⚽ FPL Gameweek 30 Tips

👋 Hello 👋

Here we go then, the final stretch, just 9 Gameweeks to go.

After a high scoring Double Gameweek 29 we're back for a more "normal" week in Gameweek 30. There's still plenty to discuss however with some key players still flagged.

Before we get into all that, if you have any feedback about the newsletter, or think you can help me sort out a website to host it, get in touch at [email protected] 

Don't forget - Gameweek 30 deadline - Saturday 8 April, 11:00 UK  ⏰

 🔥 Gameweek 30 - Hot Topics 🔥

Haaland.....back?

After missing out completely against Liverpool in Gameweek 29, it looks like Erling Haaland (£12.0m) is potentially back for Gameweek 30.

The Manchester City social media team have been keen to let us know he's back in training.

We'll need to wait and see what Pep Guardiola says about him in the press conference, but it looks likely he'll be involved in some way against Southampton. I think they will be keen to get some minutes into his legs ahead of the Champions League quarter final first leg vs Bayern Munich. 

I know some people think he'll be rested because the Bayern Munich match is important, but if that happens it will have been four weeks since he last played, he may need the minutes to be ready.

If you can get him in for free I'd be tempted to go ahead and get the move done. If it's for a hit, or if you have to sell Harry Kane (£11.7m) who plays Bournemouth (h) in Gameweek 31, I'd be a little more cautious.

If you're skeptical about his minutes, or you don't fancy him as a captain option, you can delay the move until next week. Man City have Bayern Munich, followed by Leicester (h) in Gameweek 31 then the Bayern 2nd leg, however, it's a Tuesday - Saturday - Wednesday turnaround, so if fit you'd expect Haaland to start all three games.

Luke Shaw Worries

After some big discussions around bringing in Man United players for Gameweek 29, both Luke Shaw (£5.2m) and Bruno Fernandes (£9.6m) ended up blanking in both games.

The fixtures are still good going forward, but unfortunately Shaw did go off with an injury against Brentford which is why he missed the clean sheet points.

At the time of writing we haven't heard from Erik Ten Hag, but there are reports that the injury isn't too serious.

It seems unlikely that he'll play against Everton (h) in Gameweek 30, and he may miss Nottingham Forest (a) in Gameweek 31 as well. 

If you're on a Free Hit for Gameweek 32 I'd be tempted to hold him if you have options on the Bench because Man United will Double in Gameweek 34 which is confirmed, and are likely to Double in Gameweek 37 as well.

If you aren't Free Hitting in 32 and you don't have good cover, you could look to sell him if Ten Hag rules him out until Gameweek 33 at the earliest. 

Rúben Dias (£5.9m) looks to be the most nailed Manchester City defender right now, although Nathan Aké (£5.0m) gives you a cheaper route into the Man City defence. Keep in mind they also blank in Gameweek 32.

If you want someone cheaper that also covers Gameweek 32, Aston Villa might be the team to target. They have three home fixtures in the next four including Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Fulham. Alex Moreno (£4.4m) is probably the most exciting option, but I'm always slightly worried about Lucas Digne (£4.6m) making the odd appearance. The safest pick would be Tyrone Mings (£4.4m). 

📈 Transfer Activity 📉

Ben White (£4.8m) is the most popular defender transfer in this week with 155,840 new owners. He's scored twice and got an assist in the last four Gameweeks. With Takehiro Tomiyasu (£4.2m) injured for the rest of the season we shouldn't see much rotation for White.

As good as Arsenal have been this season, Liverpool (a) is a tough game to keep a clean sheet in. If you can, I'd delay bringing in an Arsenal defender until Gameweek 31. In general they don't have great fixtures in the next 5 Gameweeks so don't be rushing to buy one either way.

Despite Jack Grealish (£6.9m) playing really well for Man City for a number of weeks now, there's nothing like one goal, one assist against Liverpool to make us take note of him as an FPL option.

At his price it's tempting, especially as he seems to have that left wing spot nailed down. I think with Man City I'd never be 100% confident of starts every week, but he's playing well enough that you can't imagine he'd be benched often. The next two fixtures look primed for attacking returns - Southampton (a), Leicester (h). They also have a Double Gameweek in 34 vs Fulham (a) and West Ham (h). Just keep in mind that if you're not Free Hitting in Gameweek 32, Grealish will blank that week.

