Here’s our fantasy premier league wildcard tips GW19 article where I pretend I’m using my wildcard. It gives player suggestions with more longevity than just for the up coming gameweek. There’s also a guest imaginary wildcard from Sergio Torija finished with an OR of 17k last season and 21k in 16/17
fantasy premier league wildcard tips GW19 – the FFGeek and Sergio Torija’s imaginary wildcard
Here’s our imaginary wildcard team:
Structure
Basically the team could play 3-4-3 or 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. There’s good depth in there with only Hojbjerg being an every gameweek bench option. The team is around £105m
Goalkeepers
Fabianski
Despite my scepticism of the West Ham defence as a clean sheet producer Fabianski is a good shot stopper and will accrue save points and bonus points. Only Hart has made more saves and the next best total of bonus points is 7 against his 11.
3 good fixtures next.
Southampton (A)
Burnley (A)
Brighton (H)
Arsenal (H)
Bournemouth (A)
Wolves (A)
Button is the non playing reserve GK who will get gametime when Ryan goes to the Asian Cup later in January
Defence
Luiz
If there was more budget I would definitely have Alonso in my team as I think there’s alot more to come from him. However Luiz at least covers the clean sheets and Chelsea have some decent fixtures which should hopefully see clean sheets
Watford (A)
Crystal Palace (A)
Southampton (H)
Newcastle (H)
Arsenal (A)
Bournemouth (A)
Morgan
After the Wolves defence Leicester is the next best in the £4.5m range and although I’m surprised he does play the fact is that Morgan has started the last 8 games. Fixtures are irrelevant to some extent as with his price he is easily benchable for the poor fixtures
Man City (H)
Cardiff (H)
Everton (A)
Southampton (H)
Wolves (A)
Liverpool (A)
Lovren
I’d prefer Alexander Arnold or indeed the premium options of Van Dijk and Robertson but with Alexander Arnold not certain to start in a plum home game against Newcastle then the temptation is definitely to go with Lovren for budgetary reasons over the more expensive options
Newcastle (H)
Arsenal (H)
Man City (A)
Brighton (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Leicester (H)
Doherty
As I said above Wolves are the best cheap defence and Doherty an attacking option with better underlying attacking stats than Alonso.
Fulham (A)
Spurs (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Man City (A)
Leicester (H)
West Ham (H)
Wan Bissaka
A cheap defender who gets bonus points with clean sheets in a team that can hold it’s own defensively at home
Cardiff (H)
Chelsea (H)
Wolves (A)
Watford (H)
Liverpool (A)
Southampton (A)
Midfield
Salah
He may have a bonus points problem and a couple of tricky fixtures on the horizon but only Sterling and Sane come even close to him underlying stats wise. The Sterling vs Salah decision is one of the most crucial FPL managers are facing.
Newcastle (H)
Arsenal (H)
Man City (A)
Brighton (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Leicester (H)
Hojbjerg
Just a bench player who has shown some more box to box potential under the new manager
West Ham (H)
Man City (H)
Chelsea (A)
Leicester (A)
Everton (H)
Crystal Palace (H)
Martial
A great performance v Cardiff under the new manager has seen alot of FPL interest in Man Utd assets. Paul Williams has done an excellent focus article on them which is a good reference point. I think long term gametime wise Pogba is the safest but for me Martial is the best value for his potential. He does face competition from Sanchez and Rashford but his form has been good and Sanchez can play RW. A gamble but one with good fixtures and at a good price
Huddersfield (H)
Bournemouth (H)
Newcastle (A)
Spurs (A)
Brighton (H)
Burnley (H)
Sane
It’s a fairly overstated line but Sane should have decent gametime prospects given he is the best option for the width on the left given Mendy’s injury. He’s started 7 of the last 8 games.
Leicester (A)
Southampton (A)
Liverpool (H)
Wolves (H)
Huddersfield (A)
Newcastle (A)
Richarlison
Richarlison has a decent run of fixtures coming up and even though he may not be a CF every time and I have some scepticism over his underlying stats I still see him as a decent option given his template classification from my 10 top managers articles
Burnley (A)
Brighton (A)
Leicester (H)
Bournemouth (H)
Southampton (A)
Huddersfield (A)
Forwards
Kane
Kane the CF is just a plain deadly shot monster as he showed v Everton. Why he ever drops deep when he can finish like he does is beyond me. His stats aren’t 17/18 Kane but they’re still pretty handy given the start he had and some of the positional issues.
Bournemouth (H)
Wolves (H)
Cardiff (A)
Man Utd (H)
Fulham (A)
Watford (H)
Ings
Great value with great underlying stats and penalty duties and cheap enough to be benched for tricky fixtures.
