FanTeam 2020-21: £67.5k Weekly Monster – Gameweek 31 preview

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As part of FISO’s special series of weekly articles on FanTeam, Europe’s biggest daily fantasy football provider, we will actually be entering the team we write about each week into the game. Our article will focus on an Early Entry for their Fantasy Premier League tournament held each week in order to help you identify game rules, tactics and the most promising players per gameweek, so you can win some of that large prize money.

Our FISO team below will be entered into this week’s £18 entry (£67,500) prize pool) Main Event. The winner takes home a cool £6,750. FanTeam also offer a £1.80 entry Weekly Monster with a lower prize pool for those who prefer to play with lower stakes. Join the discussion on FISO’s FanTeam forum.

Before moving onto our team selection, we want to highlight a couple of FanTeam rules that they apply to their Weekly Monster competition and that represent some of the major differences when comparing the game to the FPL. Do though check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your picks.

Number one is that FanTeam have a rule called the ‘safety net’. The safety net comes into play when a selected player does not start in the Weekly Monster, because the game will then automatically replace this player with the next lowest-priced player from the same position (GK, DEF, MID, FOR) in the same team. This is regardless of whether or not your selected player does take to the field later in the game. This rule helps people who have entered a team into the Weekly Monster not to worry too much about whether their selected players will start or not, particularly if they know there are cheaper players for that same club in that same position who should start instead.

Number two is that FanTeam also have a ‘stacking penalty’ for the Weekly Monster, which penalises teams that have selected more than one defenders/goalkeeper from the same club. The stacking penalty comes into play when you pick more than one defensive player (defenders or goalkeepers) from a particular club and this club records a clean sheet. The points awarded for this clean sheet will decrease by 1 point for each additional defensive player from the same club that you have selected. The stacking penalty has a maximum of minus 3 points. This rule helps stop multi-entrants from gaining an advantage by submitting block defence teams. A reasonable tactic can be to select two players from two different clubs for your Goalie and Defenders, which would see you incur just 2 single-point deductions if you nail both clean sheets correctly.

Gameweek 31 £67.5K Weekly Monster matches

Our team entered in the Weekly Monster in gameweek 31

An intense week for the clubs in the quarter finals of the Champions League and Europa League with the 1st and 2nd leg matches taking place a week apart meaning more rotation and more onus on the managers to see their players are fully focussed.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea players are the highest priced in GW31. We’re choosing one of those teams (Arsenal – as they’re playing the bottom placed club Sheffield United) along with Southampton who scored 3 last time out (partly thanks to Danny Ings’ return from injury) and then punting on clean sheets for Spurs and Leicester.

Arsenal

Aubameyang (Capt) spent most of the Europa quarter final first leg on the bench so is expected to start against doomed Sheffield United. Saka and Pepe look the most dangerous from midfield and could add to their goal records.

Southampton

WBA surely can’t repeat their unexpected performance against Chelsea last weekend (who perhaps had one eye on their Champions League quarter final 1st leg) and Danny Ings (VC) is most likely to profit, ably supported by set-piece expert Ward-Prowse. Wing-back Walker-Peters could supply the crosses for Ings to head home.

Spurs

We’re hoping that the extra rest for the Spurs will help them keep out Manchester United’s forward line on Sunday who will have another Europa League outing on Thursday. Lloris and Reguilon are our choices.

Leicester

A crucial encounter with West Ham who look likely to be missing Antonio so we think a clean sheet is possible should they keep Jesse Lingard quiet. The adventerous Castagne along with the cheaper Amartey (who has replaced the injured Soyuncu) are our choices.

Burnley

With Newcastle missing much of their central defence, we’re punting on the in-form Chris Wood to make an impact in the Sunday early match.

FPL Season 2020-21: Gameweek 31 preview

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You thought the FPL was going to calm down a bit now that the main part of double gameweek season has come to an end, didn’t you? Well, think again, because with five teams still active in the continental competitions, things will only continue to heat up over the coming weeks. This Guardiola quote:

“Next game, we are going to play fresh legs. And against Leeds, more than ever, fresh legs.” – Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola on his starting line-up against Leicester in GW30 after the game and before the Champions League game against Dortmund last Tuesday.

only serves as a heads up in that sense. A majority of the popular fantasy picks from Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are likely to carry an elevated rotation risk. Add to that the upcoming League Cup final (Man City v Spurs on Sun 25th April) and further FA Cup knockout stages, and you’ll understand why we strongly recommend to keep a close eye on starting lineups and team developments over the coming months for these teams. Another place to keep an eye on is Whichbookie.com for its reviews of the newest and the best bookmaker betting websites.

Including gameweek 31 we are now eight rounds away from the end of the 2020-21 Premier League campaign, though Man City might decide the title race early. The Cityzens need 10 more points from their remaining seven games to win the league for the fifth time in their history and the fifth time since the 2011-12 season. That means that we have really come to the business end of the season now. As far as the FPL goes, a surge in chip and wildcard activity is expected in the build-up to GW31 as managers try to play the calendar fixture swings and make a final push for eternal FPL glory.

In any case, don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 31 is set at 18h30 (UK time) on Friday, April 9th.

Also do check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your transfer(s).

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per April 7th, 2021)

 TRANSFERS OUTTRANSFERS INPOSSIBLE REASONS
GKMartinez (AST), McCarthy (SOU), Pope (BUR)Forster (SOU), Mendy (CHE), Leno (ARS) 
DEFDallas (LEE), Cancelo (CIT), Stones (CIT)Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Dias (CIT), Phillips (LIV)City rotation, Leeds fixtures
MIDBale (TOT), Gündogan (CIT), Raphinha (LEE)Jota (LIV), Lingard (WHU), Salah (LIV)Jota and Lingard in form, Liverpool fixtures, City rotation
FORBamford (LEE), Antonio (WHU), Watkins (AST)Iheanacho (LEI), Kane (TOT), Lacazette (ARS)Leeds, West Ham and Villa fixtures, Iheanacho and Kane form

Premium pick

Manchester City are hosting leaky Leeds United this weekend, so naturally, different City fantasy assets come to mind when it comes to picking a premium option for our recommendations this week. It could end up in a goal bonanza after all, but the problem is the rotation risk. Pep has already announced severe rotation measures and we decided we’re simply not risking it this time. Instead, we have gone with Mo Salah (£12.4m) who seems to be on the way back to a bit of goal-scoring form. He scored for the first time since gameweek 24 last week against Arsenal and he was also the one to score against Real Madrid in the mid-week Champions League game. With Fabinho back in the middle and Jota providing some much needed fresh blood in attack, the Reds are starting to look a bit more like their last year selves at last albeit still inconsistent. Up next are Aston Villa at Anfield. Not an easy fixture by any stretch, but a good opportunity for Liverpool and Salah to show that they are still alive and kicking.

