“Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez” (CC by 4.0) by Ronnie Macdonald

After a relatively calm weekend last gameweek we have now arrived at the first of two double gameweeks before the end of the season. Despite the fixtures for the teams playing more than once this week (those being Arsenal and Southampton) not being overwhelmingly attractive from an FPL manager’s point of view, a mass introduction of the second wildcard can be expected this week. Let’s take a look at this week’s fixtures schedule before getting deeper into the specifics.

Fri, May 5th

West Ham – Spurs

Sat, May 6th

Man City – Palace
B’mouth – Stoke
Burnley – WBA
Hull – Sunderland
Leicester – Watford
Swansea – Everton

Sun, May 7th

Liverpool – Soton
Arsenal – Man Utd

Mon, May 8th

Chelsea – Boro

Wed, May 10th

Soton – Arsenal

The doubles
First things first. Any FPL manager with at least one year of experience in the game under his (or her) belt knows that double gameweeks can be true game changers, especially the ones so close to the end of the season. This week it’s Arsenal and Southampton who enjoy a double, though “enjoy” might not be the correct definition of the way both teams have been playing as of late. Add to that the difficulty of the fixtures in question and you might suddenly feel your double gameweek enthusiasm ebbing away. Don’t be too disheartened though, there is still plenty of big point haul potential to benefit from.

Obviously Alexis Sanchez is the number one name on the list. He’s probably one of the most fixture-proof players in the Premier League (and possibly the world), and despite his poor returns over the last five, six gameweeks he should still be in your team this week. His underlying stats look promising, with 16 goal attempts over the past six weeks, on level with FPL star performer Dele Alli. He faces two tough defenses, but a goal or two is definitely not unthinkable. Also look for Monreal and Petr Cech as high potential targets.

Then there is Southampton, floating in that unpredictable end-of-the-season space between the contenders for Europe and the relegation battlers. Their defense has been improving somewhat over the last few weeks, with three clean sheets in the past six weeks (and two of the other three games were against Man City and Chelsea), so players like Maya Yoshida, the young Jack Stephens and Ryan Bertrand do not sound like bad (budget enabling) options. Do not forget about Fraser Forster in goal either. In attacking sense you might opt for Dusan Tadic or Gabbiadini, but especially the latter has not been able to show the kind of form lately that makes us hope for big points.

Besides the doubles
With the doubles failing to provide mouthwatering squad options it is up to the rest of the games to provide us with point potential. And provide they do, although there exist less and less certainties in the Premier League every year.

Spurs start off the weekend with an away game at West Ham. The Hammers have been uncomfortable at home this season and Harry Kane netted 5 times in his last 4 games against them. With 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 games he’s the man to keep an eye on, though the likes of Alli (of course), Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen should not be overlooked either.

On Saturday Man City host a Crystal Palace side that, despite improved results under Big Sam, is still balancing on the edge of the battle against relegation. Becoming the first team, last weekend, to lose against Burnley at home this season will not have helped their confidence. With Aguero being an injury doubt his young Brazilian replacement might be worth a punt. Gabriel Jesus has shown giant potential before his injury, he’s facing Palace at home and he scored City’s last-minute equaliser at Boro last week. Of course, you should keep paying attention to developments around the super-popular Aguero who is in many fantasy football teams, while Sané, De Bruyne and Caballero could be raking in the fantasy football points this weekend as well. If you also like raking in points or money from playing Blackjacks, a popular online card casino game, then blackjackgeeks.com is a great place to visit for guidance.

Other attractive face-offs are taking place in Hull, who face officially relegated Sunderland in a game that could ensure their own survival in the Prem, and Liverpool, where the local red outfit hosts an unclear Southampton outfit. It’s Liverpool, so we won’t bet on clean sheets, but players like Firmino, Origi and Lallana might just bring in attacking returns.

Finally, we should mention the favorites for the title. Chelsea are hosting a Boro side on the brink of relegation, and a visit to Stamford Bridge just seems to be a bit above their heads overall. Consider Chelsea assets on both sides of the pitch, as the possibility of both attacking and defensive returns in this game is high. Do not leave the likes of Costa, Hazard, Cahill, Alonso and Courtois out of your considerations