Fantasy Premier League tips for blank Gameweek 36 and beyond. Jian Batra presents ‘The Final Three…..36,37,38″, an article which looks into the final stretch of the season and gives an in-depth outlook on how and why the moves proposed are likely to be the most advantageous, as a result of plans changing due to fixture amendments.

I start with……

Leeds United:

As can be seen Leeds have arguably the best final three fixtures of any team in the league, and I think they could prove to be even better than once, thought due to the occurrences of this week.

Using a general overall fixture analysis, all three teams listed are far less likely to set up in a low block, and defensive minded approach compared to their previous performances throughout the campaign, simply due to the fact none of them are playing for anything.

Burnley and Southampton are safe from the drop, and West Brom have been relegated, I imagine Allardyce will inform his players to give something back to the fans and for the players to enjoy themselves on the final day of the season, and as such play in an expressive manner.

Players such as Matheus Pereira will potentially be looking for a summer move, hence be slightly more vulnerable to a lack of defensive discipline. Southampton naturally like to press high, and against a side like Leeds who press to an even greater extent, we could see a very end to end game, with little off the ball structure being in place, in comparison to a standard Premier League game, where sides are getting better defensively.

Southampton having just won, will be playing with an added sense of confidence, combine this with the “nothing to lose” mentality, and managers could be in for a treat in regards to attacking returns.

The Burnley fixture will be a via media of the two described above, Dyche won’t alter from his tried and trusted 442 shape, with the long ball a dependent strategy, minimising the chance for Leeds to constantly catch them high up the pitch but nonetheless I imagine with players like Dwight McNeil, he will give him and his quality the freedom to create more than he usually would be given the licence to.

Potentially even the full-backs may be given more of a opportunity to go forward allowing the likes of Raphinha (£5.4m) and Stuart Dallas (£5.2m) to capitalise on the spaces out wide. Defensively speaking, I’d say the Leeds assets are slightly less likely to return clean sheets, in comparison to score goals as I will discuss below.

best fpl gameweek 36 players

The way I view the assets is; the double up – borderline essential, the triple up – desirable. I’d most definitely pick Dallas and Patrick Bamford (£6.3m).

As with all the Leeds assets given their price they provide excellent value for money, and will be affordable to all. In regards to them individually, Dallas has been exceptional this season, playing out of position in midfield, and a fairly attacking role at that, he has delivered 11 attacking returns throughout the season, and as a defender you can’t ask for much more.

Whilst it could be described as a “niche” stat, what I particularly like is his overall involvement in the game, and where, he has 643 touches is the final third, compare that to Bamford, the striker, 417, it shows how far forward he gets.

Defensively I’d say the chance of a clean sheet is certainly not nailed but also not unattainable. Statistically I’d say given the circumstance it’s a fifty fifty call whether Leeds keep a clean sheet.

As discussed Southampton play fairly expansive football, press high and have quality in Danny Ings and James Ward Prowse who can both make a goal out of nothing. Burnley; Chris Wood and Matej Vydra are both in excellent form and have been for a while, with McNeil’s quality to support and Burnley’s set piece strength they could always concede.

Finally Pereira has the quality to make a goal out of nothing himself, and as previously discussed all teams will likely be playing with a more attacking approach. Dallas is just as likely to get an attacking return as a defensive one.

Bamford is a pretty simple one so I won’t over complicate it, given his price point and fixtures, the fact he’s on penalties, he’s back in the goals and the intense system Bielsa adopts, which suits Leeds attacking capabilities, it’s practically a no brainer.

fantasy football tips gameweek 36

He has 25 returns this season, and the goal against Spurs will reinstall the confidence that was potentially lost beforehand, Raphinha being back will help him in terms of having chances created for him, and finally he is far less wasteful this year compared to last (in excess of 25 big chances missed in the championship), especially against the “lesser sides”, returning double digit hauls against Fulham twice.

With the Euro’s coming up, even though his chances are fairly minimal of making the squad, I’m sure he wants to give Southgate an ultimatum.

Raphinha vs Illan Meslier (£4.7m) are the contenders for the final spot. Whilst Meslier has the potential for a large haul due to the amount of saves he makes (137, 2nd highest in the league) and the bonus points that this brings (BPS total score of 744), as discussed above I believe attacking returns are more likely than defensive ones, hence I would go Raphinha.

