⚽ FPL Gameweek 31 Tips

👋 Hello 👋

Welcome to the Gameweek 31 Newsletter! 8 Gameweeks to go...

Don't forget - Gameweek 31 deadline - Saturday 15 April, 11:00 UK ⏰

 🔥 Gameweek 31 - Hot Topics 🔥

Rashford Latest

Most discussions this week concern what to do with Marcus Rashford (£7.2m).

After Man United's 2-2 draw with Sevilla last night, Erik Ten Hag was asked whether there was a chance Rashford would be back for the return leg which is between Gameweek 31 and 32, he had this to say:

"There is a chance yeah, but I can't confirm it in this moment"

After that Sevilla game there is still the FA Cup Semi-Final against Brighton to be played before Spurs in Gameweek 33 which will be the next time Rashford would be needed in FPL (after this week).

If you're not Free Hitting in Gameweek 32 (or you are Wildcarding in Gameweek 33), there is probably more of a reason to consider selling him. While the Ten Hag update is positive, it's not a guarantee that he will be back soon. If you need someone that plays in Gameweek 32 I'd be looking at whichever Arsenal midfielder you don't own and can afford out of Bukayo Saka (£8.6m), Gabriel Martinelli (£6.7m) and Martin Ødegaard (£6.7m) - probably in that order of preference.

If you fancy a punt, Crystal Palace have great fixtures until the end of the season and a lot of people are looking at Michael Olise (£5.5m). I don't mind the pick but I do think it's a little kneejerk after the result against Leeds.

If you are Free Hitting in Gameweek 32 there's maybe more reason to hold onto Rashford. A lot of us have a good bench at the moment. For my team I could bench him and play Solly March (£5.2m) instead. That would then give me time to reassess from Gameweek 33 onward.

If you want to sell then the number one target is probably Jack Grealish (£7.1m). He's in great form with one goal and one assist in each of his last two games. His underlying numbers for the season are decent too - 0.22 xG, 0.30 xA per 90. Some of you might be thinking we've been here before with Man City midfielders, as soon as we buy them they get benched. I have those concerns too, but his minutes have looked great since the World Cup, and when Phil Foden (£8.0m) is fit again, he may end up playing on the right instead.

Other Man United Updates

Raphaël Varane (£4.8m) and Lisandro Martínez (£4.5m) both went off against Sevilla with injuries. At the moment there is no news on the severity of either injury.

If they do miss a meaningful amount of games it definitely weakens the Manchester United defence. It also means there's a chance that Luke Shaw (£5.1m) will be needed at centre back. He filled in there when Martínez was unavailable after the World Cup. This would dent his attacking potential but doesn't make him such a bad option that I would recommend selling.

Ten Hag was asked whether Shaw would be back for Nottingham Forest. He said there are two training sessions before the game so he doesn't know at the moment, but went on to say "But it can be that Scott [McTominay] and Luke [Shaw] return in the squad, but [we are] not sure".

I own Shaw and will be holding him. I may even start him this week and hope he's fit enough to be in the Man United starting XI.

📈 Transfer Activity 📉

Tyrone Mings (£4.5m) continues to be very popular, he has 116,463 new owners this week. Aston Villa have been keeping clean sheets for fun recently, they've only conceded two goals in their last six matches.

I do think part of that is the good fixtures they've had, especially at home - Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest. They also did well against Leicester (a) conceding just 0.48 xG, but against Chelsea and West Ham away, they conceded 4.31 xG but only one goal.

In the next six fixtures they have to play Newcastle, Brentford, Man United and Spurs. I'd be expecting the clean sheets to decrease and I don't see much upside in Mings right now.

Martinelli has returned in each of his last four matches and 331,317 FPL managers have decided now is a good time to bring him in. With Gabriel Jesus (£8.1m) continuing to build up fitness, it tends to be him that is subbed for Leandro Trossard (£6.7m). When Jesus and Trossard play as the number 9, they also tend to give Martinelli space to come central, more so than when Eddie Nketiah (£6.4m) was playing.

It's hard to ignore Martinelli's value and right now his minutes look as secure as they have been for most of the season. Even with Man City (a), Chelsea (h), Newcastle (a), and Brighton (h) between Gameweek 33-36, it's hard to find much better value players.

