⚽ FPL Gameweek 28 Tips

👋 Hello 👋

After some March drama in Gameweek 27 where FPL were definitely not Solly about the points awarded for Brighton players, I'm hoping that Gameweek 28 goes a little smoother.

It's a Blank week where six teams won't have a fixture:

• Manchester United

• Brighton

• Liverpool

• Fulham

• Manchester City

• West Ham

Reminder that it's a Friday deadline - Gameweek 28 deadline - Saturday 17 March, 18:30 UK ⏰

 🔥 Gameweek 28 - Hot Topics 🔥

Players to Target

There's plenty of teams with a game in Gameweek 28 and a Double in Gameweek 29. Let's talk about the best options to target and their upcoming fixtures.

Leicester - Brentford (a), Crystal Palace (a), Aston Villa (h), Bournemouth (h), Man City (a)

They've been really poor defensively all season so I wouldn't be looking at any defensive players. James Maddison (£8.1m) is the key man in midfield. He already has 14 attacking returns this season and has been unlucky not to add to that in recent matches.

Up front Kelechi Iheanacho (£6.1m) has started the last six matches. He's another that has been a bit unlucky recently. At such a cheap price he's a nice differential, but I always worry that Brendan Rodgers could bench him at any moment. You'd have to be the type of FPL manager that likes a bit of risk with their picks.

Aston Villa - Bournemouth (h), Chelsea (a), Leicester (a), Nottingham Forest (h), Newcastle (h)

I think the home fixtures all have a good chance for a clean sheet but I'm not sure using defensive spots on Villa defenders is the right move. If you do want to go for one then Tyrone Mings (£4.3m) is nailed and the cheapest option, but Matty Cash (£4.6m) would be more attacking. Alex Moreno (£4.4m) would be the one to go for if we could rely on his minutes but unfortunately it doesn't look like we can.

In attack it's only Ollie Watkins (£7.4m) that I'd be considering. He's been on fire since Gameweek 17 with 7 goals, 2 assists. He's my top choice for anyone bringing in a forward this week.

Chelsea - Everton (h), Aston Villa (h), LIverpool (h), Wolves (a), Brighton (h)

With four home games in the next five, Chelsea players are well worth thinking about. Keep in mind that they will have a Champions League fixture between Gameweek 30 and 31, as well as between 31 and 32, so there may be some rotation.

If you want an alternative forward to Watkins then look no further than Kai Havertz (£7.5m). He's also first choice penalty taker and overall Chelsea have looked a bit better recently since moving to a back 3. João Félix (£7.6m) shouldn't be forgotten, he's looked great in most games for Chelsea. He also has better underlying numbers than Havertz with 0.63 expected goal involvement per 90 minutes, compared to 0.49. Havertz being first choice penalty taker would probably swing things towards him for me.

If you want defenders with attacking potential, it's got to be Ben Chilwell (£5.9m) and Reece James (£5.8m). When both are fit and getting similar minutes I do prefer James as a pick, but he's missed three of the last five Premier League games and that does worry me. Because of that I'd probably pick Chilwell right now. Whichever you go for has plenty of upside over the next few weeks, they are completely different prospects while playing as wing backs compared to full backs. You just need to be ready for another injury issue for either, as they haven't played a huge amount of football this season.

Anyone else...

For any of you wanting a cheap nailed forward with penalties then look no further than.....Dominic Solanke (£5.5m). He wouldn't necessarily be my number one forward to bring in, but he does enable funds to be used elsewhere and has Aston Villa (a), Fulham (h), Brighton (h) and Leicester (a) in the next three Gameweeks.

Most of us already have Newcastle players but it's worth remembering they have Nottingham Forest (a) this week followed by a Double Gameweek. It's another forward recommendation here with Alexander Isak (£6.6m) who played really well against Wolves in Gameweek 27. You'd think his starting place would be secure going forward but there is always the risk that they opt for just Callum Wilson (£6.9m) at times. Newcastle have another Double Gameweek to rearrange before the end of the season so Isak might be worth a punt.