Raphinha has shown quality throughout the season, and even is limited return against Spurs was a glimpse into what he brings for the side, not just going forward as he is quite impressive off the ball, naturally due to Bielsa’s demands.

fpl gameweek 36 player tips

In the 3 games he missed, Leeds scored 1 goal, in the 3 games prior to that, they scored six, a big indicator of his importance. I imagine he could flourish to a greater extent given the lack in quality of the LB he will be facing each week, respectively, in his one vs one matchups.

Leicester City:

This for me is the simplest part of the article, the conclusion; ship them all out.

The problem for me is that bar Kelechi Iheanacho, none of the assets tick either the form or fixture box. They will all be without a fixture in Blank Gameweek 36 due to the FA cup final, and following that they play Chelsea again at Stamford Bridge, which is undisputedly one of the toughest fixtures in Europe right now, and then a Spurs side who always have at least a goal in them, and not a easy game especially defensively.

fpl gameweek 36 tips

Given their lack of attacking creativity over recent weeks, alongside the poor form of two of their star men; James Maddison and Jamie Vardy, coupled with Chelsea having the best defence in the world at the moment, and most definitely looking bright going forward, I’d be very surprised if Leicester were to manage anything greater than a point from that game, I’d be surprised to even see them draw.

Jamie Vardy has 3 goals since Gameweek 9, a stat which speaks for itself, he’s been wasteful in front of goal when chances have been presented to him, he’s been less involved in the build up than what we are used to seeing from him, and hasn’t generally been getting into too many goal scoring opportunities on the whole.

Since Maddison’s return from injury in Gameweek 30 he has blanked in all six appearances, played in a deeper role limiting his chances of returning, and finally has just lacked the general quality he showed earlier in the season in terms of providing the numbers. His lack of movement into the box to accommodate for Leicester’s poor build up play recently, is the reason for why I believe the previous statement is true.

gameweek 36 fpl tips

Whilst Iheanacho has been great, I think there’s just far better options out of the forwards, which I discuss later.

Defensively I could definitely see Spurs putting a few past them. The defence looked awful against Newcastle recently, conceding four, and I imagine with the far greater quality Spurs possess they could do the same, depending on when Johnny Evans is back and how fit he is, could be a key to their defensive performance. Finally given the side Man Utd put out, I think it would be illogical to give the defence too many plaudits for their good performance as they won’t be facing anything of the sort.

Manchester City (and Bruno Fernandes):

The most complicated problem in this article.

Whilst they have been utterly brilliant this season, Pep’s rotation ensures that no player will play the minutes anywhere close to the likes of Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m), and as such Raheem Sterling (£11.0m) is the player with the most points from City (147), whilst he isn’t even in the top 13 for overall point scorers this season.

This is the perfect example of a risk reward strategy and as such, every manager will have to look at their own squad to justify whether bringing in City assets is worth it.

It’s very likely if they start, they will play a large proportion of the 90 minutes, and possessing the assets they do, this allows for parabolic returns; Riyad Mahrez (£8.0m) started all games between and including GW24-27, and returned a staggering 53 points. On the contrary he returned 5 points in the next 6 games, and only started two of them.

fpl best players for gw36

Those are City’s fixtures, I’d say the first two are similar to Leeds in the sense that Newcastle and Brighton will approach the game similar to how Leeds opponents will, Everton at home will be a very interesting fixture, for three reasons; 1. Everton may be fighting for a European spot, 2. City will have fans in the stadium and will be celebrating the title, and 3. The Champions league final will be around the corner and Pep will certainly have an eye on that.

In terms of the team sheet, because that is what is most important to predict, I imagine he plays a strong side against Everton, because you don’t want an 11 day gap between your last game and a cup final (out of match practice to an extent), further the fans will be back and he will want to give them some entertainment, in what will be a party like atmosphere.

Everton may take a slightly more defensive approach, as they will be mindful of conceding early and the damage this can ensue, hence we are likely to see City really dictate possession.

In terms of which assets to select, I wouldn’t go for defenders nor forwards (I discuss in the next section how there are far better options in both categories). I believe in both departments there are far better options, and particularly when it comes to Sergio Aguero (£10.3m) and Gabriel Jesus (£9.1m), they are pricey, out of form and have limited ceilings (Aguero unlikely to complete 90 minutes and Jesus has struggled for returns).

