Here’s our fantasy premier league wildcard tips GW5 article where 4 of the FFGeek contributors Rob, Joseph, Alex and Scott provide imaginary wildcard articles to help you pick your wildcard team. It should also be helpful generally for transfer suggestions
fantasy premier league wildcard tips GW5 – Rob, Joseph, Alex and Scott with their imaginary wildcards
Rob Reids imaginary wildcard
Rob finished with a rank of 94k last season 22k in 16/17 4k in 15/16 and 7k in 14/15.
Here’s a potential Wildcard draft if I were to play it this week.
First up the core. There’s the early season holy trinity of full-backs – Alonso, Mendy and Robertson. Salah and Hazard are the premium midfield options, although Mane could easily be subbed in here. Certainly on form, he deserves a place but I worry about GW5-8 with him facing 3 of the Big 6 – his recent record against these isn’t as good. Aguero is the premium forward – he should come back refreshed from the International Break with him not in the Argentina squad.
Now the rest. First up rotating keepers in Patricio and Bettinelli, looks like the latter is now the favoured choice at Craven Cottage. This gives you a nice run of home fixtures between the 2. Wan-Bissaka is the cheap filler with Holebas getting the other spot. Holebas is a bit of a card magnet but he’s getting assists aplenty. Moura gets the 3rd midfield spot, though his gametime will need monitored when Son HM is back. He could easily become Richarlison once the Everton man’s ban is finished. Hughes and Ward are the cheap enablers.
Ings and Mitrovic get the other 2 striker spots. The team is designed to be able to work in several formations, depending on fixtures and form. I have considered a couple of other options. Shaw still looks a good option at the back, if nothing else he covers De Gea’s high ownership. A bit of tweaking and he could come in for Holebas. There’s also no Arsenal coverage, but Ramsey or Mkhitaryan can easily be brought in. I’d actually favour Lacazette at the moment for The Gunners though he’d be difficult to work in budget-wise.
The team is based on my current squad value of 101.6m – if you’ve carried the likes of Mendy, Robertson and Aguero from early on, it should be workable for you. Hope this helps!
Joseph Crilleys imaginary wildcard
Joseph finished with an overall rank of 7k last season and 13k in 16/17
If I were to have the opportunity to activate my wildcard over the international break (unfortunately I already used mine in GW4), I would like to target the key premium players first and then build around them. Salah is still important in my mind and I wouldn’t want to risk going without him with his high ownership, though I can certainly see why some people are tempted. Aguero continues to look the best premium striker option for me and I’m a big fan of Hazard right now so they both join the Liverpool man. I have then been able to slot David Silva alongside them, who has posted some great underlying stats recently, by saving some money with the selection of players such as Wilson, Ings and Alexander-Arnold.
In defence, I have included the obvious Mendy and Alonso combination who are joined by the two £4.0mil defenders who appear to be fairly secure in Wan-Bissaka and Bennett. Behind them, I have opted for the 8.5mil Brighton combination as they have a great long-term schedule. Finally, Maddison is my choice of mid-price midfielder with some nice fixtures, though he could easily become Richarlison in a week or two if required, and I have selected Hughes as my attacker who would likely reside on the bench most weeks.
This team looks fairly balanced and I like the four premium attackers that I am able to fit in. There are some players such as Mitrovic and Robertson who I would like to squeeze in, but unfortunately you can’t have everyone! Hope all the tinkering goes well for those wildcarding this week!
Alex Ball’s imaginary wildcard
Alex finished in 17k last season 10k in 16/17 28k in 15/16 and 3k in 14/15
If I was to wildcard now I’d stick with a 3-4-3 formation. I haven’t done research into which formation is welding most points but simply gone with my gut feel on the players I’d want.
I’ve stuck with the three current best scoring defenders that I feel can maintain their scoring. Holebas is tempting but I feel Watford will regress. The keepers are more than likely just Patricio but statistically I think Wolves have shown they will be ok defensively.
I’ve gone for a big midfield of Hazard, Salah and David Silva. Hazard and Salah speak for themselves and Silva has excellent stats from the Newcastle game and certainly passes the eye test. Fraser and Demari Gray fight it out for the £5.5m spot.
Upfront it’s the must have of Kun with the two value picks I most favour currently.
Good luck if you’re wildcarding now.
Scott Hargadon’s imaginary wildcard
Scott finished with an OR of 70k and 21k OR in 16/17.
It’s the International Break and everyone, or at least a lot of managers, are playing their wildcard. I decided to look at the pros and cons for my team in a systematic way. I currently sit with an Overall Rank of 14,900, which I am happy with of course. If I play my WC now, will I forestall a decline in rank? Will it be sustainable over a long period? Keep in mind that if we play our WC now it could be until GW 31 or 32 before we have another to play because it makes sense to hold the second WC for a double gameweek.
My team looks like this:
So despite my above average rank, I have some issues to deal with:
Bernardo Silva was rotated for the first time, he does not appear to be that involved in the City offense and with Champions League play upcoming I do not want to hold any Man City mid other than perhaps David Silva.
My two week punt on Theo Wolcott turned out badly with his injury. There is no sure return date although he does have two weeks to heal. I am planning to put Richarlison back in his place in GW6.
Arnautovic looks good but is in a team with no form and very difficult fixtures looming.
Luiz is not enough Chelsea cover; ideally I would like Alonso who may be the most important FPL player right now (have you seen the games? He is like a forward) and Hazard although I am wary of his inconsistency. And having three ‘Pool players is not ideal with a tougher upcoming schedule in the PL and Champions League games. I foresee major rotation by Klopp and he has the horses this year to do it.
Hamer is injured and I would like to upgrade him to a secure keeper at 4.5 or thereabouts.
So after playing around with various lineups, this is my proposed wildcard team:
In: Maddison—I like his proximity to and activity around the goal. Great upcoming fixtures. Leicester look to be an attacking squad based on the games I have watched.
In: Mitrovich—most shots in the box of any player and he can score a number of ways. Fulham fixtures turn better after GW6.
In—Hazard and Alonso. See above.
In—Holebas. He could be the most improved player in the PL so far. Less yellow cards, more accurate crosses, better defending.
In—McCarthy—so far a great shot stopper on a so-so defense.
In—Shaw. He looks very skilled and offensive minded and you have to figure they will improve their defence.
In—Hojbjerg. Cheap filler of fifth mid slot.
I really like this team. I think it offers value at virtually all positions and if Kane needs to be added Hazard or Salah can be sacrificed.
However, is it really that much better than my current squad? Is there a way to improve my team without playing the WC or absorbing multiple hits?
Alonso is the first priority. I do not have the funds to do a direct Luiz to Alonso swap but if I trade out Bernardo Silva for Maddison I do have the funds. Arnautovich can wait a week as WHU is at Everton next GW. Richarlison is on suspension until after that same week and Walcott may be back from injury. So my needs are not totally immediate and Mane can score against anybody. In fact, Pool does well against teams that don’t sit back and defend. Holebas is not a must have for now with Watford’s schedule becoming harder.
So I decided NOT to play my WC, but to take a -4 and do BSilva and Luiz to Alonso and Maddison. Next week I may do Theo to Richarlison or Arnie to Mitrovich. Each week brings new challenges and I tell myself to be patient. Given my rank I can take a hit or maybe even two in order to improve my team for the longer haul.
See also our 10 top FPL managers article, the underlying stats GW4 article, the early thoughts on the FFGeek team article and thefixture ease article
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