Here’s our FPL wildcard teams GW34 article where the first FFGeek contributors show their early wildcard drafts. We’ve got Joseph Crilley, Sergio Torija, Robert Cosgrove, Alex Ball and an imaginary wildcard from Rob Reid in this article.
FPL wildcard teams GW34 – 3 FFGeek contributors with their early wildcard drafts
Remember these are early drafts to give you some ideas on which to start your wildcard drafts. It is likely that these widcards are being set up with the intention of being bench boosted or triple captained in the double gameweek 35.
Joseph Crilley
Joseph finished with an overall rank of 7k last season and 13k in 16/17. Joe’s current rank is 51k. He has a bench boost and triple captain left
Initial wildcard thoughts
Finally the time has arrived for me to click the wildcard button and clear out all the players that I had brought in for the blank weeks to be replaced by more of the exciting options! For your reference, I still have both the bench boost and triple captain available so I am looking to have 15 players to use in DGW35 and I will triple captain a premium option during the last three single gameweeks. I will quickly outline some brief thoughts on assembling my wildcard squad which will help to explain my decisions:
– From the remaining 6 fixtures for Spurs, 4 are at the new stadium with the away fixtures including a trip to struggling Bournemouth while the other is included within their double. Therefore, I am looking to triple up in the hope of the new stadium having a positive impact over the remaining weeks
– On the contrary, Arsenal play 4 of their 6 games away from the Emirates. They have failed to keep an away clean sheet all year while there is major rotation in the attack, even for Aubameyang, so I am avoiding completely for now.
– It’s a similar story for City so I will probably only have one attacker as they tend to deal out big wins at home. However, I am fond of including one of their defenders for the run-in as I suspect the title race will result in less complacency and more clean sheets as they seek to close out wins.
– I still would like to keep a Liverpool defender and attacker despite their lack of double given their form over the season, especially the defence. On the other hand, I will possibly not have any Chelsea assets due to their continued inconsistency.
– Man Utd have a tough double, but some nice fixtures around this mean I would still prefer to have at least some attack representation, but Pogba’s form is a concern and I am not sure on his inclusion currently
– Southampton players look good given their form, value and promising final three fixtures
– I like double Brighton defence for their double in GW34, though I may look to sell one of those players immediately given the difficulty of their DGW35
So that’s some of my reasoning behind the wildcard choices and below is the current squad!
Goalkeeper
In goal, I have elected for Lloris as my main keeper as he is the cheapest option from the Spurs defence and actually only trails Allison in PPM from keepers to have started more than 10 matches. If there was a secure full-back, then I would likely look to include them given the attacking threat that they carry, but the rotation is too much of an issue for me, even if Aurier is injured.
Foster is my other goalkeeper as Watford have a great pair of double gameweek fixtures and he is maybe the only player who should be 100% to start both games.
Defence
The above selections mean that I am going for an outfield double-up on the Brighton defence – both Dunk and Duffy carry a major goal threat as part of side with a great set-piece record. Laporte is the obvious selection for City, but please note that he will replace Doherty in the image below who I am holding for now given the amount of cash I have tied up in him. That is also the case for Robertson, though he could easily stay as my Liverpool representation; essentially it is a coin toss between him and Alexander-Arnold which mainly depends on whether I require extra money.
A cheap Southampton defender looks a great option with the bench boost in mind and I have gone for Bednarek, though Valery is a potential swap for 0.1 more.
Attack
I am fairly settled on my premium options where the price difference is enough for me to include Mané over Salah while I have elected for Sterling instead of Aguero given his higher PPM over the season and stronger away form. These choices also enable me to choose Kane who has a history of finishing the season strongly and will likely thrive from the new stadium buzz – he also looks a great captain option in any of the remaining gameweeks which helps to warrant the price. My choice of Spurs midfielder is currently Eriksen who is typically less likely to be rotated compared to Son and the Dane has found some form lately, posting impressive underlying stats for shots and chances created.
Joining Kane as part of my forward line are who I believe to be the standout mid-price attacking options as I have chosen the FPL value attacker of the season Jimenez and the rejuvenated Rashford. This leaves the final two places in midfield where there will be a budget choice and a bench fodder who has double in GW35 as part of my bench boost. One of these players will certainly be a Southampton player and currently that is Ward-Prowse who has thrived under the new manager and is always a huge threat with his set-piece delivery. Given his side’s last three fixtures, I would happily start him during those weeks. Finally, I have brought in Stephens from Brighton who should start all four of his double gameweek fixtures though any attacking return would be a huge bonus.
Final thoughts
The majority of this squad is settled though I could see changes in the defence personnel while the choice of budget midfielders isn’t finalised as I am also considering the likes of Jota and Deulofeu; for these guys, I would then need to bring in TAA for Robbo. Although I am likely to transfer Dunk to a cheap Wolves defender in DGW35, I will not be planning any other future transfers as I try to keep myself flexible in the remaining weeks. As for the triple captain, there are a few options with Kane the most likely given that I could use it on him during any of GW36-38 – I also like Sterling in GW37 vs Leicester and Mané in GW36 against Huddersfield.
I will leave any tinkering for now and assess once we have all the available information from Champions League matches and press conferences!
Robert Cosgrove
Robert finished with an overall rank of 20k last season and 23k in 16/17. Rob’s current rank is 110k. He has a bench boost and triple captain left
So this is my first draft of a potential wildcard this week. My first thought was the double game week for Brighton and Cardiff this week. With Brighton having back to back DGWs I think it is essential to load up on their assets for now, hence my triple up on Ryan, Duffy and Murray. Murray has game time risk but should start now that they have been knocked out the FA cup. I don’t want Cardiff players as they are out of form and don’t have a DGW35. My plan here will be to use the free transfer next week to swap Murray for Deeney as he has better DGW35 fixtures.
