⚽ FPL Gameweek 36 Tips

👋 Hello 👋

We had a whole week without a Double Gameweek but don't panic - they're back! In fact, they're back to back. These are the teams doubling:

• GW36: Brighton, Newcastle United

• GW37: Brighton, Man United, Man City, Chelsea

Don't forget - Gameweek 36 deadline - Saturday 13 May, 11:00 UK ⏰

As we get closer to the end of the season I wanted to try and gather some feedback about the newsletter. Is it something you'd still want to read next season? What would you like to see changed? Let me know - [email protected]

 🔥 Gameweek 36 - Hot Topics 🔥

Isak vs Wilson

Whether to go for Alexander Isak (£7.0m) or Callum Wilson (£7.1m) or even both has been a big topic of conversation this week.

As a reminder, Newcastle have a Double Gameweek of Leeds (a) and Brighton (h).

Isak has started eight of the last ten league games, whereas Wilson has only started three times. Two of those were during midweek matches with a quicker turnaround, and one was against Arsenal in Gameweek 35 where they both started together for the first time in the league.

The reason they started together was partly performance, but also because Sean Longstaff (£4.3m) was injured. This meant Joelinton (£6.1m) had to move into midfield, leaving a gap on the left for Isak to play with Wilson as the number 9.

At the time of writing we don't know how long Longstaff will be out for, but if it's for another week or so that could mean Isak and Wilson starting together again. It's not the only solution Newcastle have though - Anthony Gordon (£5.1m) or the fit again Allan Saint-Maximin (£6.1m) could line up on the left leaving just one of Isak or Wilson playing as the lone front man.

With Saint-Maximin only just back from injury he may well be benched again and Gordon hasn't exactly looked great in a Newcastle shirt so there's a good chance we will see Isak and Wilson lining up together against Leeds at least, with perhaps just one against Brighton.

For anyone with an easy route to go for both players, it looks like a nice differential this week, you'd hope that they get at least one start each. A lot of us are "stuck" with double Newcastle defence from when we Wildcarded, so to have their two best attackers with a fixture against one of the worst defences in the league and also a Brighton side that just shipped five to Everton looks good.

On that note, I'm not convinced taking hits to move from double defence to attack is worth it. It looks okay for Gameweek 36 but I don't think it's really worth it for Gameweek 37 and 38 where getting two starts from each looks more difficult. Newcastle only have two clean sheets in their last fifteen (15!) league games, but they have continued to defend well overall. I would save my points and hope they can nick a clean sheet in one of the games.

If you can only go for one of Isak or Wilson I think it has to be Isak. Given the number of starts he's had it seems clear he's the first choice number 9. In fact when Newcastle brought Saint-Maximin on against Arsenal it was Wilson who was subbed and Isak moved central.

When they're both on the pitch together Wilson seems the slightly bigger goal threat, but we don't have a huge sample of matches to go on. Overall I just back Isak for more minutes which is why he'd be my first choice, but as I say, if you can go for both it may very well be worth it.

Solly March injury

After being benched for two games in a row, it got far worse for Solly March (£5.3m) owners against Everton when he pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury.

After the game Roberto De Zerbi couldn't say how long he would be out for but it didn't look good. At the time of writing we haven't had the Brighton press conference but I would assume he's out for Gameweek 36 and probably Gameweek 37 as well. Make sure you wait for news just in case though.

There's not necessarily a rush to sell him this week, especially if it's going to cost you a hit - lots of people have a decent bench that they could use instead.

If you are going to sell him then the two most obvious replacements are whichever of the other Brighton midfielders you don't own. My favourite would be Kaoru Mitoma (£5.6m), and if you already own him then it has to be Alexis Mac Allister (£5.5m).

It no doubt feels a little too obvious, and perhaps even a bit boring? But sometimes the obvious moves are the best. Brighton have four games in the next two Gameweeks and even if there is a bit of rotation I still think they're well worth it because of their incredible value.

If you don't want to take a hit and you don't have cash to buy Mitoma or Mac Allister then options are a bit limited.

To stick with Brighton you'd have to take a punt on Facundo Buonanotte (£4.5m). He is the one who looks most likely to benefit from March being out as he started right wing in the last two games. He didn't really impress though and I don't think he's a guaranteed starter. For the money he might be a punt worth taking, I'd just worry that Julio Enciso (£4.6m) might be tried there who is listed as a forward.

If you want a Double Gameweek player from Newcastle instead then you have a couple of options. Joe Willock (£4.7m) looks nailed and is boasting an impressive 0.26 xG and 0.21 xA per 90 minutes - not bad for someone so cheap. Alternatively there's Jacob Murphy (£4.2m) who has stared four of the last five league games. The only issue is, he's not completely nailed as Miguel Almirón (£5.4m) could take minutes off him. If I was going for one of those two I'd probably pick Willock.

