I went into GW29 with my OR at 255K and over the course of last 5 GWs, with minor gains, my OR is 215K and while it is not disappointing, my FPL decisions have been average at best. The big decision that has gone my way has been keeping Heung Min Son and captaining him in GW 31 and 32. He has single handedly kept my team afloat, and I it almost seemed like he would give Salah a fight for the golden boot, so I kept him on my Wildcard in GW33.

I had a major decision to make for GW 33 – whether to use my Free Hit or Wildcard or none of them. I had set my eyes on the Free Hit long time back, but given how poor Arsenal and United had been prior to GW33, coupled with the fact that a lot of premium players have a good single GW fixture – I decided to hold my Free Hit for GW37 (or GW34 / 35). That has led me to using my Wildcard in GW33, with the idea to set-up a decent team for DGW33 (~ 6 or 7 doublers) and some premium single gamers and building towards Bench Boost team for GW36 when a lot of premium teams double ( or could potentially double – looking at Manchester City). I felt this brought a lot more balance to my team for the next 4 GWs and with Free Hit in hand, I could go all-in in GW37.

Wildcard Team GW33

As I initiated preparation for the Wildcard I categorised teams into multiple categories depending on how I am targeting their players in the run in, here is a brief summary:

• Category 1: Teams that double in GW33 and GW36 (Arsenal, Leicester)
• Category 2: Teams that double in GW36 with good fixtures from GW33 – 35 ( Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs)
• Category 2.5: Teams that COULD double in GW36 with good fixtures from GW33 – 35 (Man City)
• Category 3: Teams that double in GW33 and have decent fixtures (Man United, Newcastle)
• Category 4: Teams that double in GW36 and blank in GW33 (Aston Villa, Leeds)

Based on this I started building my team and had a very clear spine of the team in place:

• Category 1:
  • Arsenal – Felt that Arsenal were horribly out of form and were not the same team they were a couple of weeks back, specially with Partey and Tierney out, hence Saka is possibly the only one I was interested in.
  • Leicester – Leicester were in a very interesting situation, with loads of doubles coming in they could be great value, but their involvement in ECL makes it very tricky. Ideally I wanted to go with Schmeichel and Maddison, but given attackers might have their minutes managed, I thought Dewsbury-Hall might be a better idea, specially given his price.

• Category 2:
  • Chelsea: I wanted to get a couple of Chelsea assets – One defender (James / Rudiger) and one attacker ( Mount / Havertz / Werner) to attack the DGW34 but decided against any of them to ensure the balance for DGW33 was restored. Given limited number of GWs left and the fact that I have a Free Hit, decided to look at short term and consider team for each GW as it comes. Hence I am looking for those Chelsea attackers this GW.
  • Liverpool: I had decided to take Salah out right at the beginning of the Wildcard, I wanted KDB as I am part of the chasing pack and didn’t want to play it safe with Salah anymore, ideally I wanted to get Jota / Diaz in to balance out Salah hauls, but eventually did not go with it in order to Ronaldo in as well, more on that below. Trent was always going to be a part of my team, however I did bench him for the game against United, all in all it was a game to forget for me (specifically as a United fan)
  • Spurs: Spurs had been flying in the build up to my Wildcard and I wanted to keep Son and Kulu for the run-in but with so many midfielder options, had to give up on Kulu, but got Emerson to grab some clean sheet (and possible assist) points.
• Category 2.5
  • Manchester City: Manchester City seemed to be under the radar for some reason, maybe because of lack of DGWs in 33 and 34, however their fixtures are very tasty and with a potential DGW in 36, it seemed like a great idea to jump on them early. Most managers already have Cancelo, but KDB was the one who I had my eyes on for long. He seems to be in great form, leading from the front a team that possibly needs to win all games to win the title and is a potential differential. Getting KDB for Salah also improved the balance of the team and allowed me to get Ronaldo as well.
• Category 3
  • Manchester United: I was vehemently against the idea of getting any United player in on my Wildcard, I had seen all their matches and was absolutely sure that I do not need any of the players in my team, but the more I thought about it the more I felt that Norwich was a Ronaldo kind of a match and boy did that turn out to be true. I got Ronaldo in a minute before the deadline (needed to downgrade Jota to Ramsey) but it was worth it. In the spirit of attacking each GW, I also got in Telles, hoping for at-least a clean sheet and playing minutes point – but only managed 4 points from 1 game.
  • Newcastle United: The idea behind getting Newcastle players was always to attack the DGW33 and the Norwich game in GW34 and Schar and Woods seemed like the best pick from form and Effective Ownership perspective.

DGW33 Team and Performance

I managed to get a decent score of 75, taking my OR from 230K to 215K. I was hoping to be sub 200K specially after Ronaldo’s haul but Salah and other Liverpool assets pegged me back.

DGW34: Evaluating Chelsea assets

Although it is United who has a double gameweek as well, I will return to my original thought process of not relying on United assets, specially after the dismal show against Liverpool. That probably also helps me in getting the right Chelsea assets for thr DGW34. Chelsea options for DGW34 are plenty but it feels like all of them have to be dealt with caution, here is my take below:

Werner – He is THE TOP pick for me. Owned by just 4.7% as I finalise this article, he could be a bumper differential if he fires. He is back in favour and becoming an integral part of the starting XI. He probably started the game against Southampton as a replacement for players rested for the Real Madrid game but he hasn’t looked back since. His performance got him a start against Real Madrid as well, where he got a goal and assist, then started the all important FA Cup Semi-Final and got another assist, and then another start and goal against Arsenal. He seems to be in middle of a streak and I would definitely want to be a part of that FPL wise.

Mount – Mount is possibly the biggest captaincy pick this GW. He has been in sensation form off-late. Scoring 2 against Southampton, a goal and assist against Real Madrid, another goal in FA Cup Semi and then an assist against Arsenal. Since the recent formation change Mount seems to be at the heart of Chelsea’s gameplay and has a huge potential to haul big.

Havertz – Havertz was my pick during the Free Hit in GW28 and boy did he deliver. A whopping 26 points from a differential was huge. And the fact that he did not start against Arsenal is probably some suggestion that he is nailed on for the next 2 games. Don’t see Lukaku starting again and that would mean Werner and Havertz up top. He has been a critical piece in Tuchel’s gameplay lately and could be a great shout as well.

Defence: Couple of days back, I would have definitely written about going big on Chelsea defence, but with Rudiger injured and Kante out of sorts lately, the clean sheet potential goes drastically down. James and Alonso have been the popular wing back options, but with James playing a couple of games at RCB, his attacking potential has diminished and with Chelsea conceding 4 against Arsenal, Alonso’s place could be at risk. With games against West Ham and United, both of whom could nick in a goal at the least, I will be avoiding Chelsea defence.

P.S. – Thiago Silva might be a decent punt, but he has also been rested and might not start both games.

Transfers : Basis this I am deciding to go with Werner and Mount

Ronaldo –> Werner

Ramsey –> Mount

Captaincy Pick

Captaincy could being about a huge variance this GW, some stand out options for me are KDB, Mount, Werner, Cancelo.

I am extremely tempted to captain Werner in a double gameweek, but it might be too huge a punt to captain a big differential. And since I don’t have Salah, I am leaning towards captaining his direct replacement in my squad, KDB. Manchester City could go big against Watford and KDB is expected to be at the heart of that.

P.S. –> Might just go Werner captain on deadline!

Thanks for reading, green arrows everyone!