Fantasy football tips: Which chip to use? Worry about rotation?

Fantasy football tips: Which chip to use? Worry about rotation?

Alistair Bruce-Ball

Gameweek 36 is a huge double gameweek in Fantasy Premier League with 12 teams each having two fixtures, including the top five teams in the Premier League.

Here are some of the key questions that you’re probably considering…

Which chip should I play?

A lot of managers will play the Bench Boost this week which makes sense because if you have planned accordingly you might have 15 double gameweek players ready to go. If you have not got the full 15 it would be worth taking a couple of points hits on transfers to get as many double gameweek players into your squad as possible.

If you are choosing the Bench Boost over the Triple Captain then have a think about how to use that chip in gameweek 37 or 38 and if you want it to be on a double gameweek player then they will have to come from Aston Villa, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Everton or Leicester. Philippe Coutinho, Wilfried Zaha, Richarlison and James Maddison would all be viable candidates, possibly even Jamie Vardy, but would you prefer to give it to Mohamed Salah, Kevin de Bruyne or Son Heung-min for their doubles this week? If so then it is Triple Captain time for you.

There is nothing wrong with using the Triple Captain chip on a single gameweek player though, say Salah at Southampton in gameweek 37 or Son away at Norwich in gameweek 38.

You have just got to have your best guess at the probability of the potential outcomes – which combination of the chips is likely to give you the biggest score over the three remaining gameweeks?

When to play the Free Hit chip?

If you have got a Free Hit chip still to play then you can obviously load up on double gameweek players this week but be aware that a lot of fellow managers might already have those players in their teams and therefore the advantage you can gain may be reduced. If your gameweek 36 team is looking ok as it is then you might want to save the Free Hit for gameweek 37 when you can try to benefit from owning players who other managers will not have.

Another way to look at it is by comparing your potential Free Hit line-up in each gameweek to what your normal team would look like and then go for it in the week that you think you will make the biggest gains.

It is quite entertaining to have a Free Hit for the final gameweek of the season but you can be at the mercy of squad rotation and we often see some hugely unpredictable results. If you get on the right side of that then you could be in for some big points but it is a riskier strategy.

Should I worry about rotation in gameweek 36?

Liverpool players
Is there a danger some of your players won’t play?

Ideally, you would like all your double gameweek assets to play as close to 180 minutes as possible and it is obviously worth considering what has happened in the European football this week to help you assess the chances of that.

It may well be that Andy Robertson is due a rest for Liverpool, for example, but I would not transfer him out of my team for one week on the off-chance that that might happen. He could score you enough points in one game to make up for the fact that he misses the other one and do not forget, unless you are on a Free Hit, you are looking at what these players might bring you in the last two gameweeks of the season as well.

What do I do with my Chelsea assets?

Chelsea have been off-the-boil a little in the last few weeks and I would certainly expect some rotation for the Leeds game, which comes a few days before the FA Cup final.

Saying that, do not forget they finish their season with games against Leicester and Watford and they have still not secured their place in the top four. I am holding on to Reece James for this reason but I think one Chelsea player is enough.

Is Son Heung-min’s form irresistible?

Tottenham have some tricky-looking fixtures in gameweek 36, a trip to Liverpool and the crunch north London derby against Arsenal, but I would not bet against Son scoring in either or even both of those games. I have got Harry Kane in my squad so I am not going to take a points hit to make the switch to Son but I know who I would rather own at the moment.

Who are the best budget options for a Bench Boost in gameweek 36?

Nuno Tavares (£4.3m), Anthony Gordon (£4.6m), Eddie Nketiah (£5.5m), Emmanuel Dennis (£5.9m).

If I was going to sign one player this week who should it be?

I am going to defer to Statman Dave on this one. He told us in the Fantasy 606 podcast this week that we need to sign Richarlison – he has scored four goals in his last five games, had more shots than any player in that time and Everton still have five games to play.

Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the Fantasy 606 podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave. The latest episode previewing gameweek 36 is available now on the BBC Sounds app.

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