Fantasy Premier League

2022 - 4 - 20

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Athletic"

Fantasy Premier League: No Salah in a Gameweek 34 wildcard team? (The Athletic)

The most chaotic season in FPL history now has just five gameweeks left to run, with Leicester and Chelsea players looking good value.

Another enabler to consider would be Brentford forward Ivan Toney (£6.9 million), who is among the form players in the league, scoring six goals in the last six gameweeks as his club have won five games out of six in that time. Making a case for both Harry Kane (£12.6 million) and Son Heung-min (£11.1 million) is highly justified if funds allow, but can impact the overall balance of a wildcard squad. Liverpool also have a tougher run of games of the top two over the next few weeks, with other options from City, Tottenham and Chelsea looking better placed for the captaincy. Right now, based on both form and fixtures, I think De Bruyne is the must-have premium — it’s plausible to give him the armband every single week until the end of the season — as he has four goals and an assist for City in his last four Premier League games. A City double up with Ruben Dias (£6.1 million) or Aymeric Laporte (£5.9 million) could pay off for the run-in, but we may see some rotation from Pep Guardiola as he has a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid to deal with, too. Liverpool full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4 million) and Andrew Robertson (£7.3 million) have been in sensational form since the turn of the year, notching 15 clean sheets and 10 assists between them in 2022. Mount delivers consistency, security of minutes and his source of returns is more balanced between goals (10) and assists (nine). Timo Werner (£8.6 million) provides a late entry to the conversation: he’s on a hot streak, with three goals and two assists in all competitions since the March international break. Everton are fighting relegation and striker Richarlison (£7.5 million) could be their best chance of avoiding the drop: he has two goals and one assist in April, before Wednesday’s meeting with Leicester. Navigating fixtures against Liverpool (away) and Chelsea (home) in Gameweek 34 and Gameweek 35 won’t be easy though. Aston Villa look to be safe from relegation already and their remaining schedule is kind, but given they have lost four in a row there are questions over their motivation for the run-in. Therefore, a calculated risk to go without Salah for the run-in could pay dividends — going against the most-owned player in the game would provide a significant differential for those looking to climb up mini-leagues and gain in the overall ranks. However, Kasper Schmeichel (£4.9 million) could be a useful pick-up between the sticks for those managers looking to avoid rotation-prone assets: he’s averaging four saves a game. Reece James (£6.3 million) could now be worth the risk, having delivered 11 attacking returns from his 15 Premier League starts this season, but may still be prone to some substitute appearances.

Salah's brace, Mane's form and United's change of shape: FPL notes (Fantasy Football Scout)

We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Liverpool v Manchester United in our Scout Notes summary.

When Jurgen Klopp came they changed at the club and lifted not just the team but the club and city to a new level. It is inviting them for those moments and six seconds later the ball was in our net. For the third goal it came from a ball we should not play. We have to accept they are six years ahead of us now. I already felt before the game against City: ‘OK, that looks like Sadio, physically.’ And that’s why we could play the game we played.” – Jurgen Klopp on Sadio Mane However, Jurgen Klopp had insisted earlier in the week he was not concerned about his lack of goals, saying “It’s a completely normal spell. I liked the game against City a lot, so it’s only a question of time when he scores as well. Second half we changed a centre-back with Jadon Sancho. The first 25 minutes we were better and had pressure on the ball at times. We did not win any first ball or second balls. The first half, we were just not good enough. The first goal we conceded, it was not part of the game plan to be that high up and concede a counter-attack after five minutes. We were second best in all relevant areas.

Scoutcast: FPL Wildcard drafts and Double Gameweek 34 preview (Fantasy Football Scout)

Andy and Seb help Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers prepare for Double Gameweek 34 in the latest Scoutcast. There's no Joe this week, so Andy takes the ...

- Use our powerful comparison tool to analyse players head-to-head. - Use our exclusive tool to build custom stats tables from over 100 OPTA player and team stats. - Get access to over 150+ exclusive members articles over the season.

