It’s not Christmas, but the current Premier League schedule certainly makes it feel like it is. Gameweek 30 is almost behind us (Chelsea vs Spurs is still to be played on Thursday night) and Gameweek 31 is already around the corner. There are about 36 hours between the final whistle of GW30 and the opening match of GW31 between Everton and Arsenal at Goodison Park.
That’s not all though, because GW31 ends on Monday night, April 7th, after which fantasy managers have about four days to get their squads in order for Double Gameweek 32. As a result of this scheduling, you can expect more than a few Chips to be activated over the coming days and months. It depends on the strategy you have chosen for your own squad, but the Free Hit chip and the Wildcard can be of great help when trying to navigate the upcoming period.
As far as Gameweek 31 is concerned, the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford on Sunday evening obviously stands out. For FPL managers though, Liverpool’s visit to Craven Cottage and Spurs’ home game against Southampton are the fixture to stand out, most likely. Newcastle on Monday evening for their visit to Leicester City also has plenty of fantasy potential, for those managers who can wait so long know their Gameweek 31 score.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 31 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, April 5th, 2025. The free to play FPL or pay to play season/weekend/daily games like FanTeam are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per April 3rd, 2025)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Pickford (EVE), Fabianski (WHU), Alisson (LIV) | Raya (ARS), Sels (NFO), Areola (WHU) | Alisson injury doubt |
| DEF | Gabriel (ARS), Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Aina (NFO) | Saliba (ARS), Milenkovic (NFO), Virgil (LIV) | Gabriel injury + Aina injury doubt, Alexander-Arnold injury |
| MID | Kluivert (BOU), Palmer (CHE), Fernandes (MUN) | Saka (ARS), Elanga (NFO), Murphy (NEW) | Saka back from long-term injury, Elanga form, Kluivert injury doubt |
| FOR | Wood (NFO), Haaland (MCI), Wissa (BRE) | Marmoush (MCI), Isak (NEW), Mateta (CRY) | Haaland injury, Wood injury doubt, Marmoush form, Isak form + fixture, |
Premium pick
Normally, we were going to go with Mohamed Salah here for Liverpool’s visit to Fulham, but we have decided to mix it up a bit. Instead of the best player of the 2024-2025 Premier League season, we have gone with Son Heung-Min (£9.7m). The general opinion is that the South Korean is not reaching the levels we are used to from him this season, but in reality, he is having a more than decent season, at least numbers-wise. After all, 7 goals and 11 assists from 21 league starts is an excellent return, even at his current price of £9.7m. That is also why we have decided on Son as our premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 31, also keeping in mind the many Chips that will be deployed in preparation for the coming Gameweeks. Spurs are playing Southampton this weekend, who have already let in 71 goals overall in the league this season, more than any other team. We feel Son has big potential here, but do not forget that he is part of one of the most up-and-down unreliable Spurs sides in recent memory, which is saying something…
Non-premium pick
We recommended Savinho as an interesting fantasy pick for Gameweek 30 and the Brazilian delivered with an assist during Man City’s visit to Leicester City and 9 FPL points. This has given us the courage to include another Manchester City asset this week, in the non-premium fantasy pick category this time. On top of that, Omar Marmoush (£7.5m) might just be at the start of a nice run of form, at least in terms of delivering FPL points for the roughly 24% of managers who currently own him. He has played 85 minutes in GW29 (1 goal, 1 assist, 12 FPL points at home to Brighton) and 90 minutes in GW30 (1 goal, 9 FPL points, at home to Leicester), and looks set for an extended run in the starting eleven after Erling Haaland was confirmed to be out with an injury for the foreseeable future. The Cityzens are currently preparing for a visit to Old Trafford, but that is not necessarily bad for Marmoush. The Red Devils are a mess this season and Old Trafford has not been a fortress in years now, which makes us think that City could win here, possibly (and hopefully) with Marmoush as protagonist. Oh, and the cherry on top? Manchester City have a double in Gameweek 33 against Everton (away) and Aston Villa (home).
The budget enabler
Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) failed to find the net or any other path to attacking returns in Gameweek 30, which was a bit disappointing after back-to-back double-digit hauls. The Crystal Palace winger, who is listed as a midfielder in the official fantasy game, scored a brace in the home game against Aston Villa in GW27 and then followed that up by scoring the only goal of the game at home against Ipswich Town in GW28 (Palace blanked in GW29). Those two hauls were amongst his highest single gameweek scores of the season, but do you know when he recorded his highest score of the season so far? Exactly, back in Gameweek 16, at the AmEx Stadium against Brighton, coincidentally the reverse fixture of Palace’s upcoming game. On Saturday afternoon, the Eagles welcome the Seagulls to Selhurst Park and while we are not sure what the end result will be here, we definitely see an opportunity for goals on both sides. And if that happens, we are obviously hoping for our budget enabler fantasy pick for Gameweek 31 to get in on the action, so he can build on the 7 goals and 4 assists he already has to his name at the moment.
The differential
Our differential fantasy pick for Gameweek 31 is currently flagged in the official fantasy game, with a 75% of playing, so keep that in mind. Comments by Newcastle manager Eddie Howe made us include Anthony Gordon (£7.4m) though, as we feel he has some serious differential potential in Gameweek 31. “He has some nasty bruising around his thigh, but he’s up and running and feeling quite good. He’s not trained with the group yet, so we anticipate he’ll do that within the next few days”, is what Howe said about his winger earlier this week, which sounds pretty good to us. As for Gordon’s performances so far, even though he is not performing at the same level as last season, at least in terms of goals and assists, he still managed 6 of each in 25 league starts. As a matter of fact, Newcastle currently find themselves in fifth place and the England international is the second-highest-scoring Magpie, behind the phenom called Alexander Isak. And like our non-premium fantasy pick Omar Marmoush (in GW33), Gordon also has a Double Gameweek coming up, in Gameweek 32 to be exact, against Manchester United and Crystal Palace (both at home).
The (vice-)captaincy
As far as we are concerned, the captaincy debate this gameweek will be between two usual suspects: Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak. Considering Salah’s completely fixture proof and Isak is currently flagged, we have gone with, surprise surprise, the Egyptian as our captain in Gameweek 31.
If we are completely honest though, we are actually considering Heung-Min Son as our captain as well, for Spurs’s home game against leaky Southampton. We probably won’t pick him over Salah in the end, but the South Korean is an extremely interesting differential alternative for the armband in Gameweek 31.
For further thoughts and discussions (including minleagues and side games) on the FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.