West Ham (H)
Man City (H)
Chelsea (A)
Leicester (A)
Everton (H)
Crystal Palace (H)
Aubameyang
Realistically the reason for the budgetary constraints but to be honest I struggle a bit with some of the cheaper options apart from maybe Chicharito who is an injury doubt anyway.
Still some very good fixtures left and as a CF his underlying stats are excellent.
Brighton (A)
Liverpool (A)
Fulham (H)
West Ham (A)
Chelsea (H)
Cardiff (H)
Sergio Torija wildcard
Sergio finished with an OR of 17k last season and 21k in 16/17
Those managers still with the first wildcard at hand will need to use it during the next week, whether it is in the lead up to GW19 or GW20. While the choice will depend on each individual manager team needs, I would prefer activating it in the lead to GW19, so that was from Friday 21 at 19pm UK time. This because there is more days from the gameweek start till the deadline, and also because in GW19 the fixtures of few teams take a significant turn, whether to the good or the bad.
The team below fits within a budget of just below £104m, which many will be able to get. The team is very fixtures focused, picking players that I think will not suffer excessive rotation over the busy Christmas schedule, although getting free of rotation won’t be completely possible.
Goalkeepers
Fabianski seems the best budget goalkeeper pick of the moment, despite last weekend defeat. West Ham are in a good run of victories and with still good fixtures in the horizon. Not too many clean sheets to date, but they should come, and if not Fabs still finds ways to return points with saves, bonus points and even good at saving pens.
Hart is my back up goalkeeper, I really hate not having 2 playing keepers and finding out that my keeper is not in the squad. Hennessy’s owner last week will know what I am talking about. So happy to dedicate an additional £0.5 to get that peace of mind. Also Hart rotates really well with Fabs for West Ham encounters against top opposition.
Defenders
Alonso is seeing sales lately since he has been quieter than normal in attack. But the potential is still there and the run of games is excellent. So I am keeping him.
Lovren is my other semi-premium defender from the currently best defence in the league. With the many injuries in Liverpool back line, he should play every game for the next month.
Digne has proved a revelation of late, taking on set pieces and being an attacking force. Everton defence has improved too, Spurs last week apart, and there is no top 6 opposition in the next 8.
Shaw is all about fixtures and the positivity created at Man U following Mourinho exit. 4 home games in the next 6, against the flawed attacking powers of Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Brighton and Burnley.
Wan-Bissaka is my fifth defender, fixtures are mixed, but Palace defence is arguably the best in the bottom half teams. Wan is always a good shout for a clean sheet with bonus points in home games.
A special mention here for Doherty, who just misses out. I don’t expect clean sheets in 3 of the next 4, but still a very good option and certainly one to look at for the new year.
Midfielders
Salah is my top midfielder of choice. It will take a very brave manager to play the wildcard this week and go without the Egyptian king who has one extra day of rest than everyone else to face Newcastle at home. He has also picked up form of late.
Sane takes the obligatory Man City midfield spot. The guy is in excellent shape and seems indispensable for City on that left flank. I would still probably prefer Sterling if they were similarly priced, but the fact is Sane is almost £2m cheaper
Son HM is another guy in really good shape. He seems to be the main man in Spurs attack at the moment and I feel he won’t be rotated too much over the Christmas. This is a short time investment though, available for the next 4 gameweeks, but will then leave for the Asian games.
Martial was the only shining light in the last games of Mourinho until he got a muscle injury. Now without Mourinho we should see more attacking play and Martial should thrive. Again, great fixtures with 4 of the next 6 at home against theoretically weak opposition.
Snodgrass completes a strong midfield. He’s been returning well in the last few games and good fixtures are still in the horizon. Go for Anderson if budget is not an issue.
There are many other good choices in midfield, Richarlison just misses on my team but could come in when Son leaves. Hazard too would be a nice to have, a move from Salah to Hazard could be on the cards in one or two weeks’ time when Salah plays vs Man City while Hazard will face two easy home matches.
Forwards
Kane has to be the man leading the line in the next couple of months, fixtures are great and he should play most games. The one thing currently missing is for him to actually start playing number 9 and leave the ball-carrying duties to the many and good Spurs mids.
Mitrovic is a bit of a gamble, Fulham are playing pretty poorly, but 2 consecutive home games against Wolves and Huddersfield are an exciting prospect. The next 3 are tough though, so might require a transfer down the line.
Ings has returned from injury in hot form and Southampton are on the high of the new manager appointment. At £5.5m you can’t get it too wrong even if fixtures are mixed.
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