Here’s our FPL GW38 Tips article where 4 FFGeek Contributors show their FPL GW38 teams Part 1. There’s Andy, Stephen, Rob and Andrew’s teams. Between them they finished in the top 1% of teams 8 out of 12 times in the last 3 ULTRA competitive seasons.
FPL GW38 Tips – 4 FFGeek Contributors for Gameweek 38 Teams Part 1
Introduction
It’s worth noting that the teams shown may not necessarily end up being the final teams or the transfers may have been made in the days prior to the posting . It’s an informal situation to give you an idea of trends.
However the FFGeek team, the Transfer Planner Team and the Contributor Vote team Plus the Contributor teams of Rob, Rick, Andrew, Pete, Javier and Joe mentioned above on the FFGeek Patreon site all make notified transfers live as they are completed. So you’re always up to date and live for a maximum £3 PCM.
The 20 top FPL managers average refers to the 20 top FPL managers who finished in the top 10k Overall Rank the last 3 seasons. See my article analysing their teams
Andy Jones
Andy Jones last 3 seasons overall ranks are 14k, 12k and 12k
GW37 points: 63 (20 Top managers average 57 ) Total points: 2,385, Overall Rank: 1.2k, no rank movement, Team Value: £104.6m
Andy has used his TC, WC, BB and FH
GW37 review
63 points and a red arrow to 1203 overall.
A frustrating week. I had said I was undecided on my keeper for this week but that I was favouring the one with the home fixture. I decided to change my mind just before the deadline and went with the keeper whose team I thought had more to play for. I should have stuck with my instinct of playing the player with the home fixture. The result was a 9 point difference.
I also brought in Dewsbury-Hall and Thiago this week both of whom blanked. To add insult to injury I bought Thiago for DCL who scored in added time. Thankfully I got the Arsenal combination right and, as a result, my rank was only very slightly negative. The captaincy choice between Haaland, Bruno Fernandes and Saka didn’t have any major implications with only one point difference between all of them.
GW38
So we reach the final game week. Arsenal winning the title before GW38 means that we have no real idea of how they and Man City are going to line up on Sunday. I could spend between now and the deadline speculating but unless we hear anything in the press conferences I will just play my Arsenal and Man City trios and hope for the best. I only have one free transfer and I don’t intend to take a hit so I will probably use that on bringing in a player from teams that have something to play for (and a home fixture!).
We are just picking for one week; no need to think about future fixtures and team structure. It’s a straight choice between who we think is going to get the most points this week. I have a few transfers in mind. I am looking at either Pedro Porro, Jarod Bowen or Richarlison. Initially I was favouring the Spurs defender to give me more bench depth if there is major rotation but if Joao Pedro is injured then he is more likely to make way for Bowen or Richarlison. The only other players that crossed my mind this week were Palmer and Szloboszlai but neither really excite me. Bowen hasn’t scored since GW24 so hardly on a hot streak but I do think the upside is there with West Ham fighting for survival, similarly Richarlison has every incentive to perform. If I had to pick now it would be Bowen but I am going to wait for any team news and make my decision much closer to the deadline.
The arm band is currently on Haaland. Villa have qualified for the Champions League and I assume might have had a couple of beers after victory in the Europa League final. I also think City will want to give Pep a suitable send off. I just have to decide if I think Haaland starts and plays decent minutes. As I said above, I have no way of knowing but my gut says that he will and that’s all I have to go on.
This could be a week of major swings. I wouldn’t be surprised at a top 1k finish or a drop of over a thousand points. Obviously I’d rather it was the former but I do think this week is a bit of a lottery. With only one free transfer and potentially major rotation on the horizon luck is going to play a bigger role than normal.
On a personal note I have to say that I haven’t enjoyed the football as much this season. Wrestling in the box and the way VAR is used have to be sorted out but at least I wont have to watch Pep spitting next season. I’m sure we’ll all be devouring the fixture list as soon as it’s released working out who has the best fixtures for the first few GW’s. Best of luck for the final week and have a good break. Enjoy the World Cup and be ready to go again in August.