Non-premium picks

Our first non-premium fantasy pick for gameweek 31 looks a bit like we’re chasing the points, but with this weekend offering plenty of hard-to-predict fixtures, it could be just the right time to bring in Danny Ings (£8.4m). The Southampton striker returned to fitness and the starting lineup against Burnley last weekend, and immediately showed what he is capable of by delivering a goal and an assist for a total of 11 FPL points. Those returns have brought his tallies for the season to 9 goals and 4 assists. It’s true that the Saints are not in very good form at the moment and the upcoming away game against West Brom could be a tricky one, especially with the Baggies coming off a more than impressive 2-5 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but Ingsy has shown in the past that he can always score. We hope that this will be the case against the league’s leakiest defence coming Monday.

Our first non-premium suggestion for the upcoming round of FPL is also a striker. With a current tenth place, Arsenal are performing way below their potential this season and this reality has had its effect on the value and popularity of their fantasy assets as well. Forward Alexandre Lacazette (£8.2m) is Gunner with most goals to his name at the moment (13) and we feel that he could add to that tally on Sunday, when they visit Bramall Lane. The Frenchman could not make the difference in GW30 against Liverpool, but he did score 2 goals and gave 1 assist in the two games prior to last weekend. Only West Brom have let in more goals than Sheffield United so far and the Blades seem resigned to relegation at the end of the season. Lacazette will be eyeing to pile on to that misery, though you should pay attention to Arsenal’s mid-week Europa League match against Slavia Prague for information regarding starting spots, fitness and possible injuries.

The budget enabler

Arsenal’s favourable match-up has even led us to double up on their fantasy assets this weekend. At a price of just £5.2m, Bukayo Saka is still very much under-priced, though it has been a while since he last delivered an attacking return in the Premier League. That was an assist back in gameweek 24, his fourth of the season on top of 5 scored goals. Apart from the must-win encounter with Sheffield United this Sunday, the Gunners’ calendar looks good on the medium term as well, with Fulham, Everton, West Brom (all home) and Newcastle (away) following the Sheffield United game. Like many other interesting players, Saka has become a bit more vulnerable to rotation over the past months, but he should still be getting plenty of Premier League minutes, which with his price tag makes him an appealing budget-enabling option for your midfield.

A differential pick or two

Our first differential fantasy pick for gameweek 31 is heavily influenced by the fixture schedule, as Wolves are playing Sheffield United, Burnley, Brighton (all at home) and West Brom after this weekend’s away game against Fulham. As a result of this favourable run, we figured a Wolves defender could be a wise investment, despite Nuno Espirito Santo’s men not being as solid in the back as usual this season. We ended up with Conor Coady (£4.8m) as he looks to be both the surest and the least expensive route into the Wolves defence and Willy Boly has now been ruled out due to illness for the next week. The England international has been part of 8 clean sheets so far this season and he has also scored once, against City at the Etihad back in gameweek 26. The fact that there is no European football or another cup tournament to take into account here is an added plus when bringing in the 5.4%-owned Coady for your team.

Despite scoring 7 goals, providing 5 assists, collecting a very decent total of 128 FPL points so far and sporting a bargain price tag, James Ward-Prowse (£5.9m) is still just eligible for our differential pick category with an ownership of 9.8%. We discussed the potential merits of bringing Ings in this week and many of the arguments made for him go in favour of JWP as well. The Saints are out of form themselves, but facing West Brom at the Hawthornes, which changes things a bit. The Baggies are unlikely to thump two bigger opponents in a row and we think that there could be goals in this one, most of them for Southampton. That would be good news for Ward-Prowse and the FPL managers who own him by then, as he is Southampton’s main set-piece specialist.

The captaincy

As with our premium fantasy pick recommendation for this weekend, we also adjusted our preferences a bit in terms of the captaincy choice due to the increased and increasing rotation uncertainty when it comes to Man City assets. As a result, we have give the GW31 captain’s armband to Mo Salah this week, who seems to have found his scoring boots once again. A goal against Arsenal in gameweek 30 and a goal against Real Madrid on Tuesday sounds promising for the upcoming home game against Aston Villa.

If you’re not going near Liverpool yet, which is understandable as well, then you can still opt for a City man. The likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gündogan could all haul big at home against Leeds. The main question is who will be playing and who won’t on Saturday. Maybe it’s Aguero time? Besides that, you could take a punt on Lacazette versus Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, or Danny Ings or James Ward-Prowse versus West Bromwich Albion.

Join FISO’s FPL discussion forum for more Fantasy Premier League news and tactics.

FanTeam 2020-21: £67.5k Weekly Monster – Gameweek 30 preview

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As part of FISO’s special series of weekly articles on FanTeam, Europe’s biggest daily fantasy football provider, we will actually be entering the team we write about each week into the game. Our article will focus on an Early Entry for their Fantasy Premier League tournament held each week in order to help you identify game rules, tactics and the most promising players per gameweek, so you can win some of that large prize money.

Our FISO team below will be entered into this week’s £18 entry (£67,500) prize pool) Main Event. The winner takes home a cool £6,750. FanTeam also offer a £1.80 entry Weekly Monster with a lower prize pool for those who prefer to play with lower stakes. Join the discussion on FISO’s FanTeam forum.

Before moving onto our team selection, we want to highlight a couple of FanTeam rules that they apply to their Weekly Monster competition and that represent some of the major differences when comparing the game to the FPL. Do though check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your picks.

Number one is that FanTeam have a rule called the ‘safety net’. The safety net comes into play when a selected player does not start in the Weekly Monster, because the game will then automatically replace this player with the next lowest-priced player from the same position (GK, DEF, MID, FOR) in the same team. This is regardless of whether or not your selected player does take to the field later in the game. This rule helps people who have entered a team into the Weekly Monster not to worry too much about whether their selected players will start or not, particularly if they know there are cheaper players for that same club in that same position who should start instead.

Number two is that FanTeam also have a ‘stacking penalty’ for the Weekly Monster, which penalises teams that have selected more than one defenders/goalkeeper from the same club. The stacking penalty comes into play when you pick more than one defensive player (defenders or goalkeepers) from a particular club and this club records a clean sheet. The points awarded for this clean sheet will decrease by 1 point for each additional defensive player from the same club that you have selected. The stacking penalty has a maximum of minus 3 points. This rule helps stop multi-entrants from gaining an advantage by submitting block defence teams. A reasonable tactic can be to select two players from two different clubs for your Goalie and Defenders, which would see you incur just 2 single-point deductions if you nail both clean sheets correctly.

Gameweek 30 £67.5K Weekly Monster matches

Our team entered in the Weekly Monster in gameweek 30

Formation: 3-5-2

An International break always brings a bit more uncertainty into the mix (thankfully this was the last one of this season albeit a busy one with some Nations playing 3 times) added to which there are important Champions League quarter finals 1st legs on Tuesday for Man City & Liverpool (plus Chelsea on Wednesday whose early Saturday match is the only one not in the weekend’s Monster) and Europa League quarter 1st legs on Thursday for Arsenal & Man Utd (remember Spurs were surprisingly knocked out by Dinamo Zagreb). So with 9 matches to choose from, be aware there could be rotation tactics employed by managers depending on fitness levels and priorities.

