FootyChatter.com

FPL Anthony Gordon is seeing plenty of transfer traffic ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby Mike Hewitt Gameweek 31 sees the first blank of the season caused by the Carabao Cup final, meaning no Premier League game for Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Wolves. There’s still scope to navigate this condensed eight fixture schedule with free transfers, with Fantasy Premier League managers looking towards fielding a full XI. So, which players should be sold to get to that full line-up and who are the essential picks to own? Advertisement We are now at the business end of the season, with just eight gameweeks remaining. Managers will have diligently saved their chips and free transfers to attack the run-in. The mainstream strategy is to use free transfers to navigate Gameweek 31 and then the Wildcard going into Gameweek 32, which comes after the international break. With that in mind, and any transfers likely to only have a one-week benefit, it’s certainly not worth breaking up your team or taking massive hits to get a full playing squad. Getting close to XI starters is preferable, with an assumed baseline of two appearance points for each player superior to no points. It’s important to offset having starters over the value of having free transfers banked for later in the season, and also keeping an eye on team value. Each transfer technically has a cost of four points. I personally used the first Wildcard late, so my team value is particularly low. I have value banked in Gabriel (£7. 2m), Antoine Semenyo (£8. 3m) and Erling Haaland (£14. 5m). These players have all risen in price significantly this season and are players I will want to own again for the run-in. Therefore, instead of selling them for a player with a fixture in Gameweek 31 and then buying back on Wildcard at a higher price, I’ll be benching them this week. We have to be mindful when selling players that we will likely want them back at some point before the end of the season. In the case of assets from Manchester City and Crystal Palace, they still need their postponed fixture to be rearranged. There’s an argument to have a short-term sale of Haaland, especially if you’d use those funds elsewhere in your squad for Blank Gameweek 31. He has one goal and one assist from his last four Premier League starts, and is set to face Chelsea and Arsenal immediately after the international break. Advertisement However, we know his pedigree in the game, with a sensational 29 goal involvements from 28 starts this season. If you plan to buy him back immediately for Gameweek 32, a sale is harder to justify. Semenyo is another firm hold in my eyes, with five goals and one assist in nine starts since arriving at Manchester City in the January transfer window. He’s been an ever-present, often playing high as a secondary striker and is the second-highest owned player in the game behind his team-mate Haaland, in 53. 3 per cent of sides. I’ll be selling Nico O’Reilly (£5. 1m) — despite an upturn in form in recent weeks with three goals in his last four starts — over other City assets in my team, given I have seven players without a fixture in my squad. City’s exit from the Champions League this midweek means that rotation should be less of an issue over the run-in, although the gap to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table has widened to nine points. Arsenal assets are more difficult to justify holding as they don’t currently have any upcoming double gameweeks in their schedule and continue to be involved in the Champions League. We are likely to see some rotation across their players over the run-in and a tendency to keep things tight. With that in mind, sales of Declan Rice (£7. 4m) and Jurrien Timber (£6. 3m) are justified. I’d advocate holding Gabriel, given his dominance in this campaign and his tendency to feature in most games. He is also the highest-scoring defender in the game, playing in the league’s best defence. Owners of David Raya (£6. 0m) will likely have a backup goalkeeper with a fixture this weekend, making him easy to bench. I wouldn’t advocate a goalkeeper transfer, especially if you still have the Wildcard remaining. Often, when we have a blank gameweek, it’s more important to own quality over quantity. If you have the core template players, that can be enough to carry you through. Advertisement Bruno Fernandes (£10. 2m) falls into that category, with just two blanks in 10 games under Michael Carrick. He has two goals and eight assists from that period, including five double-digit hauls. He’s owned by 43 per cent of managers and looks set to be a captain favourite for the trip to Bournemouth. He notched a goal and an assist in the reverse fixture, a 4-4 draw. Fulham’s Harry Wilson (£6. 0m) is another core pick, having returned from injury in time for a home game against Burnley. He has 17 goal involvements from 26 starts this season, making a mockery of his price tag. There’s also momentum in the transfer market for Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon (£7. 3m) ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby, having scored two goals in his last four gameweeks. Brentford’s Igor Thiago (£7. 3m) is another essential pick, with two goals in his last four games taking him up to 19 for the season, as he hunts down Haaland’s tally of 22. Chelsea’s Joao Pedro (£7. 8m), meanwhile, has been the highest-scoring player in the game since Liam Rosenior took charge at Stamford Bridge. He’s racked up 14 goal involvements in his last 10 games and carries masses of potential once again for the trip to Everton. A sale of Haaland could afford Cole Palmer (£10. 6m) for this fixture, but he has been quite inconsistent this season. Managers without a Liverpool attacker in their squad could look to release funds from Haaland to buy Mohamed Salah (£14. 0m) and Hugo Ekitike (£9. 2m) for the trip to Brighton. I’m not personally going to bring on board a Liverpool attacker, with them having seen significant rotation in recent games. Each of these players has produced three blanks in the last four gameweeks. Brighton also have two clean sheets in four. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Holly Shand is a Fantasy Premier League You Tuber and pundit who has played the game for over ten seasons. She has finished in the Top 100K on seven occasions, twice finishing in the Top 10K. She is a regular guest on the Premier League Fantasy Show and Sky Sports News FPL Show. Follow Holly on Twitter @Holly Shand