FPL Season 2019/2020 – Gameweek 33+ Preview

Citizens 3-1 Tigers
“This week, last season’s champions Man City are welcoming recently crowned champions Liverpool to the Etihad for the clash of the gameweek” (CC by 2.0). Image by Dom Fellowes.

At the time of writing this preview for gameweek 33+, which starts on Saturday, the final two games of gameweek 32+ are still to be played tonight, including the clash between Man City and Liverpool at the Etihad. Despite GW32+ being stretched out over six days, this still shows just how hectic the current Premier League schedule really is. The quick turn-around of games, plus the fitness consequences of the three-month break and the fact that more and more teams will have little left to play for as the season advances, further increases an already high risk of rotation for FPL managers. As a result, secure starters and an ample bench are rapidly growing in importance in the official game.

With Leicester, Man United, Wolves and Chelsea all given potentially favourable home games, and with Man City playing Southampton at Saint Mary’s, GW33+ has all the ingredients for a high-scoring round with multiple hauls causing plenty of green and red arrows all around. For those chasing in their mini-leagues, this means that it’s not too late yet. For those in the lead, it means it would be unwise start relaxing. Meanwhile, we have once again selected seven promising picks for your fantasy Premier League team.

Finally, don’t forget that the deadline for gameweek 33+ is set at 11h30 (UK time) on Saturday, July 4th, 2020.

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per July 2nd, 2020)

 TRANSFERS OUTTRANSFERS INPOSSIBLE REASONS
GKLeno (Arsenal), Henderson (Sheffield), Schmeichel (Leicester)Pope (Burnley), Martinez (Arsenal), De Gea (Man United)Leno is injured while Henderson and Schmeichel have not delivered for a while. De Gea and Pope are good performers, whil Martinez is a cheap starter at Arsenal.
DEFLundstram (Sheffield), Kelly (Palace), Baldock (Sheffield)Wan-Bissaka (Man United), Doherty (Wolves), Saiss (Wolves)Sheffield United have a rough run of fixtures coming up and are not in great form, while Wolves and United boast two of the best defences in the league.
MIDGrealish (Villa), Maddison (Leicester), Traoré (Wolves)Fernandes (Man United), Martial (Man United), Pulisic (Chelsea)Non-delivering assets out, in-form United assets in, plus Pulisic has a good run coming of fixtures coming up.
FORVardy (Leicester), Aubameyang (Arsenal), Calvert-Lewin (Everton)Greenwood (Man United), Ings (Southampton), Rashford (Man United)Form plays a clear role in this trend, plus the appealing upcoming fixtures for United.

Premium fantasy picks

Even with Liverpool just becoming champions for the first time in 30 years and us not knowing the result yet of their game against City at the Etihad tonight, Mo Salah (£12.6m) has to be in your team or at least on top of your watchlist for next Sunday’s home game against Aston Villa. Especially when you consider the Egyptian forward is a prime candidate for this season’s Golden Boot. At the moment of writing, he sits on 17 goals, two less than leading scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and two more than team mate Sadio Mané. To the dismay of many an FPL manager, Salah missed the Merseyside Derby in gameweek 30+, but he made up for it with a goal and an assist against Palace a week later. Tonight’s game is definitely a challenging one for the Reds, but the Villa game should be a whole story. The Villans boast the division’s joint-worst defensive record (60 goals conceded in 32 games, like Norwich), while 2 goals and 2 points from four games since the return of football doesn’t indicate much form either. It’s true that they looked defensively more stable of late, but we’re still not betting against a Salah haul for this one.

We’re sticking to Liverpool for our second premium fantasy pick, as we feel Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.8m) could have a field day at Anfield on Sunday as well. Villa don’t just concede a lot of goals, they also score few goals themselves (36 goals in 32 games). At the same time, as part of the Liverpool backline this season, Alexander-Arnold has been part of 13 clean sheets. On top of that, he has 14 (!) assists and 3 goals to his name, as well as 21 bonus points. He is already more of a midfielder than a right-back at times and we expect him to get plenty of freedom on the right side against Villa, especially now that first-choice left-back Matt Targett is injured. We all know that freedom leads to opportunities and that’s what we’re hoping for with TAA, at both ends of the pitch.

