Tips, Gameweek 28…. and 29 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

Well it has been quite a week in the world of Fantasy Football, albeit a strange one, as most of the big news and activity has been off the field of play as it has all been about two things. Initially it was about planning how on earth we were suppposed to field anything approaching a full team never mind a decent one for the next couple of weeks. Then all of a sudden we were handed what at first appeared to be some great news about a much enhanced double game-week in GW31. Great news until the implications of planning for this, straight after having the barren fields of GW’s 28 and 29 to contend with, began to sink in. We shall deal with Gw’s 30 &31 in due course but this week the pressing concern for many will be which players to pick for this GW28 that will also play in GW29. Well there aren’t that many but here goes….

Lets begin by taking a look at the actual fixtures themselves just for reference –

From this we can see that if you are going to transfer in a player this week that also features in GW29, which we would strongly recommend that you do, then you are limited to players from –

Cardiff
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Fulham
Norwich
Stoke
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur

So taking into consideration the combined fixtures to an extent, as well as recent form and potential, here is our quick run-down on those players that we feel will merit your consideration for the next two weeks.

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John Terry

Love him or loathe him (yeah ok, we know the answer), the much maligned Chelsea captain is having another fantastic season. The winner he scored last time out (yeah again we know, you usually have to touch the ball for this, he didn’t) epitomised everything about him and could be the reason that Chelsea go on and eventually claim the crown this season. The fact is, that in the last minute, he was the one stretching every sinew to get on the end of that ball and win the game for his side. He is second only to Hazard in overall fantasy points scored for Chelsea and the fact is that their main two strikers, Eto’o and Torres, have only managed six more points than him combined! Fulham away and Tottenham at home may see some clean sheet points, certainly in the first one, but don’t be surprised to see JT hurl himself at a few more winning goals as he drags his troops relentlessly toward the title. But don’t worry with Terry as we all know full well that even if he doesn’t actually score or win you a trophy he will certainly claim it!

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Charlie Adam

Good old Charlie was fantasy gold a few short seasons ago at Blackpool, but an indifferent spell at Liverpool and an injury hit start to this campaign has seen him fall off our radar as of late but his recent return to full fitness has catapulted him straight back onto it. Two goals against Man Utd set alarm bells ringing that the man with the bullet of a left foot could once more be a budget-friendly fantasy option. Add in that he is on almost all of Stokes set plays, and let’s face it they like a set play, and you can easily see fantasy points potential. Given the stop-start season he has had, a seven goal haul is rather impressive and with his propensity to shoot from anywhere along with being on pens, fee-kicks and corners we think he is definitely worth consideration from here on in. This week he faces Arsenal but it is at home so do not let that put you off too much and beyond that he has a very nice set of fixtures. The poor mans Stevie G he may be, but at just £5.8m that’s a big saving on the man himself for someone who basically does the same job.

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Robert Snodgrass

A very timely winner last week against Spurs may have just saved Chris Hughton from the chop and in the process propelled Norwich up the table to relative safety. For now anyway. They may well need a few more moments of magic from Snodgrass and co before the season is out to ensure they avoid the drop. Much like Charlie Adam, Snodgrass has had a much interrupted season which derailed many an early season fantasy plan, as his form at the back end of last season and in pre-season was suggesting that he would be a mainstay budget friendly fantasy asset this year. A modest return of three goals this term does not sound great but two of those have come in the last four games so perhaps he is finally beginning to play his way back into form after those injury problems. Norwich visit home-shy Villa next and then host Stoke so you could do far worse than have a punt on Snodgrass to deliver again.

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Rickie Lambert

Mr Consisent is Rickie. He may not be as explosive as an Aguero or a Sturridge but if you are looking for a third striker to compliment a ‘big two’ then you could do far worse at £7.2m than the England striker. Much of the early Southampton fantasy interest centered around J-Rod but the fact is this, a bit like Suarez as of late, J-Rod generally plays further out wide allowing Lambert to occupy the more central position. A bit like Sturridge then, Lambert is benefiting from this positioning and outscoring his colleague at present. He has eight goals and seven assists but is also lethal from a free-kick and is on penalties too. There are not too many strikers that have all that in their locker and also play for a relatively successful team. They have Liverpool up next but let’s face it that’s hardly a frightening defence to go against recently. They may well get beat in the game but they will probably still be able to score a good few in the process!

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Emmanuel Adebayor

Well Spurs are at home and it’s Cardiff that are the visitors. Say no more. Ole seems to be setting up to go all out attack in an attempt to stave off relegation but it’s fair to say that he’s having mixed results with that approach! Adebayor can be a loathsome and selfish individual, a bit like Terry previously but funnily enough those are just the qualities that any good striker needs and he has them in abundance. Anyone who earns £80k a week but thinks nothing of rocking up with a black bin bag and filling it with his team-mates boots from the dressing room can surely help himself to a couple of selfish goals against a lacklustre Cardiff, can’t they? The one issue with the Ivorian is his fixtures beyond GW28. He has Chelsea away next in GW29 and then Arsenal but you would not bet against him notching in either of those and Cardiff at home this week may be enough of an incentive to tempt many as he will be a sure-fire captaincy candidate too.

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Martin Olsson

Whilst JT and his fellow Chelsea defenders may be the best picks this week we appreciate that you may not be able or willing to stretch your budget to such luxury items and so may need a cheaper alternative that still has decent fixtures to see you safely through the choppy waters of the next few weeks. Well Martin Olsson could be just that man. Priced at just £4.3m Olsson may not offer the goal threat of a Terry or Ivanovic but for sureity of starts and a bit of clean sheet potential he could well serve his purpose. Norwich kept Spurs at bay last time out with a mightily impressive defensive performance. Add to this that they managed clean sheets prior to that against Man City and Newcastle and you get the feeling that whilst they may not be the leagues biggest goal threat Norwich certainly know how to keep things tight at the back when they need to. A trip to Villa and a home game with Stoke offer a great opportunity for this run to continue. It may or may not be relevant but while Olsson has not registered a PL goal this season his record at international level is actually rather good, he’s managed almost one in four for Sweden which is quite impressive given that their team talk consists solely of the line ‘pass it to Ibra’.

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Eden Hazard

We couldn’t really not tip this guy as he is the highest scoring midfielder in the game, second only to Suarez overall. And he plays in both GW’s 28 and 29 – and his team are top of the table. Most of you will probably already own him but if you don’t then this would be the perfect time to switch one of your more valuable assets who perhaps have a couple of weeks off and finally board the Hazard train. He’s not cheap at £11m but you usually get what you pay for in this game and twelve goals, eight assists and twenty bonus points attest to that. He’s been quiet on the points front for the last two weeks but with Fulham up next we fully expect that he will be back amongst them this week.

There are other viable candidates to transfer in this week as alternatives to our chosen few, namely Branislav Ivanovic (or any Chelsea defender!), Adam Lallana, Paulinho or maybe even back Peter Crouch to be the man on the end of all of those Charlie Adam deliveries, he usually is.

Whatever you decide this week we do of course wish you the best of luck as always. Happy hunting!

Thanks for reading Tips – Gameweek 28… and 29, this article was written by Inittowinit