The stand-out matches for large points hauls appear to be 6th placed Spurs (4 wins in their last 5 matches) at a 17th placed Newcastle side who have only taken 3 points in their last 5 matches partly due to injuries to key players and the 1st match of the Monster weekend, 11th placed Leeds (7 points in last 5 matches) at home to bottom placed Sheffield United (4 losses in their last 5 matches). 2nd placed Man Utd’s (11 points in 5 matches) home fixture against 16th placed Brighton (after 3 lossess have won their last 2) is another to keep an eye on. Kane and Bruno Fernandes should be the most favoured players for the captain’s armband whilst Bamford and Raphinha are likely to take a lot of Vice Captain spots given that Bamford looks to have recovered from his knock and the Leeds starting line-up will be available to check before finalising teams.

Our team utilises the two most expensive forwards and the two most expensive defenders for this weekend’s Monster plus a couple of fairly expensive midfielders – all 6 players from Leeds & Spurs – and then we hunt around for a bit of value.

Leeds

Bamford (VC), Raphinha and Dallas are quite rightly the most expensive Forward, Midfielder and Defender (playing in midfield) for Leeds who have won all of their 6 matches against the current bottom four and Sheffield United are the worst-ranked team of that small unenviable group. Raphinha is on many dead balls and was Leeds’ match-winner against Fulham in GW29 and over recent gameweeks, Raphinha ranks very high for chances created & shots.

Spurs

Kane (C), Moura and Reguilon are our choices. Hopefully Reguilon has recovered from injury as he is a threat going forward and rightly priced as the highest of the Spurs defenders. Whilst Son (12.8m) has been pictured training again perhaps he will only start from the bench giving Bale (12.0m) and the cheaper Moura (11.4m) the chance to make an impact. We’ve had to compromise a little with our budget for Moura but if he doesn’t start then Ndombele or Bergwijn will automatically replace him. At least Spurs don’t have the distraction of mid-week European football anymore.

Burnley

A resurgent 15th placed Burnley (on 33 points with only 1 loss in the last 5 matches) travel to 14th placed Southampton (also on 33 points but 4 losses in the last 5 matches) so we’re favouring the better priced Burnley players to keep out the Saints who may again be missing Danny Ings. England keeper, Nick Pope, and central defender Tarkowski are our picks.

Crystal Palace

Time to find a couple of budget players! Everton in 8th have had a poor time of it at home losing 5 of their last 7 matches whilst Palace in 12th have only lost 1 match in their last 5 albeit have a tendency to concede away from home. A couple of Palace midfielders, the exciting Eze and the penalty-taking Milivojevic could produce some returns on Monday.

Last but not Least

Jesse Lingard can seemingly do no wrong since signing for 5th placed West Ham on Loan from Man Utd and looks to be reasonably priced at 9.0m for the Hammers visit to 13th placed Wolves in the final game of the Monster (Monday evening).

FPL Season 2020-21: Gameweek 30 preview

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“Big game time at the King Power on Saturday: Leicester vs Manchester City (CC by 1.0) Image by: DougPR.

With a few days to go until the kick-off for gameweek 30, an extended period without Premier League football is coming to an end and that’s something of a rarity this season. The scheduling has been especially nightmare-ish this campaign with a lot of blank and double gameweek-related twists and turns making the management of your FPL team more unpredictable than ever. Therefore, the past two weeks have felt like a bit of a breather for many FPL managers. The players, though, will be coming off two weeks of international World Cup qualifiers and friendly games. This goes only for the internationals, of course, but many Premier League players play for their respective national teams, so keep an eye on this when making your plans for gameweek 30.

As far as the return to PL action goes, the upcoming weekend is once again offering a set of interesting fixtures for both avid FPL managers and casual Premier League fans. The category “Favourable fixtures” includes encounters between Chelsea and West Brom at Stamford Bridge, Leeds versus Sheffield United at Elland Road and Spurs visiting Saint James’ Park, while GW30 will also be the stage for some major clashes. Saturday evening in particular offers some classic top-of-the-table action with Leicester hosting Manchester City and Liverpool visiting Arsenal and if you’re not sure which way the matches might go consider looking at some Correct Score Tips to give you guidance on the expected results. 

In any case, don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 30 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, April 3rd. Also do check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your transfer(s).

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per March 31st, 2021)


TRANSFERS OUTTRANSFERS INPOSSIBLE REASONS
GKMcCarthy (SOU), Martinez (AST), Pope (BUR)Mendy (CHE), Martinez (AST), Meslier (LEE)
DEFDunk (BRI), Cancelo (CIT), Dallas (LEE)Shaw (UTD), Azpilicueta (CHE), Rüdiger (CHE)Chelsea defensive stats, Shaw performances
MIDSon (TOT), Bale (TOT), Aubameyang (ARS)Lingard (WHU), Fernandes (UTD), Mount (CHE)Son injury, Spurs and Arsenal favourable fixtures, form of incoming transfers.
FORWatkins (AST), Bamford (LEE), Antonio (WHU)Iheanacho (LEI), Kane (TOT), Calvert-Lewin (EVE)Iheanacho form, Kane form and fixtures

Premium pick

Of all players with at least five Premier League starts under their belts, only West Ham’s Jesse Lingard is currently offering a higher FPL points return per game than Manchester United talisman Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m). The Portuguese midfielder is averaging 7.2 FPL points per game, and is the leading Red Devil for both goals scored (16) and assists provided (12). On top of that, in a weekend in which rotation could be widespread due to World Cup qualification fatigue, it’s positive to note that Bruno played just a game and a half for Portugal this international break. He came on after 45 minutes against Azerbaijan, he played the full 90 minutes against Serbia, and then missed last Tuesday’s clash with Luxembourg due to a yellow card suspension. This represents his first week-long break from football since November. The United star should be rested and raring to go when Brighton visit Old Trafford on Sunday.

Non-premium picks

There are a few good fixtures coming up in gameweek 30, but from an FPL point of view at least, the game between Chelsea and West Brom in London is probably the most favourable. Rotation is, of course, a real threat when it comes to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side, but Mason Mount (£7.0m) has seemingly once again nailed down a starting spot in the side. The English youngster has so far played 225 out of the possible 270 minutes of international football this break. This means it might not be the freshest of Mounts who will turn up for the encounter with the Baggies this Saturday, but chances are he will still turn up. He already has 5 goals and 5 assists to his name this season, and he has completely missed just one game this season, back in gameweek 4, so keep an eye on him for your upcoming transfer plans.

