The World Cup has really messed with my mind this Fantasy Premier League season. It’s made it feel extremely long, and like even more of a rollercoaster than normal.
In reality, this Premier League season will only last a little longer. The 21/22 season went from August 13th – May 22nd. The 22/23 season will go from August 5th – May 28th.
We’ve got two extra weeks, basically. But either because of those two weeks, or the condensed nature of the schedule surrounding the World Cup, this has felt like a particularly gruelling and intensive FPL season.
It’s also been one which has taught me the crucial importance of patience in Fantasy Premier League.
In Gameweek 19, I was languishing at an OR of around 1.1 million, and feeling pretty rubbish about myself. Fast forward to Gameweek 31, and I’m currently up at 284k, and I’d expect that to climb at least a little higher in the remaining seven gameweeks. Obviously, I’d prefer to be higher, but I’m pretty delighted considering how bleak things were looking at the halfway point.
The lesson, as always: Fantasy Premier League is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a horrible cliche, but it’s true, and this season has shown us that more than ever.
—
Two quick orders of business, before we get stuck in.
Firstly, we have a Friday deadline this week. Specifically, the deadline is at 18:30 GMT on Friday evening.
Secondly, if you’re planning on/have already activated your free hit, check out James’ full Free Hit Special here. It’s got fixture analysis, team drafts, and basically everything else you need.
With all that out of the way, let’s get on with our Fantasy Premier League tips for Gameweek 32. We’ll begin with a quick rundown of the main takeaways from Gameweek 31, then look ahead to Gameweek 32 and beyond.
Gameweek 31 Talking Points
Gameweek 31 will have been a bit of a mixed bag for most of us.
Haaland scored loads of points, but we all captained him anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. Trippier let us all down, but his ownership is so high that it doesn’t matter either. Kane cost the people who held him instead of switching to Salah, for example, who destroyed Leeds.
Elsewhere, the highly-owned Mitoma and Saka both blanked (the latter in extremely frustrating, penalty-missing fashion), while Watkins continues one of the most remarkable runs of form we’ve had all season:
That’s a general overview, but now let’s delve into the two biggest takeaways from FPL Gameweek 31.
Are Defenders Back?
For much of this season, we’ve had two defences we could rely on for cleans – Arsenal and Newcastle. Well, neither of them are getting the job done any more. Arsenal only have three cleans in their last 13 games, and Newcastle have one in their last 10.
What we have finally seen, however – which is normally the case in other seasons – is a handful of other defensively-solid teams stepping up.
Aston Villa are the prime example.
Watkins might have been getting the plaudits (deservedly). But Villa’s brilliant run of form – which has seen them rise all the way to sixth in the table – has been built on an excellent defensive foundation.
(Shoutout to myself for predicting this meteoric rise – kind-of – in my analysis of the Emery appointment when it happend).
Villa have now kept clean sheets in six of their last eight games. You could say their fixtures have been easy, but you still need to actually keep the cleans; something that Arsenal, for example, weren’t doing even in their excellent run of form before the Anfield game.
Villa are definitely legit, and have Brentford, Fulham, and Wolves within their next four fixtures. They’re as good a bet as anybody right now to get cleans. Emi Martinez is too expensive for a keeper (5.0), but Mings (4.6) and Alex Moreno (4.5) both look like excellent picks.
Wolves have also been much-improved defensively. Their track record isn’t as long as Villa’s admittedly, but they’ve now kept back-to-back cleans. They now have Leicester and Palace in their next two games, and – if you can hold until then – Everton in Gameweek 37.
They also have a couple of super cheap options. Toti is a brilliant enabler, at only 3.8, while Kilman is also a bargain at 4.3.
Finally, I really like Brighton’s defenders the rest of the way.
They’ve slipped a little in their past two games – against Chelsea and Spurs – but were keeping fairly consistent cleans before that. They’re an excellent real-life team, and have games against Forest, Wolves, and Everton in their next four fixtures.
