By Graham Ruthven, in conversation with Jonas Sand Låbakk
Introducing our expert
Jonas is a 21 year old student who, like FotMob, hails from Norway. He was Fantasy Premier League champion for the 2023/24 season, finishing ahead of 11 million other managers. So who better to provide expert advice?
Read his expert advice every week.
*Don’t forget the FPL deadline for this round – make your transfers and get your team sorted before 1.30pm BST on Saturday 10th May*
The Eye Test vs. The Stats
Kevin De Bruyne (9.5m) hasn’t reached the heights this season that he has in past campaigns with the Belgian set to leave Manchester City this summer.
Indeed, De Bruyne has started just 17 Premier League games when previously he was one of the first names on Pep Guardiola’s team sheet.
However, the 33-year-old has looked more like his old self in recent matches and is currently playing a more prominent role for City. This is reflected in De Bruyne’s return of two goals and one assist in his last four appearances.
De Bruyne has also played over 80 minutes in each of his last five league outings. Over the last five gameweeks, the Belgian is actually Manchester City’s top FPL points scorer.
City’s only goal in the GW35 win over Wolves was notched by De Bruyne who is operating as a number 10, and sometimes a False Nine, in Guardiola’s side. This could, however, change now that Erling Haaland is back fit.
Statistically, De Bruyne’s 0.59 Expected Goal Involvements per 90 minutes is slightly below what you might expect for a player at such a high price point.
Nonetheless, De Bruyne will be eager to end his Manchester City career on a high with favourable fixtures against Southampton, Bournemouth and Fulham rounding off the campaign.
Chris Wood (7.1m) is having the season of his life having registered 19 goals for Champions League-chasing Nottingham Forest. This makes him the Premier League’s fourth-top scorer.
The New Zealand international has grossly over-performed his underlying numbers, notching 22 goal involvements from an xGI of just 12 this season. Wood’s recent form has cooled, perhaps pointing to an unsustainable streak.
However, Forest have a potentially kind fixture against already relegated Leicester City in GW36 and so Wood will surely fancy his chances of adding to his tally this weekend. With the centre forward also Forest’s first-choice penalty taker, he could be a smart pick.
Long shot
Kevin Schade (5.1m) has been one of the most underrated assets in FPL this season.
At his modest price point, there is only one midfielder ahead of the Brentford man with more points – Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy. While some FPL managers have been put off by Schade’s uncertain minutes, the German winger has started every game since GW23. His minutes should now be secure.
Schade’s stats of 7.66 Expected Goals (xG) and 1.63 Expected Assists (xA) are impressive for a player at such a low price point. With the German owned by just 1.2% of FPL managers, he could prove to be a strong differential for your team.
Brentford will face Ipswich Town this weekend. The Tractor Boys are already relegated and so this could be an opportunity for Schade to return a big haul. After this, Brentford have games against Fulham and Wolves where there could be goals.
Upcoming games to follow
There are a number of fixtures worth motoring in GW36 with the three relegated teams (Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton) giving their opponents the opportunity for a sizeable return in terms of FPL points.
Brentford take on Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Saturday. The Bees boast several strong options with Bryan Mbeumo (8.2m), Yoane Wissa (6.7m) and Schade all worthy of your attention.
Manchester City’s clash with bottom-of-the-league Southampton also stands out as a fixture that could be fruitful for options like Kevin De Bruyne, Omar Marmoush (7.6m), Joško Gvardiol (6.4m) and Haaland (14.8m) if he is fit enough to feature.
Finally, Nottingham Forest’s home game against Leicester City could produce a number of returns.
Leicester have struggled badly in an attacking and defensive sense this season and so Forest assets like Wood, Nikola Milenković (5.2m), Neco Williams (4.5m) and Matz Sels (5.2m) could be good picks for your FPL team as the 2024/25 season gets close to a conclusion.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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