Here’s our FPL team tips GW27 article where the 1st group of the FFGeek contributors show their teams for GW27. In this article there’s current FFGeek contributors Joseph Crilley, Rob Reid, Rick Porter, Andrew Whitfield, Mikael Danielsen and Alex Ball
FPL team tips GW27 – FFGeek contributors show their GW27 teams part 1
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Introduction
This is part 1 of the FPL managers who contribute to the FFGeek site with good histories who show their teams each week. This will give people a feel for what other managers are doing. It’s a fairly informal thing with no obligation on anyone and these teams may change at anytime before the deadline without further notice. It won’t cover transfers in real time either. It’s just to give an idea of the trends for the week no more.
Joseph Crilley
Joseph’s last 3 seasons OR were 28k, 7k and 13k
GW26 points: 71 (FPL average 56) Total points 1,542 Gameweek rank 1,047k, Overall Rank: 37k, green arrow 13k, Team Value: £106.0m
Joe has used his Triple Captain chip
I have used the winter ‘break’ in order to assess the situation regarding the GW31 blank and work out the optimal plan for using my chips. Ultimately, I have decided that wildcarding in GW32/33 while playing the bench boost for GW34 makes plenty of sense which just leaves the free hit and the logical plan has been and remains to use that in BGW31. However, I have used my Patreon transfer planner and there is a scenario developing where I could save the free hit to be used in the late double gameweek which revolves around Liverpool. If they were to be knocked out of the FA cup (not unthinkable with Klopp’s approach to the competition so far), then it would suddenly be fairly easy for me to get 11 players out in that week. See the Geeks article on navigating the blanks and doubles as well
Therefore, I am keeping that in mind with my transfers which makes Wolves a key team as they are guaranteed not to blank in GW31 while the fixture list is promising in the meantime. A home fixture against Norwich is the dream entry point so I am looking to make my moves this week as part of only my second hit all season. My two-week punt on Mahrez lasted significantly longer than anticipated, but his time is finally up and he will be replaced by the roadrunner Traore. With Lundstram seemingly having lost his place, I am also bringing in a Wolves defender and the additional cash allows Doherty to come in who I really fancy as an option over the next few weeks. The presence of the aforementioned Traore has seen him venture into the box more which has meant an increase to his already impressive goal threat which I’m hoping reaps it rewards.
West Ham at home for Salah this week means that I won’t be overthinking the captain choice and the Egyptian will be handed the armband once again. Here’s hoping that he can replicate the haul that hurt me during the double gameweek!
Good luck all and may your arrows be green!
Transfer Summary: very likely Mahrez & Lundstram out to Traore & Doherty in
Follow Joe on twitter here
Here’s the team prior to the transfers
Rob Reid
Rob’s last 5 seasons overall rank were 148k, 94k, 22k, 4k and 7k
GW26 points: 65 (FPL average 56) Total points 1,524 Gameweek rank 1,849k, Overall Rank: 69k, green arrow 7k, Team Value: £105.3m
Rob has used his triple captain chip and his 2nd wildcard. See his article for dealing with the blanks and doubles here
GW26 review
The 12 day marathon that was GW26 finally ended on Wednesday night – it was certainly a long drawn out process that made me think of it a bit like an episode of a Game of Thrones. Cue strange ideas about Manchester City battling through a never-ending winter storm with King Kevin De Bruyne concluding proceedings by vanquishing the enemy and stealing the show with a 14 point haul. Ok so that got a bit weird. Onto how my team did!
2 weeks post Wildcard II and pleasingly it was a second green arrow. It was a slow start to things with only 2 players playing in the first weekend and Jimenez my only participant in the middle Friday – this left me on a grand total of 6 points going into Saturdays games with a standing GW rank of 6 million.
Not to fear though, 3/4 returns on Saturday with only (c) Salah blanking in gale force conditions at Carrow Road. Satisfyingly all 3 returners also racked up bonus points, as did my 2 returning Sunday players – Grealish and Aubameyang. Finally there was De Bruyne’s haul on Wednesday which nudged my rank up a little bit more leaving me with 6/11 returners and a small green arrow. Not quite setting the league on fire, but an ok week as we start to move towards the upcoming blank gameweeks. Let’s have a look at what GW27 holds….
GW27 Team
2 free transfers and 0.2m in the bank. It’s all about planning for the blank GW28 now and at present I have 6 non-players so I need to start making some moves here. First on the chopping block is David Silva, a 2 week punt that didn’t really work out. He’s also yellow-flagged now after going off late in the West Ham game so he’ll be departing this week. Coming in will be Harvey Barnes. He’ll be benched for this week, he’s more of a nod to GW28 and beyond where Leicester’s fixtures go very green for a stint.
