Last updated on April 8th, 2021
Written by @IamtheMarkus. Follow him on twitter for regular FPL insights!
Another weekend of goals galore and shocks all round as WBA caused a stir at Stamford Bridge, Newcastle dominated Spurs, West Ham near enough conspiring to give up another three-goal lead and several odds on favourites making hard work of their fixtures and having to win it from behind.
In terms of last week’s selections, my gut let me down as although Bruno picked up an assist, my vice-captain Kane’s four-minute brace against Newcastle was in hindsight the shrewd move. Jota was perhaps the surprise inclusion last week but despite only playing the last 30 minutes, he racked up a brace against the Gunners so looks like a handy acquisition ahead of any upcoming fixtures.
Skimming the fixtures this week a number of teams will have to contend with a midweek European fixture followed by a late weekend game to return to. Chelsea face Palace, Liverpool take on Villa in another appetizing clash, West Ham vs Leicester is set to be a highlight in the battle for a top four spot (never thought I’d be writing that!). Sheffield did look a little more resolute away to Leeds last week but face Arsenal who have been very hit and miss this week. Manchester United vs Spurs should be an entertaining game but with both Ole and Mourinho in charge, this has 0-0 written all over it! The Monday night fixtures look open and entertaining too with all four teams likely to be keen to get a much-needed win.
TLDR
My © will be Salah
Vice – KdB
I think a good case can be made for any of the four below this week but I’ve not considered two names from arguably this week’s key clash between Leicester and West Ham. Lingard misses out due to injuries to teammates and Leicester’s Iheanacho narrowly misses out as well as I think it will be one of Leicester’s midfielders who wins this tie.
KdB- TSB ~ 20% – Leeds
Everyone is talking about Kevin, not so long ago he was a little out of sorts with some City fans even calling for him to be dropped. After assisting his way into a new contract he is certainly passing the eye test both domestically and in Europe.
Leeds have been a great addition to the league and I can’t wait to see them evolve next season but I just can’t see anything but a City win with KdB at the heart of it. Leeds will no doubt set out to play and it could well be an open and entertaining game for the neutral, but there is no doubt that Man City seem to just be able to play at a level above most and seem to have moved away in the league without having to hit the heights of their prior title-winning years.
Ings -TSB ~ 6% – West Brom
With a goal and assist in his last fixture perhaps this is the last chance to captain Danny before a less than ideal run of fixtures. Southampton look to have a bit of their mojo back and he certainly has the talismanic factor.
Make no mistake, this is the business end of the season and West Brom will not be going without a fight, so I expect both teams to have to go out and try to win this. I expect it to be a narrow but high scoring affair on Monday night.
Jota ~ 12% – AVL (or Salah 30% – if you have him)
A thirty-minute showing against Arsenal was pretty convincing for the owners who didn’t bench him and in the midweek fixture against Real Madrid, he was unlucky not to score but was heavily involved in the second half.
Villa have not been the rock-steady side at the back of late and Liverpool are fancied to continue their domestic resurgence again this week with their sights set on the faltering teams in the top four now within a single win. Are they somewhat lost without Grealish? Have they headed to the beach with PL safety assured? The answer to both is probably not, but Villa have certainly not been at their early-season swashbuckling best.
The low ownership (5% last week now 12% and rising) and handy price point mean that he is well within budget for many. Jota is likely to be involved and has shown that even when benched can pull out returns in a short space of time.
Salah too continues to impress this season after notching against both Arsenal and Real Madrid as well, obviously a more painful price and slightly higher ownership but another strong contender for the armband as he is not overly owned by the masses.
Mount – TSB ~ 17% – Crystal Palace
Despite all the additions to Chelsea’s squad this year, Mason Mount has certainly been the highlight and leads Chelsea’s point scorers this year. Another player with a goal in his last PL outing as well as a goal against formidable European opposition in midweek. Both Havertz and Werner looked a little lost in the midweek and perhaps could do better here against a Palace team who are unlikely to trouble the boys in blue but it’s so often Mount who is putting Chelsea on the front foot. Crystal Palace were put to the sword by Chelsea earlier in the season and this weekend should be the same.
