Top Picks for a Gameweek 31 Wildcard draft
Gameweek 31 is proving to be a popular time for FPL managers to play their second Wildcard. Ryan from Football Chatbox talks us through his preferred Gameweek 31 Wildcard draft to help managers with the chip active.
With the international break ongoing it’s a good time to analyse the upcoming Gameweeks and decide on a final chip strategies. There are still a few active managers who have a wildcard chip left and are planning on playing it either in Gameweek 31 or Gameweek 34.
If you are one of those then this article could be useful for you. If you aren’t playing the wildcard chip this week it’s still a good idea to have a look at some of the wildcard drafts. Doing this will give a sense of how far your squad is from a Gameweek 31 wildcard team.
Chip review
Having used both of my wildcard chips successfully this season, with wildcard one played in Gamewekk 8 that saw me get a massive rank rise in Gameweek 9 taking me to and overall rank of 10,912.
My second Wildcard was played in Gameweek 28 which also saw me get a pretty good rank gain and two back-to-back 100 club scores. Using that experience I’m going to be trying a similar planning strategy that I used for these two wildcards in this article.
Compared to Gameweek 34, Gameweek 31 is a bit trickier to suggest players for a wildcard. This is because it is dependent on what your chip strategy is going to be for the upcoming gameweeks. You could potentially be playing the wildcard in Gameweek 31 to Bench Boost in Gameweek 33 or 36 . You could also be playing your Free Hit in Gameweek 33 and Bench Boost in Gameweek 36. Therefore we are going to try and build a wildcard squad where you will have a core set of players who you could keep till the end of the season. There will also be a few other players who would be there to target the short-term fixtures. These players could be rotated out with transfers for other players who would be getting doubles in Gameweeks 35, 36 or 37.
Wildcard Planning
There are a few factors that come into wildcard planning for me. They are:
- The fixture ticker showing the upcoming fixtures in the next few game weeks
- Expected points for the next five to six Gameweeks as this gives me a good idea on which players to target.
- Player and Team form in the last four to six Gameweeks
- The eye test.
There are still games to be rescheduled which we expect to see in Gameweek 35, 36 and 37 depending on results in other competitions. Based on this and the rate my team tool in the members area of the FFScout website this is one potential wildcard draft:
This is one team I was able to build with my team value of 106.4 and I’ve kept 0.5m ITB to account for managers with probably varying team value. So, let’s go into detail for each of the positions and discuss why these players are here.
Goalkeepers
Aaron Ramsdale (£5.1m)
At the moment we don’t know the current status of Ramsdale as a result of injury pre Gameweek 30. If he is set to be out for a few Gameweeks I would probably look at switching him to a cheaper
goalkeeper. I would aim for a Goalkeeper who plays a double in either Gameweek 33 or 36 depending on what your chip usage will be.
Kasper Schmeichel (4.8m)
Schmeichel not only has a good pair of matches in Double Gameweek 3, but he also has a further match to be rescheduled. Leicester also have a pretty good run in of fixtures for the rest of the season and usually we don’t have to worry about him getting rotated for European fixtures. He is also in the top five for goalkeepers in terms of expected points over the next six Gameweeks based on the Fantasy Football Scout Rate My Team (RMT) tool.
Defenders
Joan Cancelo (£6.9m)
Man City players right now have very low ownership. Many managers took them out of their teams when they were focusing on the doubles and blanks between Gameweeks 26-30. Cancelo has been a mainstay in Peps team, only missing two Premier League games all season. With City now in a title race I would expect Pep to play a strong team in most games. Although Gameweek 31 does carry the risk of Pep rotating his team to focus on the Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid. However, I would expect Cancelo to still be a mainstay in the rest of the fixtures to come. I also wouldn’t mind playing him against Liverpool in Gameweek 32 given his explosive potential.
