Gameweek 32 in the Fantasy Premier League was a fruitful week with 35 goals scored over the weekend.
Aston Villas Ollie Watkins (£8.8m)the game’s top scorer, returned from injury and punished his sellers with a brace, and Arsenal kept another clean sheet and put in another solid performance at both ends of the pitch.
The three best captain options, Mohamed Salah (£13.4m), Cole Palmer (£6.1m) And Son Heung-min (£10.1m)returned points, but we didn’t see much fluctuation, with this trio posting modest figures of eight, five and five points respectively.
As always, there was a lot to talk about from an FPL perspective in Gameweek 32 and we’ll cover the key talking points here.
Pep Roulette once again with full force
Phil Foden (£8.3m) was benched for Manchester City’s win at Crystal Palace after scoring a hat-trick in the previous gameweek. This just reinforces the fact that under Pep Guardiola, no one is in a position to start every game, and this is reinforced even further Erling Haalands (£14.3m) Bench press in game week 31.
With City’s busy schedule ahead, FPL managers need to be careful as we are likely to see increased rotation as they play five games in April.
Manchester City April fixture list
| contraption | Date | Competition |
|---|---|---|
|
Real Madrid (A) |
9th April |
Champions League |
|
Luton (H) |
April 13th |
Premier League |
|
Real Madrid (H) |
17th April |
Champions League |
|
Chelsea |
20th of April |
FA Cup |
|
Nottingham Forest (A) |
April 28th |
Premier League |
I wouldn’t recommend getting rid of Haaland, but their midfielders and defenders will be risky. Their game against Luton Town in Gameweek 33 falls between their two Champions League games against Real Madrid. Even though this looks like a top game, there could be more rotation here.
If Gvardiol (£4.8m) came out of the game at halftime with an injury and seemed a promising candidate for his price Nathan Ake (£5.0m) And Kyle Walker (£5.3m) are also injured.
Guardiola hasn’t told us much about Gvardiol, so the owners should wait until later in the week. If the Croatian is injured, those playing Wildcards in Gameweek 35 should sell. Otherwise, you may want to keep him for City’s expected double game week later in the season (most likely in Gameweek 37).
What to do with Watkins and Toney?
Watkins recovered quickly from his hamstring injury and punished those who decided to sell him before Gameweek 32 with two goals against Brentford and 13 FPL points. More than two million managers have sold the Villa striker in the last two gameweeks. So if you were one of the few who kept it, it would have done wonders for your overall ranking.
Even though he is the highest scoring player in the game, it is okay to sell Watkins. Villa’s remaining six games see them play against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool and also do not have a double gameweek.
Darwin Nunez (£7.7m), Alexander Isaac (£7.9m) And Dominic Solanke (£7.3m) Everyone has double game weeks ahead of them and good dates until the end of the season.
GO DEEPER
The best FPL replacement for Ollie Watkins
Ivan Toney (£8.1m) He was on the bench against Villa, which was initially a big surprise. However, Thomas Frank said Brentford’s star striker was struggling with a hip problem and was not out due to his goal drought, which has now stretched to eight club games.
Toney owners will want to keep an eye on the situation and not want to take any risks by holding on to Toney at this point in the season. If it is an issue that can be resolved in the next few weeks, his minutes will be reduced.
With Bryan Mbeumo (£6.7m) With Brentford tackling his first game since returning from injury and also scoring a goal, there is no need to push back Toney.
Next up for Frank’s team is the most exciting game of the season against Sheffield United (H). So if there is positive news about Toney, he is a solid candidate.
The Wolves’ fortunes could make a difference
Ryan Ait-Nouri (£4.7m) was the most frequently transferred defender last game week, and for good reason. He has scored two goals and provided three assists in his last nine games and has clearly played high up the pitch, at times almost in the first three games.
He received an FPL assist for Wolves’ penalty-winning win against West Ham United on Saturday, but was sent off injured after 54 minutes. This is a huge blow to his owners as not only is he a great cheap option but he also has two games in Gameweek 34.
However, judging by Gary O’Neil’s comments after the game, it doesn’t look too serious. He said: “He has a sore calf. He has pain in his calf and it was a bad blow, but we wanted to get rid of him before it gets any worse and hopefully he will be fine next week.”
Judging by these comments, keep Ait-Nouri if you own him as it sounds like he’ll be fine until Double Gameweek 34.
Wolves’ in-form Rayan Ait-Nouri was forced out injured in Gameweek 32 (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
Pablo Sarabia (£4.7m) looks like a great buy too. He scored Wolves’ penalty and looks like a real hit in their starting XI. He has started the last nine games and with Pedro Neto (£5.5m) The Spaniard will continue to play a lot of minutes until mid-May.
Sarabia is also active on free kicks and corners and for his price he is the best marker in the game. He’s a good option to buy for Wolves’ double this week or in Gameweek 34.
Injuries and suspensions to keep an eye on
West Ham Jarrod Bowen (£7.9m) came off the pitch after 54 minutes in his team’s 2-1 win at Wolves. His manager David Moyes said: “We have to hope he is OK. It looks like he has a knee in his hip or back. It’s not a twist or anything like that. “It’s really stiff and I’ve had one or two of them myself and they don’t go away anytime soon.”
Bowen has been a great option this season with 15 goals and five assists, but if you still own him you might want to think about selling him soon anyway.
West Ham also have no double gameweeks ahead of them and face Liverpool (H), Chelsea (A) and Manchester City (H) in their final six games.
Elsewhere, Malo Gusto (£4.3m) According to coach Mauricio Pochettino, he was rested for Chelsea’s draw against Sheffield United due to illness: “Malo was sick two games ago so he had to rest himself.”
If it’s just illness that has kept the Frenchman out, he should be good to keep and Chelsea have a good game against Everton (H) next and then a double game week against Aston Villa (A) and Spurs (H) in 35.
Villas Douglas Luiz (£5.6m) will miss his team’s next two league games (matchweeks 33 and 34) after picking up his tenth yellow card of the season against Brentford. It’s easy to sell if you still own it. It’s the same deal as Watkins: Villa don’t have a double gameweek coming up and their games aren’t great either.
(Top photo: Oli Scarff /AFP via Getty Images)