Transfer summary: Likely Joao Pedro OUT to Bowen IN.
This is the team and bench before any transfer.
Rob Reid
Rob’s last 10 seasons overall ranks were 47k, 122k, 29k, 66k, 12k, 148k, 94k, 22k, 4k and 7k
GW37 points: 57 (20 Top managers average 57) Total points: 2,288, Overall Rank: 61k, red arrow 11k, Team Value: £104.9m
Rob has used his TC, WC, BB and FH
GW37 Review
As endings to an FPL season goes, this certainly isn’t turning out to be a good one. Indeed, my season has fizzled out over these last couple of weeks – from a season high of 35k overall going into GW36 to 26k lost and an OR of 61k at the end of GW37. Frustrating to say the least, though again to be fair – if you’d offered me 61k going into GW38 at the season start I’d have taken it.
Lots of things went wrong to contribute to my demise this GW. My 2 Brighton defensive assets contrived to together blow an impending double clean sheet against a team that hadn’t had an attempt on target in the 95th minute. Then there was the news of Gyokeres being benched for what looked like a great fixture on paper. The final nail in the coffin was another benching for Cherki although at least he did match Semenyo’s score by the end of the game. My saving grace was getting the correct Captain pick, albeit by only a point. Indeed Saka could have scored much more but alas I had to make do with an assist, surprising DefCon and some bonus. It’ll do.
I go into the last GW of the season then with 2 things on my mind. First up is try to make sure I stay in the top 100k. I’ve got about a 17 point buffer so I’ll probably be ok here. The second thing though would be to try and push back into the top 50k – I’m 7 points off this, so I have to think positively in that I probably only need to nail one slight differential return to do it.
GW38 Team
2 free transfers, 1.0m in the bank.
With Arsenal having now wrapped the league up, I’m glad I banked that second transfer last week………..
You can see the full article, including LIVE transfers, lineup and captains at the Wide Forward Tier of the FFGeek Patreon site for only £3.00 pcm with loads of other content outlined at the bottom of this article. That includes following Rob’s Team and 5 others with live notified transfers as they happen and the teams final lineup each gameweek
Stephen Troop
Stephens 7 of the last 9 seasons top 86k OR
Follow Stephen on twitter here
GW37 points: 68 (20 Top managers average 57 ) Total points: 2,234, Overall Rank: 231k, green arrow 22k: Team Value: £103.1m
Stephen has used his TC, WC, BB and FH
GW37 Review
A bit of a meh gameweek but a green arrow at least. Quite a few returns, Haaland, Bruno, Saka, Calvert-Lewin and double Arsenal defence but were all highly owned outside of Calvert-Lewin.
Captain Bruno Fernandes could have had much more but in the end it was even between the main captaincy options. Darlow’s 11pts on the bench annoying but I was always starting Verbruggen.
GW38 Team
1FT and £1.2m ITB………
See the full article and team on the FFGeek Patreon Site for £2.65 PM plus loads of other FPL Content outlined above
Andrew Whitfield
Andrew’s best overall ranks are 6k and 19k
Follow Andrew on twitter here
GW37 points: 69 (20 Top managers average 57 ) Total points: 2,155, Overall Rank: 820k, green arrow 61k: Team Value: £102.7m
Andrew has used his TC, WC, BB and FH
Hi everyone
I’m not planning to do an end of season review after GW38, so this will be my final article of the season, ahead of the last weekend of FPL, before we switch off and turn our attentions to the summer World Cup.
It’s been a rollercoaster, as always, in what has been a significantly different season, what with “double chips”, “Afcon transfers” and of course “defensive contributions”, none of which I’m a huge fan of. But it definitely does add a new dimension to the game. We’ve also seen plenty of VAR intervention and controversy but that’s another conversation.