Ben White (£4.5m)
Arsenal have a good run of upcoming fixtures. Plus their improvements in defence means Ben White becomes a really good pick. This is especially true as a result of his price point as he also enables us to get more premium players from other positions. If Ramsdale is set to be out for some time, white will be a good defensive cover into Arsenal assets.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m)
Trent just like Cancelo is another explosive full back who has been a mainstay in many FPL teams so far. With an injury tick over his name right now, he is probably one to monitor and see. If Klopp states he is fine, I wouldn’t hesitate to bring him in as we know what he is capable of. If he is indeed out for some time, then a sideways move to Andrew Robertson (£7.2m) will be equally good. I also like the idea of doubling up on both full backs if you had the funds to do it
Reece James (£6.2m)
James is the slightly risky pick in defence in terms of expected minutes. We aren’t sure what his status is for now and the safer Chelsea defensive pick would be Antonio Rüdiger (£6.1m). However, we are running out of Gameweeks, and with ranks to climb and mini leagues to catchup on James is worth the risk. If Tuchel does mention James is alright and could potentially feature, I would jump on him immediately. If he says he needs a couple more weeks rest, then I would do the safe move of Rudiger for the moment.
Charlie Taylor (£4.4m)
The budget enabler in defence. This pick is completely dependent on your chip strategy and can be any player that is cheap. I’ve picked Taylor here because Burnley have a couple doubles coming up and if you wanted to Bench Boost in 33, he could be a decent addition as well. I wouldn’t expect to much from this pick though.
Midfielders
Mohamad Salah (£13.3m)
Best player in the league playing for one of the most attacking teams in the league that’s challenging for the title. Salah himself is leading the golden boot and will want to ensure he wins it at the end of the season. I don’t think there is anything more to add to this, get him in your team and keep him in your team!
Bukayo Saka (£6.7m)
Whenever I watch Arsenal, Saka always seem to be one of the most involved players. With a really good set of upcoming fixtures and an expected points of 26.99 in the next six Gameweeks, I think he is player you would want to own.
The other midfield slots
The next three players Kai Havertz (£7.9m), Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) and James Maddison (£6.8m) are all dependent on your chip strategy and budget. I’ve added Havertz here to target the Chelsea fixtures, but it could also be someone like Mason Mount (£7.5m). The same applies to James Maddison, you could play Harvey Barnes (£6.6m) in that position.
Kulusevski is in there because I’ve chosen to go Kane as my striker option. Trying to afford both Kane and Son Heung-Min (£10.9m) in the same team, while having a strong squad isn’t the easiest. This makes Kulusevski a great option alongside Kane. Again, this is chip dependent and if you don’t have a Bench Boost to worry about then you can reduce funds elsewhere to potentially afford Son. If you are trying to target a Bench Boost in Gameweek 33 then Jadon Sancho (£8.9m) is also a good option.
Forwards
Harry Kane (£12.5m)
Kane right now is in some really great form with an xGI of 7.39 in the last six Gameweeks. He also has some good fixtures for the rest of the season and tends to perform come end of season. With so many forwards not delivering anything at all this season your not going to find anyone better on current form to play that lone striker role in your squad when needed.
The other forward slots
Budget options
Wout Weghorst (£6.4m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.2m) have both made it in there for fixture and budget reasons. Burnley have quite a few Double Gameweeks upcoming in the short term and Weghorst could be someone you might want to have. Will he return in those Gameweeks though? Well that I’m not sure! However, with not many strikers returning at all just the number of games alone would mean he probably outscores some strikers over the next few weeks.
Crystal Palace have a good end of season run in. With good fixtures from Gameweek 34-37 and potential doubles to be added in that time as well, make Mateta a good budget option. Especially if you are planning to Bench Boost in Gameweek 36. He could have some level of competition for his position but at the price range he is at I don’t mind getting him for the moment.
Some other players that you could look at would be Alexandre Lacazette (£8.4m) although not as high scoring as Kane, he still tends to tick along nicely with a few points through some assists or a goal.
Another premium?
Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.2m) even though he is pricy, if you were to BB in 33, he might not be a bad option to own and then drop after 33 for Kane. Especially given the teams that United face in those Gameweeks, bar Liverpool, aren’t the best in terms of keeping a clean sheet. We know he can turn it on in any given Gameweek as he showed against Spurs and with an xGI of 4.18 in the last six Gameweeks. Only Salah, Kane, Mane and Son have a higher xGI means he could potentially still offer something and has the numbers to show for it.
Wildcards are proving to be a popular topic over the international break. FPL Family’s Sam talks us though her first thoughts on targets for her Gameweek 31 Wildcard.
