⏰ GW31: the crucial info 👌

🚨 The stuff you should know 🚨

⏰ Gameweek 31’s deadline is Tuesday 2nd April, 18:00 BST.

😍 “Nothing serious” for Bukayo Saka, confirms Arteta.

🤕 Ollie Watkins subbed at half-time. “Hopefully not a big injury” says Emery.

🚑 Lascelles (6-9 months), Areola (few days) and Gusto also subbed early with injuries.

🌍 The UK’s clocks moved forward one hour over the weekend, meaning we’re in the BST timezone now.

Keep reading to find out who has a better goals-per-90 this season than Erling Haaland.

Alright?

Quick one today. I’ve got a date with a Creme Egg that I don’t want to miss.

But an abundance of leftover foil-wrapped chocolate isn’t the only thing worth salivating over this Monday: just have a look at your FPL team. Gameweek 31 is primed for plenty of points…and since when has this season ever disappointed us?

Let’s get into it.

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Gameweek 31’s fixtures.

Four differentials.

Differential (noun); a low-owned or non-template FPL player. Managers who buy one are obliged to announce it to anyone who will listen.

As we said in last gameweek’s email, we’re going to start including differentials in the remaining newsletters this season.

We’re famously anti-differential, but their value increases as the number of remaining gameweeks decreases. That’s because some of you will need them if you’re going to catch mini-league rivals or achieve a particular rank.

Nothing is guaranteed. Differentials are low-owned for a reason, and owning them is more likely to break your season than make it. Buy at your own risk.

Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m)

Last week we spoke about Chelsea’s fixtures. They’ll play more Premier League football than any other team between now and the end of the season.

Nicolas Jackson is nailed and has three returns in his last four games. As is often the case for Jackson, his underlying stats have been excellent too.

Here’s how he compares to Erling Haaland over the last four gameweeks, with one less game played:

He has the makings of a value-for-money FPL forward: one who could be a faithful servant through the two double gameweeks he’s yet to play this season.

Luis Diaz (£7.5m)

Luis Diaz deserves to be owned by more than just 10% of managers. Since Gameweek 24, no midfielder has more expected goal involvements than the Liverpool man.

His actual attacking contributions (seven in his last eight games), whilst very respectable, have largely gone under the radar.

This is what you want in a differential. Someone who is performing, but who hasn’t caught the eye of most FPL managers yet.

Mark our words: if he hauls against Sheffield United (which, on current form, is hardly out of the question), he’ll suddenly be the poster boy for Double Gameweek 34. You’ll see. You’ll all see.

Rodrigo Muniz (£4.7m)*

Whilst managers clamour for the likes of Alexander Isak and Darwin Nunez this week, a half-price alternative with better underlying stats and better actual returns goes quietly under the radar.

Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz is having somewhat of a career-launching season. The 22-year-old barely played in the first half of the season, but has scored eight goals in eight starts since Gameweek 23.

He has the stats to back it up: in that time, only Watkins, Haaland and Solanke have a better expected goal involvement amongst forwards.

The perceived issue with Muniz is nothing to do with Muniz himself, but rather the fact he plays for Fulham.

But since Muniz has been starting regularly, Fulham have scored 18 goals. Only Newcastle and Arsenal have scored more in that time.

*note: Muniz “should be okay” for Gameweek 31 but is not 100%.

Kai Havertz (£7.2m)

Those of you looking to invest in Arsenal players ahead of Double Gameweek 34 might well consider Kai Havertz.

Meme-worthy though he may have been, Havertz has earned his starting berth in that Arsenal team, with five goals (and 58 FPL points) in his last seven matches.

What the top managers are doing this week.

The main issue for managers this week is the injured Ollie Watkins, who is unsurprisingly the most-transferred-out player this week too. Alexander Isak is the most popular replacement, though Darwin Nunez is also picking up plenty of suitors.

Villa visit the Etihad, which means Watkins might well have been a bench option anyway. Nobody will begrudge you the transfer, but it could be prudent to await further updates before getting rid of the forward, particularly if you’ve got value tied up in him.

His Gameweek 32 fixture is Brentford at home, and owning him for that will be worthwhile if he makes it back in time.

It’s one of those weeks where, assuming you have a relatively template team, your starting eleven should be looking pretty tasty. Use your bench if you can, wait for news, save any transfers until tomorrow.

Gameweek 31 is not a week for hits if you can help it.

The Professor’s Team.

The Professor is…not taking my advice. He’s bringing in Darwin Nunez and removing Ollie Watkins.

That’s also the transfer that Fantasy Football Hub’s AI-powered MyTeam tool suggests. Try it here and you’ll be helping us out too.

Once again, Salah gets the armband. Current rank: 329k.

The best captain for Gameweek 31.

Gameweek 31’s captaincy debate will centre around Bukayo Saka at home to Luton and Mohamed Salah at home to Sheffield United.

Given Saka’s recent form (two consecutive blanks), Salah will probably be the more popular pick, but it’s worth remembering that in the six games prior to those blanks, Saka had registered scores of 7, 10, 15, 15, 9 and 10 points respectively.

There’s also this:

Sheffield United’s xGC in recent weeks isn’t great, but it’s a darn sight better than Luton’s.

Erling Haaland should never be far from a captaincy conversation, despite his dry spell. Villa’s defence has been a shadow of its former self recently, although a rather fortuitous clean sheet at home to Wolves last weekend might restore some confidence. There’s also an argument that Villa have much more to gain from a draw than Sheffield United or Luton, and thus might be more willing to sit behind the ball.

Salah’s form and fitness means he’s the risk-free option. Saka might not be ready to play 90 minutes, but he has the better fixture. Haaland is capable of scoring a hat-trick at any point and should never be ruled out completely.

None are bad picks. We’re going for Salah.

The key stats for Gameweek 31.

Other stuff we found interesting.

• Salah’s 12 shots against Brighton were the most he’s ever had in a Premier League game.

• Isak now has a better goals-per-90 than Haaland (0.84 vs 0.81) this season.

• Arsenal ended Man City’s 57-game streak of scoring at the Etihad last weekend.

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The gameweeks just keep on coming, which means we’ll be back in your inbox on Friday morning.

Don’t be a stranger, always stay lazy.

The LazyFPL Team.