None of this is to say that defending is actually getting better in the Prem. I think it’s far more likely that we’ve simply got a lot of pretty rubbish teams right now who can’t score goals.
As Fantasy Premier League managers, however, we couldn’t care less. We’ll take those cleans however we can get them.
Are Liverpool Good Again Bad Again Good Again?
Yep – here we go again!
I’ve lost track of the number of times Liverpool have ‘been back’ this season. I’m pretty sure this is at least our third go round, but it could be more.
I don’t want to overreact to one massive game against a terrible Leeds team. Let’s not forget that this was actually Liverpool’s first win since their… last massive win, 7-0 over Man U, all the way back on March 5th.
The fixture this week – home to Forest – is brilliant. If you’re playing your free hit, you definitely want to triple up on Liverpool.
After that though, I’m not so sure. Liverpool’s remaining fixtures are a big old mixed bag:
Leicester and Southampton in 36 and 38 are great, so we’ll definitely be getting Liverpool players in then. Apart from that, I wouldn’t say there are any ‘easy’ games.
Should Liverpool comfortably beat Fulham at home, for example? Sure, in theory, but we’ve got absolutely no idea right now which Liverpool will show up from week to week. They double in Gameweek 34, fine… but we’ve been burned already this season chasing after poor doubles, and neither Spurs nor Fulham are pushovers.
In summary: free hit them in for Gameweek 32. Long-term, however, I would be hesitant to overcommit. We’ve seen this movie too many times before.
Gameweek 32 Fixtures Analysed
As you likely know, we’ve got a few blanks in Gameweek 32. The four teams not playing this week are:
- Brighton
- Chelsea
- Man City
- Man United
I really hope you don’t have any Chelsea players, so their blank doesn’t matter at all. Brighton, Man City, and Man U – however – all have highly-owned players.
That’s why a lot of people are playing their free hit this week. You might not ‘need’ to do so, since most of you should be able to get nine or 10 players out. If you can’t get there without hits, however, or simply see this as the best time to free hit anyway, that’s fine.
If you are dropping your free hit this week, check out James’ fantastic Free Hit Gameweek 32 Special. It’ll take you through your options position by position, and show you a few drafts of possible teams you can draw on for inspiration/shamelessly copy.
Here are the FPL fixtures we do have in Gameweek 32:
Again, James has been through these in his Free Hit Special. Very briefly though, Arsenal and Liverpool obviously have the best fixtures. Based on the respective form of the two teams, Palace’s game against Everton also looks like a great one to target.
Planning Ahead
If you’re using your free hit this week, you can’t make any other transfers. That, and all the other rules for your free hit chip, are explained in full in our article here.
If you’re not using it, you’ll want to factor in some longer-term implications.
(Although you could certainly argue that Liverpool’s fixture is so good this week, that it’s worth getting at least one player in just for that game.)
We’re still waiting on a couple more double gameweeks that should be announced soon. For now though, here’s the current upcoming fixture list courtesy of our lord and savour Ben Crellin (follow him on Twitter here).
As you can see, Brighton not only double in Gameweek 34, but will double twice more before the end of the season. You’re obviously not bringing them in on a blank this week, but you should definitely make sure you’ve got a Brighton triple lined-up the rest of the way.
We don’t care about Fulham’s double. I don’t care about West Ham’s either, since both fixtures that week are tricky.
Man City and Man U both have two double gameweeks coming up. Again, both blank this week, but make sure to bear these in mind with your transfers in Gameweeks 33 and 34.
Should I Buy?
We got yet another example of why you should wait to make transfers last week.
Everyone was rushing to get Lisandro Martinez… then he promptly got a season-ending injury on Thursday night. Team value is important, but so is – y’know – not wasting a transfer, and potentially forcing yourself into taking a hit, just to save 0.1.
