fantasy premier league GW31 – the fixture ease schedule

So the big blankweek of fantasy premier league GW31 is now upon us.  This week the fixture ease article is going to look a little different.  Here we will be concentrating on the teams in GW31 looking at the winning and clean sheet prospects.  Also for those without a wildcard we rank the teams up to GW33 from an attacking perspective.  There’s also the usual player suggestions.

fantasy premier league GW31 – the fixture ease schedule

So I imagine most FPL managers this week will be looking at a transfer target that plays in the big blank week of GW31.  Therefore we have isolated the teams with fixtures and used a bookies win odds from £1.00 invested to rank the teams.  We then look at their clean sheet prospects from a defensive point of view.

Firstly here’s a reminder of the fixtures:

If you haven’t been aware of the situation I haven’t missed any fixtures out,  it’s FA Cup quarters weekend and these are the reduced fixtures that don’t clash.

Before I go any further you may want to read my latest blanks and double gameweeks article.  It also outlines my plans for my remaining chips and how the blanks and doubles could lineup.

The win odds and clean sheet odds for GW31.

Here’s the odds to win and for a clean sheet from 1 bookie for £1 invested

The fixture ease schedule

My plan at the moment is to wildcard in GW32 to prepare for the double game weeks and just take the fact that I will likely only have 7 GW31 players on the chin.  So for my 2 transfers this week I’m only interested in GW31 fixtures

I thought, though,  if you don’t have a wildcard then your picks for GW31 maybe influenced by future fixtures.  As we don’t know where the fixtures are definitely going that have been postponed then I’ve only looked at the ranking to GW33.  It’s a pretty safe bet that no postponed fixtures will be before then.

So the fixture ease below is for attacking fixture ranking from GW31-GW33 inclusive:

Player suggestions from the GW31 teams

You can see who in a poll FFGeek readers thought was the most important non Liverpool GW31 player as part of my Captain Choice Article

Bournemouth

£5.9m Mid Junior Stanislas is my only choice here. He’s started the last 6 after injury although his minutes have been variable with only 90 minutes twice.  He’s scored 3 goals and 2 assists over that 6 game spell plus the sub appearance preceding it.  His underlying stats haven’t been particularly consistent but the last 2 games have been good.  He is a gamble but it’s a good fixture next

 West Brom (H)
Watford (A)
Crystal Palace (H)

WBA

Still no one for me.  The fixtures are good though

Bournemouth (A)
Burnley (H)
Swansea (H)

Huddersfield

£5.8m forward Mounie is the best option for me. The former Montpellier striker has now played 4 consecutive 90 minute games and has scored 2 goals and 2 assists in those 4 games.  Apart from the Spurs away game 3 of those games have produced pretty decent underlying stats

If you’re looking for a punt there’s also £5.4m CAM Pritchard who’s started the last 4 although the minutes have been quite variable.  He’s scored a goal and 2 assists in those games and there’s a couple of games with good underlying stats in amongst those.

Crystal Palace (H)
Newcastle (A)
Brighton (A)

Liverpool

The front 3 of Salah and Mane as Mids and Firmino as a forward  are the options here

£10.6m Mid Salah has 24 goals and 10 assists in 27 starts plus 2 sub appearances at a points per 90 of 9.3. Despite the  bonus gate he has done ok with 23.

£9.4m Mid Mane has 8 goals and 6 assists in 21 starts plus 1 sub appearance at a points per 90 of 6.1. In contrast to the other 2 the bonus system doesn’t suit  him with only 8 to date.

 £9.4m forward Firmino has 13 goals and 8 assists in 26 starts plus 3 as sub at points per 90 mins of 6.1 . The FPL bonus system suits him with 26 bonus points to date

Watford (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Everton (A)

Watford

Given the GW31 fixture away to Liverpool I find it difficult to suggest anyone here

Liverpool (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Burnley (H)

Crystal Palace

Both options are leaps of faith on potential rather than returns to date.

£6.8m Zaha should be fit for GW31 although the press conference on Friday will be mandatory viewing for those thinking of him.   He had his first 45 minute appearance against Chelsea after injury.  His stats are poor though with 4 goals and 4 assists in 20 starts plus 1 sub appearance.  His points per 90 is very poor at 3.2 and he’s yet to earn a single bonus point.

£7.6m forward Benteke has 2 goals and 7 assists in 21 starts plus 3 as sub.  His points per 90 is very poor though at 3.3 not helped by an inability to win bonus with only 5 to date.  Recent form has picked up though with 1 goal and 6 assists in his last 9 games.  His half time subbing was a little worrying which may have shown that new signing Sorloth could be an alternative in Hodgson’s mind.

Huddersfield (A)
Liverpool (H)
Bournemouth (A)

Stoke

This was written before the Stoke v Man City game on Monday night

£6.3m Mid Shaqiri is the option for me here. 26 starts plus 1 sub appearance for 7 goals and 6 assists at a points per 90 of 4.9.  Pretty ordinary underlying stats means he may need to keep scoring from outside the box to keep the returns coming

 Everton (H)
Arsenal (A)
Spurs (H)

Everton

Walcott and new striker Tosun for me here

£7.2m Mid Walcott has blanked in 5  successive games after commencing his Everton career with a goal and 2 assists in his first 3 games.  His performances have been a bit mixed and certainly Brighton last week was a quiet one.

 £6.7m forward Tosun maybe worth a punt and after a very slow start to his Everton career he has now scored in his last 2 games although apart from the goal it was a pretty ordinary performance v Brighton.

Stoke (A)
Man City (H)
Liverpool (H)

Follow us on twitter and facebook for article updates and news.

GEEK LEAGUES

Fantasy Premier League: 5379-1967
Sun: FantasyFootballGeek SGDKX9Y3
TFF: FantasyFootballGeek PIN 8000919 Passcode 1159
Sky: FFGeek 8310511