Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 36 Preview - drop those Manchester United players and replace them with Liverpool stars

After a high scoring triple gameweek where Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood thrived, Manchester United, Chelsea, Leicester and Arsenal don’t have a game this week as the FA Cup final takes priority. Here is your Fantasy Premier League Who’s Hot and Who’s Not column.

Managers will be tempted to take point hits to replace players from these teams but should be reminded that they only have three gameweeks to salvage their lost points. Newly-crowned champions Manchester City kick off the gameweek as they travel to Newcastle for the Friday fixture, making the transfer deadline 6.30pm tonight.

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

Captain Picks

Differential - Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold (Picture: PA)Differential - Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold (Picture: PA)
Differential - Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold (Picture: PA)

Mo Salah (£12.7m) vs West Brom (A)

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After beating Manchester United on Thursday and with Chelsea and Leicester still to play each other, nine points from their last three games is likely to secure Liverpool a top four finish. The final Champions League spot may come down to goal difference though, so an emphatic win vs West Brom this weekend could be on the cards. Salah has only blanked once in his last six games by contributing four goals and one assist and having more shots and chances from open plan than any other Liverpool player in this period.

Heung-Min Son (£9.6m) vs Wolves (H)

Having scored in his last three games, Son’s re-found consistency is why we prefer him to Harry Kane this week. Both are good captain picks but Kane has neither scored nor assisted in his last two games and is behind Son in terms of shots on target and chances created over the last four gameweeks.

Who's Hot - Burnley's Chris Wood (Picture: PA)Who's Hot - Burnley's Chris Wood (Picture: PA)
Who's Hot - Burnley's Chris Wood (Picture: PA)

Differential

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) vs West Brom (A)

Missing out on the England squad seems to have rebooted Alexander-Arnold’s season. The right-back has since played every minute Premier League football available to him and averaged over eight points per game – justifying his expensive price tag. He’s only blanked in one of his last seven league games so you’d expect his form to continue against Championship-bound West Brom.

The Form Guide - Who’s Hot?

Manchester City's Phil Foden (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)Manchester City's Phil Foden (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City's Phil Foden (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Chris Wood (Burnley, £6.4m)

Over the last four gameweeks, no player in the league has had as many shots on target than Chris Wood and only a handful of players have taken more shots in total. With five goals in his last three games, the Kiwi is the focal point to Burnley’s attack. On penalty duty too, for £6.4m, Wood is great value.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton, £7.6m)

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Since returning from injury in gameweek 33, no Everton player has had more shots, shots in the box, shots on target or chances from open play than the Yorkshireman, who has scored twice in his last four games. Against Sheffield United at home, DCL is up against his boyhood club and the league’s second worst defence.

Who's Not - Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (Picture: PA)Who's Not - Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (Picture: PA)
Who's Not - Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (Picture: PA)

Phil Foden (Man City, £6.0m)

Having only started one of Man City’s last six league games, I’m backing Pep Guardiola to rotate his squad and start Foden in at least two of City’s last three games against Newcastle, Brighton and Everton. Foden has averaged a goal or an assist every 97 minutes this season, which is up there with the best in the league.

The Form Guide - Who’s Not?

Jamie Vardy (Leicester, £10.2m)

Vardy bagged eleven goals and eight assists in eighteen games before his injury in January. Since then however, the Leicester number nine has only scored twice and assisted six times in fourteen games, which is a serious dip in form. Kelechi Iheanacho’s rise has impacted his role in the Leicester attack but in terms of fantasy football, it’s the FA Cup final causing Leicester to have a blank gameweek which makes transferring him out a good move.

Mason Mount (Chelsea, £7.3m)

Similar to Vardy in having no league game this weekend, Mason Mount’s lack of form and a fixture makes him vulnerable to being axed from the majority of fantasy teams. He’s only contributed one assist in his last five league games and has a tough fixture schedule for the remainder of the season.

Ones to Watch (Less than 5% ownership)

Ben Godfrey (Everton, £5.0m, 1.4%)

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Home games against Sheffield United and Wolves offer Godfrey the chance to add to the consecutive clean sheets he picked up last gameweek. Sheffield United have only scored seven away goals this season so a clean sheet is the minimum we’re expecting from him.

Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace, £5.5m, 1.4%)

Benteke has had more shots (18) than any player in the league in his last four games. He has two goals to show for it and a favourable home fixture against Aston Villa this weekend. For £5.5m, there are few better alternatives.

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.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

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

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.