FPL Gameweek 31 team reveal: No Haaland or Free Hit chip

With Gameweek 31 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) almost upon us, we’re once again getting tips and team reveales from our top team of Pro Pundits, Hall of Famers and guest contributors.

Our writers will be providing regular articles and team reveals throughout the new season, with only Premium Members able to access every single one.

Next up is FPL Milanista, who is ranked 27th in our Live Hall of Fame and has posted overall ranks of 473rd and 1,547th in the last two FPL seasons. He is also a nine-year veteran of the Fantasy Football Scout site.

Gameweek 31 is just one day away and we must start focusing our attention on the season run-in, heading into the final eight rounds of 2022/23.

They will feature some exciting doubles for in-form teams like Manchester City, Manchester United and Brighton and Hove Albion that increase the importance of planning ahead and creating a strategy, especially when all three teams blank in Gameweek 32.

For an FPL manager who no longer has his Free Hit chip, like me, decisions will be key over the next couple of rounds. Firstly, I’ll be entering after a disastrous Gameweek 30 rank of 9.9 million – by far my season’s worst – that pulled my overall position down from 6k to 15k.

READ MORE: Friday’s live team news + injury updates

MISSING OUT ON HAALAND

I only managed to score 41 points and, in hindsight, ignoring the big Norwegian monster Erling Haaland (£12.2m) was a mistake, although captain Marcus Rashford (£7.2m) got himself involved in four big chances versus Everton despite finishing the game with just an assist and six points.

Ivan Toney (£7.8m) was the bigger frustration after missing a penalty and scoring a goal that was overturned by VAR. If Toney managed to match Haaland’s haul, I wouldn’t have had such a horrible Gameweek. Again, some small margins leading to big swings in terms of rank!

So the real question now is why did I ignore Haaland and did I think Rashford was the best captain? To answer, no I knew that Haaland would be the safe captain and the most likely to haul, I simply thought that Rashford would come close. The stats did suggest that the Red Devils star should’ve gotten on the scoresheet.

Anyway, I’ve always said that transfers are very team dependent, so you cannot judge a manager’s move without looking at his team and the long-term strategy that he is implementing.

Gameweek 32 is nearby and it features a blank for the three aforementioned teams plus Chelsea. Those that still have Free Hit had an easy decision to bring Haaland back in and captain but, for those who don’t, it depended on the number of blankers already in the side. In my case, I had eight of them, therefore buying a ninth would be crazy.

Add in the thought that Haaland would get reduced minutes ahead of the Bayern Munich clash, I instead opted to shift Pervis Estupinan (£4.8m) to Alex Moreno (£4.4m). This in itself was a good move but not like Haaland would’ve been.

KANE OR SALAH?

The question now is will I be changing my strategy to get Haaland for his immediate home game with Leicester? No, I won’t. As much as I’d like to have him back in my team, I simply cannot justify such a move at this point.

I think the next two games for Harry Kane (£11.7m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) have a good chance of beating Haaland’s sole score, which is why I’ll most likely get one of them instead. I slightly prefer the Spurs talisman for Gameweek 31 but Salah is a better asset for the run-in, with better fixtures including Double Gameweek 34.

Another key event to be factored in Rashford’s injury, as it was never in my plans to sell him. Erik ten Hag’s comment that he’ll miss the next few games worries me and selling him is very much under consideration at the moment. Salah is the obvious replacement, otherwise I’d be looking at Gabriel   Martinelli (£6.7m), Michael Olise (£5.5m) or Eberechi Eze (£5.4m), who all have a favourable home fixture in Gameweek 32.

TEAM REVEAL

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