Just three gameweeks to go now but, unless your mini-league leader is lightyears ahead, lots can happen still. Why? Well, the end of the season is always a bit of a special stage with some teams fighting for the title and the European spots, some teams battling relegation pressure, some teams relegated already and some teams on the beach already. That’s not all though, because of the three remaining FPL gameweeks this season, two are doubles, starting with this upcoming gameweek 36.
| DOUBLING TEAM | FIXTURE 1 | FIXTURE 2 |
| Brighton | Arsenal (away) | Newcastle (away) |
| Newcastle | Leeds (away) | Brighton (home) |
Logically, Brighton and Newcastle stand out this week, but DGW36 is offering a few appealing single-fixture sides as well. From an FPL perspective especially, Liverpool’s visit to Leicester and Manchester City’s away game at Everton stand out, while Arsenal at home to Brighton could be a high-scoring one as well. Besides that, Manchester United’s home encounter with Wolves looks interesting in the build-up to their double in GW37 and we recommend taking Brentford assets into account as well, as the Bees are playing on Sunday against a West Ham side that had to go deep on Thursday in the Europa Conference League semi-final versus talented Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 36 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, May 13th, 2023.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per May 12th, 2023)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Raya (BRE), Ederson (MCI), Pope (NEW) | Pope (NEW), Steele (BRI), De Gea (MUN) | Newcastle and Brighton DGW36 |
| DEF | Mings (AST), Mee (BRE), Chilwell (CHE) | Estupiñan (BRI), Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Trippier (NEW) | Newcastle and Brighton DGW36, Chilwell injury |
| MID | March (BRI), Grealish (MCI), Saka (ARS) | Mac Allister (BRI), Odegaard (ARS), Joelinton (NEW) | Newcastle and Brighton DGW36, March injury |
| FOR | Watkins (AST), Toney (BRE), Jota (LIV) | Wilson (NEW), Isak (NEW), Welbeck (BRI) | Newcastle and Brighton DGW36 |
Premium pick
Has there ever been a side relegated from the Premier League while having scored 50+ league goals over the season? Honestly, we haven’t checked the historical stats in detail and there might have been one or two teams with that questionable feat in their lockers, but there are definitely not many. What we can say with almost perfect certainty though, is that Leicester are currently in acute danger of joining that club. The Foxes have scored 49 goals so far this campaign, which is more than any other side in the bottom half of the table at the moment of writing, but having conceded a whopping 64 goals as well means they are currently in 18th place with a home game versus Liverpool coming up. The Reds have definitely picked up some form, at least in terms of getting three-pointers over the line, and their talisman Mo Salah (£13.1m) has a lot to do with it. Liverpool are on a six-game winning streak and the Egyptian King scored 6 goals over that run for a total of 51 FPL points. While he’s not looking as threatening on the eye as the returns would suggest, he is the star player for a Liverpool side that’s adamant on ending their overall disappointing season with a strong end sprint and with leaky Leicester up next (plus some rotation worries surrounding Haaland), we can’t see a better premium fantasy pick than Salah for gameweek 36.
Non-premium pick
Many fantasy managers will be contemplating which Newcastle attacker to bring in for the club’s upcoming double against Leeds (away) and Brighton (home). Something can be said for both Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak (£7.0m), but we ended up going with the latter. He has started 13 league games so far this season as he spent most of the ongoing campaign injured on the side-lines, but that hasn’t stopped the Swedish forward from netting 10 times and providing 1 assist. In all truth, Wilson might outscore Isak in double gameweek 36 as both have decent haul potential, but the Swede’s seemingly higher expected number of minutes over both games and potential to produce special moments tipped the scales in his favour for us. He has been a bit quiet return-wise of late, giving his owners just a single assist in his last three games, but the DGW weeks against Brighton and especially Leeds should provide him with plenty of chances to get back onto the scoresheet again. On top of that, the Magpies have a good home fixture versus Leicester in gameweek 37 for which we estimate Isak’s chances of starting slightly higher than Wilson’s as well.
The budget enabler
With a double gameweek coming up for the explosive and extremely affordable Brighton roster, the decision on which team should provide the budget enabler fantasy pick for GW36 wasn’t a difficult one. The bigger question was, even after the confirmed injury of Solly March, which Seagull to include in our article this week. After much deliberation, we decided not to get too punty here and go for Alexis Mac Allister (£5.5m), Brighton’s current top scorer with 10 goals and 1 assist. Even when he’s playing deeper, the Argentinian finds opportunities to get involved in attack and to take shots seemingly at will. On top of that, he’s the designated penalty taker, which adds considerable appeal to this pick, considering that the Seagulls have back-to-back doubles coming up next. Bringing him in now basically gives you four games in which a single penalty might already give you the edge over non-owners (about 90% of all managers in the game). Those odds aren’t too bad, right? Add to that his more than affordable price tag and we believe that Mac should be around the top of the watchlist of every manager considering bringing in a midfielder for double gameweek 36.
The differential
Our differential fantasy pick for gameweek 36 is not the most explosive suggestion, but one we believe might tick along nicely this double gameweek until the end of the season. Newcastle are facing Leeds (away) and Brighton (home) in DGW36 before hosting Leicester in gameweek 37 and a visit to Stamford Bridge in the final gameweek of the 2022-23 campaign. One of the most gifted players on the Magpie roster is Joe Willock (£4.7m), who has 3 goals and 6 assists to his name from 29 league starts. The former Arsenal talent, currently owned by just 1.6% of fantasy managers, is one of the creative forces in manager Eddie Howe’s set-up and has conquered a nailed-on spot in the starting eleven, which is what you want for a favourable double like Newcastle’s, at least from an attacking point of view. Back in gameweek 32 against Spurs, we all saw what can happen when Willock’s vision and technique combine perfectly with a bit of good fortune (if you haven’t, check his assist for Isak’s 4-0 against Spurs), and we’re hoping for a bit more of that magic against Leeds and/or Brighton.
The (vice-)captaincy
Brighton lately have looked a bit below the ridiculously high standard they have set for themselves this season and their upcoming double does not immediately scream “captaincy favourites”. The likes of Mitoma or Mac Allister could still very well deliver a double-digit haul, but we are instead putting the DGW36 captains armband on Alexander Isak. The Swede looks set to rack up at least 150 minutes of action over the upcoming double, and with Leeds and Brighton (who just shipped five against Everton) up next, we’re ready to trust him with the armband.
There are plenty of alternatives for those who either don’t own Isak or are not so confident in his haul potential for DGW36. From Brighton, Kaoru Mitoma and Alexis Mac Allister stand out, while the single-gameweek sides offer a few captaincy candidates as well. These include Mohamed Salah away at Leicester, Marcus Rashford at home to Wolves and Gabriel Martinelli at home to Brighton.