Tips Game-week 31 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

Let’s get ready to rumble!!! Yes the game-week that everyone has been waiting for is finally with us. We have ten teams playing twice this week for a total of fifteen fixtures stretched over five days. We’ve talked about it and planned for it over the past number of weeks and the good news, or bad news, depending on how you look at it, is that the time for talking and planning is almost over! With this game-week being so important we have this week decided to focus only on teams & players who will feature twice in GW31 and below we have outlined a number of players who can hopefully help you reach your goals this week. If you own single game-week players and are comfortable playing them then that’s fine and would not advise against that but we imagine that most peoples transfers IN will be focused purely on those with two games. Here goes…

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Goalkeepers

The common consensus would seem to suggest that Manchester City have been quite poor at the back, but is this correct? The stats would appear to indicate that maybe the consensus is wrong as they have the 2nd best defence in the league, conceding just 27 goals in 27 games and keeping 11 clean sheets along the way. Joe Hart was not present for all of these clean sheets having lost his spot earlier in the season, but the English international has bounced back well and has kept a clean sheet in each of his last three games. City welcome Fulham at the weekend and follow that up with a trip across Chatsworth next midweek to face their nearest & dearest and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Hart make it five clean sheets on the bounce. Obviously they face trips to Arsenal & Liverpool in the not too distant future but with another two double game-weeks on the horizon we feel that Hart is worth consideration and as a result of his midseason form he can be picked up for £6.0m.

Hull currently have the 8th best defence in the league (37 conceded) which we think you’ll agree is quite impressive for a newly promoted team. Unfortunately this hasn’t exactly translated into clean sheets as they have only managed eight with Allan McGregor being responsible for six of these. They do however have quite a tempting double game-week as they host West Brom & travel to West Ham and following these games they face Stoke and Swansea. Aside from the battering (and butting) they took from Pardew & Co they have looked solid enough of late and at just £4.5m the Scot could prove a decent investment over the coming weeks.
Paolo di Canio didn’t get much right at Sunderland but he did sign Vito Mannone who has turned out to be a very astute signing. As we pointed out last week, when Mannone keeps a clean sheet he tends to score well and he didn’t let us down last weekend as he kept a clean sheet against Palace and picked up three bonus points and a save bonus in the process. Granted, Sunderland travel to face free scoring Liverpool in the 2nd of their double game-week games, however their 1st game is a trip to Carrow Road where Norwich have scored just three times in their last five games. As we have said in previous week’s Sunderland have a torrid fixture list for the remainder of the season but we feel given his form and the fact that Sunderland have further double game-weeks in GW34 & GW37 that at £4.5m Mannone is difficult to ignore.

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Defenders

As we have highlighted above, City’s defence has not been as bad this season as some would have you believe. With City set to face three double game-weeks over the remainder of the season we believe it is certainly worth considering investing in their backline. With Vincent Kompany suspended for the visit of Fulham we feel that Pablo Zabaleta is the only one of their defenders guaranteed to start both games in GW31. The Argentine has chipped in with five assists this season and while we should point out that the last of these was back in GW16 he has been unlucky not to add to this in recent weeks. Should you not have the £6.0 required to bring Zabaleta into your squad you could take a gamble on his colleague Aleksander Kolarov. It’s a gamble because his game time is not guaranteed, he has started just two of the last five games, making cameos in the other three. Despite Kolarov playing slightly over 600 minutes less that Zabaleta he is only trailing the Argentine by 16 points! So should you be willing to gamble on his game time you could be amply rewarded and he represents a great differential, featuring in just 5% of teams.

As we have discussed above Hull City (about time the FA got something right!) have, from a defensive point of view, got a great run of fixtures coming up and because of this their defence could offer up some great value over the coming weeks. For those of you looking to free up funds, at £3.8m James Chester could be the man for you as it would appear that once fit the 25 year old is guaranteed to start and following a couple of cameos he played the 90 minutes last time out against City. However, should you have a few extra shillings floating around our tip from the Hull defence would be Curtis Davis who at £4.7m offers a greater goal threat than his defensive colleagues. Should you choose to invest in either of these you will also be picking up a great differential as they feature in just 3.9% & 3.6% of teams.

