Gameweek 36 Preview: Fantasy Premier League #FPL

Written by John Wallin @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.

This week – GW36 – will be my second to last column. Penultimate if you will. Why you ask? Because for the massive DGW37 Mike P of Bang Average will be taking his talents to YIRMA. As is now mandatory for the preview, only four matches count! This weekend the tilts which count for the column are:

• Liverpool v Stoke
• Swansea v Chelsea
• West Ham v Man City
• Spurs v Watford

Front-runners can’t count on much these days with season-ending injuries, suspensions, rotation and a general lack of anything to play for are all contributing to FPL roster-prediction fatigue. While there will be a lot of ‘guessing’ done in this column, the reality is that managers should feel comfortable making whatever changes they can to get in players who look to be rotation proof and are on for the DGW next weekend.

Defender – Alfie Mawson, Swansea

Alfie’s got two goals and an assist this season with those coming against Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester. Swans have been playing markedly better of late while Chelsea look like a tire fire in the league at the moment. This has the potential to backfire, but if you’re making 1-2 moves this week to set your roster for DGW37 you can do worse than the £5.1m-rated defender who is less than 4% owned. He’s over 100pts for the  season, and has a DGW slate of Bournemouth and Southampton before finishing GW38 against Stoke. He might not get a cleansheet against Chelsea, but he’ll contribute in the attacking third and is a quality long-shot for an attacking return.

Midfielder – David Silva, Manchester City

David would be ranked up a spot or two if not for the insanely good form of Rahmeen Sterling and the absence of Sergio Aguero due to injury. While he’s not the best value in City’s midfield – hello, Bernardo – he is the most consistent performer who has four goals with three assists in the last seven, earning 90′ in five of those and playing at least 71′ in all seven. Silva is 12.7% owned and there is no reason for City to rotate their senior statesman as they chase history over their final four matches.

Forward – Barry Kane, Tottanham

Barry has had some troubles of late. His ankles are made of dowels which are in turn made of balsa wood. His gawky frame has trouble kicking a perfectly round object accurately at the goal or a teammate. But chances, my god he gets the chances. All the chances as he chases his own glory at the glorious expense of Spurs league position. Expect him to fire another dozen shots at Watford’s net with at least one going in. He’s not going to be rested (for what?), rotated (for whom?) and he’ll at least get a few minutes before he is injured.

Captain – Raheem Sterling, Man City

A week ago I shifted six players off my roster to find space and salary to get Sterling into my roster just to hand him the armband. It worked well last week and an understrength West Ham side will be equally ripe for Sterling to poach a brace. The electric attacker was unlucky to lose the YPotY to his teammate Sane, but showed no signs of letting an upset creep into his game. He’s cool under-pressure, despite narratives claiming he can’t strike the ball cleanly, and will put the Hammers to the sword.

Outsider – Jordan Henderson, Liverpool

While Henderson may have been slated for rest in this match, LFC carrying a three-goal cushion to Rome, the OX seeing his season ended and both Emre Can and Adam Lallana unavailable it is highly likely that Jordan will be starting and pulling the strings for Klopp’s side. 1.1% owned, Hendo is a hard, hard pill to swallow and I’m not one who recommends him lightly, but coughing up late braces to both WBA and Roma will be fresh in Liverpool’s mind. The Reds captain will also be aware that getting Mo Salah an early goal – setting the Premier League record – will be important to ensure Mo can rest late-on. In all, this is a quality play for the value as a MID5 this weekend in both draft and OFPL.

Draft – Victor Moses, Chelsea

A number of OFPL managers may be tempted to bring in Moses following his 1g,1a outing last weekend. Expecting, and investing, in those potential offensive returns are not a great strategy for long-term success. In draft, however, the constant engagement in the attacking third will make Moses a viable, if not a vital, draft addition ahead of the trip to Wales. Given the suspension of awful human Marcos Alonso, there is nothing stopping Moses from going 90′ and racking up at least 10 points in Togga’s scoring format.

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.