Fantasy Premier League managers have an abundance of in-form attackers but precious few defenders to pick from as the season enters its final stretch.
Popular forwards Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Ollie Watkins and Gabriel Jesus all found the net last weekend while the top-scoring defender charts were dominated by low-owned differentials. Congratulations are in order for the 0.1 per cent of managers who picked West Ham’s Angelo Ogbonna for his nine-pointer at Craven Cottage.
That trend could continue in Gameweek 31, which is packed full of top-of-the-table vs bottom-of-the-table clashes, including Manchester City (2nd) vs Leicester (19th), West Ham (14th) vs Arsenal (1st), Nottingham Forest (18th) vs Manchester United (4th), and Spurs (5th) vs Bournemouth (15th).
One prolific performer that FPL managers needn’t worry about for the time being is Marcus Rashford after Erik ten Hag confirmed United’s No 10 would be unavailable for “a few games” due to a groin injury sustained in the win against Everton.
Rashford is, at the time of writing, the third-most popular asset in the game behind Erling Haaland and Kieran Trippier but is also being transferred out more than any other player.
Gameweek 30 top scorers
Goalkeepers:
- Pope (Newcastle) – 11
- Martinez (Aston Villa) – 9
- Neto (Bournemouth), Fabianski (West Ham) – 8
Defenders:
- Malacia (Man Utd), Ogbonna (West Ham), Semedo (Wolves) 9
- Young (Aston Villa), Mepham (Bournemouth), Dunk (Brighton), Guehi (Crystal Palace), Cresswell (West Ham) – 8
Midfielders:
- Ayew (Crystal Palace), Olise (Crystal Palace) – 14
- Martinelli (Arsenal) – 13
- Grealish (Man City) – 12
- Billing (Bournemouth) – 11
- McTominay (Man Utd), Nunes (Wolves) – 10
Forwards:
- Haaland (Man City) – 12
- Kane (Spurs) – 9
- Jesus (Arsenal), Watkins (Aston Villa) – 7
If you bought Rashford for a cheap price before he embarked upon the best goalscoring run of his career and are looking to use your Free Hit in Gameweek 32, it’s probably worth holding onto him. If not, you may as well get rid.
Before pulling the trigger on your transfers on Saturday morning, make sure you have enough players to fill the gaps in Gameweek 32 when only eight matches will be played. None of Brighton, Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United are in league action due to the FA Cup semi-finals.
Here’s this week’s team:
Gameweek 31 fixtures
Saturday 15 April
- Aston Villa vs Newcastle
- Chelsea vs Brighton
- Everton vs Fulham
- Southampton vs Crystal Palace
- Spurs vs Bournemouth
- Wolves vs Brentford
- Man City vs Leicester
Sunday 16 April
- West Ham vs Arsenal
- Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd
Monday 17 April
- Leeds vs Liverpool
Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Everton had Jordan Pickford to thank for keeping the scoreline respectable at Old Trafford with the England No 1 making nine saves during their 2-0 defeat to Manchester United. David Raya and Bernd Leno are the only ‘keepers in the division to have made more stops than Pickford this season.
The Toffees have been solid at Goodison Park since Sean Dyche’s appointment, keeping three clean sheets in their five home matches. They face a Fulham side shorn of the goalscoring threat of Aleksandar Mitrovic with the Serbian serving a lengthy ban for pushing referee Chris Kavanagh.
Price: £4.4m Points: 93 Gameweek 31 fixture: Fulham (h)
Nathan Ake (Man City)
Since the World Cup, Nathan Ake has played in 22 of Manchester City’s 24 matches in all competitions, including all 15 of their Premier League fixtures. With City playing the role of hunters rather than the hunted in the title race, Pep Guardiola has relaxed his rotation policy, much to the relief of FPL bosses.
If excitement is what you crave from your FPL defenders, Ake is very much not your guy; the Dutchman hasn’t scored or provided an assist all season. However, if you fancy City to grind out wins in their relentless pursuit of Arsenal and want a defender to hoover up clean sheet points, Ake looks like the safest bet.
Price: £5.1m Points: 68 Gameweek 31 fixture: Leicester (h)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
We saw the best and worst of Trent Alexander-Arnold against Arsenal with a bit of aggro chucked in for good measure. Alexander-Arnold’s nutmeg and picture-perfect cross for Roberto Firmino showcased his attacking qualities, while his shortcomings were exposed by Gabriel Martinelli. And there was the Granit Xhaka bust-up, which may or may not have swung momentum away from the Gunners.
Jurgen Klopp made an interesting tactical change in the second half at Anfield which could see Alexander-Arnold becoming a fixture in our FPL teams once more. Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson effectively switched roles, which allowed Alexander-Arnold greater freedom to get forward and focus on whipping crosses into the box.
Price: £7.3m Points: 101 Gameweek 31 fixture: Leeds (a)
Pedro Porro (Spurs)
Tottenham were hugely fortunate to get anything out of their last match against Brighton, let alone all three points after a series of contentious decisions from the officials went their way. Although it was a scabby team performance, Pedro Porro delivered another promising performance as he continues to get acclimatised to English football.
