Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 36 – FPL Premier League

It only seems like yesterday when we were all frantically struggling to decide on the make-up of our team for the opening game-week of the season, fast forward 35 game-weeks and here we are struggling to decide on our teams for the final 3 game-weeks of the season! You’d think that it would be rather easy at this stage of the season but injuries to key players have spiced things up a bit and to be honest this has made things a little more interesting. By now everyone is well aware of who the key players are for the remaining game-weeks so this week we have decided to focus on a number of differentials who we feel could help set you apart from your rivals.

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Goalkeepers

Last week we tipped Petr Cech and insisted that the chances of Jose resting him were quite slim. Ok so he wasn’t rested but he did have the flu meaning he sat out the Sunderland game and having picked up a shoulder injury against Atletico on Tuesday night he is now set to miss the remainder of the season. While this is not good for Jose it is potentially good news for those fantasy managers on the hunt for a cheap keeper as Mark Schwarzer will take over the gloves for the remainder of the season. The Aussie is priced at just £4.5m and features in just 0.6% of teams, making him a great differential. Mourinho has talked about playing a weakened team against Liverpool this weekend which makes Schwarzer less appealing, but he has been known to bluff before and it is worth noting that Chelsea’s last two games are against Norwich & Cardiff.

So David Moyes is no more! What effect this is likely to have on a Manchester United side which has been devoid of quality & confidence for the majority of the season, no one quite knows but the consensus seems to be that Giggs et al will have a galvanising effect on the side. We’re backing Giggsy to have the desired effect and therefore we are confidently (maybe we’re getting a little carried away!) tipping David de Gea. United haven’t been as solid at the back as they have in previous seasons, conceding 40 goals to date, but despite this they still have leagues 4^th best defence with de Gea picking up 11 clean sheets. Giggs is unlikely to be in charge next season but he couldn’t have picked four better games to ease himself into management with the first three at home to Norwich, Sunderland & Hull with the latter two comprising DGW37 and we suspect de Gea will pick up a number of clean sheets. The Spaniard is available for just £5.7m and features in just 8.8% of teams.

Our next tip might surprise a few of you as it is Swansea’s Michel Vorm! Swansea haven’t had the greatest of seasons and despite last weekend’s win against Newcastle they are not yet safe. Defensively they have been rather poor this season and they have kept just eight clean sheets, however they have shored things up of late and have conceded just three in their last four games. With back to back home games against a Villa team who have scored just twice in their last five away games and a Southampton team who are headed for the same beach as Newcastle we feel that there’s a good chance that Vorm could finish the season on a high. The Dutchman certainly represents a differential as he features in just 3.4% of teams and is available at the budget friendly price of £4.8m.

Our final two goalkeeping tips this week come from opposite ends of the table and they are Manchester City’s Joe Hart and West Brom’s Ben Foster. Hart kept five clean sheets on the bounce between game-weeks 25&31, unfortunately he hasn’t kept one since! Despite this we feel as though he cannot be ignored with games to come against Palace, Villa & West Ham, none of whom have been scoring freely of late. West Brom have stumbled their way through the season and as a result they are still embroiled in the relegation fight. Looking at their remaining fixtures you would have to assume that they will do enough to survive. Foster has saved two penalties in recent weeks meaning his confidence will be quite high and if you’re looking to take a punt he might just be worth consideration.

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Defenders

Arsenal have been poor against the top six or seven sides this season, but have performed rather well against everyone else…who would ever have thought that Arsenal would turn into flat track bullies. The Gunners are in a dog fight with Everton for 4^th spot and luckily enough for them their remaining games are against Newcastle, West Brom & Norwich and we would not be at all surprised if they picked up two clean sheets form these three games. There has been little to separate Laurent Koscielny and Bacary Sagna this season and as a result both are currently priced at £5.4m with Koscielny featuring in just 6.9% of teams and Sagna in just 6%. Koscielny has picked up considerably more bonus points and as a result we are slightly swayed towards the centre half.