Non-premium fantasy picks

Where Liverpool’s most popular fantasy players have been part of the premium category since match day 1, Manchester United’s assets have not. As a result of this and with the Red Devils quickly building up some serious end-of-season momentum, our two non-premium fantasy picks for gameweek 33+ belong to the red side of Manchester. They play a woeful and very relegation-threatened Bournemouth side on Saturday, and it’s just hard to not see them book a comfortable and possibly goal-laden victory there. The Cherries are currently nineteenth in the league and they haven’t won since Project Restart got underway. Equally worrying is the fact that they have scored just a single goal over that run, a 90th-minute consolation at 0-4 down against Newcastle in gameweek 32+. A trip to Old Trafford to face an in-form United side is about the last thing Eddie Howe’s men need right now.

That’s why we’re recommending Bruno Fernandes (£8.8m) and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.4m) this round. The former has been nothing short of sensational since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon last January, hitting the English ground running with 5 goals and 3 assists from 8 games. The latter made a similar big-money move to Old Trafford, but half a year earlier, and he’s been a mainstay in the starting lineup since his first day as well. Both players are also coming into Saturday’s game in great form. With 2 goals and 15 FPL points, Fernandes delighted the 21.9% of managers who own him, while a clean sheet and an assist (his second since football returned) made it 6 clean sheets and an amazing 57 FPL points from the last eight games for Wan-Bissaka. We don’t expect Bournemouth in their actual form to be the side that brings the accelerating United train to a halt.

A differential fantasy pick or two

When talking about differentials in the post-coronabreak era, Christian Pulisic (£7.0m) should be around the top of every serious FPL manager’s scouting list. Due to injury trouble and fluctuating form (both on personal and club level), the young American has maybe not yet made the impact he would’ve wanted this season, but he did show his extraordinary qualities at times. Since the return of football though, he has been in sensational form for Chelsea and the 6.6% of FPL managers who own him. In his last three games, he’s been good for 2 goals and 2 assists (both of them against West Ham in gameweek 32+), and a decent 22 FPL points. Up next is a home game against struggling Watford for the Blues. The Hornets disappointed at home to Southampton on Sunday, but so did the Blues by losing 3-2 against relegation candidates West Ham. Offensively though, Chelsea impressed for periods of the game and Pulisic was the main danger man, winning both the free kick and the penalty that resulted in Willian’s goals. Let’s see if he can lead the way again at Stamford Bridge coming Saturday.

Our second differential fantasy of the week is Brighton striker Neal Maupay (£5.7m). Admittedly, we’re a bit of a fan of the French forward, but there’s more to this one. First of all, the Seagulls are visiting a leaky and almost-relegated Norwich side. Second of all, Brighton have had a more than decent return to Premier League action with a win over Arsenal in GW30+ (with a last-minute winner by Maupay), a draw against Leicester after that (where Maupay missed a penalty) and a loss against a confident Man United side last gameweek. And third of all, in a heavily-rotated side, Maupay is coach Graham Potter’s most-used forward. On top of that, among the Brighton faithful the rumour goes that Potter kept his striker on the bench for the first half against United in GW32+ to spare him for the upcoming game at Carrow Road. After all, a victory against the Canaries could all but confirm Brighton’s continued presence in the Premier League next season. The stakes are high for this and we feel Maupay could be an appealing differential pick.

The captaincy

As we wrote earlier, gameweek 33+ is offering us a few attractive fixtures and subsequently, more than a few promising captaincy candidates. What to think of Mo Salah and Sadio Mané against Aston Villa at home, for example? We’re going with the Egyptian this week, but as we all know way too well, it could very well be the Senegal international who hauls this time. Or one of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes for United’s home clash with struggling Bournemouth?

For those in need of a bit more of a differential captain to try and make up ground in your mini-leagues, the likes of Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham, or Man City’s Kevin de Bruyne against Southampton at Saint Mary’s are worth considering. As a matter of fact, even Neal Maupay against Norwich and Raul Jimenez at home to Arsenal could be gutsy, but very rewarding punts. Do also check out the FISO FPL Forum Poll on the GW33+ Captain.

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 Main Event and the FISO FanTeam forum. There are freerolls for new entrants organised by FanTeam. Read all about a fiso member who won 30,000 euros on FanTeam from just a 2 euro entry fee.