📈 Transfer Activity 📉

For some reason Miguel Almirón (£5.4m) has 224,904 new owners this week, and I'm not sure why. In fact he's the most transferred in midfielder in the game. He did get a goal in Gameweek 27 but he also didn't start. I just can't see the point in using a midfield spot on a Newcastle player that isn't nailed.

It's been a rollercoaster for Liverpool players the last couple of weeks. A demolition job on Man United in Gameweek 26, followed by a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth in Gameweek 27. With no fixture this week and a Double of Chelsea (a) and Man City (a) in Gameweek 29 there's a high volume of sales for lots of their players.

Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) is the only one I'd consider holding onto just because the fixtures from Gameweek 31 onwards look good and they will likely have a Double in Gameweek 34. The Double isn't great, but there's a chance he could get you something without having to worry about transferring him back in. I wouldn't begrudge anyone looking to sell though. For every other Liverpool player I think there's every reason to remove them from your squads, especially Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m) and the other defenders. I wouldn't be surprised if their next clean sheet isn't until Gameweek 31 or 32 at the earliest.

👑 Captaincy 👑

The top two captain options for me this week are Bukayo Saka (£8.5m) and Harry Kane (£11.7m).

There's not much to split them given they are both nailed to start and take penalties. Even their fixtures are very similar. Crystal Palace have conceded 1.37 xG per 90 minutes, with Southampton conceding 1.29 xG.

I'm currently on Saka as my pick just because he's playing at home and not many teams can cope with the Arsenal attack at the moment. Palace haven't been great in attack either recently so there's a good chance Saka will get an extra clean sheet point on top of the extra point over Kane for any goal scored.

Outside of Arsenal and Spurs there are plenty of other teams with very good home fixtures this week. I've listed some other picks below in order of who I think is best from the rest with their opponents xG conceded per 90 minutes so far this season.

• Toney vs Leicester (1.57)

• Watkins vs Bournemouth (1.49)

• Havertz vs Everton (1.57)

If you're feeling like a punt then it's got to be a Chelsea wingback like Chilwell who could get returns at both ends against Everton (h).

💪 My Team 💪

There's some tricky decisions to be made this week. I only have nine playing players, but I want to keep Solly March (£5.1m), Marcus Rashford (£7.4m), Kaoru Mitoma (£5.5m) and preferably Pervis Estupiñán (£4.8m) for their Double Gameweeks in Gameweek 29.

The player I'm actually most likely to sell is Erling Haaland (12.1m) which sounds absolutely crazy when you say it out loud.

With no Double in Gameweek 29 for Man City, he only has one fixture in the next two Gameweeks which is against Liverpool (h). I'm looking to sell him for someone with a fixture in Gameweek 28 and a Double in 29 and my top target is Watkins.

It's certainly a risk, but it's one I think could be worth taking. I'd plan to get Haaland back in Gameweek 30, probably for Ivan Toney (£7.8m). Toney picked up a yellow card against Southampton yesterday, so he only needs one more to be suspended for two matches. If he picks that up against Leicester in Gameweek 28 he will miss both games in Double Gameweek 29. I'm going to play it by ear, but if he makes it through Gameweek 29, he'd be the one sold instead of Watkins.

That would leave me with ten players which might be enough, but I'm keen on bringing Chilwell into my team as well. This would be for either Estupiñán with a view to get a 3rd Brighton player in Gameweek 29, or possibly even for Rico Henry (£4.5m) who I don't fancy for many clean sheets going forward.

With an international break between Gameweek 28 and 29 I may just make the Haaland to Watkins transfer and roll two free transfers to give me maximum flexibility.

📽️ My YouTube Content 📽️

If you want some more thoughts about my team then you can check out this video.

The Gameweek 28 Deadline Stream will start between 17:00 - 17:30 UK time on Friday evening.

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