Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 31 Preview: Play Your Free Hit And Get Mane In!

Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 31 Preview: Play Your Free Hit And Get Mane In!
09:52, 16 Mar 2018

To begin this week, I’d like to apologize… I had a shocker during gameweek 30, recommending you to sell Jamie Vardy, who obviously went on to score during Leicester’s comfortable victory over West Brom. Our buys didn’t do so well either, with Glenn Murray firing a blank as Brighton were jolted back down to earth by Everton.

Anyway, onto this week we go, and it’s a rather odd one. There are just four Premier League fixtures due to the FA Cup schedule, and my biggest tip for this week? Play your free-hit! This allows you to make as many changes as you want for one gameweek only; so what a perfect opportunity you’ve got here.

Three players to buy

Christopher Schindler – Huddersfield Town - £4.7million

For one week only, I’m going to suggest picking up a Huddersfield Town defender. They host Crystal Palace in a huge fixture for both clubs, and if the home side manages to win, it could well secure their Premier League status for another year.

Christopher Schlinder is owned by under 5% of players, and although for me he’s a one-off option, I’d understand the decision to keep him on as a substitute within your squads as he is capable of picking up points.

Sadio Mane – Liverpool - £9.4million

Liverpool take on Watford this Saturday evening, and Sadio Mane’s form has been on the rise recently, contributing to three goals over his last three gameweeks. When this lad get’s hot, I fear for opposing defences. Sure, at £9.4million he is rather pricey but at this stage in the season if you’re desperate for those all-important points to catch up on your rivals, it’s certainly worth the risk.

Cenk Tosun – Everton - £6.7million

For me, it was a toss-up between either Callum Wilson or Cenk Tosun. I’ve gone for the latter purely due to his extremely low 2.0% ownership. He’s scored in back-to-back gameweeks, as he’s seemingly slowly finding his feet in the Premier League.

Stoke City away will be a tough test of his mettle and character, but The Potters have struggled recently and are currently sitting in the relegation zone. I fancy the Turk to continue his hot-streak during Everton’s gruelling fixture schedule.

Three players to sell

Hector Bellerin – Arsenal - £5.9million

Believe it or not, Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin hasn’t kept a clean sheet in thirteen matches. Sure, he’s known as more of an offensive full-back, but that’s just not good enough for a team of Arsenal’s calibre.

Stunningly, 10% of managers have persisted with the Spaniard through this poor patch, and you have to go back six gameweeks to see him score more than a meagre two points. Get rid.

Jesse Lingard – Manchester United - £6.0million

Over the last few gameweeks, Jesse Lingard probably hasn’t since as much on-field action as he’d like, and probably deserves. He’s not expensive at £6.0million, but if the Englishman isn’t starting, his value becomes worthless.

He scored the winner against Chelsea just a fortnight ago but even that was off the substitutes bench. His performance against Sevilla in the Champions League wouldn’t have helped his chances at starting during GW32, either.

Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur - £12.8million

We all knew this one was coming. Harry Kane won’t play again this month due to injury, and it’s just suicide to have £12.8million sat on your bench for at least a few gameweeks.

I expect him to be dumped by the majority of his almost 40% ownership and it’s clearly the right thing to do. This one doesn’t need much more explanation to be honest…

It’s always tough to decide your team when there are limited matches being played, but let’s hope this week is a better one for me personally, and in turn, everyone else. Good luck, and hopefully we’re all seeing green arrows come Monday morning.

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