The Watchlist: Our pick of the FPL players for the medium term (Fantasy Football Scout)

Unlike the Scout Picks, we're not just focusing on the upcoming Gameweek with these articles. Seven-time top 10k finisher and Scout regular Zophar is taking the ...

Ollie Watkins (£7.4m) narrowly pips Ivan Toney (£6.9m) with the two doubles but I wouldn’t ignore the Brentford striker. Norwich seem to have adopted a more attacking approach in their unlikely quest to avoid relegation and Teemu Pukki (£6.0m) has been posting great numbers. Both him and Anthony Gordon (£4.6m) are great picks for those looking for a Bench Boost midfielder. The recent switch in system to a 3-4-1-2 for the Blues has led to an upturn in Mount’s fortunes and he is getting into far more central positions. He is also taking some set pieces and is slightly more secure for game-time than Havertz, although both are great picks for the run-in. I’ve gone with Rudiger, purely for security of starts, as he is probably the only Chelsea outfield player who starts every game from here on. A key for these factors can be found below the player in the table and looks like this: Emiliano Martinez (£5.5m) comes in fourth and, along with Schmeichel, looks the ideal keeper for those without a Free Hit to play. He’ll be facing not only an out-of-sorts Manchester United but also West Ham United, who have Europa League games in between the clash with the Gunners. Fabian Schar (£4.5m) drops out and he is replaced by Ben Davies (£4.4m). I was tempted to go with Emerson Royal (£4.5m) instead but the Brazilian was quite poor against Brighton and it wouldn’t surprise me if Antonio Conte decided to go with Dejan Kulusevski (£6.4m) or Lucas Moura (£6.0m) as a right wing-back instead. Arsenal have suffered defensively with the injuries to Thomas Partey (£5.0m) and Kieran Tierney (£5.0m) but I still think Aaron Ramsdale (£5.1m) is a good option with his bonus potential. Ederson (£6.1m) moves up to third: Pep Guardiola has talked about the need to rotate and use his entire squad with the fixture congestion and the Brazilian is nailed-on to start every game in the run-in, especially after Zack Steffen’s (£4.4m) error in the FA Cup.

Fantasy Premier League tips: Gameweek 34 (90min)

This means there is potential to land some huge point hauls this time around ...

Goals in the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace and Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid were preceded by a brace at St. Mary's as Chelsea dismantled Southampton in their last Premier League fixture. Havertz appears to be Thomas Tuchel's first-choice striker currently, even though Romelu Lukaku has returned to the fray. And guess who's next on Liverpool's agenda? He already has three goals in the Premier League this season and we can expect the Cityzens to force plenty of corners at the Etihad. With competition for places fierce in west London the German will be desperate to find form as the season draws to a close – particularly with another Wembley final on the horizon. We are swiftly reaching the business end of the Fantasy Premier League season, and once again we are being treated to a double gameweek – albeit with only two sides playing twice.

The best FPL goalkeepers for a Gameweek 34 Wildcard (Fantasy Football Scout)

For those Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers still with a Wildcard to use, Gameweek 34 is seemingly the most popular time to use it.

Nick Pope (£5.4m) doesn’t have this problem but is very expensive for a goalkeeper in the relegation zone. Watford’s Ben Foster (£4.1m) has been highly-owned all season because he is the cheapest regular starter. What Guaita offers is strong fixtures at a good price, as few of the £4.5m – £5.0m range of goalkeepers have much appeal this season. Outfield teammates like James Maddison (£7.0m) and Harvey Barnes (£6.6m) are having minutes managed to prioritise their Europa Conference League matches but Schmeichel has played every minute of the league campaign. Patrick Vieira’s side has even less to play for than Chelsea – out of all cup competitions and sat in 13th position. The Seagulls’ final opponents look promising, although they are without any Double Gameweek. What may put potential buyers off is spending such a high price on a goalkeeper, as well as the lack of motivation for Chelsea’s remaining weeks. In fact, 16% of the top 10k have not yet used their second one. Yet they are fifth in the Season Ticker and about to face Leeds United (h), Southampton (a) and Watford (h) in a promising sequence. Their remaining outings include hosting Norwich City, Southampton and Everton. The surprise 4-1 home defeat to Brentford may be the first sign of this. For those Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers still with a Wildcard to use, Gameweek 34 is seemingly the most popular time to use it.

