Game-Week 31 has been earmarked as the perfect time for FPL managers to activate their second wildcard since the fixtures for popular teams like Aston Villa and Leeds take a turn for the worse while teams like Liverpool, Leicester City, Arsenal and Wolves now have a great run-in till the end of the season. Hence for this week, instead of giving my FPL picks for the upcoming game-week, I will be going through my wildcard team and explaining the choices behind each decision.
Bear in mind I have gone through multiple drafts for this important decision but this is the team I am most likely going to stick with at the deadline on Saturday!
GOALKEEPERS
It was a fairly easy decision with who to go with in goal. Chelsea have been the tightest defence since Tomas Tuchel arrived and Edouard Mendy (£5.2m) offers the easiest rotation-free route into their defence. Before the freak result against West Brom, Chelsea had kept clean sheets in 8 of their last 10 games and have looked nigh on impenetrable at the back.
Mendy will be backed up by Fraser Forster (£4.0m) who is currently the cheapest FPL asset in the game that is regularly starting for their club.
DEFENCE
There has been great value in defence this season and the one key player returning to my team on this Wildcard is Trent Alexander Arnold (£7.3m). Despite his poor showing in Europe this week, Liverpool have a great run of fixtures till the end of the season and Trent has been one of their main attacking outlets in recent weeks. Antonio Rudiger (£4.7m) also offers another cheap route into the Chelsea defence and should return to the Chelsea side after Kurt Zouma’s poor performance against West Brom.
With Tottenham having a Double Game-Week 32, Sergio Reguilon (£5.5m) is a great value pick with attacking potential. Reguilon has 4 assists in the league this season and should start every game till the end of the season with Ben Davies currently out injured.
Luke Shaw (£5.3m) has created the most chances amongst defenders in the Premier League this season and is most likely to play United’s next two fixtures given that he is suspended for the second leg against Granada in the Europa League.
And finally, the budget option in my defence is Rob Holding (£4.2m). While Arsenal have conceded in all of their previous 14 fixtures in all competitions, they play the 4 bottom sides in the Premier League over the next 5 games and should pick up some clean sheets.
MIDFIELD
Despite the shocking Real Madrid performance, I have drafted in both Liverpool midfielders Diogo Jota (£6.9m) and Mohammed Salah (£12.4m) on my Wildcard. Jota is arguably the best value pick in the game at the moment given his high points ceiling and Liverpool have incredibly favourable fixtures (Aston Villa, Leeds, Newcastle) in their next three games.
Bruno Fernandes (£11.6m) is without a double-digit haul in two weeks but is going nowhere from my team given that he is the highest points scorer in the game. Son Heung Min (£9.4m) has also had injury troubles of late but a double game-week for Spurs in 32 makes him impossible to ignore despite a poor recent run of form.
And finally, the last pick in my midfield is Ilkay Gundogan (£5.8m). Given that Manchester City are still in four competitions, no City player will be free from rotation but Gundogan offers enough value and potential at his price to come into my team. The German is City’s top scorer in the league this season and is likely to start this week against Leeds United after receiving his rest against Leicester in game-week 30.
FORWARDS
Harry Kane (£11.7m) is the in-form player in the game after another two goals against Newcastle last week and is another lock in this wildcard team. He is joined by Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho (£5.8m) who is a popular pick amongst FPL managers for the run-in. Iheanacho has scored 5 goals in his last 4 games and has two favourable ties upcoming at home against West Brom and Crystal Palace.
Finally, the last player to round out my wildcard is Aston Villa’s Keinan Davis (£4.2m) who is the cheapest forward option in the game and is the perfect budget enabler for this squad.
[Image Credit: Premier League]
Shivaan Shah