The Everton defence was a great source of fantasy points in the first half of the season as they picked up 8 clean sheets in their first 14 games, unfortunately for Roberto Martinez and FPL managers alike they have only kept 2 clean sheets in the subsequent 14 games. However, given the fact that the Toffees have a rather straightforward double game-week followed by a trip to Craven Cottage it’s difficult to ignore Seamus Coleman & Leighton Baines. Coleman gave us a timely reminder last week of what he’s capable of as he scored the winner (his 6th of the season) against Cardiff and picked up all three bonus points. At £7.4m Baines is £0.7m more expensive than Coleman but he certainly offers more of a differential than Coleman as he features in 14.9% of teams compared to the Irishman’s 37.6% of teams and Everton will surely be awarded a penalty kick sooner rather than later!

Next up are Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and John Flanagan of Liverpool. Defensively Arsenal have been superb this season conceding just 28 goals and keeping 13 clean sheets in the process. With three of their next four games against Chelsea, City & Everton many may choose to avoid the gooners defence, however it is worth noting that they have picked up 7 clean sheets in their last 11 games. It’s also worth noting that during these 11 games that Koscielny has proved somewhat of a bonus point magnet as he has picked up 14 of them in this period. Liverpool have played some breath taking attacking football at times this season, unfortunately their defenders have made some outrageous mistakes meaning they’ve been quite leaky at the back. They have however managed back to back clean sheets in their last two games, a feat they haven’t managed since game-weeks 2 & 3! On paper Liverpool’s double game-week should be filled with points and they may even pick up another clean sheet or two and at just £4.3m young Flanagan could prove to be an absolute bargain.

Our final two defensive tips this week are West Ham’s Guy Demel and Newcastle’s Paul Dummett. Over the past few weeks we have tipped Demel’s defensive colleague James Collins only for Big Sam to bench him last weekend and what happens, they concede three against Stoke. While we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Collins recalled this weekend we’re not going to take a chance and instead we’re tipping Demel. The Ivorian right back has featured more often than any of his defensive colleagues this season and should Big Sam decide to change things up again Demel is likely to retain his place and with both games in the double game-week at home we fancy the Hammers for at least one clean sheet. Last week we tipped Dummett only for Newcastle to go and spoil it all by conceding against Fulham of all teams. Despite this we are once again going with Dummett as not only do Newcastle have two games at home this weekend their following four games show potential for clean sheets and at just £3.9m he could free up cash to be invested elsewhere.

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Midfielders

Imagine how good Steven Gerrard could be if he was a ‘top top’ player?!! Towards the end of last season and in the early part of this season many people, Liverpool fans amongst them, questioned whether or not Gerrard could fit into Brendan Rodgers’ system,  but 10 goals & 10 assists to date would suggest he’s fitting in just fine! The English captain now features in just over 12% of teams so he can hardly be described as a differential, however, given his current form we’re quite surprised that he doesn’t feature in more teams. With Liverpool scoring on such a regular basis many fantasy managers will be trying to accommodate three Liverpool players, however at £9.2 some may not be able to afford Gerrard. For those of you who cannot afford Gerrard you could always consider Jordan Henderson. With Gerrard pulling the strings in a deep lying position, Henderson has the freedom to push forward and get involved in the action further up the pitch, resulting in three goals and six assists to date. Having started every game this season it’s probably safe to assume he’ll start both games in the double game-week and he could prove a smart purchase at £6.4m.

With a double game-week on the horizon David Silva gave us all a timely reminder of what he is capable of last weekend with a stunning goal & a sublime assist as City banished all thoughts of their European exit. Every fantasy manager is forever trying to unearth a differential that will set them apart from their competitors, it’s not often that you find that differential right in front of your very eyes! Currently featuring in just a little over 6% of teams Silva could possibly represent the ultimate differential over the coming weeks. While we’re on the subject of the City midfield we feel obliged to once more tip Yaya Toure. By his own very high standards the Ivorian was rather subdued against Hull but he still managed to chip in with an assist and with Fulham visiting the Etihad this weekend followed by a trip across town we fancy Yaya to be back on top of his game. With Aguero likely to miss both games in GW31 doubling up on the City might not be a bad idea!

From an attacking point of view Arsenal haven’t exactly set the world alight over recent weeks, scoring just 12 goals in their last 8 games. However they might offer up a couple of differentials in the middle of the park, namely Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (1.8%) and Tomas Rosicky (1.2%). Chamberlain has missed the majority of the season through injury while Rosicky has been in and out of the side, although as a result of injuries to the likes Ramsey, Walcott, Ozil & Wilshere both have featured regularly in recent weeks. Chamberlin has turned in a number of extremely impressive displays that belie his age & experience and at just £6.6m he could prove great value for money in the coming weeks. With two goals and five bonus points in his last three games Rosicky looks to be an absolute bargain at just £5.5m and given this form we expect him to remain in the side for the foreseeable future.

