Premier League fantasy football tips: Is it time to play your wildcard?
- Published
You may remember last time I was advocating patience if you've made a poor start to the fantasy football season, and holding off on playing the wildcard because it's such a valuable chip in the game.
Well, my patience snapped after a truly woeful 27 points in gameweek five - and so this week I've pushed the button!
I did it because I had too many injuries in my squad, and I've lost faith that Chelsea and Manchester United are going to come good in the short-term despite decent fixtures.
Also, a couple of the players I've sold were about to drop in value while some of the ones I've signed were going to go up in price and that would have made it impossible to get them if I'd held off any longer.
So, this is the new line-up…..
Goalkeepers - Mark Flekken, Alphonse Areola
Defenders - Pervis Estupinan, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman, Destiny Udogie, Issa Kabore
Midfielders - Mo Salah, Bukayo Saka, Bryan Mbeumo, Moussa Diaby, Jeremy Doku
Forwards - Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Cameron Archer
I couldn't afford Kieran Trippier, but I'm still going with the double Newcastle defence for the next couple of gameweeks before Fabian Schar is likely to make way for Matty Cash.
I'm planning to bring a Tottenham midfielder in for gameweek eight before their games against Luton and Fulham and Jeremy Doku is a bit of punt, but he's only owned by 1% of managers. He looked electric when he came on against Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Tuesday, and could be set for a run in the Manchester City team with Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish injured.
Captaincy
Last week I took a risk and went against Erling Haaland with the captaincy and it would have backfired spectacularly if he'd been able to take even half of his chances in Manchester City's win at West Ham.
I watched him spurn some glorious opportunities against Red Star, so someone is bound to pay for that very soon. Nottingham Forest are next in the firing line at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday so my captain's armband is going to Haaland.
Erling Haaland is Alistair Bruce-Ball's pick for fantasy football captain this week
Fixtures to target
We'll have to see how Brighton cope with the demands of European football this season, but I would back them to deliver us more attacking returns at home to Bournemouth on Sunday. It's just trying to guess which players are going to do it as Roberto de Zerbi will continually rotate his line-up.
Their fixtures get tougher after this weekend, so keep your Brighton players and start them if you've got them - but maybe hold off signing them until gameweek 10.
If you've held on to Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes then you could be rewarded when Manchester United go to Turf Moor to take on Burnley.
Rashford still offered plenty of goal threat in the 3-1 defeat against Brighton and I'd choose him over Bruno Fernandes at the moment who seems to have lost some of his attacking potential amid all the disruption to the United line-up.
I was really torn on going for Rashford or Bukayo Saka on the wildcard, but I've plumped for the man playing for the more in-form team even though Arsenal's fixtures look trickier.
I am expecting goals in the North London derby on Sunday so I wouldn't be too hasty in selling any of your Arsenal or Tottenham attackers - which takes us on nicely to this week's differentials.
Differentials
Leandro Trossard is a relatively cheap way into the Arsenal midfield, he's just 2% owned and has scored in his last two games since replacing the injured Gabriel Martinelli at Everton.
I'm also going to point you in the direction of Newcastle, who are away to Sheffield United.
Harvey Barnes only got a very brief run-out at the San Siro on Tuesday so you could take a chance on him starting at Bramall Lane as he's only owned by 2.6% of managers.
Callum Wilson has just crept over the 5% ownership figure which defines a differential, but he's definitely worth considering after Alexander Isak got the nod to start against AC Milan.
And if you're toying with the idea of a double Newcastle defence for the coming weeks, then Fabian Schar is just 3% owned compared to team-mates Kieran Trippier at 31.1% and Sven Botman at 15.2%
Gamble of the week
Two names - Jeremy Doku and Odsonne Edouard.
I've outlined the case for Doku above, while Edouard is at home to Fulham having scored three goals in his last two appearances - if you're looking for a Nicolas Jackson replacement and want to do something other than go for Julian Alvarez, then he could be your man.
Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the Fantasy 606 podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave. The latest episode previewing gameweek one is available on the BBC Sounds App. The code to join the Fantasy 606 league is 'j03mnp'.