Written by Niall Hawthorne

Four GW’s left. It’s now or never.

I’ve seen more chip strategy analysis than I have Russian-invasion analysis, which gave me an idea. If those in FPL towers offered a free round of chips to every FPL player (TC, Wildcard, FH and BB) in return for detailed analysis on how Putin can be defeated and then dragged in front of The Hague, I reckon we’d have everything sorted by Sunday. Putin couldn’t possibly cope with the combined strategic mind of the FPL community.

Onto GW35!

GW35 Defender: Luke Ayling, Leeds United

Hear me out….

Leeds are unbeaten in five, with three wins and two draws. They’ve two clean sheets in a row and the real-life Ted Lasso experiment is working better than anyone expected. Kalvin Phillips is back. Liam Cooper is back. Leeds are back.

Manchester City are under serious pressure. Not only do they have an unbelievable Liverpool team breathing down their neck and exerting pressure at every possible turn, they also put in one of the greatest performances in the clubs history only to feel that their 4-3 victory against Real Madrid leaves them very vulnerable in the next leg, which is after this game.

With the defensive issues in the City ranks, the big game looming on the horizon, the upturn in form for Leeds, and Liverpool just not going away, I reckon this could be the slip.

Ayling has five attacking returns this season and two clean sheets in a row.

Trust me, I’m a professional.

Ed: 5-0 win for City pending.

GW35 Midfielder: Diogo Jota, Liverpool

Important to keep an eye on likely rotation in the Liverpool team at the moment, as with their schedule you’re going to see 3-4 changes per game for the foreseeable future.

Jota didn’t start against Villareal during the week which makes him nailed on to start at St. James’ Park in the early kick-off this Saturday.

15 goals and 5 assists for Diogoals so far this season, and with the momentum Liverpool have right now, you can see them causing the Toon all kinds of issues this week.

Ed: Will laugh heartily if he’s benched.

GW35 Forward: Harry Kane, Spurs

Spurs host Leicester City this weekend.

Spurs have had two setbacks in their quest for fourth, but that’s alright, because nobody wants to finish fourth and everybody else has had just as many setbacks. Spurs are currently two points off Arsenal in 5^th place, and with a North London Derby set to settle the 4^th place argument perhaps definitively in GW36, they won’t want that gap to grow.

Add to this the fact that Leicester City are halfway through their first ever European Semi-Final and are tied with Roma ahead of a trip to Italy, and you can imagine all kinds of glorious Brodgerness from The Brodge this weekend. He’s going to rest EVERYONE, I reckon. Remember that Liverpool team he sent out at the Bernabeu????? Exactly.

That will give Spurs a free-run at Leicester and Kane will haul.

Ed: C’MON LEICESTER RESERVES!!!

GW35 Captain: Philippe Coutinho, Aston Villa

Villa halted a very poor run of four defeats with a dull scoreless draw against a distracted Leicester City last time out, but it was finally a point as they looked to be the team most likely to throw themselves voluntarily into a relegation fight they had no business being in.

This week they are at home to Norwich City who’s recent mini-revival has been firmly halted by consecutive three-goal humpings to Manchester United (!) and Newcastle.

This game is one that smacks of a Coutinho masterclass as he becomes a flat-track bully against teams he should be dominating, makes everyone take notice, and then goes back to disappointing for the next couple of games…until he scores from 30 yards in the 93^rd minute at The Etihad in GW38 to secure the title for Liverpool. Maybe.

GW35 Outsider: Bryan Mbeumo, Brentford

He’s playing Manchester United. He’s in form. He’s playing for a team in form (3 wins and a draw in the last four), and to be quite honest the football gods owe him a hat-trick in return for all the woodwork he’s hit this season. 1.9% ownership too.

Your move….