Benching Dilemma

One of the struggles a lot of us are having is whether to play Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.7m) or one of our Brighton defenders like Pervis Estupiñán (£4.9m) and Lewis Dunk (£4.8m).

It's not often I'd consider benching a Double Gameweek player but Brighton do have two very tough fixtures for clean sheets - Arsenal (a) and Newcastle (a).

I wouldn't say a clean sheet is guaranteed for Liverpool though. They have Leicester (a) - a team that are really struggling for points, but not necessarily goals. In fact they've only failed to score in one of their last ten games, and are facing a Liverpool side that have only kept two clean sheets in that same time.

From an attacking perspective there's no question who's the better option, Alexander-Arnold boasts an impressive 0.07 xG and 0.34 xA per 90 minutes, compared to Estupiñán at 0.05 xG and 0.16 xA.

That being said, Estupiñán does get two bites at the cherry. The problem is it's not just hard to keep a clean sheet in the games Brighton have, it may be difficult to keep the score down. Once Arsenal and Newcastle start scoring more than one goal you're losing points for goals conceded. They aren't just strong sides in attack either but also defence, so picking up attacking returns could be difficult, definitely more so than getting to play Leicester.

I honestly think the decision is quite close and I'm torn. I hate benching Double Gameweek players, but it does feel crazy to even think about benching Alexander-Arnold, and at the moment that's who I'm playing...

📈 Transfer Activity 📉

If you're looking outside the Double Gameweek options, Martin Ødegaard (£6.7m) is very popular this week with 145,117 new owners.

It's hard to argue against this pick with five goals in this last five games. Arsenal's remaining fixtures are Brighton (h), Nottingham Forest (a) and Wolves (h). Even if the league is over by Gameweek 38 you would think Mikel Arteta would want to finish on a high and Wolves are a team that could allow that.

I still prefer picking penalty takers where possible, so Bukayo Saka (£8.1m) would be my preferred Arsenal midfielder. If you can't stretch to that kind of money then Ødegaard is a great option still.

Man City have a good fixture this week against Everton (a). Everton may have had a great result against Brighton in Gameweek 35 but it seems unlikely the same will repeat this week.

Despite that, 163,695 managers have sold Jack Grealish (£7.2m) who was benched against Leeds last week. With a second leg against Real Madrid to play on Wednesday we could see more rotation against Everton, but with the title race still on, maybe not as much as people are expecting.

I do think there's a chance Grealish plays, but it's hard to guarantee and with Phil Foden (£8.0m) lurking, maybe now is a good time to jump off of Grealish.

If you're in a position where you could bench him I'd be tempted to do that instead of selling. Grealish is the first choice for the left wing position and could start both games in Double Gameweek 37 and while on paper the fixtures don't look great, both Chelsea (h) and Brighton (a) are fixtures Man City could easily score 2-4 goals in.

👑 Captaincy 👑

Both Erling Haaland (£12.4m) vs Everton (a) and Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) vs Leicester (a) have good Single Gameweek fixtures this week, but with only three weeks remaining I would be looking towards a Double Gameweek option.

With Newcastle's fixtures they are definitely the team I'm looking to target. As I mentioned above I do think Isak's minutes will be better than Wilson so he'd be my top captain option. The Leeds vs Newcastle game is the first match of Gameweek 36 so we might get some early team news. If we find out Wilson is starting you could captain him as a differential option.

After that it's probably between Mitoma, Mac Allister and even Kieran Trippier (£6.1m). It's fair to say Trippier has been poor from an FPL point recently, he's only returned in two of the last fourteen (14!) matches.

That being said, we know what he's capable of. I think Newcastle could pull off one clean sheet in this double and we know how good Trippier is for bonus when that happens. Couple this with his attacking potential and all I'm saying is don't write him off.

If you want to stick to attackers only then Mitoma and Mac Allister would be my choices after Isak and Wilson.

💪 My Team 💪

After 11 green arrows in a row I finally got a red arrow in Gameweek 35, falling a massive 407 places - current rank: 40,408.

There's not a huge amount to think about for me this week. The Double Gameweeks mostly guide my decisions at the moment.

I've got two free transfers and a March injury to deal with so I'll be moving him to Mac Allister - not one to overthink.

I don't really see a use for my second transfer, and ideally I will save it all the way until Gameweek 38. The only thing that might tempt me is if Isak doesn't start and Wilson does - I might make that switch. But I'm fairly confident that Isak will start against Leeds and therefore he'll be my captain.

At the moment I'm playing Alexander-Arnold over Estupiñán but I'm not happy about it and it could change before the deadline.

I'm playing Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.6m) over Ederson (£5.4m) purely because he's at home. There's not much to split them this week. I'm just hopeful that an Everton side that have Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m) looking fit again will have enough to wipe the clean sheet for Ederson. It would be typical if he finally keeps one while on my bench though!

📽️ My YouTube Content 📽️

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

The Gameweek 36 Deadline Stream should start at 9:30am UK time on Saturday morning.

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