by the fact that my bench consisted of Malo Gusto (£4.3m), who was out through injury, Tino Livramento (£4.0m), who got no minutes, and Son Heung-Min (£9.9m), who didn’t have a fixture scheduled. That meant in a Gameweek where many played their Free Hit chip, I only had nine men. Somehow – largely thanks to Jordan Pickford (£4.8m) and Jean Philippe-Mateta (£5.1m) – my red arrow was small at just 16k.
Gameweek 35 did bring a nice green arrow. However, it also came with problems. After seeing Livramento benched in Gameweek 34 I thought, ahead of the Bench Boost in Gameweek 37, it would be wise to upgrade him to Fabian Schar (£5.7m) as one of three transfers. So seeing Livramento start and then Schar go off injured was disastrous. The second of the free transfers also proved problematic as Phil Foden (£8.3m) missed out through illness – although that did mean I got Bukayo Saka‘s (£9.0m) 12 points off the bench. The final transfer I made last week was to sell Darwin Nunez (£7.6m) for Alexander Isak (£8.3m). I also captained Son, which was just about (by one point!) the right decision over Palmer.
DEFENSIVE ISSUES
Eddie Howe saying that he doesn’t expect Schar to play again this season has given me a headache. Especially as I spent four points on the defender last week. Schar is not my only flagged defender, however. I also have flags on Gusto and Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m). This means that I only have my two Arsenal defenders – William Saliba (£5.9m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.4m) – potentially available for the weekend.
Before Howe ruled out Schar for the rest of the season I was planning to hold him just in case of a remarkable recovery. However, with this news, I will now likely move him on. The bigger issue is do I make a further defensive transfer this week for a -4, setting myself up for a Gameweek 37 Bench Boost.
The Bench Boost is constantly in my mind at the moment and this is one of the things that I don’t love about the chip. It means that sometimes I am making decisions that I wouldn’t necessarily make if the Bench Boost wasn’t on my mind. The decision to do Livramento to Schar last week is a prime example of this. Therefore the players that I am considering don’t necessarily have a double but do all have a decent fixture in Gameweek 37.
KYLE WALKER (£5.4m)/JOSKO GVARDIOL (5.0m)
Kyle Walker (£5.4m) and Josko Gvardiol (£5.0m) are the two Manchester City defenders that I am choosing between. Money isn’t an issue at the moment as selling Mohamed Salah (£13.5m) means that I have over 3m in the bank. Therefore Walker being £0.4m more than Gvardiol isn’t a problem.
Walker (27) has made more starts than Gvardiol (22) over the season. However, Gvardiol has been consistent in Pep’s team since Gameweek 30 which makes me feel more secure about picking him.
