🏆 GW35 - the moves to make 👀

Summary for the lazy

⏰ Gameweek 35's deadline is Saturday 6th May, 13:30 BST.

😐 It’s a regular gameweek, but there’s no early kick-off.

👋 Leeds manager Javi Gracia is out. Allardyce will replace him.

🤕 Fresh injuries, best moves and some differentials discussed too.

⛔ Access to LazyFPL Premium closes 6 hours after this email is sent.

Stick around to find out why the lack of an early kick-off could be excellent news for FPL managers.

Alright?

Last gameweek we forgot to change the subject line. Sorry about that.

I also forgot - or rather missed - the deadline for perhaps the first time in five seasons. The Professor was not impressed.

People rarely talk about it, but missing the FPL deadline is surely one of the most perilous dangers of international travel, and it gave me a fresh appreciation for the millions of FPL managers who don’t operate within the slender confines of British Summer Time.

Whether you’re behind or infront, getting up at the arse-crack of dawn or burning the midnight oil just to ensure you don’t miss any pre-deadline news is no trivial feat.

If that sounds familiar, thank you for making FPL a global hobby, and not just a game for us Brits to chat about in the office on Monday mornings. This one’s for you.

6 hours left to get LazyFPL Premium

6 hours after we send this email, we’re closing LazyFPL Premium until mid-July. If you want the Professor’s weekly pre-season course on how to become one of the most consistent FPL managers in the world, now’s your last chance to opt-in.

There’s no surer way to be universally despised by your mini-league rivals.

You’ll also get access to our Premium-only WhatsApp groups (so you can keep on top of breaking news without breaking a sweat), a life-time price freeze and the warm, fuzzy knowledge that you’re supporting the newsletter.

According to our premium subscribers, it definitely is.

What should you be doing in Gameweek 35?

Whilst Gameweek 35 is a bit boring, it precedes Double Gameweek 36, in which Newcastle and Brighton will play two games.

The obvious move this week is to either continue to stockpile players from these teams, or save your transfer for next week (that’s what The Professor is doing).

Frankly, the timing of DGW36 couldn’t be worse. Newcastle have kept one clean sheet in their last 13 fixtures, and Brighton’s FPL b-team just put six past Wolves.

All which is to say, Double Gameweek 36 has somehow managed to be a bit disappointing already, and we’re not even there yet. It’s almost impressive.

Still, double gameweeks are always an opportunity, even if that opportunity isn’t as obvious as we might’ve liked.

If you’re planning on using Gameweek 35 as a stepping stone for DGW36/37, here’s a quick Q+A to help. Plenty of this was borrowed from the Prof’s excellent midweek LazyFPL premium email.

Are Newcastle’s defence rubbish?

No. They’ve basically been unlucky. In the last 8 gameweeks, they should’ve kept 4 clean sheets. Instead they’ve kept 1.

You almost certainly have more pressing concerns to deal with than Keiran Trippier.

Isak or Wilson?

Their stats are laughably similar, but the Prof prefers Isak because, in his words, '“he appears to be the superior footballer”. Two Newcastle defenders and one of their forwards is probably the best route, particularly given the fact that Jacob Murphy’s minutes are terribly inconsistent.

What about Brighton?

It’s likely you have two of their midfielders (Mitoma/March/Mac Allister) + Estupinan or Steele. The fact that none of those midfielders were involved in the 6-0 drubbing of Wolves last gameweek isn’t enough for the Professor to deviate from the trio.

He did, however, suggest that anyone with Mac Allister might consider a swap to March/Mitoma (whichever one they don’t own) if they happen to have a free transfer knocking about. He’s playing deeper again and, despite scoring a penalty in the dying moments of their last game, is perhaps riding his luck a little.

The injury room

Cripes, it’s another instalment of the injury room folks, and you know what that means: enough semi-interesting FPL assets are currently incapacitated. Who’s in today?

Arsenal defenders

It’s not just their dwindling title hopes that have them upset. William Saliba “hasn’t improved this week at all” according to Arteta and Gabriel was taken off as a precaution in Tuesday night’s win against Chelsea.

Kevin De Bruyne

Earlier this week, Pep revealed that Kevin “doesn’t feel good”, which is vague, even for Guardiola’s standards. He’s back in first-team training now, which means he’s probably going to be okay for the weekend.

Andreas Pereira

Everyone’s favourite budget bencher has selfishly gone and broken his ankle. He’s likely to be out for a while, and we wish him a swift recovery.

Gangster’s Allardyce

If you want something doing well, sometimes you need to bring in a specialist.

Leeds need to stay in the Premier League and, with four games left to play, they’ve bought in the master of top-tier survival to make sure it happens. Allardyce is back.

It’s sort of like that scene in Pulp Fiction, where Winston Wolf gets bought in to orchestrate the dead-body clean up. Leeds’ season is currently bleeding out all over the back-seat of the car, and there’s only one man with enough wet towels to mop it up.

In a record-breaking season for managerial sackings, it feels only fitting that we’d have yet another before the end of the season.

The best captain for Gameweek 35

I’m fairly certain that even an infant Haaland would return at home against Leeds. New manager bounce be damned.

The key stats for Gameweek 35

Numbers to know ahead of the weekend.

The Professor’s Team

Captain: Haaland

OR: 17,489

Transfers: Roll

Trippier ahead of Shaw is the one I’m unsure of this week but covering that Newcastle defence seems to be the sensible option no matter how much I think Shaw has the better fixture.

Also, the BetterFPL tool I use for my team view also has Trippier ahead on expected points. Not by much, mind.

Differential Corner

We’ve dragged the Professor kicking and screaming into differential corner and logged into his laptop. “Give us what we need or we’re putting Illan Meslier into your team.”

The following is all he could muster between the panicked cries.

Julian Alvarez

He may be an obvious one but I’m putting him in here for a slightly different reason.

This gameweek we have our first 13:30 (GMT) deadline for as long as I can remember. That means that the deadline will be just before four fixtures and not just the usual single early game.

I promise I’m getting to a good point.

Manchester City are one of those 3pm kick-offs. And this season we have had consistent and moderately reliable team leak news. On top of this, Manchester City play Real Madrid three days after the Leeds fixture.

If Alvarez is leaked as starting you can have a 2.4% guaranteed starter who you can then just leave in for the rest of the season.

Other tidbits

⚽ Eberichi Eze has scored 4 goals in his last 6 games, but Zaha remains on pens despite Eze scoring one in DGW34.

🖳 Ivan Toney has scored a goal every other game for the last 14 games. If he continues the pattern, he’ll blank in Gameweek 35.

🔴 James Milner is set to go to Brighton as a free agent this summer, according to David Ornstein.

🛏️ “To take a rest is good” said Pep in response to Ederson’s surprise omission from Wednesday night’s starting XI.

Lazy summary

• save your transfer this week, or use it to bring in Newcastle/Brighton players.

• captain Haaland.

• Sam Allardyce has replaced Javi Gracia at Leeds. Man City will probably still beat them.

• the lack of early kick-off means we could get more team leaks than usual before the deadline (signing up to LazyFPL Premium means you’ll get any last-minute leaks sent straight to your WhatsApp).

Okay, we’re out.

See you in a week, and remember, stay lazy.

The LazyFPL Team.