I believe the value is in the midfielders, in particular; Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden (£6.0m), and to a lesser extent Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m). My reason for not including Raheem Sterling in the list, is given his similar price point to De Bruyne, I think the latter is a better option.

gameweek 36 fpl tips

I expect all options above to start two games, Mahrez, Foden and De Bruyne the first and last (strongest side), and Sterling the first two. Based on the eye test, I’d say their performances have both been of a high level and there’s not much to separate the two, bar the fact that Mahrez has a greater set piece involvement and overall quality from them which is likely to prove beneficial.

Statistically speaking however, Mahrez appears to be far superior, the stat that stands out to me is xA, Mahrez’s is 97% higher than Foden’s in only 332 minutes more playing time. Minutes per attempt are impressive for both (around 34 mins per attempt) and it’s a similar story which minutes per chance created (around 43 minutes). I’d personally go Mahrez over Foden, simply due to set pieces and penalty involvement.

fantasy football tips gw36

The reason I included Bruno Fernandes in the title is, from what I’ve seen in the community many people are looking to get De Bruyne in through the route of selling Fernandes, but I personally think this is a trap.

Previously stated, De Bruyne is unlikely to play all three games and with Fernandes being himself, he will almost certainly play the final two fixtures, and I imagine he will accumulate more minutes than De Bruyne.

gameweek 36 fpl tips

Fernandes has been sensational, and I would be very cautious selling him before Fulham (H) and Wolves (A). I still think Foden and Mahrez present better value for money than De Bruyne in terms of City assets, and the premium spot can be occupied by the likes of Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) and Fernandes, so I would personally avoid him.

The Perfect Back-line and Front-line:

To conclude, a unique opportunity where you could have a formidable defence and forward set up for three Gameweek’s, using two transfers in the final Gameweek to ship off the Everton assets. I’ll keep this bit short and sweet, these 7-9 players could return massively, and have a low risk tolerance attached.

best fpl team for gameweek 36

Trent Alexander Arnold, Fixtures: WBA (A), BUR (A), CRY (H)

Three great fixtures
Pivotal to Liverpool’s creativity
Set piece involvement
Similar opposition approach to those which Leeds are discussed to face
Brilliant form; 50 points in last 6 games

Lucas Digne, Fixtures: SHU (H), WOL (H), MCI (A)

Two great fixtures (replace for Luke Shaw in gameweek 38)
Important role in Everton’s creativity
Set piece involvement
Similar opposition approach to those which Leeds are discussed to face (for the first two fixtures)
Everton’s 3 at the back approach against WHU proved very difficult to break down

Stuart Dallas, Fixtures: BUR (A), SOU (A), WBA (H)

Discussed previously

Vladimir Coufal, Fixtures: BHA (A), WBA (A), SOU (H)

Good fixtures from a defensive standpoint, relatively speaking.
Excellent value for money (£4.7m).
In brilliant attacking form, heavily involved, registered four assists since gameweek 30 and very unfortunate not to score against Everton.

Dominic Calvert Lewin, Fixtures: SHU (H), WOL (H), MCI (A)

Two great fixtures (replace for Chris Wood in gameweek 38)
Essential and always present in any attacking moves
Can score a wide variety of goals, and has accumulated the most amount of big chances in the previous six games in the league prior to the current gameweek. (Statistic courtesy – @BigManBakar)
Similar opposition approach to those which Leeds are discussed to face (for the first two fixtures)

Patrick Bamford, Fixtures: BUR (A), SOU (A), WBA (H)

Discussed previously

Harry Kane, Fixtures: WOL (H), AVL (H), LEI (A)

Playing against three sides who are poor defensively (for in depth analysis on Villa refer to “Optimizing Double Gameweek 35”, or I can send it to you directly, Leicester spoken about previously)
Penalty duties, and overall world class ability.
Essentially a no brainer and no need to over complicate.

Transferred in for Gameweek 38:

Chris Wood (for Calvert Lewin)

Accumulated 66 points in 8 previous games, form striker alongside Iheancho in the league
As discussed previously Burnley are likely to play in a more expressive manner
Face the easiest fixture in the league, respectfully, SHU (A)

Luke Shaw (for Lucas Digne)

Been the best left back in the league this season by a country mile
Wolves offer very little going forward, relatively good chance of a clean sheet
Created more chances than anyone apart from Lionel Messi prior to the current gameweek in Europe’s top 5 leagues

I hope this article has helped, and there is a free trial down below for a membership!

Feel free to DM me on twitter, @FPL_JianBatra, for any questions you may have (or drop them below), support on the account is much appreciated, so thank you.

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FPL Gameweek 36 Tips – “The Final Three….36,37,38”

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