Most premier league teams have employed a different approach this season, with less flowing football and the emphasis on set pieces, long throws and wrestling auditions at corners. This, combined with “Defcon” has meant a change in FPL approach. A new breed of optimal players has emerged. In truth, I’ve probably been a bit slow to react.
This game has certainly got more difficult, with a mix of tougher pricing, an explosion of content available to more managers and we’re now competing with about 11 Million others !! The good news is that we’ve got you covered with some amazing Geek contributors.
It’s not been the season I wanted, in terms of my final rank. My worst for nine seasons. It doesn’t take many 50-50 calls to go the wrong way, for your rank to go backwards and make the task so much harder. It’s often fine margins. I’m pleased that I’ve stuck at it and remained positive in adversity.
I feel it’s seasons like this when you learn the most. I’ve invested a lot of time recently in identifying some tweaks to my strategy. It’s made me more determined to come back stronger and crack the code next season. I know I’ve got the tools and skills to do much better.
I hope I’ve brought something to the table that’s helped all those that have been with me for the journey and been regular readers of my articles this season. Your messages of support are always a big motivator.
So enjoy the final gameweek, and the World Cup. I wish you a happy and healthy summer with your family and loved ones and let’s get this final article out there !!!
Gameweek 37 Review:
An eventful five day gameweek, punctuated by the FA Cup final, Arsenal were crowned champions after they won and Man City didn’t, the relegation battle will go to the last day after Spurs and West Ham both lost, Bruno Fernandes equalled the Premier League assists record, only one point separated popular captains Haaland, Saka and Bruno Fernandes, and news broke that Pep will leave in the summer !!
A goal from Havertz gave Arsenal the all important 1-0 win over Burnley, in a game where he was also fortunate not to be sent off. A 95th minute Haaland equaliser was all in vain as their 1-1 draw at Bournemouth ended their title hopes. And 3rd placed Man Utd beat Forest 3-2 thanks to a controversial referee override of a VAR intervention and Mbeumo’s first goal in 11 games from that Bruno assist.
Villa beat Liverpool 4-2 in an entertaining game in which Watkins and Van Dijk both scored twice. Spurs failed to get the point they need to stay up after losing 2-1 at Chelsea. So West Ham are still alive despite losing 3-1 at Newcastle.
Elsewhere, a 96th minute Calvert Lewin goal from a poor backpass gave Leeds a 1-0 win over Brighton. A brace from Dango Outarra helped Brentford draw 2-2 with Palace. Sunderland had a surprise 3-1 win at Everton. And it finished 1-1 between Wolves and Fulham.
My GW37 score and rank:
I had SIX returners in a score of 69 points, which was 16 points above the overall average and 8 points above the benchmark elite manager average, so that’s a strong week. It was also the 4th best score amongst the 19 contributor teams, which is always a good indicator.
A Gabriel and Saliba double Arsenal clean sheet, assists from Bruno and Saka, plus goals from Haaland and Calvert Lewin. 12 additional bonus points helped boost the score.
A 61,000 place green arrow, up from 882k to 821k, after two red arrows had stalled momentum. Thats actually 8 green arrows in the last 11 weeks, from the depths of 2.3M, so I’m at least recovering some respectability over the closing weeks.
My GW37 significant moments:
There were lots of twists and turns, ups and downs, ifs and maybes, and it might have been a lot better but the cards did generally fall in my favour.
The biggest decision was which 3rd Arsenal player to bring in v Burnley, alongside Gabriel and Saka. In the end I chose correct. Doubling up on the Arsenal defence was perceived as the low upside option when Arsenal were fancied for a goal fest.
I brought in Saliba, expecting a 2-4 point gain on playing him over Van Hecke. Arsenal had clean sheet odds of 65% compared to 27% for Brighton. Maybe a 6-2 or 6-4, depending on if the Brighton man hit Defcon. But Van Hecke just missed his Defcon threshold and conceded with the last kick. And Saliba picked up bonus and beat him 8-2 !!
