Gameweek 34 might still have six fixtures remaining, but it’s time to start thinking about another potentially pivotal gameweek in Fantasy Premier League.
With Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea playing twice in Gameweek 35, plenty of FPL managers will opt to play their wildcard ahead of next weekend’s fixtures as they ready their teams for Double Gameweek 37.
So let’s look at the best Wildcard team for those playing it and the players to target.
Players to target for Gameweek 35 and Gameweek 37
Here are each team’s fixtures until the end of the season, going off Ben Crellin’s tracker…
The Double Gameweek 37 fixtures were announced earlier today so the FPL schedule is now set (barring random postponements).
Here’s the link to my schedule spreadsheet: https://t.co/m7Ihez6gvv pic.twitter.com/Htr0YABjLZ
— Ben Crellin (@BenCrellin) April 10, 2024
Whether you’re on a Wildcard or not, you need to target players from the same teams.
Despite Manchester United having an underwhelming season, they do play three home games in their next four: Burnley (H), Crystal Palace (A), Arsenal (H) and Newcastle United (H). This makes Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m), who has four goals in his last three games, one of my top targets. He is nailed to start for United, is on penalties, and has both goal and assist threat.
Newcastle’s fixtures are also great right up until the end of the season. They play Sheffield United (H) and Burnley (A), as well as Brighton (H) and Manchester United (A) in their double. I see three Newcastle players as essential, with Alexander Isak (£8.0m) and Anthony Gordon (£6.1m) their two best attacking options.
Isak has 17 league goals in only 21 starts and with Callum Wilson (£7.8m) still out injured, he is the No 1 penalty-taker. Gordon, in comparison, is his team’s highest-scoring player (158 FPL points) with 10 goals and 13 assists and he’s one of the first names on Eddie Howe’s team sheet.
Newcastle’s defence has been poor overall, but they have kept two clean sheets in their last two and Kieran Trippier (£6.6m) and Fabian Schar (£5.6m) also have plenty of attacking threat.
Another player who looks to be a must-own until the end of the season is Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (£6.2m) — however, it’s worth bearing in mind that Palmer picked up a knock against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at the weekend and is a doubt to play against Arsenal tonight (Tuesday).
Should Palmer get back to full fitness, he is probably the best value FPL asset to own, with 20 goals and 10 assists to his name and a starting price of only £5m.
Chelsea play Aston Villa (A) and Spurs (H) in Double Gameweek 35, West Ham (H) in Gameweek 36, and they face Nottingham Forest (A) and Brighton (A) in Double Gameweek 37.
These are all games for their attack to flourish — which is why I think Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m) is a differential pick. He is certain to start as Chelsea’s No 9 at the moment, with Christopher Nkunku (£7.2m) still injured.
Jackson has 10 goals and five assists in what has been a frustrating debut campaign for him. However, the fixtures and doubles are there for him to sign off the season positively. There is a catch, though: the Chelsea striker will pick up a two-match suspension if he gets a yellow card against Arsenal — so don’t rush to sign him before that match is finished.
Jackson could be worth a punt for the final few weeks of the season (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Due to Tottenham’s tough fixtures, I don’t think it’s essential to go for the triple-up despite them having two doubles before the end of the season. Son Heung-min (£9.8m) is the obvious choice and if Pedro Porro (£5.8m) is fit, he’s worth purchasing, too. The Spaniard has one goal and eight assists so far.
The only other Spurs attacker worth purchasing is James Maddison (£7.8m), but since his return from his ankle injury in January, the 27-year-old’s output hasn’t been the same. He has only managed one goal and three assists since coming back in Gameweek 22.
Brennan Johnson (£5.8m) and Timo Werner (£6.3m) are prone to rotation and Richarlison (£6.8m) is still out injured. But if the Brazilian is in contention for the next gameweek, he would be my second attacker of choice behind Son.
At the moment, I prefer Guglielmo Vicario (£5.3m) as the third Spurs asset. He is the undisputed No 1 for Ange Postecgolou and can rack up save and bonus points, averaging 2.9 saves per match, and he has nine bonus points so far this season.
Manchester City also have a brilliant run until the end of the season — and with them being out of the Champions League, they only really have the league to immediately concentrate on. Their FA Cup final with Man United is played on May 25, once the Premier League season concludes.
Therefore, there shouldn’t be as much rotation, with Phil Foden (£8.2m), Erling Haaland (£14.2m) and Ederson (£5.5m) the assets who are most likely to start in their respective positions.
My Wildcard draft
Since I am Wildcarding in Gameweek 35 and Bench Boosting in Gameweek 37, I will share my draft team. With Tottenham and Chelsea doubling in both Gameweek 35 and 37, I feel that at least three Chelsea and two Spurs players are optimal.
Tottenham play Arsenal (H) and Chelsea (A) in Double Gameweek 35 and Burnley (H) and Manchester City (H) in Gameweek 37. Admittedly, these are not the best set of games. Despite this, an extra two fixtures in the space of three gameweeks means their players are more than worth the investment.
Wildcard 35 Draft
You will probably notice a lack of Arsenal and Liverpool players but, with no more double gameweeks left for them, I think it’s fine to go without.
The above team gives me six double gameweek players for Gameweek 35 and 14 double gameweek players for 37, but I can easily make it 15 by selling Arsenal’s Gabriel (£5.4m).
This sets me up nicely for using the bench boost in Gameweek 37, in which I can use the chip on 14-15 Double Gameweek players.
If you are planning on Wildcarding in Gameweek 35 and Bench Boosting in 37, the team largely picks itself if you want to maximise the doubles.
A few positions are still uncertain. A lot depends on the fitness of Haaland and we should find out more once City play Brighton on Thursday. The Norwegian missed his team’s FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea due to an injury picked up against Real Madrid last week.
Porro also has to be monitored and if he is out for a longer period, then I think I may forego a third Spurs asset. Another one to look out for is Malo Gusto (£4.3m) — the Chelsea right-back has been ruled out of the Arsenal game tonight and may be an injury doubt in upcoming fixtures.
If Trippier is fit, then he would replace Schar. This can be funded by downgrading Diogo Dalot (£5.2m) to Harry Maguire (£4.2m). I could also go with Djordje Petrovic (£4.6m) in goal and Josko Gvardiol (£4.9m) in defence instead of Ederson and Gusto respectively.
The plan, therefore, should be to save your transfer in Gameweek 36, so you have two free transfers for Gameweek 37 in case of any injuries or upgrades and ideally have two free transfers in Gameweek 38. This will allow you to buy back Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) or Mohamed Salah (£13.6m) if you wish to do so.
If you want to go with players who don’t have double gameweeks coming up — such as those from Liverpool or Arsenal, for example — then I wouldn’t recommend against it. It depends on your risk appetite.
There are still plenty of games to go until Gameweek 35 gets underway, so keep an eye on proceedings as a lot could change.
My draft isn’t set in stone, but I don’t see it changing much. It should give you a basic idea of the main teams and players to cover.
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