Owners of James Maddison (£8.2m) seem to have had enough, he's been sold by 157,228 FPL managers. It doesn't help that Leicester have Man City (a) up next and he's blanked in his last three matches.

Leicester have hired Dean Smith until the end of the season and I have to say that doesn't really make me any more excited about Leicester players than I was before. For most of you this seems like a good time to jump off, perhaps for Grealish. If you have other issues to deal with and aren't Free Hitting in Gameweek 32, Leicester do have some nice fixtures between Gameweek 32-35 with Wolves, Leeds, Everton and Fulham. Perhaps there will be some new manager bounce, surely Maddison can't keep being this bad for FPL...

👑 Captaincy 👑

There's not much to say - it's Erling Haaland (£12.2m), and it's going to be that way for most of the rest of the season unless he gets injured or we see some rotation around the Champions League which so far, we haven't.

The only two weeks I foresee Haaland not being the best captain is Gameweek 32 (where he blanks), and Gameweek 36 (where Brighton and Newcastle United are likely to Double with all other teams having a Single Gameweek).

But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself, lets get back to Gameweek 31.

Leicester have been rubbish, Haaland has been great - that's all there is to it, and that's the kind of analysis that keeps you coming back to this newsletter.

Harry Kane (£11.7m) is a good alternative if you're looking to do something different to the crowd. Not only has he already scored 23 goals this season, but he faces a Bournemouth defence that have only kept two clean sheets in their last seven games. Kane's 6.6 points per match is impressive, but it's no match for Haaland who is currently at 8.0.

If you want to go for a midfielder it has to be Mohamed Salah (£12.8m). It might be an away game, but Leeds have just conceded 5 to Crystal Palace at home. Salah really impressed against Arsenal and was perhaps a little unlucky to come away with just one goal. He's also a massive differential for Gameweek 31. Not just because most people will captain Haaland, but because a lot of people are blocked from being able to transfer him in right now. In a few Gameweeks that probably won't be the case.

💪 My Team 💪

My Gameweek 26 Wildcard has gone really well. Before that week I was ranked 392,127th, and now it's 91,163rd.

The problem is, this team was built 5 Gameweeks ago, and the issues are starting to crop up.

With a chance of Rashford being back for Sevilla, I'm going to hope that he's fit again by Gameweek 33 or 34 at the latest. I'm Free Hitting in Gameweek 32 so that week doesn't matter to me. I really like Grealish as an option, but I don't think I need to force it when I have March who can play instead.

I said last week that I wasn't sure if Ben Chilwell (£6.0m) was going to start, and he didn't. I'm now in the exact same predicament this week. He's suspended for the 2nd leg in the Champions League so doesn't need to be rested against Brighton. But because he got sent off against Real Madrid, Frank Lampard may decide to take him out of the team. On the other hand, Lampard really needs a win, and Chilwell could definitely play a part in that. If I had the money to buy Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m) in one move then I would, I just don't think it's worth a hit this week. I could buy a Man City defender but they play Arsenal in Gameweek 33, so I think I'd rather have Chilwell for Brentford (h). I'm going to hold him, but I'm not entirely happy about it.

If I do go through with holding Rashford, Shaw and Chilwell, it doesn't leave me many other transfers to make. Keep in mind that you can't roll a transfer when you Free Hit, so if like me you're Free Hitting in Gameweek 32, you need to use your transfer this week otherwise you'll lose it.

The original plan was to do David Raya (£4.9m) to Ederson (£5.4m). I have some worries that Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.7m) might lose his place though:

It would make more sense to lose Kepa in that case.

The reason for Ederson is the games Man City have after I Free Hit. Two Double Gameweeks to come and some great single Gameweek fixtures. He's the easiest route into the Man City defence because he's nailed on.

It's not a very exciting transfer, but I'm hoping it's effective.

I'll be honest, when I get close to tomorrow's deadline I may well just get Grealish in, but right now it's looking like a boring goalkeeper transfer.

Captain as above, it has to be Haaland, I'm not prepared to go through the pain of captaining someone else.

📽️ My YouTube Content 📽️

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

The Gameweek 31Deadline Stream should start 9:30am UK time on Saturday morning.

If you're not already subscribed, make sure you click here.