Bearing that in mind, here are my thoughts on the most transferred-in players ahead of Friday’s deadline:
- Eze – I like it. He’s in great form, only costs 5.5, and has an excellent game home to Everton. Wolves away and West Ham home are fine after that, and he has Bournemouth and Forest – both at home – in Gameweeks 36 and 38.
- Watkins – He should be in your team already
- Salah – If you can afford it (preferably alongside Haaland and Kane), then yes
- Alexander-Arnold – Ugh. I guess. He’s been in good form (in FPL, not in real life) for a while now, and is thriving (going forward) in his new defensive midfield role. He’s super expensive – at 7.4 – but probably worth it anyway right now
- Mings/Moreno – Yes. See my Villa chat earlier
- Emi Martinez – No. Trust him to get points, but too expensive for a keeper
- Martinelli – Yes, obviously
- Jesus – He’s been in great form since he came back, but has City, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Brighton coming up. Yes on a free hit. No as a transfer
- Odegaard – No. The fixtures after Southampton are too difficult, and his ceiling is low anyway
- White – No. Arsenal aren’t keeping cleans, and it’s unlikely he keeps getting attacking returns every week
- Gakpo – Meh. He’s a cheap way into Liverpool’s fixtures, but he’d been crap until the Everton game. He makes sense, but I don’t love it
- Guehi – Yes. He’s cheap (4.4), and Palace have great fixtures
Should I Sell?
With the same caveat about not making any moves until as close to the deadline as possible, here’s a rundown of the most-binned players right now:
- Rashford – Hold if you can. You’ll want him back for all Man U’s upcoming fixtures anyway
- Haaland – Lots of the big content creators have been transferring him in and out for his blanks/fixtures. I’d rather just hold him and save the transfer for all the upcoming doubles. He’s definitely scoring against Arsenal in Gameweek 33 anyway
- Mitoma – No. Don’t panic just because of blanks against Spurs and Chelsea. He’s quality, and Brighton have multiple double gameweeks coming up. (Hold March and Mac Allister too)
- Chilwell – Yes. Chelsea are crap, he blanks this week, and the upcoming fixtures are poor
- Toney – Yes. Watkins is way better, and Jota is probably a better FPL pick too
- Kane – For Salah, I get it. For anybody else, no
- Grealish – No. He’s in great form, and has doubles coming up
- Saka – You can’t before Southampton. You can after that – Palace aside, he hasn’t looked great for a while now
- Bruno – Tough one. He’s not returning, but has two doubles coming up. Only do it for a clear upgrade
My Moves
I’m free hitting this week. Here’s my current team:
I’m pretty settled on most of this. In fact, I only have one more decision to make.
Right now, I’m leaning towards bringing Eze in for Gakpo, and moving Kane to Jota. I still get Liverpool’s fixture from Jota, and Eze is in great form, specifically against crap teams (like Everton, for example). Kane is the best player of that group, and is basically fixture proof. But he has a low ceiling, and I can’t see him getting more than one return at most away to Newcastle.
Apart from that, I’m happy with my team.
I’m seeing other drafts with Darwin, but I don’t see why Klopp would change the Jota/Gakpo/Salah lineup that literally just scored six goals last week. Jota is the same price, and feels safer.
I’m also seeing quite a few drafts without Jesus. That’s crazy to me. He’s started three games since he came back from injury, and scored four goals in them. Now he plays the worst team in the league at home. He’s an absolute lock at forward.
Salah is the captain this week, at home to Forest, and it’s not even close. If you haven’t got him, an Arsenal player (probably Martinelli over Saka) is also a great option.
Final Thoughts
We’re really getting into the business end of the season now. Blank and double gameweeks are amazing opportunities to boost your OR, as I’ve thankfully found once again this season.
To get a helping hand through all the upcoming intricacies of the FPL schedule, bookmark our home page or the Latest Tips section.
Alternatively, give us a follow on Twitter – @Full90FPL – to both banter with James, and get all of our latest articles as soon as they’re posted.
Good luck out there this week, everybody!