***GAMEWEEK 28 DEADLINE: SATURDAY - 11:00 GMT***
Some big scores out there this week - and spare a thought for Jorginho, I *think* the only starting Arsenal player not to get an FPL return. What a performance from Arsenal in that first half. Saka captainers can count themselves incredibly unlucky. They went against Haaland and Saka looked utterly unplayable. Unfortunately given the half time cricket score, Arteta hauled off his unplayable winger to save him for another day - depriving captainers of a nailed on points haul in the process. In footballing parlance, anyone captaining Saka hit it *too* well.
A fair few people will be Wildcarding this week and it’s the last week to prepare for the Blank Gameweek next week, so another important one ahead of us. Please help me spread the FPL Is Life word.. and sign up for your free update every Wednesday!
Got a transfer dilemma? Scared by Sheffield United? Email me: fplislife@substack.com
Reasons to Wildcard this week
One of the great things about this season is that there are lots of equally viable strategies for using the “chips” - not everyone is using the Wildcard/Free Hit/Bench Boost at the same time. It is all very team dependent. But here’s why some people are Wildcarding. If you’re badly set up for this week’s Double Gameweek (Luton and Bournemouth play twice) and next week’s Blank Gameweek (only eight teams play), then a Wildcard can help you through those issues - and you can leave money in the bank to get players like Salah and Haaland after. It means many people will also be able to save their Free Hit chip (*change all the players you want for one week*) for later in the season.
In the short term, many people will opt to save their Wildcard, and use the Free Hit next week. The third option is to muddle through the next two weeks with no chips used and blast them all at the end of the season. There are two more big Double Gameweeks (when some teams play twice) - Gameweek 34 and Gameweek 37. Here’s a shortlist of things to consider about Wildcarding this week… Use a planner like fpl.team to plan ahead.
Here’s what a Wildcard team might look like
Loads of money in the bank here to bring in Salah and Haaland later - but remember that booking in transfers is a dangerous game. You’re one injury from a broken plan. This team has a load of Bournemouth and Luton players for their Double Gameweek this week. It also has eight players for next week - and you can use a transfer to bring in Toney, who will be a popular pick. It solves a fair few problems for teams that aren’t set up well. I’ll be saving the Wildcard, but it will work for some teams.
Bournemouth and Luton have two games
As said earlier, these are the Doublers this week. Bournemouth have the best Double imaginable - Sheffield United and Luton at home. If you want more on Bournemouth, there’s an epic Twitter thread here - but Solanke is he most obvious transfer you’ll get - and if you have your Triple Captain chip left, you’ll surely use it here. I’d say the best three Doublers are 1. Solanke 2. Doughty (attacking Luton defender) and 3. Morris. But remember, if you’re not using your Free Hit, you’ll have these players in your side beyond this week, so it’s not a Double Gameweek to go mad on. At the moment, top managers only have one or two players from these two teams.
Watkins is FPL’s top points scorer
Should we have been looking at Watkins more as a captain option? Most teams own him, but he hasn’t been a captain for many. His returns have been crazy - he averages 6.8 points per appearance (Haaland is on 6.9). Points in his last five games - 13, 9, 13, 2, 18. He’ll definitely be one to consider as captain next week. What a season.
Free Hit next week or later in the season?
I publish this spreadsheet not just to make your head hurt - but to show you the level of FPL obsession out there. It’s by Ben Crellin, FPL’s top fixture guru who knows when games will be played before the Premier League have worked it out. It’s useful because it helps us figure out when to use our chips.
Basically, what the below tells us is that if you have your Free Hit left, you really have a choice between using it in an underwhelming Blank Gameweek next week - or play it in an underwhelming Double Gameweek in Gameweek 34 (there is also a big Double Gameweek in 38, but that is so big it’ll probably look after itself). Palace, Sheffield Utd, Bournemouth and Everton seem to be the teams most likely to Double in Gameweek 34. Man Utd, Newcastle are possibles.
Senesi replacements & defenders
Terrible luck for managers that planned ahead for this Double Gameweek by bringing in Senesi, the clear pick of the Bournemouth defenders. A good graphic below on replacements, and their upcoming fixtures (and expected points from an FPL model). If I had to pick another Bournemouth defender, I guess it’d be Zabarnyi, for reliable minutes. Kerkez is more fun and attacking if Kelly is out longer term.
People are switching Haaland to Carlton Morris
Getting rid of the RoboMachine guy for a Luton striker. What could possibly go wrong? It’s the extra games that are making it interesting, and Luton’s injury issues makes Morris more nailed on. Haaland has Liverpool this week, then no game, then Arsenal. Morris has a Double Gameweek now and plays next week. There is logic to the switch, but if Haaland scored a brace this weekend, would anyone be remotely surprised? If you’re not Free Hitting next week, then that’s another reason to consider getting Morris now, to get the two extra games over 4 weeks.
Midfields are starting to look very samey
Suddenly there’s a strong template in midfield - Foden and Saka are seemingly a must right now, along with Son (playing up front in that attacking Spurs side) - and Palmer is just such great value. This happens at times during the season - it’s just a time to be making calls elsewhere. And pretty soon, with Salah back in the conversation, there’ll be plenty of midfield decisions from Gameweek 30. Below are the predicted midfield points for this week. Tavernier looks the pick of the Doublers - if you back his minutes, he’s a great pick and the Bournemouth run is good after this week.
Let’s play place the player
Some weird new game going on here in Botafogo vs Fluminense. Anything goes in the Brazilian league, so whether you want an injured player to be on or off the pitch, just pick ‘em up and put them wherever you like!
Please get in touch with any FPL dilemmas or general football internet gold. PS - I’m on Twitter here. Please help me grow FPL Is Life by sharing… thanks! Typos entirely deliberate, but thanks for noticing.