With the Moyesiah gone, to be replaced Giggsy, we’re not quite sure what this will mean for the starting XI. With Nemanja Vidic on his way to Inter and Rio Ferdinand being well past his sell by date we suspect that there will not be many changes at the back and therefore we feel that both Chris Smalling and Phil Jones warrant some consideration. As we have discussed above United haven’t been great at the back this season, in fact they haven’t been great anywhere this season, but with their final four fixtures being particularly easy we foresee a number of clean sheets and both Smalling and Jones become even more tempting with a double game-week just around the corner. Both represent superb differentials with Smalling appearing in just in just 1.1% of teams and Jones in just 1.5% although Smalling is slightly more tempting as he’s priced at just £4.6m. Hopefully Giggs will be somewhat more forthcoming in his weekly press conference so be sure to check this weeks ‘Team Talk’ where hopefully we can shed some light on the back 4!

Martin Demichelis has come in for quite a bit of criticism over the course of the season and to be honest most of it has been deserved and despite City failing to keep a clean sheet in their last five games we still feel that the Argentine warrants a mention, particularly when you consider that he features in just 1.4% of teams. City, as we have alluded to above, have a number of games remaining from which they will surely garner a couple of clean sheets and with the ponytailed Adonis proving quite adept at set pieces we feel that there’s an excellent chance that he’ll be among the fantasy points across the remaining game-weeks.

Our final defensive picks this week are aimed at those who are either skint or have nothing to lose, or worse again, both! The players in question are Sunderland’s Phil Bardsley, Fulham’s Fernando Amorebieta and Craig Dawson of West Brom. Bardsley was a firm favourite in these parts earlier in the season, particularly back in January when Sunderland staged a mini revival, unfortunately the revival didn’t last long. However, in their last two games against City & Chelsea they have taken four points so maybe there’s another revival on the cards. With three home games remaining and with a double in GW37, Bardsley could prove to be a punt worth taking. Fulham’s very own great escape is on and a look at their fixtures between now and the seasons end suggests they might even keep a clean sheet or two! Ok so Dawson might be a step to far for the majority of you but with Gareth McAuley a doubt there is a possibility that the youngster will feature in the Baggies remaining games and as he has demonstrated for the English U21s he certainly has an eye for goal.

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Midfielders

Just as they have been at the back, United have also been rather poor going forward and have found the back of the net on just 56 occasions. Having already assumed that Giggs will tighten things up at the back we are now going to assume that he will try and get them playing with more fluidity. Juan Mata currently features in just over 12% of teams so he can hardly be considered a significant differential but if he can reproduce the form he demonstrated against both Villa & Newcastle, his acquisition could bring you substantial rewards and while at £9.4m he isn’t cheap, he could yet provide excellent value for money. For those of you who want a piece of the United midfield ahead of the double game-week but are looking for more of a differential you could always consider Adnan Januzaj or even Shinji Kagawa. In an otherwise dull season at Old Trafford Januzaj has provided one of the few bright sparks with the soon to be Belgian international weighing in with four goals and five assists. Moyes was keen not to put too much pressure on the 19 year old, rotating him in and out of the squad and rarely playing him for the full 90, hindsight is a great thing, but…!! His price had risen to £5.3m in GW24 but this has now dropped to a very tempting £4.5m and he’s clearly in good form having chipped in with a goal and an assist in his last two appearances, so if you’re looking for a cheap 5^th midfielder, Januzaj might be the very man. Kagawa has not had the impact in England that United fans would have hoped for. The Japanese international scored 21 times from just 49 appearances in the Bundesliga, however he has managed just 6 in 35 Premier League appearances. David Moyes clearly didn’t have the tactical know-how to get the best from Kagawa and this resulted in limited game time for him. However, if you are in the market for an end of season gamble Kagawa could be the one for you as he features in just 0.7% of teams and if as expected United play with some freedom under Giggs, the Japanese superstar could flourish.

As we highlighted in our introduction, this article is predominantly focused on differentials so it might surprise most of you to see Aaron Ramsey included as he currently features in just over 27% of teams! If you are on the hunt for a differential do not let this figure put you off as having missed three months of football a high proportion of this 27% are clearly ghost teams. The Welsh international has clearly picked up where he left off prior to his injury and this has seen him claim a goal and three assists in his last two appearances. Arsenal have quite an easy run in and with them still fighting tooth & nail with Everton for that all important 4^th spot, they will not be in a position to take their foot off the gas so we expect Ramsey at £7.4m to provide superb value for money over the remaining three games.