Like Mount, Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.6m) is away on international duty this international break, though he has not yet featured as much as his England team mate. DCL played 63 minutes last week against San Marino (and scored a brace) and remained on the bench for the duration of last weekend’s qualifier against Albania and then came on as a sub for Kane against Poland. Everton are however only playing their GW30 match next Monday. In other words, bar injuries or other negative news, expect Calvert-Lewin in the starting line-up when Crystal Palace visit Goodison Park. The Eagles have conceded a worrying 1.9 goals per away game this season and, over the last six gameweeks, only Sheffield United and Wolves conceded more shots in the box, so Everton are clear favourites for a comfortable win here despite losing their last 2 Premier League matches.

The budget enabler

If you would have told us before the start of this season that by gameweek 30, Che Adams (£5.8m) would be amongst the most on-fire fantasy assets of that moment, we might not have believed you despite his obvious strengths (strength being the main one!). We would have been proven wrong because the Southampton striker is actually going through a bit of purple patch at the moment. Adams scored 4 goals in the first 26 rounds of the current campaign, but has netted three consecutive already since gameweek 27. Sheffield United, Manchester City and Brighton, definitely not the most obliging of defences, were all introduced to his new found goalscoring boots. With Danny Ings probably still out injured, Adams will continue to carry much of his team’s attacking responsibilities, though we think that even with Ings fully fit, he will continue to start. The Saints are playing the resurgent Burnley at home on Sunday and West Brom at the Hawthornes in gameweek 31, so Che Adams could be a very wise decision for your valuable budget.

A differential pick or two

It sounds a bit incredible, so we’re writing it down here, just to be sure: Chelsea have taken 9 clean sheets from their last twelve Premier League encounters, more than any other team in the division. Of those twelve games, César Azpilicueta (£5.8m) started eleven and the Spanish veteran recorded no less than 71 FPL points over that same run. It’s true that he is not cheap, but the Blues have the highest chance of a clean sheet this weekend when West Brom pops over and their fixture schedule post-gameweek 30 is pretty good as well. The fact that Azpi is still owned by just 6.5% of FPL managers makes him into an interesting differential pick on the short and medium term.

We already mentioned the increased rotation risk regarding Chelsea assets ever since Thomas Tuchel took over as head coach, but considering their excellent match-up this weekend and their decent fixture calendar after that, we included Kai Havertz (£8.2m) in this week’s differential category. His start to life in the Premier League has been underwhelming, but he has been coming into some form recently. Tuchel started playing the German wonderkid as a false nine a few weeks ago and he has been delivering since then, for club and FPL. He completed the 90 minutes in the last two league games and got 2 assists for a total of 12 FPL points over that period. Not an amazing return either, but Havertz is also the Chelsea player with most shots in the box and most shots on target since gameweek 27. He looks to be settling in Tuchel’s system and now could be a good, early point to get on the train. Do bear in mind that Chelsea have a Champions League quarter final during the week.

The captaincy

Gameweek 30 is providing us with a very interesting selection of good captaincy candidates, though we do want to repeat that fatigue and the subsequent heightened rotation risks could have an impact on FPL developments this weekend. In any case, we have gone with Bruno Fernandes for the armband this gameweek, as the stars seems to have aligned to allow for a successful return to club football by the Portuguese playmaker. United are in decent form, Bruno himself is almost completely fixture-proof, and he was reasonably rested by Portugal. We’re betting on him to return this round.

Not convinced by Bruno’s potential, or perhaps you don’t have the possibilities or the budget to bring him in for this one? No problem, because there are good alternatives as well. Chelsea at home to West Brom brings Mason Mount and even Kai Havertz into the picture. Leeds hosting Sheffield United automatically turns Patrick Bamford (if fit) and also Raphinha into captaincy candidates. Spurs striker Harry Kane is the most likely to return big when struggling Newcastle welcome them to Saint James’ Park on Sunday. The more risk-prone FPL managers could opt for Calvert-Lewin or Richarlison against Palace, or Michail Antonio away against Wolves.

Road to World Cup 2022 – A look at the first set of European qualifiers

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With all major European competitions reaching the business end of the season these weeks and the European national teams needing to submit their preliminary selections for this summer’s European Championship in about two months, we would almost forget that there is World Cup football to enjoy as well these days. Or at least, World Cup qualifiers, as this international break sees national teams around the world embark on their quests to be present in November and December 2022 when the world’s biggest sporting event kicks off in the Qatari desert.

In the 12 days between the final kick of Premier League match day 29 and the kick-off for match day 30 this coming Saturday, most national teams will have played three qualifiers. Naturally, this means that many Premier League players will be featuring for their respective national sides as well. From Iceland to Gibraltar and from Spain to Russia, players from all over the continent will be flying out to join their national teams and play for World Cup glory. And if you’re looking to place a bet consider 888sport Promo Code which could help with enhancing the sports fans enjoyment of the action. With just a few days between today and gameweek 30 of the English top flight left, we figured it could be interesting to take a look at some Premier League stars that have been performing well during the current international break.

England

Logic dictates that we start with the Three Lions, who have a relatively kind schedule set up for them over this international break. San Marino was sent back home 5-0, while Albania were defeated 0-2 and the Lewandowski-less Poland are still left for the English to beat. It was a period of first times for a few players, as Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins made his debut and immediately scored against San Marino, while Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse scored his first England goal against them. Fantasy football favourites Harry Kane, Mason Mount and even Raheem Sterling all scored as well over the past week.

All-time great

For his country, that is, because Aleksandar Mitrovic‘ return to the Premier League has not been overly successful with 2 goals and 3 assists so far this season. With Serbia though, Mitrogol started against both Ireland and Portugal, and scored 3 goals in total to crown himself Serbia’s all-time top scorer.

The saviour

Apart from Portugal, one place where the efforts and goals of Diogo Jota definitely have not gone unnoticed is Liverpool. The former Wolves winger remained benched for the first encounter with Azerbaijan, but started for his country against Serbia and promptly netted twice to reach the 2-2 final score and scored again in the 3-1 win against Luxembourg. That should be good news for the red side of Liverpool.

The rotation monster 2.0

We’re sticking with Portugal and this one is especially aimed at the Fantasy Premier League managers amongst us. That’s because some of the most popular fantasy assets are also some of the most rotation-prone ones, as they play for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. It’s probably interesting to know that defenders Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva have all been getting plenty of minutes during the World Cup qualifiers so far.

Form is form

The Czech Republic have gotten off to a decent start in Group E with a 2-6 away victory over Estonia and a 1-1 draw with Belgium. West Ham midfield revelation Tomas Souček announced his goal instinct to English football fans already this season by scoring 9 goals (+ 1 assist) and he has confirmed it once again this break by scoring a perfect hat-trick against Estonia (left foot shot, right foot shot, header). The Hammers midfielder started both games for his country and even wore the captain’s armband for the draw with Belgium who’s next match against Belarus was rather easier with Belgium running out 8-0 winners thanks to goals from Brighton’s Trossard and Leicester’s Praet plus Michy Batshuayi & Christian Benteke (Belgium had the luxury of leaving Kevin de Bruyne on the bench, along with Roman Lukaku).

