Here’s our FPL wildcard team GW17 article where I pretend I’m using my wildcard. This is to give you transfer suggestions for the GW17 with more longevity than just 1 gameweek alone.
FPL wildcard team GW17 – the FFGeek imaginary wildcard
If you join our Patreon subscription site one of the FFGeek contributors does an imaginary wildcard article every gameweek. There’s loads of other features which you can see at the bottom of this article.
Introduction
The idea of this article is to bring together the other articles of the gameweek.
The article is brief as there’s loads of information on individual players in the rankings articles:
Unfortunately I’ve yet to do a forwards player rankings but the form article has alot of information
There’s also:
You can also see who the 10 top FPL managers I follow each week have in their team. You can also see which players have the best fixtures in our fixture ease article
There’s also who I’m thinking of in my article early FFGeek team thoughts
There’s also the contributors teams for GW17 part 1 and contributors teams part 2 and contributors team part 3
Then there’s who the FFGeek readers are transferring in and out as well as our captain poll
There’s also Rob Reid’s GW17 player picks
The FFGeek imaginary wildcard team
Here’s the team. It’s TV is £104.3. You should treat it as a menu of players to help your transfer decisions.
Structure
The structure is flexible and I’ve tried to put in players who can all affect a game for GW18 when Liverpool and West Ham don’t have a game due to a postponement.
I think the primary formations will be 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. I can’t see any of the front 3 being benched.
Goalkeeper
I’ve gone for Guaita here. He’s a good shot stopper in a team forced to defend as a way of getting results due to an inability to score goals.
In reserve I’ve gone for West Ham’s replacement while Fabianski is injured in Martin.
Defenders
I’m finding it impossible to think that Man Utd’s good underlying stats won’t get clean sheets eventually so I’ve gambled on Harry Maguire. They have a good run of fixtures now so if it’s ever going to be turned around now is the time
Budgetary constraints have meant I’ve gone for the cheapest Leicester defender in Soyuncu. Leicester have been the best defensive side in the league so far this season and Soyuncu’s price makes him a more palatable bench option for some tricky upcoming fixtures. Chilwell is the more attacking option if you’re thinking of potential attacking points rather than benching.
Alexander Arnold is my Liverpool defensive choice. The fixtures and the blank coming up aren’t ideal but he is a good attacking option and like Man Utd you think those underlying defensive stats have to be rewarded for clean sheets eventually. Warning he is on 4 yellow cards so 1 more before the end of GW19 and he will be suspended for 1 match. As I said above Liverpool’s GW18 game is suspended anyway. An alternative is £7.1m Andrew Robertson if that spooks you. See below for more information.
Another on 4 yellow cards but hard to ignore is John Lundstram the Sheffield United midfielder classified as an FPL defender. Enda Stevens would be the alternative Sheffield United defender or you could put their GK Henderson in and go for Kelly of Palace instead therefore keeping the same team defence balance.
Lastly I’ve gone for cheap Wolves defender Saiss. Wolves are one of the better defensive sides and he’s great value. They also have Norwich in GW18 when you’re likely to need him to play.
Midfield
First up with 3 good fixtures next is the primary midfield benchwarmer Fleck of Sheffield United who has produced some reasonable stats for his price. He is another 4 yellow card risk so alternatives could be Mooy of Brighton at £4.8m or £5.2m Traore of Wolves
Even with the GW18 blank and tough fixtures I’ve stuck with representation of the Liverpool attack. I’ve gone for Salah over Mane as he now seems to have shaken off the injury that caused him problems. They have similar underlying stats but as I’ve said before Salah shoots more and is on penalties when Milner isn’t on the pitch. However either are good options
Similar to Liverpool I find it difficult to go without a City attacker so I’ve gone for play maker De Bruyne. It’s possible that £7.6m David Silva could provide a similar cheaper function but he is an injury doubt going into this weekend.
Despite 4 blanks I’m sticking with Pulisic. Of those 4 games he produced little vs Man City and Everton but was good in both the West Ham and Villa games without returning. Overall his underlying stats and advanced position still make him an excellent prospect.
Lastly I’ve gone for Jack Grealish. He unfortunately is another guy on 4 yellows. An alternative would be El Ghazi of Villa at £5.5m who is cheaper and has excellent underlying stats. His position in the team is a bit more susceptible to the vagaries of the manager than Grealish.
Forwards
Hopefully Vardy needs no write up.
Jimenez is a good option for GW18 vs Norwich where him and Rashford could be a captaincy factor as Chelsea play Spurs and Man City player Leicester and Liverpool have no game.
Lastly there’s the aforementioned Rashford. It was a difficult one between him and the FPL midfielder playing as a CF in Martial. I could easily have gone for Martial and Abraham instead of Pulisic and Rashford. Rashford’s penalty duties and reliability in making the field were the primary factors.
A further mention of yellow cards
As I said I’ve picked 4 players with yellow cards who need to get through GW19 without another booking to avoid an annoying 1 match suspension. Especially if it is in GW18 where Liverpool and West Ham don’t play. I have given alternatives if that spooks you though.
Here’s the list from the site statbunker. Interestingly it conflicts with other lists that I’ve seen but not in the most crucial players. At the moment I cant get the FA site to work so it is what it is.
Here’s the list anyway of players on 4:
More content
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