With 0.20 xG and 0.30 xA per 90 this season and ownership of just 3.5%, he's a big differential for the next few weeks.

👑 Captaincy 👑

Captaincy is likely to come down to your minutes expectations for Haaland. If you think he's going to get 65-70 minutes or more then there's every reason to consider him as the best captain option.

I'll be honest, at the time of writing I'm struggling to decide what I think will happen. I do think there's a good chance of a start, they're going to want him match fit for the Champions League. But are there some doubts? Absolutely. He could just come off the bench for 30 minutes instead.

If you're not going to go for Haaland then Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) is my favourite pick. He's facing an Everton defence that hasn't exactly been solid under Sean Dyche. This is the xG conceded in his five games so far:

• Arsenal - 2.6

• Nottingham Forest - 0.8

• Brentford - 2.0

• Chelsea - 2.3

• Spurs - 1.4

Rashford also played up front against Brentford. I don't think this necessarily makes him a better FPL option, but I do think it helps Man United overall.

Outside of that Kane is always an option, he's been Mr Consistent. He's hit an impressive 6.5 points per match this season and despite not being sure about Spurs in general, Kane keeps delivering. My only worry is having to play against Brighton who I feel right now play with a lot more energy and Spurs might find this hard to deal with which would limit their attacking potential.

If you want someone with an easier fixture then it's Ollie Watkins (£7.5m). Since the World Cup he's only blanked in three games and he didn't even start one of them. Nine goals, three assists in that time, a very good record. Nottingham Forest have looked poor recently and pressure seems to be building, I think they're going to really struggle against Aston Villa. 

💪 My Team 💪

After a score of 147 (-4) I'm finally into the top 100,000 for the first time this season - 93,437th to be precise.

I'm almost out of Chips, just the Free Hit left. I think at this stage I'm committed to using it in Gameweek 32. It allows me to keep my Manchester United, Brighton and Manchester City players who all Blank that week, but have at least two Double Gameweeks from Gameweek 34 onwards. I don't have any Man City players at the moment, but that'll change soon.

With Shaw I'd ideally want to keep him. It's frustrating that he's going to possibly miss a couple of good fixtures, but he's a good long term pick. I could pivot to David De Gea (£5.0m) for my third Man United player but I don't think it's worth the extra transfers. I will just play Sven Botman (£4.5m) if needed this week. If Shaw was ruled out for 4-6 weeks then things might change, I'd be tempted by Tyrell Malacia (£4.2m) who should cover at left back for United.

The main reason I sold Bukayo Saka (£8.6m) instead of Martin Ødegaard (£6.8m) in Gameweek 29 was so I had enough cash for Haaland this week. I've got £5.3m sitting in the bank. My plan is simply Ivan Toney (£7.9m) to Haaland with my one free transfer. Toney is one yellow card away from a two game suspension. If you don't need to sell Toney this week, don't feel like you have to, he's available for Newcastle (h). For my team, if I'm getting rid of any of my forwards, Toney is the one at most risk of missing out soon so he has to be the one sold ahead of Kane and Watkins.

Captaincy is currently on Rashford but I'll have to see how I'm feeling about Haaland's minutes. If I feel there's some risk there I'll keep it on the Man United man. 

I do have some minor concerns about Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.7m) and Ben Chilwell (£6.0m) but not enough to do anything with them this week. Frank Lampard is taking over Chelsea for the rest of the season and in the past he has preferred Edouard Mendy (£4.8m) in goal. I'm looking to buy Ederson (£5.4m) in Gameweek 31 anyway, so if Kepa is dropped against Wolves I'll just remove him instead of David Raya (£4.9m).

There's a chance Lampard will move to a back 4 which would make Chilwell a slightly worse option. I'm hopeful he'll stick to a back 3 as Chilwell and Reece James (£5.8m) are two of Chelsea's most threatening players when in their wingback role. The other issue is Champions League. Chelsea have Wolves (a) before Real Madrid in the first leg of the quarter final. It's possibly Chilwell could miss out this week or in Gameweek 31. For now there's just not any other defenders I feel like I'm missing out on, so I'll hold Chilwell and hope for the best. Given how well he's been attacking recently, he's due a big haul soon too.

📽️ My YouTube Content 📽️

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

The Gameweek 30 Deadline Stream should start 9:30am UK time on Saturday morning.

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