So it’s finally happened! After clinching the 2018-19 Champions League title about a year ago, Liverpool FC have now conquered the English Premier League for the first time since the 1989-90 season. Not even a global epidemic could stop them. Winning with a record number of games remaining and also as late as 25th June which will be a difficult record for any other team to beat.
Congratulations Liverpool and Reds all around the world!
They did so with a resounding 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace, though it was Manchester City’s away loss versus Chelsea last night that sealed the deal. In a fantastic turn of fate, both teams are now facing each other in gameweek 32+ in what surely will be a very interesting match to watch.
Apart from that, the upcoming round offers several other fascinating match-ups as well. Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal and Wolves all have favourable fixtures, on paper at least, and Wednesday brings us Everton vs Leicester. And what about the high-stakes relegation battle? In any case, we’re at the business end of the season now, so let’s move to our fantasy picks for gameweek 32+.
Finally, don’t forget that the FPL deadline for gameweek 32+ is set at 11h30 (UK time) on Saturday, June, 27th, 2020.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per June 26th, 2020)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Henderson (SHE), Leno (ARS), Pope (BUR) | Martinez (ARS), Schmeichel (LEI), Pope (BUR) | Sheffield United’s upcoming fixtures in combination with cheap Martinez replacing the injured Leno. |
| DEF | Lundstram (SHE), Kelly (CRY), Baldock (SHE) | Wan-Bissaka (UTD), Doherty (WOL), Aurier (TOT) | Again Sheffield’s upcoming fixtures, combined with the form and fixtures of the transferred in defenders. |
| MID | Grealish (AST), Cantwell (NOR), Richarlison (EVE) | Martial (UTD), Traoré (WOL), Pulisic (CHE) | United, Wolves and Chelsea have interesting fixtures coming up, especially for Out Of Position players. |
| FOR | Aguero (CIT), Vardy (LEI), Aubameyang (ARS) | Rashford (UTD), Jimenez (WOL), Kane (TOT) | Big name and expensive strikers are being transferred out, plus the injury of Aguero who’s just had knee surgery. |
Premium fantasy picks
This week, we’re starting with a controversial pick as our first premium recommendation. Controversial, because we’re giving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) a final chance. Or better said, we’re giving Arsenal a final chance to prove that they are at least somewhat reliable in terms of fantasy football, because Aubameyang himself hasn’t done bad at all, so far. We currently find him in the thick of the Premier League Golden Boot battle, courtesy of his 17 goals, but he has been an extremely frustrating asset to own, not in the last place due to his hefty price tag. The Gabonese forward has underwhelmed after the forced football break with just 6 points from three games despite playing 90 minutes in all of them. Sounds like a great FPL recommendation, right? Well, to start his blank against the Saints is a bit misleading, seeing as he hit the bar once and was robbed off the ball once with a red card-worthy tackle as well. Plus, up next is a home game for the Gunners against a Norwich side bound for relegation. Only Aston Villa have conceded more than the Canaries’ 56 goals and Arsenal could REALLY use the points, hence Auba’s last chance (for real, this time).
Our second premium pick for gameweek 32+ is Wolverhampton’s Matt Doherty (£6.4m). The marauding Irishman is currently the fourth-most expensive defender in the game, behind the Liverpool trio of Alexander-Arnold, Robertson and Van Dijk, and also the fourth-highest-scoring defender in the official game, behind… you guessed it, that same Liverpool trio. In other words, in a parallel universe kind of way, take out Liverpool and Doherty becomes this season’s best performing defender in FPL. In the five gameweeks before the coronabreak, Doherty recorded an incredible 40 FPL points, courtesy of 4 clean sheets, 2 assists and 1 goal. In the two gameweeks after the break, he basically just continued to impress: 2 games played, 2 clean sheets, 1 assist, 3 bonus points and 18 FPL points. The Wolves right-wing-back is in great form and up next is a struggling Aston Villa side that has taken just 2 points from three games after the break, scoring just 2 goals over that period. At the same time, the Villains have already let in 59 goals this season, more than any other outfit in the league, so there might be returns at both ends of the pitch in this one for Doherty.
