Fantasy Premier League GW 31: Try not to panic (free hit special!) | OneFootball

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Blaise Bourgeois·16 March 2018

Fantasy Premier League GW 31: Try not to panic (free hit special!)

Article image:Fantasy Premier League GW 31: Try not to panic (free hit special!)

Onefootball’s Blaise Bourgeois (#976 in the world) helps you prepare for the blank gameweek and beyond.

With only eight teams playing instead of the usual 20, FPL managers are panicking over BGW31.


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Only one big club (Liverpool) are in action, making it difficult to bring viable long-term options into your squad.

Strategy

This is a perfect place for your free hit – although most FPL experts prefer you’d wait until BGW35.

Take minuses! Instead of your typical four-point risk, having active players instead of a zero reduces this risk to roughly two points.  If you trust players to score and/or earn clean sheets, go for it!

Don’t sell players for considerably less than their current value (£0.2 or more).

Goalkeepers

Jonas Lössl (Huddersfield) – £4.6, 8.4% owned

Article image:Fantasy Premier League GW 31: Try not to panic (free hit special!)

Already a somewhat-popular pick around fantasy leagues, Lössl and Huddersfield have an attractive run of games with Palace (H), Newcastle (A), Brighton (A), and Watford (H). I’d back him for at least two clean sheets.

The Dane will likely be up for bonus points and is worth an extra point or two if he faces a lot of shots.

This move could also free up a little to improve your outfield players.

Others: Asmir Begović (BOU) – (£4.5, 5.0% owned), Loris Karius (LIV) – (£4.8, 1.2% owned)

Free hit:

1) Lössl

2) Jordan Pickford (EVE) – (£4.9, 8.9% owned)

3) Karius

4) Jack Butland (STK) – (£5.0, 3.2% owned)

5) Begović

Defenders

Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield) – £4.7, 5.0% owned

Article image:Fantasy Premier League GW 31: Try not to panic (free hit special!)

I’ve stayed off the Schindler bandwagon. However, he’s most reliable long-term option playing in GW31.

Huddersfield’s aforementioned fixture list makes him an easy buy.

Schindler has seven clean sheets this season and has racked up 12 bonus points in five of those matches.

Others: Virgil van Dijk — LIV (£5.6, 7.6% owned), Andrew Robertson – LIV (£4.9, 6.7% owned), Charlie Daniels (BOU) – (£4.7, 8.2% owned)

Free hit

1) Leighton Baines (EVE) – (£5.6, 4.5% owned)

2) Seamus Coleman (EVE) – (£6.4, 1.0% owned)

3) Schindler

4) Daniels

5) Patrick Van Aanholt (CRY) – (£5.1, 2.1% owned)

Midfielders

Junior Stanislas (Bournemouth) – £5.9, 1.6% owned

Article image:Fantasy Premier League GW 31: Try not to panic (free hit special!)

Stanislas is owned by just 2% of FPL managers despite scoring three in his last six starts. He’s been in and out with injuries but this is a guy who had seven goals, six assists, and 13 bonus points last year.

Cheap, in form, and a mouth-watering schedule: Stanislas is the best long-term option playing this week.

Others: Salah (LIV) – (£10.6, 61.5% owned), Sadio Mané (LIV) – (£9.4, 11.6% owned) Wilfried Zaha (CRY) – (£6.8, 4.9% owned), Luka Milivojevic (CRY) –  (£4.9, 7.4% owned)

Free hit

1) Salah

2) Mané

3) Theo Walcott (EVE)

4) Zaha

5) Stanislas (BOU)

Forwards

Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) – £5.9

Article image:Fantasy Premier League GW 31: Try not to panic (free hit special!)

Of those available, I rate Wilson second behind Firmino to score and Bournemouth’s next games are West Brom (H), Watford (A), and Palace (H).

Despite not scoring in his five, it’s time for Wilson to break his duck.

Others:  Steve Mounie (HUD) – (£5.8, 3.5% owned), Troy Deeney (WAT) – (£6.3, 1.2% owned)

Free hit

1) Roberto Firmino (LIV)

2) Wilson

3) Cenk Tosun (EVE)

4) Mounie

5) Christian Benteke (CRY)

Blaise’s Picks:

#976 overall, #31 in the US, and #8 amongst all Southampton fans.

Article image:Fantasy Premier League GW 31: Try not to panic (free hit special!)

Last week I had a stroke of genius captaining Riyad Mahrez for 22 points on my way to 53 points and a move into the top 1K. The differential paid off huge in a week where Harry Kane, Sergio Agüero, and Mohamed Salah all missed.

Theo Walcott in for Gerard Deulofeu didn’t work as I wanted but the aim was to pay dividends against Stoke.

I’m taking chances this week, transferring in three of my recommendations. I can build a stronger team around these budget options and maximise my ceiling.

I decided to transfer out Raheem Sterling knowing that I’m not losing value. I could pick him up next week for Walcott but with a season-high £3.8 in the bank, Eden Hazard looks favourite.

Start:  1 Free Transfer, £1.1 in bank –

Transfer 1: Schindler IN, Davies OUT Transfer 2: Stanislas IN, Sterling OUT Transfer 3: Wilson IN, Ulloa OUT

Net points: -8 Captain:  Salah

End:  £3.8 in bank

Ask Blaise your FPL questions here or on Twitter @BlaiseBourgeois