Best Online Poker Bonus Kinds in 2021

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One advantage of playing poker online is that you get to enjoy exciting bonuses and promotions. Poker platforms compete for your loyalty by offering you special bonuses. They hook you up with free cash, welcome bonuses, cashback, free bets, and much more. That said, below are some popular poker bonuses.

Welcome Poker Bonuses

Welcome bonuses in online casinos come in different sizes and shapes. Most welcome bonuses follow almost a similar system across all casinos. That is, the casino matches your deposit amount with a particular percentage up to a given amount.

For example, playing Poker at GGPoker platform for the first qualifies you for a 100% welcome bonus of up to $600. This means that if you deposit $50, the site will match your deposit with an extra $50. More so, some poker sites have a fixed welcome bonus amount to all players. In such a case, your deposit amount doesn’t determine how much you receive.

Reload Bonuses

These are similar to the welcome bonus. The primary difference between the two is that only new players receive welcome rewards. For reload bonuses, your poker site rewards you each time you deposit. This can be on the first few deposits or for all deposits you make at the site.

Further, reload gifts can be match deposits or a fixed amount. If it’s a match deposit, the casino boosts your bankroll with the specified percentage. If it’s fixed, you receive a specific amount no matter how much you deposit. The bonuses are a great way to give you extra funds to play.

Cashback Promotions

Your bets may sometimes fail to go as you had anticipated. Hence, your poker site will give you a cashback to shield you from such losses. The offer covers up to a certain percentage of your total losses on all poker bets.

Some sites may give you daily cashback. Others offer this bonus weekly. Besides, for some platforms, none of your wagers should have won for the bonus to apply. For others, it doesn’t matter, provided you have incurred some losses from poker.

Further, the sites can offer you a cashback in the form of bonus funds or free cash. Always ensure you check out the terms accompanying the offer to know how to qualify for this reward from your casino.

Refer a Friend Bonuses

The perk is gaining fame across poker sites. In this, your chosen poker site will reward you for referring friends to the platform. It’s that simple. Better still, you and the person you refer will receive a gift. Amazing, right?

You need, however, to note that for the casino to release your bonus, your friend should create an account and make their first deposit. If your poker site has this promotion, contact them for a referral link. It’s this link that your friends should use to join the casino.

One exciting bit about these bonuses is that you can refer as many friends as you wish. And for every person who joins, the casino rewards you. It’s such an excellent method to earn some cash rewards or free bets.

Poker Tournaments

Poker sites today have poker contests. They are thrilling competitions that allow you to compete against other poker players. You qualify for these contests by betting on specific poker games or any.

The website specifies how to be eligible. Although rules may vary, you will find that all sites follow almost similar rules. The goal is to accumulate points. In the end, the player with the most points wins. Exciting, right? Especially since qualifying is simple.

Besides, the tournaments award many players. For example, a platform can have up to 25 or 50 winners. It’s time to put your competition skills to test with poker tournaments. You never know; you could win thousands or paid trips. As you can see, it’s never a dull day playing poker.

VIP Rewards

If you are like many iGamers, you look forward to being rewarded for being a loyal player. It’s understandable to want recognition from your poker site. Fortunately, many platforms today have VIP reward programs.

You receive exclusive and superb rewards. They could include free bets, VIP account managers, and firm customer service. What’s more, the sites celebrate your special days with you. For example, some websites give you birthday bonuses.

Moreover, others allow you to deposit or withdraw high amounts. Usually, this is above the site’s normal limits. Besides, some casinos organize VIP Poker Tournaments. You will love these competitions.

So, why are these bonuses fantastic? Well, most have very high rewards. We mean cash prizes that reach thousands of dollars. If this doesn’t excite you, we don’t know what will.

No Deposit Bonuses

Visualize getting a bonus without depositing even a penny. No deposit bonuses work in the same way. For these bonuses, you don’t deposit to qualify. Your poker site will add some money to your account.

You can use these funds to place bets on your favorite poker games. Some platforms offer only new players no deposit bonuses, while others gift even existing players. For example, if you haven’t deposited for some time, a site can give you this offer is to encourage you to play.

Further, loyal players benefit from no deposit bonuses a lot. The bonus, in some cases, requires you to deposit before you withdraw money. Mainly, this applies if you are new to the website and haven’t deposited even once.

Poker Bonus Terms

All poker sites have conditions that accompany their bonuses and promotions. While most of them don’t have much effect, you need to be keen on some before you claim an offer. Take, for example, wagering requirements.

Essentially, they are the terms that let you know the number of times to play through a bonus. It’s essential to meet these requirements. If you fail, you can’t withdraw your winnings. It’s that simple.

Casinos have varying requirements, but for most, they range between 35x and 60x. Another thing to keep in mind is the expiration duration. That is, the time the casino requires you to use up the bonus and clear wagering terms. 

FPL Season 2020-21: Gameweek 29 preview

Posted on by FISO
“A big game for the relegation battle at the AmEx in Brighton on Saturday” (CC by 2.0). Image by Paul Gillett.

If gameweek 28 showed us one thing (once more), it’s that the FPL does not need a double or a blank gameweek for the round to be a massacre. With the calendar offering a few decent fixtures from a fantasy point of view, GW28 had all the makings of a more straight forward affair, but it wasn’t to be. From the five most-captained players bringing home a grand total of 8 FPL points together to the official Team of the Week containing just four players with an ownership of more than 8%, last week was yet another one of the differentials. On top of that, two of three highest-owned assets in the game, Heung-Min Son and Patrick Bamford, were injured early on and are now serious doubts for the upcoming blank gameweek.

To make matters worse, they were surely the focal points of many fantasy teams in gameweek 29, as we will see just eight teams in action this weekend, two of which are Spurs and Leeds. For convenience, we have listed the four encounters here below:

HOMEAWAYDATE
FulhamLeedsFri 19/03
BrightonNewcastleSat 20/03
West HamArsenalSun 21/03
Aston VillaSpursSun 21/03

As a result of the reduced fixture calendar, our fantasy picks for this weekend will focus on players from these eight teams. With the current fitness doubts regarding Son and Bamford in the back of our heads, we have not included them in our selection, but we do recommend keeping an eye on developments. They are highly owned and, if declared fit in time, could play a major role in BGW29. Also keep in mind that chip deployment, Free Hits and Wildcards in particular, will likely be high this weekend.

Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 29 is set at 18h30 (UK time) on Friday, March 19th.

Do check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your transfer(s).

