Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 37

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 37

The average score in GW36 was 42, Sergio Aguero beat that on his own with a remarkable 46 points. Fantasy managers fell into three groups last weekend, those who captained Aguero, those who owned Aguero but for some reason didn’t captain him and finally those poor misfortunates who didn’t even own the Argentine. Imagine not owning the Argentine and voting Labour? That would’ve made for a fun weekend!! And so we move onto our penultimate gameweek of the season and unfortunately it’s another of those annoying doubles. Three Gunners would appear to be a must while how many Sunderland players you go with is likely to depend on your levels of desperation. When deciding who to purchase this week it’s worth bearing in mind that GW38 is likely to be a lottery as the vast majority of teams will have nothing to play for and certain managers are likely to give some fringe players a run out. You’ve been warned!

Goalkeepers

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[/three_fourth]Should you be in the market for a keeper this week the chances are that you will be looking at either David Ospina or Costel Pantilimon, so therefore let’s start with the two of them! Monday night’s loss to Swansea brought Arsenal back down to earth with a bump, but Arsenal fans should not despair, they can still finish 4th. Defensively they have been quite solid of late, conceding just four times in their last six games although this has led to just two clean sheets for Ospina. With three games remaining there is every chance that the Goonies can claim two clean sheets and you would have to assume that Ospina is the least likely to be rotated over the coming games, after all Arsene will surely have one eye on the Cup Final. There is every chance you already have three Arsenal players in your squad or at the very least you have identified the three that you want, which means you have no space for Ospina. If this is you and you’re in the mood to chase the double then you should certainly be considering Pantilimon. The Romanian stopper is probably the best option from the Sunderland squad ahead of their DGW. He currently has 14 points more than any other Sunderland player and this is quite an achievement when you consider that he didn’t make his first appearance of the season until GW10. Which is also a sad indictment on the rest of the sorry bunch! Sunderland’s remaining three fixtures are at home to a very in form Leicester side as well as away games to Arsenal & Chelsea, so even one clean sheet will be an achievement! However Pantilimon has made 103 saves this season with only four keepers making more saves, and don’t forget his season didn’t start until GW10, so even if Sunderland don’t pick up any clean sheets there is a good chance that Pantilimon will pick up a few save bonus points for you.

If for any reason neither Ospina nor Pantilimon are an option but you do need a change of keeper you could always consider one of the following – Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel, Burnley’s Tom Heaton and West Ham’s Adrian. Anyone who decided to take a punt on Schmeichel when Leicester’s fixtures improved a number of weeks ago has been duly rewarded. The Foxes are currently top of the form table and have kept an impressive four clean sheets in their last six games. They can secure their safety this weekend with a positive result against Sunderland and should they manage that they will then head into their final game of the season against an already relegated QPR side in buoyant mood. Anyone fancy another two clean sheets? We reckon there’s a good chance!

With Burnley already relegated our tipping of Heaton might seem rather strange, there is however some logic to our choice. Burnley is a team of honest pros who we feel despite their relegation will give it 100% in their last two games and will be eager to go out on a positive note. Despite their poor form of late they have conceded just four in their last six, while Heaton has kept two clean sheets in that period. Why have we included Adrian? Because there’s a slim chance he’ll save a penalty as he has three of those to his name already and he’s also picked up two clean sheets in his last three games.

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Defenders

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[/three_fourth]As we have alluded to above David Ospina is probably the safest bet from the Arsenal rear guard, however Monday night’s defeat now means that to have any chance of finishing 2nd they will need to win all of their remaining games while United can still pip them to 3rd and because of this Arsene may actually be less inclined to rest his players ahead of the Cup Final. If we assume for a moment that Arsene is unlikely to rotate then Hector Bellerin would be our number one choice on the basis that he possesses the greatest attacking threat of the Gunners back 4, while he is also just £4.8m. Back to reality now and we must admit that while Bellerin may be rotated over the remaining three games fellow defender Laurent Koscielny almost certainly won’t be. As we have said in the past Arsenal are a more solid defensive when he plays and with Wenger eager to finish either 2nd or 3rd we suspect that the Frenchman will start the final three games and as we all know he is always a threat from set pieces.

