Arsenal, Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace are all without a fixture, so their players will score no points
This weekend could end up being crucial for managers in the Insurance Times Fantasy Football league, with it being a blank gameweek.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace are all without a fixture, so their players will score no points.
This is because of the EFL Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City on Sunday. With these two teams in action, they are unable to fulfil their scheduled Premier League matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace.
According to the official Fantasy Football website, five of the 10 most-owned players this year play for Arsenal and Man City, including the likes of Erling Haaland (£14.6m), Gabriel (£7.2m), Antoine Semenyo (£8.2m) and David Raya (£6.0m).
So, what will managers in the Insurance Times Fantasy Football league do this week? To get some insight, we asked Matt Snow, senior underwriter at Aviva, and Steve Fisher, SmartComms engineer at Allianz, about their plans. Both currently sit in the top 10.
Steve Fisher
”I’ve decided not to use my free hit chip this weekend. Instead, I’m saving it, along with my wildcard and bench boost, to navigate the likely blank and double gameweeks on the horizon.
”The FA Cup quarter-finals, played before gameweek 32, will give us a clearer picture of which teams will blank and double between gameweeks 33 and 36. This information will be key in deciding the best chip strategy for the final weeks of the season.
“On paper, Fulham and Newcastle are the teams to target this week. I already own Wilson and Andersen from Fulham and have used two of my five remaining transfers to bring in Gordon and Thiaw from Newcastle.
“The Tyne-Wear derby could go either way, but I’m hoping that Newcastle will rise to the occasion after their chastening midweek defeat to Barcelona.”
Matt Snow
“I’ll be using my free hit this weekend.
“I’m happy with the look of my team but it includes two Arsenal and two Man City players so it’s the perfect opportunity to play this chip.
“I’ve transferred in Bruno Fernandes for Semenyo and made him my Captain, I’ve been looking to draft him into my team for weeks.
”With Fulham at home to Burnley, I feel there is a chance of clean sheet for Fulham, so I’ve swapped out Gabriel for Anderson.
“I didn’t want to double up on Fulham defenders so in comes Villa’s Matty Cash, who I’m likely to keep on the bench.
”Thiaw for Saliba is my final change, although I’ve considered bringing in Mbuemo for Palmer.”
No comments yet