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per March 17th, 2021)


TRANSFERS OUTTRANSFERS INPOSSIBLE REASONS
GKMcCarthy (SOU), Pope (BUR), Ederson (CIT)Meslier (LEE), Martinez (AST), Mendy (CHE)BGW29 players brought in
DEFCancelo (CIT), Dias (CIT), Stones (CIT)Dallas (LEE), Dunk (BRI), Cresswell (WHU)BGW29 players brought in
MIDSon (TOT), Gündogan (CIT), Salah (LIV)Bale (TOT), Lingard (WHU), Raphinha (LEE)BGW29 players brought in, Son possibly out injured
FORBamford (LEE), Calvert-Lewin (EVE), Vardy (LEI)Kane (TOT), Antonio (WHU), Watkins (AST)BGW29 players brought in, Bamford possibly out injured

Premium pick

We are expecting Harry Kane (£11.5m) to be the most-captained player this weekend, simply because he is one of the very top fantasy assets featuring in this blank gameweek. With an incredible 16 goals and 13 assists, no player has recorded more attacking returns than the England striker and Spurs have found a bit of form over the last few gameweeks. As a matter of fact, since gameweek 26, only leaders Manchester City have scored more than Tottenham’s 10 goals. Kane was directly involved in five of those goals (3 goals, 2 assists), while his direct goal involvement over the whole season currently sits at a whopping 62%. He will start, he is on penalties, and despite Aston Villa being a solid unit this season, Kane looks to be the premium fantasy pick of the bunch this weekend.

Non-premium picks

With just four fixtures on the calendar this weekend and with Leeds rolling up to Craven Cottage, you can expect plenty of FPL managers to be tripling up on Leeds players. With Bamford a doubt for Friday’s game, Raphinha (£5.6m) will be in the cross-hairs of many managers, though his current ownership still sits at a surprisingly low 13.6%. Surprising, because the Brazilian winger comes at a bargain price, and already has 5 goals and 6 assists to his name. It’s true that the Whites have seen a dramatic fall in productivity in front of goal lately, not having netted once in the last three rounds, but with an away game at Fulham, they in theory have this weekend’s most favourable fixture. The Cottagers are in full-on survival mode and will not be easy to beat, but Leeds will attack with abandon as usual and Raphinha, who is also on many set-pieces, will definitely get a few chances to work on his tallies.

Our second non-premium fantasy pick for BGW29 is Michail Antonio (£6.6m). With their current fifth place in the league and a game in hand, West Ham are looking more and more like this season’s real surprise package. Despite missing a part of the campaign due to injury, Antonio has managed to play a considerable role in their excellent performance so far, with 7 goals and 3 assists. He was unlucky not to get involved in any goals over the past two weeks, especially the Leeds game in GW27 could’ve been very different for him, but the Hammers forward is proving to boast goalscoring capabilities regardless of the opposition. For example, he scored back-to-back goals in gameweeks 25 and 26 against Spurs and Man City, respectively. Up next are Arsenal at home for a real London derby and despite the Gunners coming off a hard-fought victory over rivals Spurs, they are not favourites for this one. The Hammers are, and we feel Antonio could be a decisive factor on Sunday.

The budget enabler

With the very kindly priced Dan Burn currently an injury doubt for Brighton, we have opted for his team mate Joel Veltman (£4.4m) as our budget-enabler for blank gameweek 29. The Dutchman provides a safe and very budget-friendly way into one of the league’s most solid defences, in terms of underlying statistics at least. Eight teams have conceded less than the Seagulls, but when it comes to expected conceded goals, they rank first, even above Man City. This week’s opponents Newcastle, on the other hand, rank 19th in terms of expected goals (in away games) and they have netted just three times in their last five games. In other words, this encounter looks like a major mismatch on paper, in favour of Brighton’s defence.

A differential pick or two

Since arriving at the Emirates on loan from Real Madrid during the January transfer window, Martin Ødegaard (£5.9m) has had a relatively slow start in an Arsenal shirt, but he seems to be hitting form of late. After scoring his first goal for the Gunners against Olympiacos in the Europa League last week, the Norwegian midfielder was also on target against Spurs in gameweek 28. Over the past two gameweeks, he has ranked amongst the top two players in his team for both chances created and shots on goal, and against a very solid West Ham United defence, he will be key for Mikel Arteta’s men if they want to find a way through. It will be far from an easy game for the Gunners, but with a current ownership of just 1.4%, Ødegaard could be a big-time differential pick for blank gameweek 29.

It has been discussed before, but Brighton are probably this season’s most underperforming team by some difference. A major reason for that is their problematic shyness in front of goal. Just six teams have scored less than the Seagulls so far and their top scorer is Leandro Trossard (£5.7m) with 3 goals and 5 assists. The Belgian’s latest goal came against Southampton just last weekend and with a home game against a Newcastle side in trouble coming up on Saturday, we recommend him as an interesting differential fantasy pick. The Magpies rank amongst the bottom five teams for several important defensive statistics, including conceded shots and conceded shots on target, and Trossard likes to shoot, including from set-pieces. The clash at the AmEx is an authentic six-pointer in relation to the relegation battle and Brighton looks like they’ll be bringing it home.

The captaincy

Before last weekend’s Spurs game, we thought it was between Son and Kane for the captaincy in gameweek 29, but with the Korean an injury doubt now, the armband goes to the English striker. As discussed earlier, no player in the official game has registered more attacking returns than Kane this season and if there is one player fixture-proof, it’s him. The visit to Villa Park could be a tricky one for Spurs, but in a reduced gameweek, the HurriKane looks like the safest bet for your captaincy.

If you’re not convinced by Kane or don’t have the funds to bring him in, then one of his team mates could be a decent alternative, Gareth Bale in particular. Outside of Spurs, BGW29 could be an opportunity to captain a Seagull for a change, with the likes of Trossard, Maupay and Dunk representing appealing differential value. On Friday, Leeds are visiting Fulham and we expect a few managers to put the armband of Raphinha as well, or Bamford if declared fit.

Join us on FISO’s FPL discussion forum for more Fantasy Premier League discussion and tactics.

Horses, Jockeys And Trainers To Follow In Fantasy Horse Racing

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We are into the final stretch of the 2020/21 National Hunt season now, however, due to the way the calendar falls in the sport, there are some major races over the next few months.

Here is a look at some horses, jockeys and trainers you should look to follow if you are taking part in any fantasy leagues or competitions at the big meetings.

Santini

As you can see from the Cheltenham race results, Santini finished a close second behind Al Boum Photo in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2020. He is arguably much better prepared for another shot at the Blue Riband event at the meeting this year.

Nicky Henderson’s runner is worth looking out for in the Cheltenham Gold Cup fast results on the final day of the Festival. If all goes well at Prestbury Park, he may run in the Grand National a month later at Aintree.

Santini has yet to prevail in three starts so far in the 2020/21 campaign, however, he should be fit now so he will be in great shape when he lines up for his primary targets in 2021.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National are the two biggest races of the season and he has an excellent chance in both of them. He is a chaser to keep on your side as his best performances are likely to be ahead of him.

Brian Hughes

Champion Jockey Brian Hughes is on course to defend his title this season. He is being pushed hard by Harry Skelton though, so expect to see the reigning champion trying desperately hard for as many winners as he can.