Porro was signed in January to provide greater attacking impetus on Spurs’ right flank and the early signs are promising. The Spain international has had more shots (with 11) than any other defender over the past five gameweeks and has created nine chances in that time, second only to Dejan Kulusevski in Spurs’ squad.
Price: £4.8m Points: 24 Gameweek 31 fixture: Bournemouth (h)
Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal)
“Two wins in a week, two clean sheets in a week,” was David Moyes’ rather selective assessment of West Ham’s recent form after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Fulham given there was a 5-1 hammering against Newcastle sandwiched in between those two clean sheets.
Allan Saint-Maximin terrorised West Ham’s right flank in that one-sided encounter and given the form that Gabriel Martinelli is in, you’d back him to have a similarly productive afternoon. Since Gameweek 24, the Brazilian has accrued 67 points, 14 more than any other player, thanks to seven goals and two assists.
Price: £6.7m Points: 175 Gameweek 31 fixture: West Ham (a)
Jack Grealish (Man City)
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Jack Grealish justified our faith last week by enjoying his second double-digit haul in as many weeks with a goal, an assist and two bonus points during City’s 4-1 win against Southampton and caught the eye as City stunned Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
Everything that we said about Grealish before Gameweek 30 applies going into Gameweek 31: he is playing his best football since signing for City, if not in his entire career; his form is so good and City’s need for points is so great that Guardiola cannot afford to drop him; and he has an ideal fixture against a team staring relegation in the face.
Don’t overthink it, Grealish is the ideal Rashford (or James Maddison) replacement.
Price: £7.1m Points: 105 Gameweek 31 fixture: Leicester (h)
Solly March (Brighton)
Last week we justified our Kaoru Mitoma selection by saying that FPL’s Fixture Difficulty Rating of four out of five was inaccurate based on Brighton and Tottenham’s form. The same applies this week, with Roberto De Zerbi’s side looking in far better shape than Frank Lampard’s Chelsea (yep, it still sounds weird) despite their controversial loss at Spurs.
Mitoma remains a superb option if you have him, but Solly March is arguably the pick of Brighton’s midfielders this week up against Chelsea’s ropey left-hand side. Ben Chilwell was sent off during Chelsea’s midweek defeat to Real Madrid and Marc Cucurella has had a tough time of it since trading the south coast for the west London glare.
Price: £5.2m Points: 134 Gameweek 31 fixture: Chelsea (a)
Michael Olise (Crystal Palace)
Michael Olise is unlikely to provide a hat-trick of assists every week, but the Frenchman’s creativity masterclass at Leeds has clearly caught the attention of FPL managers: Olise is currently the sixth-most bought player this week. Crystal Palace are flying and FPL fans are eager to join them on the ride.
Palace’s fixtures until the end of the campaign certainly look promising for Olise’s prospects, with six of their final eight games against lower-half teams, and out-of-form Fulham one of their two top-half opponents. Olise has had six goal attempts and created nine chances during Roy Hodgson’s first two games back at Palace.
Price: £5.4m Points: 103 Gameweek 31 fixture: Southampton (a)
Mo Salah (Liverpool)
Mo Salah’s sudden fallibility from the penalty spot is concerning – he has missed half of his last six attempts in the Premier League including both of the last two – but at least he looks sharp from open play. Salah recorded 10 shots against Arsenal in Gameweek 30, all of which came from inside the penalty area. He was an Aaron Ramsdale wonder-save away from scoring a winner with a trademark curler towards the top corner.
Salah’s last six Premier League penalties
- MISSED vs Arsenal (April 2023)
- MISSED vs Bournemouth (March 2023)
- SCORED vs Brighton (March 2022)
- SCORED vs Leeds (February 2022)
- SCORED vs Leeds (February 2022)
- MISSED vs Leicester (December 2021)
Liverpool have won only one of their last eight away games in the league, but if Crystal Palace can stick five past Leeds at Elland Road, you’d back Liverpool to get at least a couple too. Salah has a great record against Leeds too, scoring seven times in five meetings.
Price: £12.8m Points: 166 Gameweek 31 fixture: Leeds (a)
Harry Kane (Spurs)
Harry Kane may not possess the same penchant for Premier League hat-tricks as Erling Haaland having not managed one since Boxing Day 2017, but he has been a model of consistency in FPL this season. So much so that he is second to the Norwegian in the overall points standings.
Since the World Cup, Kane has scored 11 goals and provided an assist in 15 appearances in a Spurs side that has been stuck in boom and bust-mode. Despite their problems, Spurs are still in the thick of the top-four race, but with tricky fixtures to come, this weekend’s meeting with Bournemouth is a must-win.
Price: £11.7m Points: 198 Gameweek 31 fixture: Bournemouth (h)
Erling Haaland (Man City)
Erling Haaland is the most-owned player in FPL and also the third-most bought ahead of Saturday’s deadline as those who sacrificed him a week or two ago rushed to bring him back in again.
Selling Haaland before Gameweek 29 made sense given City only had one fixture – against Liverpool, which he missed anyway – while other forwards had two, but he proved how essential he is in his first game back last weekend, scoring twice as City thrashed Southampton.
Haaland has scored 12 goals in his previous five games in all competitions. Leicester’s new manager bounce may not last long.
Price: £12.2m Points: 115 Gameweek 31 fixture: Leicester (h)
