What a dreadful gameweek 35 was. If you got more than the average number of points, just be delighted, regardless of whether you technically got a red arrow or not.
Basically, take solace in the fact that everyone else’s gameweeks were dreadful too.
Instead of listening to this wisdom, Joe is livid with me and currently not talking to me because MacAllister bailed me out of a red arrow for the second week in a row.
I’m currently knocking on the door of my third 100k finish in three years, at 103k. If I can pull this off I will be delighted. At the start of the season I was hoping for top 10k again, but after a dreadful first half of the season I’m delighted with how the second half has gone.
At the World Cup break (end of gameweek 16) I was almost at my lowest rank of the season at 900k (my actual worst rank of the season came two weeks earlier at 1.1 million). So to get back to this is brilliant.
I’m playing quite conservatively right now. I only need 1 point more to be in the top 100k, 10 points to be in the top 80k and 21 points to be in the top 60k. Those are my three targets, the former seems quite achievable and the latter is just me dreaming.
Regardless, I’ll try to set out some riskier strategies below to help others climb the ranks.
Anyway, let’s focus on some FPL Gameweek 36 tips.
With teams stumbling to the finish line, and some already on the beach, who are the best picks for Fantasy Premier League going forward?
Below, we look at the upcoming doubles before going into the usual fixture ticker and captaincy corner. No should I buy/sell section in our Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 36 preview, as the priority should be getting four or five doublers out this week. Six isn’t necessary, but read on to see why. Finally, I’ll also tell you what I think my moves will be this week.
Double Trouble
Both teams who double aren’t playing great, and are stumbling a little.
Brighton has the extra difficulty of a fixture pile up. Regardless, you certainly hold the doublers you own for the double gameweek – it just makes sense to keep a player with a double.
If you are looking for players who double, look no further.
For Newcastle – Isak, Trippier, Botman and Wilson are your options. Probably in that order. Willock and Joelinton are available if you really want a midfielder, but they’re 100% punts.
Trippier has been extremely disappointing recently, but he’s so highly owned he gets to be the second best pick. That’s because if one of his set pieces does go in, then he’s gonna smash your rank.
On the other hand, if you’re chasing rank or your mini league and it’s more than a 15 point gap, then I think it’s a nice idea to sell him and take the risk.
As for Brighton – Mitoma, MacAllister, Estupunian, Dunk. If you need a mid then Gross is your man but, like Newcastle, it’s pretty much a punt.
March pulled his hamstring. We don’t know much yet, but hamstrings tend to be medium term injuries and hard to recover from. Even if he is “fit” I don’t expect him to play a full 90, and certainly not two games in a week. So I’m happy for you to sell (though I’d probably wait for more information).
Also, don’t forget Brighton have another double after this, so probably prioritise them over Newcastle.
Ar-n’t You Gonna Play Trent?
Don’t bench Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The xGI per game for doublers is 0.59, so don’t bring one in if you don’t need to play them this week. I have more faith in Trent returning than the Brighton or Newcastle defences doing anything. So, for example, if you’re only playing three at the back, and you already own a Newcastle defender and a Brighton defender, then make Trent your third pick.
Luxury FPL Gameweek 36 Transfers
After all this, if you still have a transfer burning in your pocket or you need to use one, then I think you could do worse than picking a Manchester player. Both United and City double next week. Though, if you don’t need to use a transfer, I would hold so you have two going into next week.
City – The problem is you never know who will start, so you need to be confident in your first bench player.
Because of that, Haaland sits in his own category. He starts every game.
Ederson is the only one that almost plays every game, but even he missed one recently and they rarely keep clean sheets despite not conceding loads of goals.
Others that frequently play: De Bruyne, Grealish, Akanji, Stones. But I don’t love any of them, especially with the possibility of the Champions League distracting them. It’s just hard based on minutes.
United – Rashford, Shaw, De Gea are all good picks, but probably not great picks. Bruno is also good, but a little expensive.
The trouble is, United are stumbling a bit too, and defensively they are weak without their first choice centre-backs. They were awful against West Ham (even if it was a flukey goal for the Hammers caused by a weird mistake from De Gea).
Arsenal Assets
Another week, another switch in the rankings of the Arsenal midfielders.
Currently I think it goes: Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka. Next week it will probably be different. You could do worse than bring in Odegaard for March, if he is your problem child this week.
After gameweek 36 though, the Arsenal defenders also look good.
The Fixture Ticker
It’s getting very small ☹ FPL is almost over…
| 36 | 37 | 38 | |
| Brighton | ars/new | SOU/MCI | avl |
| Man United | WOL | bou/CHE | FUL |
| Man City | eve | CHE/bha | bre |
| Newcastle | lee/BHA | LEI | Che |
| Chelsea | NFO | mci/mun | NEW |
The top four are obvious, good options.
As for Chelsea, they’re awful. Don’t let the last result fool you. They didn’t deserve to win against Bournemouth and were only good for about 15 minutes.
FPL Gameweek 36 Captain
Of the doublers, Isak and Mitoma, are the best and I always like to captain a doubler.
Having said that, my bus team (you know, the team you set in case you get hit by a bus) has no Isak and captain Haaland, vice Mitoma.
The reason being that Brighton play away to two of the best defences in the league. They’ve not been great recently, but they still have 13 clean sheets a piece.
Haaland goes up against Everton, who are awful.
My Moves
Besides pushing to get 100k, I’m also hoping to win my classic mini league, which I am leading, and head to head mini league playoffs. Those playoffs start in gameweek 37. So, at least for now, I will be playing conservatively.
I’ve set out above that I don’t think you need six players from the two doubling teams. So I think I’ll just keep my four and get one more (Isak) who I may captain.
I think it better serves my 37 and (hopefully) 38 gameweeks to hold my transfer.
This is classic for me at this point in the season. Last year, I was so far ahead in the classic league that I took a minus 8 this week to set myself up for the playoffs. And I won it all, I might add, even if I sacrificed my OR a bit.
FPL Gameweek 36 Advice – Final Thoughts
We’re heading into crunch time in the FPL season now. It’s time to take stock and decide whether you’re going to be aggressive and push, or – like me – play conservatively and hold what you’ve got.
Hopefully, these FPL Gameweek 36 tips have helped either way. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for all the latest, and we’ll see you back here next week.