Gameweek 28 Preview: Fantasy Premier League #FPL

Written by John Wallin @FantasyGaffer

Written by @FantasyGaffer

You may have heard, there is now a podcast as Bang Average in addition to this column; with John, Ryan and Mike talking all formats of #FPL. Go and subscribe…this will still be here when you get back.

#FPL has finally returned, offering the sort of drawn out nonsense we’ve come to expect from this Mickey Mouse operation. Starting on Saturday and not concluding until after Arsenal thrash City on Thursday – you’ll have four extra days to sweat a possible red-arrow or hide behind your sofa because you’ve left Aguero (NOT SUSPENDED!) out of your XI again. You goofy b******s had better donald, errr, duck.

(Ed: John is currently on a family vacation at Disneyworld, Florida)

Defender – Harry Maguire, Leicester

Nine of the top 11 defenders play for United, Chelsea, Arsenal or City. Those four sides face each other in GW28’s final two matches. The other two play for Spurs who’ve posted eight clean sheets including in five of the last nine – but haven’t done back-to-back since GW5. :Let’s get this headache out of the way early and just take Harry Maguire at home against Stoke. The Foxes big man posted a robust -1 point but nicked one of his four assists in the 2-2 draw with Stoke in week 11. He’s got two goals to go with those assists and a modest seven cleansheets. With a head like an ogre and a name like a Dwarft (Dopey, Sleepy, Hairy?), he’ll fit into this column nicely.

Midfielder – Christian Eriksen, Tottenham

The smiling Dane has gotten plenty of attention this week as he tries to date everyone’s daughter – confused? Listen to Bang Average – and keeps his image free of frosted tips. He’s had a rough season by his own impeccably high FPL standards and has still managed score 139 points which seats him fourth at his position and one point above Eden Hazard and Mahrez. While the City trio of KDB (174), Sterling (173) and Sane (118) are higher profile this year, Eriksen, Son (122) and Alli (119) are the only other trio in the Top 20 worth owning en masse.

Forward – Roberto Firmino, Liverpool

When one is on vacation one simply does not like learning new things. Bobby is amazing; Bobby faces West Ham; Bobby does spin-kick celebrations that rival anything Po: The Kung Fu Panda (NOT A DISNEY REFERENCE!) can pull off. Plus, for every Bobby celebration you get, you get a Sadio celebration thrown in free!

Captain – Mo Salah, Liverpool

If he’s good enough for me, he’s good enough for you.

If he scores another few, then I’ll be Muslim too.

If he’s good enough for you, he’s good enough for me.

Sitting in the mosque, that’s where I wanna be!

Mo Salah-la-la-la, Salah-la-la-la-la-la-la.

He’s playing WEST HAM. Liverpool scored four last time. Mo got two of them. West Ham conceded three to BRIGHTON earlier this month. Armband, always.

Outsider – Gerard Deulofeu, Everton Watford

Revenge game! Deulofeu has run hot and cold since joining Watford. If that sound familiar it’s because that’s been the story of his career. When not complaining that Leo Messi froze him out of the Barca XI, Gerry D is flying too close to the sun, like that famous fable of Aladdin and has carpet made of wax. 3pts, 13pts, 2pts. It math has taught us anything, he’ll score 14pts this week. And you can’t fault math.

Draft – Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Burnley

Gudmundsson has been electric is the EPL and FPL alike. For draft purposes he is exquisite. His 255 points sits just four behind Paul Pogba (259) and in 14th overall at the position. With Southampton the opponent in GW28, JBG should hit double-digits like he did when posting 10pts on an assist in the Clarets GW11 win at St. Mary’s. He’s in fiddle faddle at the moment as well, his 15pts GW27 coming from 4 Key Passes and just days after his 22pts against Man City. 78% owned, he’s available in far too many leagues and is must-start for every match the rest of the season. Only Arsenal away in GW37 poses a possible stumbling block. In fact, he’s a top trade target if you can prize him away from a manager looking for a bigger name to start down the stretch.

John (aka FantasyGaffer) has been playing fantasy sports for more than a decade.

An avid supporter of Liverpool since the days of the Spice Boys, he has earnestly worn a white suit on multiple occasions. You’ll find his work on fantasy draft site PlayTogga.

Prior to joining Togga, he wrote for EPLIndex, MLB.com/fantasy, BackPageFootball and his own site, FantasyGaffer.