The Sunderland defence… If it wasn’t for this impending DGW we probably wouldn’t be discussing the Sunderland defence but our hand has been forced! As we have mentioned above we believe that Pantilimon is the best option from the Sunderland team, but should he not be an option for you and you fancy a punt on the Black Cats defence then Patrick van Aanholt is the only one we feel warrants any real consideration. Not only is he the cheapest option at £4.1m but he is the only one who carries any attacking threat, he has five assists to his credit to date.

Aside from those who feature in the double gameweek we feel that the following are worth a shout this week, City’s Aleksandar Kolarov, Villa’s Ron Vlaar and Leicester’s Marcin Wasilweski. By picking Kolarov you will undoubtedly be taking your sanity into your own hands as we’ve all been burnt by his rotation in the past. However given his recent form we believe he can’t be ignored and that he’s a risk worth taking. He has played the last four games, picking up three clean sheets, two goals and an assist as well as five bonus points. City face Swansea & Southampton in their final two games and there’s a good chance of at least one clean sheet.

Villa haven’t exactly been rock solid at the back of late, they’ve conceded 11 in their last six games, although they have however managed two clean sheets in that period. Their final two games are against Southampton & Burnley who have managed just seven goals between them in their last six games and therefore Vlaar could very well pick up at least one clean sheet.

If you’re looking to free up some cash to bring in an Arsenal player Wasilweski could very well be the man to allow you to do just that. He’s currently priced at £3.8m and has started the last four games for Leicester during which time he has picked up three clean sheets & an assist meaning he’s more than just bench fodder!

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Midfielders

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[/three_fourth]Unsurprisingly we’ll start our midfield round-up with the Arsenal midfield as we’re pretty sure every fantasy manager will want a minimum of one Goonie in their midfield. The obvious candidates are Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey, and predictably they’re our tips this week. It will be a brave manager who goes into the double without Sanchez, particularly as he is likely to prove a popular captain. The Chilean has hit double figure scores on eight occasions this season and four of these have been 15+. Against Swansea on Monday night he along with all of his colleagues looked rather lethargic but prior to that he had turned in a number of impressive displays. Since his most recent return to the side Ramsey has looked like the player we all remember from last season. He has been playing in a somewhat unfamiliar position on the right of a midfield three but this hasn’t stopped him scoring three and picking up four assists in the last seven games. If you cannot afford Sanchez, Ramsey is nearly £3.0m cheaper and the saving may allow you to bring in another Gunner.

There are slim pickings available from the Sunderland midfield, but the best bet would appear to be Jordi Gomez. Why? Because he’s on penalties and also picked up an assist last week, while the other candidates aren’t anything to get excited by. If for one reason or another you’re daft enough to double up on the Sunderland midfield the Seb Larsson is probably the next best bet as he’s on corners & free kicks.

Manchester City have relinquished their crown without putting up much of a fight and the team, with one or two exceptions, as well as their gaffer, must take collective responsibility for this. One player who is in no way responsible for their poor performances this season is David Silva. For the first time since his arrival in the PL he has hit double figures for both goals & assists, and is just five points short of equalling his best FPL points tally, something which we feel he will comfortably achieve. Having disposed of QPR with such ease last Sunday we reckon they’ll be eager to finish the season with two wins and should they manage that the Spaniard is likely to play a key role.

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[/three_fourth]Steven Gerrard bids farewell to his beloved Anfield this weekend as he sets off into the sun to join former teammate Robbie Keane at LA Galaxy. I’m sure my inclusion of Gerrard this week is likely to raise some eyebrows, while the likes of Mito & Cookie are likely to take a dig at Gerrard over the coming days. It’s fair to say that he hasn’t been at his best this season, he’s managed just eight goals and one assist, although he has missed quite a few games through injury, suspension & being benched. Since making his debut back in 1998 he has gone on to make a total of 708 appearances for the club, scoring 185 goals in the process. While his critics will point to the fact that he will retire from English football without a league winners medal this has more to do with his current & former teammates rather than his ability, at times he has singlehandedly carried the team. Stevie has scored in each of his last two games and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see his name on the scoresheet in each of his last two games.

