If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 35.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 35 DEADLINE?
Not long! All transfers and team selections need to be done by 18:30 BST on Friday 1 May.
DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 36 IS OFFICIAL
So, we’re back to a weekend where all 20 teams play exactly once. Yet Tuesday brought news that Manchester City and Crystal Palace have a Double Gameweek 36 coming.
We’ve kicked off preparation for it by identifying the best Palace players – even though they’re distracted by Conference League heroics.
As for Man City, Erling Haaland (£14.6m) and Nico O’Reilly (£5.2m) seem straightforward picks, but there’s debate over choosing Antoine Semenyo (£8.2m) or Rayan Cherki (£6.5m). Both are due a goal, according to underlying stats.
Our ‘Buy, Keep or Sell’ piece advises purchasing Cherki, and Zophar is another to prefer the in-form Frenchman. He also recommends keeping Cole Palmer (£10.5m) and Joao Pedro (£7.5m) for one more week, and this Chelsea duo are part of his own Gameweek 35 Bench Boost, having – unlike Semenyo – played in last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final.
FEELING CHIPPY
Fellow Bench Boost users want some good, cheap assets right now, and our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm backs Leeds United for a clean sheet and attacking returns. They’re at home to Scott Parker-less Burnley, making Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.7m) and Karl Darlow (£3.9m) unanimous Scout Squad picks.
Also favoured in the fixture frisk are Brighton and Hove Albion, Everton and Fulham, as the highly competitive race for European qualification is one of many things still to play for.
An on-site poll suggests there’ll actually be some big Wildcard usage by this evening’s deadline, and these three drafts offer a starting point, depending on a manager’s Bench Boost status. Tom Freeman’s Wildcard is currently active.
Some may even prefer Wildcarding in Gameweek 36, before boosting in Gameweek 37.
INJURY LATEST
Meanwhile, almost two-thirds of the ‘Great and Good’ elite have just used their 15-player chip.
At a time when Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.6m) hauled again, most received points from the latest spurt of Jarrod Bowen (£7.8m) and Bruno Fernandes (£10.4m) assists – we’ve explored how close the latter is to breaking FPL’s all-time record – but were unfortunate enough to own the injuries of Xavi Simons (£6.5m), Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) and Mohamed Salah (£14.0m).
Bad ones for the Tottenham Hotspur pair but, in better news, Salah should recover in time for a proper Liverpool farewell.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 35 CAPTAIN
Assigning the armband is tough this week, and Bruno Fernandes is the only candidate to make the top three of both Captain Sensible and Rate My Team.
Erling Haaland will get lots of them, but managers should also consider maverick choices like Cole Palmer, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Bukayo Saka (£9.8m).
TEAM REVEALSSCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – triples up on Arsenal and Man City.
Instead of Igor Thiago (£7.4m), fellow Brentford attacker Dango Ouattara (£5.8m) is one of three interesting differentials to be identified.
Newcastle United stars past and present also make the differentials list.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 20 Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 35!
