Top Wildcard picks & how to afford them
Stay for some top penalty steel from Virgil van Dijk
GAMEWEEK 28 DEADLINE: SATURDAY, 11:00 GMT
Ben Mee - An FPL Story.
We should’ve known, really. Burnley, a bad team that don’t score and struggle to defend, are handed a Double Gameweek when no one else has two fixtures. They’re crap, yes, but the FPL Gods know that when there’s a Double Gameweek, FPLers lose their minds. Who is the star of this tragicomedy? Step forward Ben Mee, a player who never seems to get injured (you see where this is going). Just to get people really interested, he scored a goal and hauled 21 points in the previous gameweek. By the time matches kicked off last weekend, he was owned by a staggering 45.8% of the top 100k players. Having scooped a colossal 2 points in his first fixture, he limped off in the second - scoring a grand total of 3 points. Oh, and Wout Weghorst (captained by an insane amount of people), got a yellow card and no returns. The good news is we don’t have to watch Burnley games anymore.
This week: many people are considering Wildcards as we have two pretty big Double Gameweeks back-to-back, some budget players to make it all work, remembering Biesla and Virgil van Dijk being awesome.
Two Double Gameweeks - with added Chelsea
The big change since last week is that Chelsea will almost certainly have a Double Gameweek added to this week - Burnley and Norwich away (more on this below).
Here’s a Wildcard draft for this week
The below is a pretty good example - it is designed to have a few Double Gameweek players this week and some for next week, to maximise the opportunity. It’s also a good idea to have a few players who play the week after - Gameweek 30 will be a big Blank Gameweek, with only three fixtures at the moment (Wolves vs Leeds, Aston Villa vs Arsenal, Leicester vs Brentford).
Son or Kane is the big choice on Wildcard (hard to get both). Also, there’s a big decision over whether to keep Cancelo, the great Man City full-back, or get rid to get another Double Gameweeker in. Personally, I’d hold on. As Burnley reminded us, good players are still good players. As I said here, Don’t Go Double Gameweek Blind.
Chelsea are back - but it’s hard to pick one
Chelsea now (almost certainly) have a Double Gameweek and their fixtures for the rest of the season are extremely kind. The problem is, few players are nailed down to play. James is the obvious choice, but Tuchel has said he played more than they wanted in the League Cup Final. There’s also a lot of rotation upfront. Probably best to get Rudiger and wait and see for the rest. Mount and Havertz are worth watching.
One of many amazing Bielsa stories
So sad to see Bielsa go from Leeds. He was a great manager and as you’ll see from my about page, his regular sightings at Morrisons and Costa coffee are what this newsletter is all about. He is mad, yes, but kind and brilliant - and he made his newly promoted side a great one for FPL managers, too. He changed all the light sockets at Leeds and stole our hearts. Here’s one of many Bielsa stories emerging:
Cheaper players to target
Whether you’re Wildcarding or not, there’s a decent list of cheaper players here. Ramsey will be popular as Villa play in Gameweek 30 (make sure you buy the right one - there are TWO!). I would add Martinelli, who’s decent option with a game in Gameweek 30. He’s back after a red card ban.
Just looking at their FPL points, these are the top players this week
With a decent Double (Leicester and Villa), Raphinha from Leeds will be popular this week and many will also captain him. But there is the new manager curve ball. Southampton players are doing so well - the perennially under-rated James Ward-Prowse remains perennially underrated. I’m in two minds about Coutinho - he seems to be slightly deeper in the latest Villa system - but he does have great games this week.
Leicester have loads of games left to play
No Double Gameweek, but they do play in Gameweek 30 and it’s worth remembering they have 3 games remaining. Maddison came on last night and scored after a period out. And there’s always Vardy, for the romantics out there.
Van Dijk 1-0 Shithousery
Kepa’s disastrous relationship with the League Cup continued after coming on just for the penalty shoot-out, failing to save a single shot and then skying his own spot kick over the bar. But the best moment was below, when he gave Virgil van Dijk two thirds of the goal to aim at. He got VVD’ed. Check out the stare.
Please get in touch with any FPL dilemmas or general football internet gold. If you find this remotely enjoyable, please help me spread the word. Remember the DEADLINES and see you next week! I’m on Twitter here.