We’ll finish our midfield roundup with United’s Ashley Young as well as Villa duo Tom Cleverley & Jack Grealish. Arsenal’s loss to Swansea means that should United beat Arsenal on Sunday and then follow that up with a win on the final day of the season over Hull they could actually finish 3rd so they still have quite a bit to play for. Young has managed double figure points three times in the last nine games, unfortunately he has blanked in each of the other six, although for £5.0m you can’t expect much more. While United are trying to finish 3rd, Villa will be doing their upmost not to finish in the bottom 3! Should they secure their safety Cleverley will certainly have played his part with a goal in his of their last three games, his only goals of the season. Cometh the hour, cometh the man as they say! If you’re trying to free up some cash Grealish at £4.3m is nearly a million cheaper than Cleverley and has caught the eye with a number of impressive performances of late including an assist and two bonus points last week.

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Forwards

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[/three_fourth]Having failed to register a goal or an assist in each of his last four games Olivier Giroud would not have had top billing this week had it not been for Arsenal’s double gameweek. But they do have that double and of all the strikers who will feature in the double Frenchie is the one you’ll want, but that will obviously be dependent on the number of goonies you already own. Despite not featuring on the scoresheet in recent weeks his all round play has been reasonable enough and as we’ve said time & time again this season, playing in front of the Arsenal midfield will lead to goals, don’t forget that prior to his current barren spell he had scored in six consecutive games. There is a slight chance that he could be benched for the 2nd game of their double but even if that happens we would expect him to play at least 30 minutes as the alternatives are Walcott & Welbeck!

In Jermain Defoe, Conor Wickham & Danny Graham Sunderland provide us with a trio of attacking options as we head into their double, it’s just unfortunate that none of them can be relied upon to deliver any meaningful returns, however as we’ve seen in the past a double gameweek punt can lead to a jump up the rankings. There’s very little to choose between the three, Defoe has two goals & an assist in his last five, Wickham has two goals in his last four while Graham has a goal and an assist in his last two. If we were forced to pick one of the three we’d probably go for Graham simply because he has played as the central striker of the three since forcing his way into the team.

Sergio Aguero is currently priced at £12.8m making him the most expensive player by £1.3m. However that price tag should not be used as an excuse not to have him in your team. In his last five games he has claimed eight goals, two assists & seven bonus points which equates to 55 points over the period. Put simply, you get what you pay for! As we’ve seen in the past when Aguero hits this type of form the only thing which can stop him is an injury, so assuming he stays injury free for the remaining two games we’re predicting a few more goals.

Two strikers in form at the foot of the table are Villa’s Christian Benteke and Leicester’s Jamie Vardy. Many were left disappointed last weekend following Benteke’s failure to get on the scoresheet against West Ham. However this weekend they face up to a Southampton side who appear to have thrown in the towel, shipping eight goals in their last four games. Vardy is nowhere near as explosive as Tekkers but at £4.7m he’s substantially cheaper and has proven quite consistent of late, and he could very well frustrate those FPL managers banking on a Sunderland clean sheet over the course of the double.

Anyone fancy one final punt of the season? We give you Newcastle duo Ayoze Perez and Papiss Cisse. Newcastle are a shambles of a club who deserve to get relegated, but it’s unlikely they will. This weekend they travel to an already relegated QPR who are unlikely to put up much resistance and either Perez or Cisse could profit. With two goals in his last three games Perez is a safer bet, although should Cisse be included in the starting XI he could very well have a field day against the QPR defence.

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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 37. This article was written by Kop Warrior

Follow @KenLyons79

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WooFBet

We would like to remind you that our official partners, WooFBet, are again running a whole host of prize competitions for GW37, which will please many of you who are slowly building a lovely retirement nest egg, while others continue to persevere in the hope that this week will be their week! If you haven’t done so yet we recommend you get yourselves over to WooFBet.com as this week they have over €300 in free entry prizes and a whopping €1,850 in guaranteed pots. You also have the option to create your own tournaments and head-to-head challenges. Choose your rules and buy-in fee, and invite friends or leave it open for the public to challenge you.

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Don’t forget to vote in the penultimate Captain Poll for this season.

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