I’m undecided as to whether I’ll use my second transfer and will probably make a final call on this on Friday night, but if I do it will probably be Doherty for Baldock. There’s pros and cons to this move. The pros are a good GW27 fixture, a fixture in GW28 (albeit a tricky one versus Spurs) and then good fixtures after that. He’s also an attacking threat, though there is some debate as to whether he’s as effective an assist threat this season with where Traore is playing. The cons are his price, blunted assist threat compared to last season (as just mentioned) and also possible rotation with Wolves Europa League fixtures. I’ll mull this over the next couple of days and Wolves’ Europa League team selection may influence this too.
Looking further forward, I was looking to move Vardy in for Aubameyang next week. However, I really like Auba’s fixtures and am keen to preserve transfers where possible. I do though have some concerns about Auba’s position. At times he looked more like a wing-back against Newcastle even if he did take his goal well and has always been a player where stats kind of go out the window. As for Vardy, If I make the Doherty move this week, this will give me 11 players for GW28 so I might bank the transfer and run the risk moving forward. I’ll watch the Leicester v City game and do a bit of scouting on Vardy I think!
For my team this week, my bench will be Stephens, Barnes and Lascelles. No real debate on my captain pick – Salah versus West Ham is a no-brainer and I think I’ll stick the Vice on Ings versus Villa (just in case.) All the best for GW27 folks – hope you enjoy the games!
transfer summary: D Silva out and Harvey Barnes in and possibly Baldock out and Doherty in
Follow Rob on twitter here
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
Rick Porter
Rick’s last 3 seasons overall ranks were 1k, 30k and 2k.
GW26 points: 60 (FPL average 56) Total points 1,523 Gameweek rank 3,006k, Overall Rank: 72k, red arrow 5k, Team Value: £106.0m
Rick has used his triple captain chip
What Next?
Gameweek 28
Transfer
Bench
Transfer Summary
Captain
Andrew Whitfield
Andrew finished with an overall rank of 6k last season and 19k in 17/18
GW26 points: 64 (FPL average 56) Total points 1,488 Gameweek rank 2,158k, Overall Rank: 197k, green arrow 11k, Team Value: £104.0m
Andrew has used his 2nd wildcard and his triple captain chip
Well finally GW26 is over !!! That was one of the slowest, longest, at times dullest, yet also controversial ( VAR again !! ) and dramatic gameweeks I can remember. It seemed like we had more storms than games at times as Ciara and Dennis swept in. It feels like we have had thirty episodes of Coronation Street and a change of Prime Minister since GW26 began !! I certainly can’t remember a game postponed and replayed ten days later in the same gameweek !!
In the end, I was just grateful of a green arrow. 64 points gave me an 11k green arrow, up from 208k to 197k. That’s back to back green arrows and up 82k since I played my wildcard in GW25 so that’s progress at least.
My GW26 summary:
– I didn’t have a player on day one, then my two Blades and two Wolves blanked, so from having just seven points after four games, it was something of a relief to get six returners from my last seven players. A blank from Aguero certainly got me off the hook in the last game !! So I will take that and move on.
– My three week differential gamble on Aubamayang over Vardy is 10-4 in my favour after two weeks following his headed goal, Danny Ings continued his hot streak and his first goal for me, so I haven’t broken him after all. The influential Grealish was unlucky to have just a solitary assist to show for his efforts, and the impressive double Liverpool defence has now conceded just one goal in eleven games !! De Bruyne was sublime to round off my six returners.
– Jimenez and Traore could easily have returned too and Jimenez in particular should have done. Oh my word Traore is fast . A blank from captain Salah was disappointing. There was emerging speculation that Salah might be away on paternity leave, then speculation the Norwich Liverpool game may be off too. If the City game had not been rearranged so quickly and Salah had been on baby duty, the FPL world would have been in captain and vice captain meltdown. So goodbye to GW26 – finally !!!
So what next ?
– I have 0.2M in the bank and one free transfer. I am writing this before Thursdays Europa games so holding off the transfer until then. Every transfer you make now should be done with the multiple blank gameweeks and double gameweeks in mind. It’s that stage of the season where if you don’t plan ahead, you can wake up on a Saturday morning with five players in your team. It’s important that you have a strategy to navigate the big blanks and doubles and that will what drives every transfer from here !!
Firstly GW28:
– Remember that there are four teams with no fixture in GW28 due to the league cup final so make sure you don’t over commit on Man City, Villa, Sheff Utd and Arsenal.
– I currently have five GW28 blankers, but keeper Henderson will be covered by McCarthy. I plan to bench two and sell two to give me 12 players for GW28. I don’t want to risk benching three and running with just 11 in case of rotation and injury. I simply have to keep De Bruyne, especially as there is a chance of a late GW29 double for Man City. I was going to offload Grealish due to tougher fixtures but I am finding it difficult to drop the Villa talisman so he stays too.
