We have chosen our best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players for Gameweek 30 ahead of tonight’s deadline.
We line up in a 3-4-3 formation and are limited to £83.5m for our first XI.
Our four substitutes, meanwhile, are always picked from the budget/cheaper crop of players, not to serve as bench fodder but to give some alternative options who don’t cost as much as some of the names in our line-up.
GOALKEEPER AND DEFENDERS
Clean sheets look difficult to predict in Gameweek 30 but on paper, Wolverhampton Wanderers perhaps just about look the favourites to shut out the opposition: across the season, only Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool have allowed fewer goals. Jose Sa’s (£5.3m) heroics between the posts have been a huge factor in their defensive returns: Opta’s ‘expected goals prevented’ (xGP) metric suggests he has personally prevented 8.6 goals from flying in – that’s more than double what any other goalkeeper has managed. A total of 97 stops has also led to 24 save points this season and he’s one of just three top-flight custodians to hit double figures for bonus points.
In defence, the paucity of outstanding candidates for a shut-out leads us to nominate some attacking full-backs/wing-backs. This is even more of a consideration with such a small pool of players and teams to choose from this week, as there is inevitably going to be a conflict of interest when backing a defender from one side and an midfielder/forward from their opposition.
There aren’t many/any Gameweek 30 defenders who are more front-foot than Sergio Reguilon (£5.2m) and Matt Doherty (£4.8m). Reguilon narrowly gets the nod here as he’s actually outperformed his Irish teammate for penalty box touches, shots, big chances and key passes in his last six outings, with two clear openings against Brighton on Wednesday underscoring his goal threat. West Ham, who had to endure 120 minutes of Europa League action on Thursday, are also behind only Norwich City more most chances conceded from their right flank in the last six matches.
Aston Villa haven’t kept a clean sheet against a club currently in the top nine under Steven Gerrard (and have only one all season against these leading teams), so the chances are that the Villans will concede in Gameweek 30. Nevertheless, Matthew Cash (£5.2m) carries plenty of points potential at the other end of the field: he is second among Fantasy defenders for penalty box touches in 2021/22 and has delivered four attacking returns in as many matches. No full-back has had more shots in the box this season, either.
Rounding off the picks at the back is a bit of a leftfield choice but one influenced by Leicester City’s teamsheet on Thursday night. Ricardo Pereira‘s (£5.2m) minutes are being handled carefully by Brendan Rodgers since his return from injury and a virtual breather in the defeat to Rennes bodes well for a start against Brentford on Sunday. Of the defenders who are likely to start in Gameweek 30, he is behind only Reguilon and Doherty for minutes per xGI and minutes per attacking return this season.
MIDFIELDERS
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