#FPL Gameweek 33 Preview

Written by @CraigHazell

 You can also listen to Craig, Tom and Ash on their Fantasy Football Podcast – The Gaffer Tapes

DEFENDER: Virgil Van Dijk, SOUTHAMPTON

It’s finally here! The double game week! No, not THAT double game week but it’s one none the less. 8 weeks ago, Scott Dann would’ve been a no brainer with the Palace stalwart being one of the best defenders in the league and even England cap worthy but The Eagles have been woeful of late and I actually think single game week-er Virgil Van Dijk might be worth bringing back in. He was one of my earliest picks for the season and he has been tremendous this season for Saints. He’s dipped to 9.9% picked after being quiet for a few weeks, but Stoke, Liverpool and Leicester was no easy set of games. Newcastle at home should be three points and a clean sheet for Southampton and VVD, as always, could even be worth a goal.

MIDFIELDER: COUTINHO, LIVERPOOL

As a betting man, Liverpool are very much on my sh*tlist. I never put them on a coupon because they always let me down when they shouldn’t and yet here I am, with a Liverpool players always in my FPL squad. Last week I left Coutinho on the bench and he duly scored against Spurs. I admit this is starting to sound like fantasy football therapy but with talk of bench boosts abuzz, your subs scoring points can be doubly frustrating. Stoke at home is no easy match and with a great result against Dortmund, you could argue the league is now priority number 2, but Coutinho is a threat whenever he plays and I can only presume he will start against the Potters. I won’t be benching him this week.

FORWARD: GRAZIANO PELLE, SOUTHAMPTON

Before the match against Leicester, Graziano Pelle had notched up 28 points in two games and finally found some form after weeks in the wilderness. Now that this adonis of a man is finding the net again, it would be impossible not to include him and his beautiful hair against a Newcastle side that even the ghost of Jackie Milburn wants to be relegated. Plus….you know…..he looks delicious.

CAPTAIN: ROMELU LUKAKU, EVERTON

Ok now for some double game weekers! I didn’t want to riddle the first three picks with Everton or Palace players but it’s impossible to ignore Romelu Lukaku when he has 4 games in 2 weeks. He hasn’t been in vintage form and with rumours of big money moves to PSG or Real Madrid, there’s no guarantee he will have full focus on a mediocre Premiership campaign for Everton. However, you can’t deny his ability and fixtures against Watford and Palace are impossible to ignore. A lot of people will still plump for Aguero or Kane with home fixtures but Lukaku just needs one great game out of the two to be a profitable choice.

OUTSIDER: AARON LENNON, EVERTON

The other Everton player I am going to select is Aaron Lennon. Now, his Everton form has given him no reason to look any happier than he did during his signing day photoshoot but before two tough games against Arsenal and Man U, Lennon scored 8 and 10 when the Toffees came up against West Ham and Villa. Picking an Everton midfielder guaranteed to play can prove pretty tricky but Lennon has played the full 90 in the last two games and there’s no reason to think he won’t again. At under 2% picked you can almost guarantee no one in your league has him. Possibly for very good reason but then I never claimed to be an expert. Although now would be a good time to visually display how excellent my picks were last week, below.

Written by @CraigHazell

 You can also listen to Craig, Tom and Ash on their Fantasy Football Podcast – The Gaffer Tapes

Craig Hazell is a television professional, writer and Heart of Midlothian fan who makes up one third of the popular FPL podcast The Gaffer Tapes. As a student, Craig won the BBC Sports Broadcaster and Comedy Broadcaster of the year, before going onto to be a regular on the London open mic comedy circuit. He now writes about anything from TV & Movies, to food and of course football, providing he can shoehorn a 90s pop culture reference into just about anything.

Check out The Gaffer Tapes Podcast Here