– So I will play Aubameyang this week at home to Everton as the final game of his three match cameo, and then swap him to Vardy next week when Arsenal don’t play and Leicester have Norwich at the start of a great run of fixtures that I am hoping can re ignite Vardy. So I will have to lose my double blades defence with O’Connell. I still have Henderson. Blades fixtures stiffen soon and so I am going for Boly as Wolves by contrast have some tasty fixtures ahead. If Boly comes through his Europa game, I will make that transfer this week as he plays Norwich, then make the Auba to Vardy move next week.
A possible Man City double in GW29:
– This is possible but not confirmed. So is it worth keeping two City players on your bench through GW28 in case. They are highly likely to rest key players this weekend ahead of Real Madrid, then they blank. If they do have a double, then I have De Bruyne but what are the chances of Aguero playing twice if they do ? I wouldn’t be confident of the likes of Mahrez and Silva playing twice. If you fear an Aguero double gameweek, then you might want to hold two transfers for GW29 in case. I will probably just keep De Bruyne.
The big blank GW31:
– We won’t know for sure until the FA cup 5th round wedged between GW28 and GW29, which teams will blank in GW31 when the quarter finals are held. Currently there are only two confirmed fixtures, and we will probably only get four or five. If Liverpool happen to win at Chelsea, it could be GW31 carnage and if you don’t still have your free hit, you could easily be playing “five a side”
The big double weeks:
– These are going to be in GW34 and GW37 when all the postponed games from both cups will be rearranged to. So ideally you need a plan to have as many players as possible in those two gameweeks that play TWO games..
My chip strategy from here:
– With GW31 being potentially tricky, one option is to free hit in GW31, then wildcard ahead of one of the two big double gameweeks to load up on doubles and then bench boost in one if the doubles. It’s a solid plan.
– A lot of top managers are now looking to “ride” GW31, especially if you have three Liverpool and can get three Wolves, who could all play in GW31. If by chance or good planning, you have a few from Burnley, Watford etc and think that Everton v Norwich will survive, its very viable to build nearly a full team, then save your free hit for one of the big two double weeks.
BUT – What if you have already wildcarded ??
For me that changes things significantly. I currently have five likely GW31 players, so to get that up to 8-10 before GW31, means I ultimately have to then get them quickly back to double gameweek players before the big double gameweek players. And without the wildcard, that transition is really not good. I really don’t think I could get enough double gameweek players in. I currently have 10 players with a likely double. So my plan is very clear and I really think the same applies to those who have already wildcarded.
– So play normally now to jump on great fixtures, free hit in GW31 with a full squad of GW31 players, then I am very well placed to just add a few extra doubles to those I already have. I don’t have the wildcard but I really don’t need it as I have the doubles already if I am not building for GW31 players. I can bench boost in GW34 or GW37 depending on which looks best, and I have plenty of doubles for both. There are some single gameweek players that will be needed too so 10-12 doubles will be enough. I am very happy with that plan and I am very confident I can safely navigate the blanks and doubles ahead !!!
My team line up this week:
– On paper, it couldn’t look much better. I have nine players at home, triple Liverpool at home to West Ham, triple Wolves at home to Norwich if I make the Boly switch, Auba at home to Everton, Ings at home to Villa. It looks tasty !!
Captain will definitely be Salah at home to West Ham.
Good luck everyone in GW27 !!
Transfer summary: Likely transfer will be O’Connell to Boly.
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
Mikael L Danielsen
Mikael’s last 3 seasons overall rank were 12k, 100k and 5k
GW26 points: 69 (FPL average 56) Total points 1,457 Gameweek rank 1,312k, Overall Rank: 404k, green arrow 67k, Team Value: £104.7m
Mikael has used his triple captain
I’m most likely carrying over a FT.
You can follow Mikael on twitter here
Cap and bench is still not clear but here is the team at the moment
Alex Ball
Alex’s last 5 seasons overall rank were 523k, 17k, 10k, 28k and 3k
GW26 points: 63 (FPL average 56) Total points 1,432 Gameweek rank 2,222k, Overall Rank: 648k, green arrow 22k, Team Value: £105.0m
Alex has used his triple captain chip and his 2nd wildcard
A small green up to 648k. Still feels nice to be moving in the right direction and a jump of 1.3million in 3 weeks.
A captain fail but returns from 6 players was enough to keep the dream of 100k finish alive.
On to this week. 2 frees and 0.8 in the bank. I literally have no idea. I could go Lascelles/Stephens to Boly as both Newcastle and Saints (I also have McCarthy in goal) are struggling for clean sheets and Wolves look good since Bolys return. I have to be mindful of BGW28 as I still have 4 players. De Bruyne likely stays but Stevens to Boly, Grealish to Harvey Barnes or Aubameyang to Vardy are all on the cards. De Bruyne likely stays now.
Captain will be Salah. Good luck all!
Transfer summary: To be confirmed
Follow Alex on twitter here
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made. I will try and update it if possible
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