Non-premium fantasy picks
We’re just going to get it over with: yes, Raul Jimenez (£8.3m) is part of our gameweek fantasy selection once again. His consistency in terms of attacking returns puts him amongst the very best FPL has to offer this year, yet his price tag is still more than affordable. There has naturally been a lot of talk about the underpricing of Lundstram at the start of the season, but a player with the quality of Jimenez starting at a price of £7.5m probably falls into that same category. The Mexican scored the only and thus winning goal in GW31+ at home against Bournemouth for his 15th goal of the season, and he’s got 6 assists on top of that as well. For the upcoming game at Aston Villa, who have conceded more goals than any team in the division, we’re betting on him to delight his owners once again before parental duties have a ‘bearing’ on Jimenez.
Coming off a hattrick, and with Brighton, Bournemouth and Villa up next, it’s hard to ignore Anthony Martial (£8.1m) for this week’s fantasy picks. It’s been a bit of an on-and-off season for the Frenchman, in part due to injury troubles, but he was at his poaching best in GW31+ against Sheffield United. His three goals brought his season total to 14 and he could’ve easily added at least one assist to his current total of three as well. With the return of Paul Pogba to create a central midfield block with Bruno Fernandes, the Red Devils have gained in quality and even though it’s just been one game, it seems like Martial could be benefiting from it in a big way. Let’s see how they turn up when they visit Brighton on Tuesday.
A differential fantasy pick or two
One of the in-form post-coronabreak players is one who might’ve slipped under some FPL managers’ radars, possibly in part due to the fact that he got just 35 minutes of playing time in gameweek 30+. Still, Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic (£6.9m) scored a goal that week and he repeated that feat in GW31+ against Manchester City to make it two out of two. Over that same short period, he brought the 4.5% of managers who own him a decent 14 FPL points. It’s also interesting that Pulisic is used mostly as a winger by coach Frank Lampard, which provides the American international with some added out-of-position appeal. It should be kept in mind that Lampard is not afraid of a bit of rotation, though we’d be very surprised if he drops Pulisic from his starting eleven for the away game at Watford.
Our final pick for gameweek 32+ is Newcastle’s Jamaal Lascelles (£4.3m), who represents a starting player owned by just 6.1% of FPL managers and priced like a budget-enabler. The English defender started the season as a nailed-on part of coach Steve Bruce’s defensive set-up, but an injury in GW12 kept him sidelined for 10 rounds. He returned in GW23 and has recorded 32 FPL points since then, thanks to no less than 5 clean sheets. One of those clean sheets and six of those points are the result of his two games since the return of the Premier League and we feel the upcoming away game against Bournemouth could be an opportunity to build on those numbers. Only Norwich, Watford and Palace have scored less than the Cherries this season and they haven’t yet netted since football returned. Even though Newcastle are virtually safe from the drop while Bournemouth are still very much in danger, we think Newcastle can grind out another clean sheet here.
The captaincy
OK, so we’re doubling down on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at home against Norwich. We know the risk, we know he’s been blanking since the return of football and we know that we don’t know what to think of Arsenal, but Auba is one of the best strikers in the Premier League facing one of the worst defences. His blanks look bad and his double gameweek 30+ was very disappointing, but as we wrote earlier, his blank against Southampton in the last round was harsh. It could’ve easily been a decent haul. It’s last chance saloon for Aubameyang this week, so he’d better deliver for the 24.9% of FPL managers who own him.
Not sure of Auba? We can understand and fortunately there are some other good options for the armband as well, starting with Raul Jimenez at the Vitality Stadium. He was our captain in GW31+ and rewarded us with 18 points. At Man United, Fernandes, Rashford and Martial are alternatives for their visit to Brighton, while Abraham and Pulisic look interesting away from home against West Ham. Finally, a punt on De Bruyne or Gabriel Jesus could be fun for their home game against Liverpool, just a few days after the Reds took their Premier League crown.
Finally if you like FPL but want to have a go at a weekly Fantasy Premier League type competition for large prizes then have a look at FanTeam’s Premier League Monster. FISO members could also win a free ‘Weekly Monster’ entry (worth 20 euros) via the FISO FanTeam forum. There are freerolls for new entrants if registered within the last 8 weeks. Read all about a fiso member who won 30,000 euros on FanTeam from just a 2 euro entry fee.