Hughes particularly does well at the northern meetings in the country. He has had success at the big meetings though, with three winners coming at the Cheltenham Festival, including when Mister Whitaker won the 2018 Centenary Novices’ Handicap Chase.

Hughes has yet to win the Grand National, a race all jockeys dream of prevailing in. Given how well he is riding this season, he is unlikely to be short of offers for this marathon contest next month.

Dan Skelton

When it comes to in-form yards at the moment, Dan Skelton is right at the top of the list. It has been an excellent season for the Lodge Hill-based trainer. He has a fantastic stable of horses who should continue to provide him with lots of winner at the end of the season.

Allmankind is one of the star horses who will be representing Skelton at Cheltenham and most likely at Aintree. He is unbeaten over fences and goes into the Arkle Chase with an excellent chance of landing major glory.

Skelton also has several talented mares to look out for in your fantasy leagues. They will be contesting the leading mares’ races where they are up there with the very best in their division.

Good luck selecting the horses in your competitions. Hopefully, the above advice can help you top your league or tournament.

FanTeam 2020-21: £67.5k Weekly Monster – Gameweek 28 preview

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As part of FISO’s special series of weekly articles on FanTeam, Europe’s biggest daily fantasy football provider, we will actually be entering the team we write about each week into the game. Our article will focus on an Early Entry for their Fantasy Premier League tournament held each week in order to help you identify game rules, tactics and the most promising players per gameweek, so you can win some of that large prize money.

Our FISO team below will be entered into this week’s £18 entry (£67,500) prize pool) Main Event. The winner takes home a cool £6,750. FanTeam also offer a €2 (or £1.80) entry Weekly Monster with a lower prize pool for those who prefer to play with lower stakes. Join the discussion on FISO’s FanTeam forum.

Before moving onto our team selection, we want to highlight a couple of FanTeam rules that they apply to their Weekly Monster competition and that represent some of the major differences when comparing the game to the FPL. Do though check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your picks.

Number one is that FanTeam have a rule called the ‘safety net’. The safety net comes into play when a selected player does not start in the Weekly Monster, because the game will then automatically replace this player with the next lowest-priced player from the same position (GK, DEF, MID, FOR) in the same team. This is regardless of whether or not your selected player does take to the field later in the game. This rule helps people who have entered a team into the Weekly Monster not to worry too much about whether their selected players will start or not, particularly if they know there are cheaper players for that same club in that same position who should start instead.

Number two is that FanTeam also have a ‘stacking penalty’ for the Weekly Monster, which penalises teams that have selected more than one defenders/goalkeeper from the same club. The stacking penalty comes into play when you pick more than one defensive player (defenders or goalkeepers) from a particular club and this club records a clean sheet. The points awarded for this clean sheet will decrease by 1 point for each additional defensive player from the same club that you have selected. The stacking penalty has a maximum of minus 3 points. This rule helps stop multi-entrants from gaining an advantage by submitting block defence teams. A reasonable tactic can be to select two players from two different clubs for your Goalie and Defenders, which would see you incur just 2 single-point deductions if you nail both clean sheets correctly.

Gameweek 28 £67.5K Weekly Monster matches

Our team entered in the Weekly Monster in gameweek 28

Formation: 3-5-2

Another week and another look into the murky crystal ball of predicting the weekend Premier League football action! We’re going West this weekend by siding with 5th placed West Ham to overturn the odds at 2nd placed Man Utd (who themselves did the seemingly impossible last weekend by defeating Champions-elect and neighbours Man City) and going with 19th placed West Brom to put some goals passed a potentially leaky 13th placed Palace side. We also think 15th placed Burnley can keep out an Everton side riding high in 6th but who’ve only scored twice in the last 3 matches. With 8 of our 11 players based on 3 upsets, we’re banking on the 2 highest priced Man City midfielders plus their highest defender to bring in a lot of points against Fulham. With enough budget to afford a 12th player (and an expensive one at that!) an unexpected set of results this weekend would help this team.

WBA

West Brom’s match v Palace is the 3pm kick-off so line-ups will be available and we may well move our VC to a WBA player (as Pep could bench both our Man City midfielders menaing we have no Captain). Palace with Zaha back in their line-up are more threatening going forward but have shown they are culpbable in failing to keep the ball out of their own net following their 4-1 defeat at Spurs last weekend despite two previous 0-0 results. WBA have been very short on goals so this is a big gamble to expect Diagne, Pereira & Gallagher to contribute positively in attack but stranger things have happened.

Burnley

The 2nd match in the Monster is Everton v Burnley. After 2 consecutive 1-1 draws against Leicester and Arsenal, Burnley appear to have rediscovered their defensive attributes most shown by their centre defenders, Mee and Tarkowski. Everton haven’t looked the best going forward recently partly due to DCL not finding his shooting boots since returning from injury and Richarlison’s run of scoring has seemingly come to an end. Whilst Burnley are not priced to keep a clean sheet, they have a reasonable chance.

Man City

The 3rd and final Saturday match is Fulham v Man City who will have one eye on their Champions League match mid-week. Cancelo, KDB & Sterling (or their cheaper replacements) are this team’s most expensive signings. Need we say more? The Manchester derby was just a blip? Right?

West Ham

With 8 of our 11 players playing on Saturday, we then have to wait until the final Sunday match for our 3 Hammers to contribute, against the odds, at Old Trafford. Man Utd had a tough Europa League match on Thursday drawing 1-1 against AC Milan and have the return fixture next Thursday whilst West Ham will be licking their lips at getting into the top 4. No Lingard for West Ham given he’s on loan from Man Utd so Soucek will need to contribute from midfield to support Antonio with Fabianski keeping out shots from the Red Devils.

FPL Season 2020-21: Gameweek 28 preview

Posted on by FISO
“On Sunday, it’s London derby time when Arsenal host Spurs at the Emirates” (CC by 3.0). Image by Felicilijonas.

After a long run of consecutive smaller and bigger double gameweeks, gameweek 28 sees us returning to the traditional FPL format of one game for every team. It’s been a while, right? Round 27 was a tricky one and potentially a very good one for those managers who made the right Man City bets. The Team of the Week features no less than three City players, with Riyad Mahrez (20 FPL points), Kevin de Bruyne (16 FPL points) and Phil Foden (12 FPL points) all delivering double-digit hauls. Other notable performers in GW28 were Harry Kane, with 2 goals and 2 assists for 19 FPL points, James Ward-Prowse with 18 FPL points courtesy of two penalties, and goal-scoring, bonus-point-snapping Luke Shaw with 14 points.

Looking ahead at gameweek 28, we see a set of interesting match-ups, many of which are hard to predict at the moment. From a neutral point of view, the London derby between Arsenal and Spurs at the Emirates on Sunday and the top-of-table clash between Man United and West Ham at Old Trafford stand out. Having said that, fixtures like Leeds at home versus Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, on-and-off Southampton against this season’s under-performers Brighton and Wolves versus Liverpool on Monday could give some serious fireworks as well. On top of that, it should be noted that gameweek 29 will be a major blank gameweek, with just eight teams featuring, so keep that in mind when considering your transfer in the build-up to GW28.

Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 28 is set at 18h30 (UK time) on Friday, March 12th.

Do check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your transfer(s).

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per March 11th, 2021)


TRANSFERS OUTTRANSFERS INPOSSIBLE REASONS
GKMcCarthy (SOU), De Gea (UTD), Pope (BUR)Martinez (AST), Mendy (CHE), Forster (SOU)
DEFCancelo (CIT), Robertson (LIV), Stones (CIT)Shaw (UTD), Cresswell (WHU), Dias (CIT)Possible knee-jerk reactions to Cancelo and Stones rotations, Shaw form, Dias undroppable
MIDSalah (LIV), Barnes (LEI), Maddison (LEI)Bale (TOT), Mount (CHE), De Bruyne (CIT)In-form midfielders, Barnes and Maddison injuries
FORIngs (SOU), Calvert-Lewin (EVE), Vardy (LEI)Kane (TOT), Richarlison (EVE), Watkins (AST)Kane double haul, Ings injury, Watkins fixture in GW29

Premium pick

After a 19-point haul and with a traditionally high-scoring derby coming up next, it’s hard to ignore Harry Kane (£11.3m) as the stand-out premium fantasy pick for gameweek 28. His 2 goals and 2 assists against Crystal Palace over the weekend saw him raise his tallies for the season to a mind-blowing 16 goals and 13 assists, making him the second-highest-scoring player in FPL, just behind Bruno Fernandes. As far as encounter between Arsenal and Spurs go, there have been a total of 17 goals over the last five games and four of those were scored by the HurriKane. He has been directly involved in just over 60% of his team’s goals, in part because he is on penalties for them as well, and despite Arsenal not boasting the most obliging of defences at the moment, the England number nine looks like one to back for this weekend.

Non-premium picks

A brilliant run of goal-scoring form came to an end for Richarlison (£8.0m) against Chelsea last weekend as the Toffees failed to find the net at all against Tuchel’s new and improved Blues. As far as the Brazilian is concerned, this meant not scoring a goal for the first time since gameweek 24, a run that saw him net four times and collect a total of 30 FPL points. He could very well get back up on his scoring horse coming weekend though, as Everton host Burnley on Saturday. The Clarets, though in better form of late, still boast some of the worst defensive stats in game as they rank amongst the bottom three teams for important variables as Shots conceded in the box, Shots on target conceded, and Big chances conceded. If Everton want to keep their hopes of European football alive, a win is a must at Goodison Park and Richarlison will be instrumental in that effort.

Our second non-premium fantasy pick for gameweek 28 is Mason Mount (£7.0m), who has proven to be more than just a decent solution to Chelsea’s transfer ban situation last season. Much more. Despite the arrival of more than a few multi-million signings, the academy graduate has kept his place in the starting eleven and with good reason. With 5 goals and 5 assists, he is currently the highest-scoring Blue in the official game. The still just 22-year old attacking midfielder was rested for Chelsea’s home victory over Everton and will be ready to fire against the Premier League’s leakiest defence after West Brom, Leeds United. The Whites have conceded 46 goals in 27 games so far and they are the team who have conceded most goals from set-pieces as well, which is good news for Mount as one of Chelsea’s principal set-piece masters in charge. The more than reasonably priced Englishman could be gold this weekend.

The budget enabler

As is often the case, our budget-enabling fantasy pick of the week is also a very big differential. With key players Harvey Barnes and James Maddison injured for the foreseeable future, one of the players called upon by manager Brendan Rodgers to step up is Kelechi Iheanacho (£5.6m). The Nigerian forward has started for the Foxes in their last three PL games and he has not disappointed, scoring back-to-back goals in his last two games for a total of 18 FPL points. In the absence of the previously mentioned players, Leicester have deployed two strikers instead of the usual lone Vardy up front, and Iheanacho is delivering for the moment. Up next is bottom-ranked Sheffield United, who have conceded 45 goals so far this season. If there was ever a good moment for the Leicester striker to make it three consecutive outings with a goal, it’s this weekend.

A differential pick or two

Iheanacho’s current ownership of 0.8% makes him a huge differential as well, but he’s not the only one on the Leicester roster. With Barnes and Maddison out of action, young Belgian Youri Tielemans (£6.4m) has become a main man on the Leicester midfield and his ownership also sits at a lowly 4.0%. Like his Nigerian team mate, Tielemans also seems to have upped his game of late, scoring 1 goal and providing 1 assist over this last three league games for a total of 12 FPL points. This weekend, he is facing a Sheffield United side that ranks amongst the bottom three teams in the league for Shots on target conceded and Big chances conceded, which bodes well for a midfielder like Tielemans who loves to give it a try from distance and is not afraid to attempt a through pass from time to time.

Our second differential fantasy pick and final fantasy pick for gameweek 28 is what you might call a bit of a pricey punt. Expectations were sky high when Chelsea splashed a cool £70 million for Kai Havertz (£8.2m) in the summer, but the former Leverkusen man learnt very quickly that the Premier League is a beast of its own. With just 12 starts in the league so far, the German wünderkind has not made the entry that Chelsea fans would’ve hoped for, but in GW27, he showed a glimpse of what could come. Havertz started up front for the Blues against Everton and promptly provided 2 assists for a nice 9-point haul. With manager Thomas Tuchel apparently not entirely convinced by Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud, we might be seeing more of the German forward in coming weeks, starting with the away game against Leeds to build on his successful showing last weekend. Owned by just 2.4% of FPL managers, Havertz could be a risky pick to set you apart from the rest in the your mini-league.

The captaincy

We already mentioned it before, but after his showing against Crystal Palace and keeping his record in the derby against Arsenal in the back of our heads, Harry Kane is the one to get our captain’s armband in gameweek 28. He is sure to start and already has 29 returns to his name this season. Kane has been on target four times in his last five meetings with the Gunners and he is on many free-kicks and, of course, penalties as well. Expect the 38.4%-owned forward to be heavily captained this coming weekend.

If you’re not sure about Spurs or simply can’t afford the pricey Kane, fear not, because there are several other good options available for this weekend as well. As always, Bruno Fernandes is a reliable choice, even when United host in-form West Ham. Jamie Vardy at home to Sheffield United could be a good one as well. If you’re prepared to play a bit of Pep roulette, you could opt for any of Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gündogan, or the on-fire Riyad Mahrez as they visit Craven Cottage on Saturday. More outfield picks for the captaincy this weekend include Mason Mount against Leeds, Richarlison or Dominic Calvery-Lewin against Burnley at home, or even Christian Benteke at home to leaky West Brom.

Join FISO’s FPL discussion forum for more Fantasy Premier League news and tactics.