Fantasy Premier League this week provides us with a whole host of dilemmas as Manchester United and Newcastle take the weekend off to meet in the Carabao Cup final. In gameweek 25, how do we deal with this issue, and how do we pick up those green arrows? We’ve got three tips to steer you in the right direction.
The dreaded blank gameweek
Given their incredible success this season, it is likely that your teams will contain at least three, maybe even four or five players from Newcastle or Manchester United. The Magpies have boasted a remarkable defence this term, with Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman and Nick Pope all popular options, while Erik ten Hag has turned United, and Marcus Rashford around.
If you can field a full XI without incurring a points loss, then do it. If you are looking at playing with nine or ten men, then it is probably worth taking a one week hit, to get some of the players with a double gameweek into your team. Beware though, players such as Rashford have significantly risen in price over the past few months, and you don’t want to find yourself short-changed and unable to bring him back into your team.
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The main crux of this point, is simply to be sensible. Don’t throw away your entire strategy just for one gameweek. If you are bringing in players for gameweek 25 however, we have a few suggestions.
Merseysiders on song
On the opposite side of the coin to Newcastle and Man Utd, there are four clubs playing twice during this gameweek. League leaders Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and Wolves. We are all stacked with Arsenal assets by now and Wolves are too unreliable, but both Merseyside clubs could enjoy big gameweeks.
Liverpool may have just been battered by Real Madrid, but Los Blancos are the best team in the world. In the Premier League, they’ve won their last two, Virgil van Dijk is back, as are Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino. They now have a new look attack, and games against Crystal Palace and Wolves to come. Mo Salah looks like a tempting option again as the most signed player this week, Cody Gakpo has scored two in two and Darwin Nunez could be a decent differential.
Meanwhile Sean Dyche’s Everton face Aston Villa and Arsenal this week. They beat the Gunners at Goodison recently and will fancy their chances of completing an unlikely double. James Tarkowski at £4.3m is a bargain, while Dwight McNeil as emerging as a key player at £5.1m. They’ve won two from three under Dyche and now boast a couple of assets worth considering in this double gameweek.
Goalkeeping dilemma
David De Gea is emerging as a brilliant choice this season. But he doesn’t have a game this week. Neither does Nick Pope. Ederson isn’t performing. Alisson is the fourth highest scoring goalkeeper but looks to be behind a shaky defence. It leaves two good options. One is Bernd Leno at Fulham who has scored kept three clean sheets in a row, scored 23 points in three weeks and faces Wolves at home this week. Perhaps the more sensible long term option though is David Raya - who is without a game this week. He is the top scoring keeper, just £4.7m, and faces Fulham, Everton and Southampton over the next three fixtures.
Pick smart, but if you can hold off and go for Raya next week, you could reap the rewards.