A couple of other midfielders who warrant a mention are Sunderland’s Adam Johnson and West Ham’s Kevin Nolan. Following a mini revival at the end of January when Johnson scored six in four Sunderland have bounced back to reality with just one point from their last three games. As a result of that form Johnson’s value rocketed to £7.0m, however due to two blank weeks his price has dropped down to £6.5m and with three double game-weeks to come maybe now is the time to jump on Johnson! Just like Johnson, Nolan went through somewhat of a purple patch recently scoring five and creating another in five games and with two homes games in GW31 we wouldn’t be surprised to see him add to the seven goals and seven assists he has picked up to date.
For those of you looking to balance the books with a cheap midfielder we’ve got two names for you, Sunderland’s Sung-Yeung Ki and Alan Pardew’s mate, David Meyler of Hull. Ok so neither are world beaters, but what do you expect for £4.3m & £4.2m? Both have scored twice this season with Ki also picking up two assists and Meyler one. With further doubles in GW34 & GW37 Ki could be a canny purchase as he can be benched for the other game-weeks and then rolled out for the doubles.

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Forwards

With a trip to Cardiff followed by the visit of Sunderland in GW31 we’ll start with the obvious, Liverpool duo Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. By his own very high standards Suarez had a number of quiet weeks but he has bounced back in the last two weeks with two goals, three assists and five bonus points. This upturn in form for Suarez has seen Sturridge’s points take a dip and he has just picked up a solitary assist in his last two games. However should you decide you only want one of the dynamic duo you are left with a major problem…which one do you pick? Both of their stats are stunning with Suarez scoring 24 and Sturridge 18, however Suarez is clearly more creative with 20 assists compared to Sturridge’s 7. Liverpool have in recent weeks switched to a diamond in midfield allowing Suarez & Sturridge to play together up top and this has potentially resulted in Suarez’s returns picking up, unfortunately we don’t know if Rodgers shall stick with this formation over the coming weeks. The easiest thing to do is to just get both of them!!

With Sergio Aguero out injured and Alvaro Negredo horribly out of form Edin Dzeko would appear to be Manuel Pellegrini’s main man up front and he has now started five of the clubs last six league games. The Bosnian is an extremely frustrating player for both City fans and FPL managers as he misses countless opportunities in each game and with City creating so many chances you really would expect him to score more, although he has managed four in his last seven. Granted he has only scored eight in total this season so he far from prolific but at just £6.7m his acquisition could allow you to bring in a number of heavy hitters for the remainder of the season and with City having three double game-weeks to come he could prove to be an ideal differential as he currently features in just 7.8% of teams.

With Everton having on paper a relatively easy double game-week as well as another double game-week in GW34, Romelu Lukaku has become quite popular, with his price rising to £8.5m from a low of £8.2m in GW28. With a goal against West Ham in GW28 and a goal against Arsenal in the Cup many expected him to have a field day last weekend against Cardiff, but unfortunately for those who invested in him, Cardiff keeper David Marshall had a worldie and on another day Lukaku could have had a hat-trick. Despite Everton struggling for goals of late many will be looking to invest in their attack given their upcoming fixtures and with Roberto Martinez being laden down with midfield options we feel that Lukaku is the best bet.

Robin van Persie grabbed all the headlines following United’s midweek comeback against Olympiakos, however our tip from the United frontline is once more Wayne Rooney. Anyone who witnessed United’s capitulation to Liverpool last weekend will surely have noticed that Rooney was the only United player who seemed up for the fight and it’s because of this spirit that we feel Rooney could deliver over the coming weeks. Van Persie was stretchered off late in the game against Olympiakos and should he be ruled out of the upcoming fixtures we feel that Rooney becomes an even better option as he is likely to play further forward.

Our final two tips this week are Andy Carroll and Wilfried Bony. Carroll grabbed his first goal of an injury plagued season last weekend against Stoke and with Roy Hodgson possibly undecided over the final forward spot for the flight to Brazil the big man will be keen to make it the first of many over the coming weeks. Should he manage to do this he will prove great value at £7.1m and an even better differential as he currently features in just 0.6% of teams. Despite scoring six goals in his last ten games Bony has flown under the radar. Although with three of Swansea’s next four games away from The Liberty stadium it would take a brave manager to bring Bony into their team, but desperate times call for desperate measures and if you’re struggling to make up ground in a mini-league now is not the time to play it safe!

Thanks for reading Tips Game-week 31, this article was written by Kop Warrior