Gameweek 31 was once again a playground for the lesser owned fantasy assets, as many budget and mid-priced players recorded big hauls last weekend. The official Team of the Week features six players with an ownership below 2.5% and only two assets owned by more than 24% of FPL managers. The player with the highest ownership in this team though, Stuart Dallas, did crown himself Player of the Week with 17 FPL points, courtesy of a brace against Manchester City. Following him are West Brom’s Sam Johnstone and Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic with 15 FPL points each, and the on-fire Jesse Lingard with 14 FPL points.
Talk of the town for gameweek 32 is obviously Spurs’ double gameweek, as this is going to have a major impact on transfer and captaincy decision in the build-up to Friday’s deadline. José Mourinho’s men are first visiting Everton before hosting Southampton and with neither opponent being in scintillating form at the moment, many an FPL manager’s eye will be on Kane, Son and friends. Apart from the the Spurs double, the upcoming stretched gameweek offers a few other appealing fixtures as well, including West Ham rolling up to Saint James’ Park, Man United hosting Burnley, and Leeds and Liverpool squaring off at Elland Road.
In any case, don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 32 is set at 18h30 (UK time) on Friday, April 16th..
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 OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Pope (BUR), Martinez (AST), McCarthy (SOU) | Lloris (TOT), Patricio (WOL), Mendy (CHE) | Spurs DGW, Wolves fixtures |
| DEF | Cresswell (WHU), Cancelo (CIT), Dias (CIT) | Dallas (LEE), Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Reguilón (TOT) | Spurs DGW, TAA form, Liverpool eliminated from CL |
| MID | Gündogan (CIT), Neto (WOL), Raphinha (LEE) | Lingard (WHU), Son (TOT), Mount (CHE) | Spurs DGW, Lingard and Mount form, Neto injury |
| FOR | Calvert-Lewin (EVE), Antonio (WHU), Bamford (LEE) | Iheanacho (LEI), Kane (TOT), Lacazette (ARS) | Spurs DGW, form of incoming transfers |
Premium pick
His form has been more or less consistently high throughout the season, so when the fixtures line up as well, Harry Kane (£11.7m) automatically becomes a fantasy asset of major interest. This week, his Spurs side are the only side to have a double fixture, consisting of an away game at Goodison Park followed by a home game versus Southampton. With 19 goals and 13 assists so far, Kane has been directly involved in no less than 62% of Tottenham’s goals, a league high. It’s not hard to imagine the England man netting against both of these teams. Everton have taken 2 points from their last 4 games, conceding 6 times in the process, while over that same period, the Saints got 3 points and conceded a worrying 12 goals.
Non-premium picks
This season more than ever, it’s difficult to speak about Kane without mentioning his team mate and partner up front Heung-Min Son (£9.4m). After a relatively dry period in terms of FPL points since his goal back in GW23, the Korean forward got himself on the score sheet again last weekend against Manchester United. He is now up against Everton and Southampton, which could bode very well for the roughly 45% of FPL managers currently owning him. They’ll be hoping that Son can build on his 14 goals and 9 assists against two sides that have been far from their best of late. Is a tenth double-digit haul of the season on the way for the Spurs’ Korean superstar?
At this moment, there are probably few fantasy assets offering a better price-potential ratio than Liverpool’s Diogo Jota. At a price of just £7.0m, the Portuguese forward offers a cut-price way into Jurgen Klopp’s attack. It’s true that the Reds are not having the best of seasons, but remember that Wednesday night’s Champions League elimination versus Real Madrid could be a positive thing for FPL managers. Liverpool have just the Premier League to focus on now (currently placed 6th just 3 points from top 4 qualification) and at the same time, they have one of the kindest fixture runs until the end of the season. The scene seems set for a strong and positive end to the 2020-21 campaign, and we expect Jota, who scored 3 goals in his last three games, to play an important role in the process.
The budget enabler
We just wrote that Jota’s price-potential ratio is almost unbeatable at the moment, but if there is one player who might offer an even better ratio, it’s Kelechi Iheanacho (£6.0m). Since conquering a spot in Brendan Rodgers’ starting eleven back in GW26, the Leicester striker has scored an incredible 7 goals and recorded an impressive 52 FPL points. His impact has been such, in fact, that the Foxes have even adjusted their tactics to accommodate Nacho’s inclusion in the starting lineup, from a single-striker setup with Jamie Vardy up top to a striker duo. Up next for Leicester are West Brom, who rank bottom for most of the key defensive indicators, including conceded goal, conceded shots on target and conceded big chances. Let’s see if Iheanacho can keep up his recent 10-point-per-game average at home against the Baggies.
A differential pick or two
It seems like, at any point during the season, there are always a few players who fly under the FPL radar, no matter how well they perform. Take Alexandre Lacazette (£8.3m), for example. The Frenchman has scored 5 goals and provided 1 assist over the past six league games for a total of 43 FPL points, but is still owned by just 8.2% of all FPL managers. On top of that, Arsenal are hosting Fulham on Sunday. While the Cottagers could turn out to be a tougher nut to crack for Arsenal than they hoped, Lacazette currently looks like the player most likely to score in this encounter. With Everton (home), Newcastle (away) and West Brom (home) after that, he could even be a good shout for the medium to long-term.
We’re finishing gameweek 31’s round of fantasy picks with a real differential, as Adama Traoré (£6.0m) is currently in just 5.2% of FPL squads. That’s not such a surprising number when you consider that his GW30 stoppage time winner against Fulham was his first goal in 49 Premier League outings. However, the Spanish winger might well have found a bit of form, seeing as he has scored a goal and provided an assist over the past 2 games. Up next are Sheffield United, which looks like a perfect opportunity for Traoré to make it three consecutive games with attacking returns. The Wolves will have to make do without Raul Jimenez, Pedro Neto and Ruben Neves for their attacking ideas, so it could end up being a low-scoring affair at Molineux, but a punt on their Spanish bulldozer could pay off more than handsomely.
The captaincy
Considering the fixtures in gameweek 32, we figured the mainstream captaincy battle will be between Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, and we have gone with the former. As mentioned earlier, Spurs have two games this round and both look winnable. Neither Everton nor Southampton are flying at the moment and their defences will likely have a lot of trouble dealing with Tottenham’s attacking block. Though Son is an excellent choice as well, we have gone with Kane, who is his side’s star player, on penalties and on plenty of free kicks as well for the captaincy in GW32.
If you’re not convinced by Spurs’ double gameweek or don’t feel confident bringing in players who will blank in GW33, you have more than a few good alternatives at your disposal. Bruno Fernandes at home against Burnley looks like a safe pick, while Salah or Jota away against Leeds could result in major hauls as well. In the round’s last game, Leicester are hosting West Brom, which brings the likes of Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho in the picture. For a daring punt, Jesse Lingard away against Newcastle looks like a stand-out option.
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