I was 0.1M off doing Joao Pedro to Gyokeres which was definitely the high upside pick. A blessing really as I’d probably have gone there. Joao Pedro was a surprise no show and I picked up 2 auto sub points from Tavernier instead. But equally surprising was a benching for Gyokeres who scored just one point. I could have done Tavernier to Trossard and played him over Gross but that wouldn’t have worked out either.
So boring proved best with Saliba. Arsenals fourth consecutive clean sheet. There was always the Havertz risk to the minutes of Gyokeres and so it proved. There was a real opportunity for Joao Pedro to drive home the advantage from going double defence and Gyokeres missing out, so Pedro not being in the squad in the final game was as unlucky as the Gyokeres benching was a let off.
Saka’s 20 pointer as captain in that game was perhaps fortunate, given that he had just one assist and outscored Bruno Fernandes who had two “FPL assists”. Bruno could’ve had 5-6 assists in that game too. But a Saka clean sheet point, bonus points and Defcon boosted his score. Minutes were a concern but he played 97 mins, he beat Haaland and Bruno and heavily outscored Gykores captains.
The Haaland and Bruno attacking returns worked against me due to captain volumes and being over 100% effective ownership around my rank. But the 97th minute Calvert Lewin goal from a defensive mistake, from Leeds’ only shot on target was a welcome and lucky boost. Plenty were on double Brighton clean sheets, so the DCL goal v my keeper Verbruggen was a definite positive.
There was more Cherki benching woe. That’s now an early sub, followed by three benchings. The Semenyo to Cherki transfer has backfired but it was absolutely the right move at the time, on current form and the extra funds were needed to get both Saka and Saliba. At least Semenyo was subbed early and they both scored one point each.
I got the keeper choice spectacularly wrong in terms of points. 11 v 2 !! But having brought Saliba in and benched Van Hecke, I was always playing Verbruggen over Darlow. Brighton had better clean sheet odds than Leeds, which was borne out by their respective “xG” in that game. Right call, bad outcome.
But a strong week, and no complaints in comfortably outscoring the vast majority of elite managers this week.
So what next ??
Just one gameweek to go !!! All ten games are played simultaneously on Sunday afternoon, so a hectic final day is in prospect.
With Arsenal having wrapped up the title one week early, we now have the recipe for GW38 chaos, as many of us are tripled up on both Arsenal and Man City players, with neither team having anything to play for, so a real possibility of mass rotation, particularly Arsenal who have a champions league final to prepare for.
Will Arsenal give players a rest, half a game maybe, or plenty of minutes to “stay in rhythm”. Will Man City give minutes to fringe players, or go strong in Pep’s last game at the Etihad. The truth is, we just don’t know and can’t be sure.
For many, positions in mini leagues and target ranks will be a driving factor in determining what to do this week. If you’re defending a lead, then playing safe is the name of the game. If you’re “chasing” then punting on a very low owned differential or going a bit rogue for captaincy, or both, is the way to go for one last push.
The final games have a reputation for GOALS, unpredictable line ups and plenty of surprises. I’m sure that Sunday will be no different.
Looking at transfer activity, it’s Jarrod Bowen who leads the transfers in, for a game that West Ham have to win. The Forest pair of Anderson and Gibbs White, plus the Liverpool pair of Szoboszlai and Virgil are also popular, as is Calvert Lewin.
Thiago is most sold ahead of a trip to Liverpool, with Wilson, Rogers, Pedro, Cherki and Gyokeres also on the chopping block.
My GW38 plans:
I have ONE free transfer and £0.4m ITB…..
You can see the full article, including LIVE transfers, lineup and captains at the Wide Forward Tier of the FFGeek Patreon site for only £3.00 pcm with loads of other content outlined at the bottom of this article. That includes following Andrew’s Team and 5 others with live notified transfers as they happen and the teams final lineup each gameweek
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This season also Andrew, Rick, Rob, Pete and Joe’s team you can following including live transfer notifications and final lineups on the Wide Forward Tier of the FFGeek Patreon site.
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