FPL GW31 Preview
Carnage. No other word for this period. Let’s look again at what’s before us.
Blank Gameweek 32
Brighton
Chelsea
Man City
Man Utd
Double Gameweek 34
Brighton: Wolves (H), Man Utd (H)
Fulham: Man City (H), Liverpool (A)
Liverpool: Spurs (H), Fulham (H)
Man City: Fulham (A), West Ham (H)
Man Utd: Aston Villa (H), Brighton (A)
West Ham: Crystal Palace (A), Man City (A)
Three of the four sides who Blank also Double, making it tricky to bring these assets in. The other side is Chelsea, who have just sacked Graham Potter and re-hired Frank Lampard, losing 1-0 to Wolves last Gameweek.
Looking at Gameweek 31, it is the Man Utd news that is going to dominate our plans. Injury doubts to Shaw and Rashford, as well as the fact that they Blank in 32 then Double in 34, as well as Europa League Fixtures before 31 and before their Blank in 32 where they will be in FA Cup action.
Latest news coming out on Wednesday report Rashford being out for a few weeks but back for the last few games. The question is - how many is a few? 4 games? That would miss the Double in 34 and every game until then. For me he is a sell.
Rashford replacements are Arsenal’s Martinelli and Crystal Palace’s Olise as a Differential. Salah is a great Pick but the upgrade in Price is probably way beyond what anyone is capable of. Man City’s Grealish is looking good and is getting the minutes recently but as with any City player, don’t be surprised if he is Benched.
There is better news on Shaw, who missed the Europa game on Thursday but there is no news further than that, other than to say they expect him “back at short notice”, which doesn’t sound like a long term injury. I’d keep him in the hope he will be back for 34.
Possible replacements for Shaw or any other Defender if you are looking are Liverpoool trio Van Dijk, Robertson and Alexander-Arnold, Crystal Palace’s Guehi or Mitchell, as they are the two teams with the best Fixtures long term. Liverpool play in 32 and Double in 34.
Now, Chips. If you have a Free Hit left it makes things a lot easier. Free Hitting in 32 would probably be best as many of us own a few players from the Blanking teams. We’ll go through a Watchlist for a Free Hit team next week. If that is your preference, then Grealish this week would work well, as would any other Blanking teams assets.
Captaincy this week, Kane is Home to Bournemouth and Haaland is Away to Leicester. I wouldn’t look any further than these this week.
Gameweek 31 Deadline is Saturday 15th April 11:00am
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Denny Ledger
Twitter: denny_ledger