FPL experts' top targets for Double Gameweek 34 (Fantasy)

Some of the world's top Fantasy managers reveal why they are looking to Chelsea to bring players in.

You can manage and withdraw your consent of non-essential cookies below. You can manage your non-essential cookies using the Cookie Settings or at any time via our Cookie Policy. For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookie Policy. The Premier League website uses essential cookies to make our website work. I'm not keen on Manchester United assets for Double Gameweek 34, however, as their form is mixed, as are the fixtures. With Chelsea having two Double Gameweeks in the next three I'll be prioritising them, especially as they are now out of the UEFA Champions League. I already own Reece James (£6.3m) but if I didn't he would be a key target as a result of his attacking threat.

FPL Gameweek 34 Watchlist 2021/22: 5 Fantasy players to watch ... (GamingonPhone)

Presenting GamingonPhone's FPL Gameweek 34 Watchlist 2021/22 with 5 players to bolster your squads ahead of the upcoming gameweeks.

The Hammers have conceded 7 goals across the last 4 league matches with only Watford, Southampton, and Aston Villa shipping more. Out of Norwich‘s 7 goals in six matches, Pukki has contributed in 6. Ollie Watkins, Bryan Mbeumo, and Bukayo Saka are the only players to take more touches in the opposition’s penalty box. Apart from this, he has an average of 3.77 touches in the opposition’s box per 90 and his partial freekick duty ads tally to his name. Chelsea‘s first match in double gameweek 34 comes against a West Ham side with one eye on the Europa League semi-final tie. Also, inform among the Blue’s attack is Kai Havertz who scored 4 of his last 5 league matches. Aston Villa is one of the four teams which has back-to-back Double Gameweeks 36 and 37 and additionally will be facing Leicester City and Norwich City in Gameweeks 34 and 35. During that time he has scored 2 goals and provided 1 assist with an expected goals figure of 0.4 (xG) per 90 and an expected assist figure of 0.34 (xA) per 90. Chelsea has netted 11 goals across the last 4 league matches ranking second only to Tottenham Spurs‘ 12. His tally of 12 shots ranks eleventh with Timo Werner and only trails to Kai Havertz‘s 15. We are already passed through the three-fourth of the season, and ups and downs on the league table as slowed down, teams are trying to focus on their league table position to qualify for the various tournaments and to avoid relegation. West Ham scored just 4 goals in their last 4 matches, with only 5 teams have managed fewer.

The case for a FPL Gameweek 34 Free Hit (Fantasy Football Scout)

With the near-constant stream of Double Gameweeks over the past few months and with more to come, particularly in Gameweeks 36 and 37, there has been no ...

However, in my view, both Gameweeks 34 and 37 offer better Free Hit prospects than Gameweek 36, despite it being arguably a ‘bigger’ double-Gameweek. This is largely because the fixtures in Gameweek 36 reflect either the current template and/or the teams with the best fixtures for the rest of the season. They may not be the absolute ideal players, but can I really justify using a Free Hit to switch out a squad of Double Gameweek players for other Double Gameweek players? Firstly, playing the Free Hit in Gameweek 36 rules out the option of playing a second one in Gameweek 37 (or indeed Gameweek 35) as Free Hits cannot be played in consecutive Gameweeks. Thus, there is this specific opportunity cost to factor in. Especially given the opportunity cost of not using that Free Hit in another Gameweek where, as discussed, I believe there is potential for a bigger relative payoff. A good Free Hit isn’t just about racking up a great score but it must also factor in how that score compares to what your original team would have scored and, of course, the scores of other Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers. Since the second Free Hit chip was announced at the end of 2021, there has been almost constant discussion about which are the best Gameweeks to play them.

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