Written by @CraigHazell – (that’s important!)

#FPL GAMEWEEK 28

DEFENDER: Nathaniel Clyne, Liverpool

In a gameweek with less matches than Phil Jones on tinder, picking a defender is a pretty difficult choice. I don’t actually think any of the 4 fixtures will have a clean sheet for either side so it makes sense to go with an attacking choice and play your odds for the best hope of a shutout. Liverpool have revenge to seek on Burnley for their poor result at Turf Moor the last time the two sides met and although I’m not convinced by Liverpool’s ability to hold out Andre Gray et all, they do represent the best chance anyone has at predicting no goals. Nathaniel Clyne might be the priciest Liverpool defender but it is for good reason. He is an attacking outlet for them down the right and although his assist record has been poor by his own high standards we just have to cross our fingers Sunday is our day.

MIDFIELDER: Sadio Mane, Liverpool

Somewhere Liverpool will of course be effective is going forward. Sadio Mane showed once again how dangerous he can be in big games, when he gave Arsenal hell for 90 minutes in his last appearance. His two goals a fortnight prior, versus Spurs cemented his ability to produce in important games but we really want to see him tear apart bottom half opposition. I’m convinced he is on the verge of a showstopper performance that could hand him a hat trick from midfield, and if you don’t have him already then next week Liverpool face City and we now know these are the games he thrives on. There’s every chance Liverpool will lose 4-3 at home to a last minute Joey Barton free kick but if Mane already has two goals and an assist, do we really care?

FORWARD: Fernando Llorente, Swansea

I very much doubt any of us could have imagined considering a Swansea striker at this stage of the season, unless of course Lee Trundle announced he was coming out of retirement. However, Fernando Llorente has quietly gone about being a bloody good Premier League striker. His two goals at Anfield caught the attention of some and now 3 more against Chelsea and Burnley in the last two gameweeks make him a viable option for your third striking slot. As my Gaffer Tapes co-host Tom pointed out this week, we might finally have some reliable £5-7m strikers to rack up some points as the seasons comes to a close. Swansea have Bournemouth and Middlesbrough in the two weeks following, and in a run in that has a 4 or 5 ‘6 pointers’ a man of Llorente’s experience can really be the difference between survival and relegation.

CAPTAIN: Romelu Lukaku, Everton

The fact I have already used Mane as my midfield pick probably means it is no surprise that Romelu Lukaku will take the armband for gameweek 28. Once again he is having an incredible season and as Everton surround him with more and more talent in Lookman, Davies and Schneiderlein he is only going to become more and more prolific. He has now tipped over the £10m mark but he currently stands above Kane and Ibrahimovic in the game and some people seem to have overlooked that. With West Brom at home followed by Hull at home next week, there are two realistic opportunities to use your triple captain if you haven’t already. Some will tell you that you need to use it on a double game week but his 4 goals against Bournemouth in gameweek 24 tell you different.

OUTSIDER: Josh King, Bournemouth

He might have the name of a high school quarterback who would wedgie you at a moment’s notice but Bournemouth’s surprisingly Norwegian midfielder Josh King has been the stand out under 5% er of the last month. I say midfielder, of course, because the game classes him as one. He is a much more advanced player than a midfield tag suggests. He has an incredible 5 goals in his last 6 games which has included matches against Everton, Man Utd and Man City, no mean feat for a guy who costs £5.5m and is just about to tip over the 100 points mark for the season. A lot of people have patted themselves on the back for having Victor Moses in their squad as a differential pick but King actually outpoints him as well as Coutinho and Pogba. It makes you wonder why you didn’t already have him.

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