Unfortunately for Manchester City they have picked up a number of injuries to key players at the most important point in the season. However while City really should have the strength in depth to cope with the losses of Toure and Silva us fantasy managers do not have the same luxuries! While Yaya might return this week Silva is likely to miss at least the next two games meaning Samir Nasri will have an important for role to play for the Citizens meaning he is worth serious consideration for those fantasy managers who want some coverage from the City midfield over their remaining four games. The problem with the French international this season has been consistency as only on three occasions has he managed to pick up points in consecutive games, but he has scored twice in his last four games. At just £8.8m and featuring in just 8.8% of teams he could just provide your team with a much needed end of season spark.

With one eye on next week’s double game-week, a couple of midfielders who warrant some consideration are Sunderland’s Adam Johnson and West Brom’s Morgan Amalfitano. Ok so Johnson has been a terrible flop in the two recent double game-weeks but Sunderland have proved in their two most recent games that there is still some fight left in them and with three home games remaining it might be worth taking one last chance on Johnson! Unlike Johnson, Amalfitano has been in decent form of late with two goals and assist in his last three. Aside from their trip to Arsenal, West Brom will fancy their chances of getting enough points from their other three games to ensure their safety and Amalfitano could very well have a key role to play and he is ideally priced at just £4.2m to be your 5^th midfielder.

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Forwards

So far we have tipped the United keeper, their defence and their midfield, so we might as well complete the set and tip one of their forwards and our tip is Danny Welbeck, who despite only starting 13 games this season has still managed to weigh in with 9 goals. Given their remaining games it is quite likely that we would have tipped a number of United players but with the sacking of Moyes followed by the temporary appointment of Giggs, our expectations of United have certainly increased. We suspect that Giggs will give the local lad every opportunity over the remaining games to prove that he is good enough to play for United. At just £6.6m, the acquisition of Welbeck is likely to give you the funds to invest in other double game-week players and just like a number of his colleagues he represents an excellent differential as he features in just 3.8% of teams.

Ahead of GW34 who would have guessed that Lukas Podolski would become an end of season differential but with two goals in each of his last two games that is exactly what he has become. The German international has not enjoyed the greatest of seasons, largely thanks to an injury picked up back in August and it’s only since GW27 that he has enjoyed an extended run in the side. However we shouldn’t be surprised at this late season form as anyone who can score 46 international goals must be of some use (Robbie Keane?) As we have already mentioned, Arsenal have some great fixtures remaining and with the likes of Ramsey, Ozil & Cazorla creating the chances we would not be at all surprised if Podolski can reach double figures for the season – he’s currently on eight.

Despite scoring 14 league goals in his debut season for a struggling Swansea side Wilfried Bony has flown pretty much under the radar and as a result his price has dropped to £7.2m. The Swans are not yet safe from relegation and therefore have everything to play for in their remaining games and with their next two games at home to Villa and Southampton we fancy Bony can finish his debut season on a high. For those of you who need to do something different to set yourself apart from your mini league competitors then Bony could be the one for you as he features in just 6.7% of teams.

We’ll finish this week by turning our attentions to a couple of cheap forwards who are likely to feature in next week’s double game-week and they are Sunderland’s Connor Wickham (£4.6m) and West Brom’s Matej Vydra (£5.1). At the start of the season no one including Wickham himself could have believed that the youngster would play such a significant part in the title race but with two goals against City and a goal against Chelsea in his last two games he has certainly given Liverpool a helping hand. Granted it would take some major cojones to transfer Wickham into your team but as Del Boy would’ve said, actually you all know what he would’ve said!! At the time of writing Wickham was yellow flagged so be sure to read ‘Team Talk’ tomorrow when hopefully we will have an update. Just like Wickham, Vydra would also be a major punt but like Wickham he has shown some decent form of late with a goal and two assists in his last four games.

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Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 36, this article was written by Kop.