Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 30+ – Strategy, Captain picks and Ones To Watch

After three months off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fantasy Football finally returns - and so does The Yorkshire Post’s tips column.

Although Liverpool look set to win the league, the final Champions League spot is up for grabs and it’s all to play for at the bottom as two of Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Watford, West Ham and Brighton look likely to join Norwich in being relegated to the Championship next season.

Gameweeks from now until the end of the season are known by GW30+ to GW38+ and will come thick and fast until the end of July. Gameweek 30+ deadline: Wednesday 17 th June @ 17:00 GMT.

Follow the in-house Yorkshire Post Fantasy Football expert John Mount (@Gameweek38) on Twitter for more FPL insight.

Strategy

Fantasy managers have been given unlimited transfers ahead of the game’s return, which effectively makes the remaining nine gameweeks its own mini-season. Managers have the same chips (Bench Boost, Triple Captain, Free Hit and Wildcard) available to them as they did before the break – but when should we use these chips to make the best strategy going forward?

Assuming all fixtures go ahead as planned, GW30+ is the only remaining double gameweek of the season as Man City, Arsenal, Sheffield United and Aston Villa will each play twice. To make best use of this, I recommend for managers to prioritise their bench boost or to use their triple captain chip this week if it’s available to them.

A popular strategy for those with both the Free Hit and Wildcard chips is to Free Hit in GW31+ and to Wildcard in GW32+ or GW33+. This means that you have three completely different teams over the next three or four gameweeks which hopefully will be useful as things settle down and we see how teams are playing after lockdown.

With the increase to five substitutions available to each team per game, picking players with high game time who rarely get substituted will be important, especially for defenders who must play at least 60 minutes to gain clean sheet points. Don’t wind yourself up if your player doesn’t start a game, as there’s a higher chance that he will be subbed on earlier than usual.

GW30+ Captain Picks

Since GW30+ is a double gameweek, there should be no surprise that our captain picks all play twice this week.

Kevin De Bruyne (£10.6m) vs Arsenal (H) and Burnley (H)

With 178 points so far this season, KDB is the second highest scorer in the game this season. He has racked up more minutes than any outfield Man City player this season so should be expected to be heavily involved in both the Arsenal and Burnley game. Before the break, De Bruyne contributed one goal and two assists across his last four league games.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.1m) vs Man City (A) and Brighton (A)

Similarly to De Bruyne, Aubameyang has more game-time than any outfield Arsenal player so far this season. He’s scored 17 goals this season which is second only to Jamie Vardy and before the break scored three goals over his last three league games.

John Lundstram (£4.9m) vs Aston Villa (A) and Newcastle (A)

With both clean sheet and goal potential, Lundstram is a double threat at both ends of the pitch. He’s returned double-digit scores five times this season and with games against dodgy-defending Villa and low-scoring Newcastle, provided Lundstram is selected, these fixtures are a great opportunity for the scouser to add to his 128 points. Earlier in the season, Lundstram bagged 12 points against the same opposition. Hopefully history can repeat itself.

Ones to Watch (Less than 5% ownership)

Aymeric Laporte (Man City, £6.3m, 2.8%)

Laporte’s return to fitness will be greeted with joy by Pep Guardiola who has made it clear that the Frenchman is the Sky Blues’ first choice centre back. Although his season has been hampered with injury, Laporte has been declared fully fit to play vs Arsenal and Burnley this week, although he may be eased back into the team following his long spell out.

Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal, £4.4m, 1.5%)

With three consecutive starts before the break, new boss Mikel Arteta has clearly taken a shine to the young Englishman, saying ‘I am convinced that he is the right player for us to move to the next level’. Since the ex-Leeds man is the joint third cheapest forward in the game and has a double gameweek, picking Nketiah is low risk and offers a potentially high reward.

Mbwana Samatta (Aston Villa, £5.8m, 0.7%)

After moving to Aston Villa from Genk for £8.5m in January, Samatta scored two goals in five games across all competitions before the break and secured his spot as the main striker in the team, having

played all but eight minutes of the last four league games. This shows his endurance and ability to play back to back games which should be a priority when making player picks between now and the end of the season.

The Explainer

Transfers

After picking your initial squad, you receive 1 free transfer each Gameweek. Each additional transfer you make in the same Gameweek will deduct 4 points from your score.

If you do not use your free transfer, you are able to make an additional free transfer the following Gameweek. If you do not use this saved free transfer in the following Gameweek, it will be carried

over until you do. You can never have more than 1 saved transfer.

For example, since you get 1 free transfer per gameweek, if you make no transfers between gameweeks, you will have 2 free transfers in preparation for the next gameweek. You will incur a 4

point hit per transfer over your free transfer allowance.

Point Scoring

During the season, your fantasy football players will be allocated points based on their performance in the Premier League. Remember, every week your captain scores double points, so pick them wisely!

Points Action

1 For playing up to 60 minutes

2 For playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time)

6 For each goal scored by a goalkeeper or defender

5 For each goal scored by a midfielder

4 For each goal scored by a forward

3 For each goal assist

4 For a clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender

1 For a clean sheet by a midfielder

1 For every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper

5 For each penalty save

-2 For each penalty miss

1 to 3 Bonus points for the best players in a match

-1 For every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender

-1 For each yellow card

-3 For each red card

-2 For each own goal

For more information on the rules of the game, visit https://fantasy.premierleague.com/help/rules