I played around with a team including BOTH Abaumeyamg and Lacazette but it really limited positions elsewhere so sided with Lacazette due to his minutes played being better than that of Abaumeyamg recently.
I am still not 100% on Kane and originally wanted Eriksen but historically Kane does finish the season strongly and with Spurs playing Huddersfield in GW34 he will be a strong captain favourite.
Everyone else I have picked are pretty straight forward choices, with the only player I had to settle for being Cathcart due to lack of funds; I prefer Holebas but his game time has been limited recently and simply couldn’t afford him!
There is a lot of conflicting fixtures (by that I mean my defence play against my attackers/midfielders) which I always try to avoid but found it pretty hard on this DGW.
The captain choice in this wildcard for DGW35 would be Lacazette.
Alex Ball
Alex finished in 17k last season 10k in 16/17 28k in 15/16 and 3k in 14/15. Alex’s current rank is 407k. He has a bench boost left
Here’s Alex’s first draft:
Sergio Torija
Sergio finished with an OR of 17k last season and 21k in 16/17. He is currently ranked 1,019k. He has a bench boost and triple captain left
Going all in with doublers in my wildcard to maximise the bench boost chip in GW35, the only exception being to keep a Liverpool defender. A couple other thoughts. Brighton, despite not having great fixtures in GW35, have an additional tasty double in GW34, so getting 3 of their players and looking at captaining Ryan or Duffy in GW34. Also a word of caution regarding the top-6 teams, they are all still involved in Europe, so a busy schedule until the end of the season. There will be rotation in GW35 for them, so something to consider with the pickings.
My initial draft:
Goalkeepers
Leno/Ryan – Ryan with two doubles and Leno with good fixtures. The rotate well for the rest of games. Settled on this
Defenders
Trippier/TAA/Duffy/Doherty/Valery – TAA is the cheaper of Liverpool defence so he is in, Duffy/Doherty/Valery seem to me the best options of their teams, I was considering Holebas but he went off injured in the FA cup semifinal. Then I have space for a premium Spurs/City defender, I don’t see anyone without a rotation risk, so Trippier is the most exciting to pick.
Midfielders
KDB/Son/JWP/Jota/Deulofeu – The three cheaper players are all great options, Deulofeu also went off injured in the FA cup semifinal with what seemed a small ankle sprain, so a monitor there. Son is my pick of the Spurs mids, and going with KDB from City.
Forwards
Kane/Aubameyang/Murray – Here I like 4 players for 3 positions (Jimenez missing). Even though Arsenal have been winning games of late, is difficult to work out who plays and who not. Aubameyang in the bench 4 out of the last 6 is strange for a man of his calibre. So something to think about
Rob Reid
Rob finished with a rank of 94k last season 22k in 16/17 4k in 15/16 and 7k in 14/15. He is currently 146k. Rob has used all his chips apart from bench boost
This is an imaginary wildcard
Here’s an imaginary Wildcard draft for GW34. For me, this of course is a true bit of fantasy having played my second Wildcard a number of weeks back. But for many this is a good week to press the button, in preparation for using the Bench Boost chip in GW35. As such, I’ve picked what I feel is quite an aggressive team which I reckon throws the template out the window a little bit and is focused on what could be a fairly high ceiling score-wise for the small double this week and the bigger double in GW35. It’s also picked on a slightly more modest budget of 102.5m.
Here are my picks:
Goalkeepers
Foster and Ryan. Ryan has 4 fixtures in the next 2 weeks. Watford have the best double fixtures in GW35 in my opinion, Huddersfield away and Southampton at home so a good chance of 2 clean sheets here. Bearing in mind Garcia picked 2 completely defences in the GW32 double, Foster is the safest gametime option for The Hornets backline.
Defence
I’ve gone budget here so there’s more funds up top. It’s a Brighton triple-up with Dunk and Duffy, bit of a risk but again – 4 fixtures in 2 weeks. Valery is a good cheap filler option and may get an attacking return. The other cheap filler here is Bennett of Wolves – their centre-halves look less rotatable than their full-backs and you’d be hopeful of a clean sheet against Brighton in the first of the GW35 fixtures at least. Finally there’s one premium option and I’ve gone Vertonghen of Spurs, I’d be looking for 2 clean sheets across the 3 GW34 and 35 games with only the City fixture the risk.
Midfield
Mane is my only non-double player here. He’s the form player from the Liverpool midfield at present so gives some cover here and for GW36 against Huddersfield without having to make a transfer. Sterling is my City pick, he looks the most gaemtime secure of their attacking options. Son looks a good shout for Spurs, Huddersfield in GW34 then the double in 35. They’re joined by Doucoure from Watford for their nice fixtures and the in-from Jota from Wolves.
Forwards
This is where I’ve made a slight concession to % ownership by going for Rashford and Jimenez, again both in good recent form and both with double fixtures. The last pick is the tricky one I reckon – which premium striker? It’s between Aguero, Aubameyang and Kane. Aguero is the % pick. He should play both games if he’s fit but both are tough fixtures, though to be fair he is pretty fixture proof. Aubameyang has the best fixtures of the 3 but I fear would be benched for one of the 2 games, Emery is just a nightmare to try and pick in terms of his team selection! I’ve overlooked both of these however and gone for Harry Kane. I could see him doing well against Huddersfield in GW34 and although his first GW35 fixture is away to City, it’s a nice second fixture at home to Brighton. He’s also a player who likes to score big toward the end of the season so he’s my premium pick and probably where I’d put the captain’s armband for GW34 and 35 also.
The Official FPL fixture schedule
If you’re needing to plan your FPL transfers use Joseph Crilleys google spreadsheet which is an excellent team planning tool.
See also the Geeks first draft wildcard team
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