📢 GW36 - what you need to know 🧠

The Stuff You Should Know.

⏰ Gameweek 36’s deadline is Friday 3rd May, 18:30 BST.

😴 It’s a regular, 10-fixture gameweek.

🧤 Ederson has trained with the first team ahead of GW36, but is still a doubt.

🤕 Bruno Fernandes is a doubt for Monday “but never rule him out” says Ten Hag.

🤦 Werner and Davies out for the remainder of the season.

Keep reading for some monstrous captaincy analysis.

Alright?

If FPL is indeed a marathon and not a sprint, then the final bell ought to be ringing round about now. Legs are wobbly. Mouths are dry. Perhaps a few runners have inadvertently soiled themselves.

The symptoms for FPL managers at this point in the season are largely the same, only there’s no sense of accomplishment and far more fecal matter.

And yet we’re still being asked to run harder and faster than ever before.

Fear not. LazyFPL is your sachet of dodgy isotonic energy gel, here to spur you on for the three remaining gameweeks we have left.

Shove us in your mouth and give us a squeeze. Let’s turn on the afterburners.

The Secret Section.

Did you know that every week we include a secret section in our newsletters that only a small number of VIPs can see?

Just kidding. But as of next week, we’re going to start doing exactly that.

This secret section might include:

• alternative captaincy picks.

• additional differentials.

• extra stats and analysis.

• bonus team reveals from other top managers.

• lots of jokes at the expense of those who can’t see it.

If you want in, all you have to do is get one person you know to subscribe to LazyFPL. Tell ‘em it’s decent and it’s free, that usually does the trick.

Below is a section that’ll include your unique referral link. Make sure your friends use it to subscribe and we’ll do the rest.

(p.s. if you’ve already referred someone you’re golden.)

Gameweek 36’s fixtures.

Though it’s a regular 10-fixture gameweek, GW36 has still managed to slather itself across four days. Buckle in for a long weekend.

What are the top managers doing?

The best FPL managers have already plotted their invasion of Double Gameweek 37, but to get to those bountiful lands, they have to cross the small river that is Gameweek 36.

But sometimes the smallest rivers are the most deadly, and whilst Gameweek 36 finds itself wedged between two girthier gameweeks, it’s still very easy to get caught in the current if you don’t tread carefully.

Top managers will be looking to ensure they have as many doublers as possible by Double Gameweek 37. For some that will mean rolling a transfer with a plan to use two prior to the DGW37 deadline, for others it’ll mean executing on a move they’ve probably already telegraphed.

Whilst Double Gameweek 35 hasn’t finished at the time of sending, it’s been unusually merciful from an injury perspective so far.

The high-profile casualties who would’ve played twice in Double Gameweek 37:

• Ederson and Bruno Fernandes (doubts for Gameweek 36 but still odds-on for Double Gameweek 37).

• Ben Davies and Timo Werner (both out until the end of the season).

• Jan Paul van Hecke who, according to recent reports, will also miss the rest of the season.

The biggest predicament this gameweek is almost certainly captaincy. So let’s talk about that.

The best captain for Gameweek 36.

There are four key candidates we’ve picked as frontrunners for Gameweek 36’s captaincy, but this might be one of the thinnest spreads yet.

And because there isn’t a huge amount to talk about this week, we’re going to go through the pros and cons of all four. With a bit luck, we might even arrive at a conclusive answer.

Option 1) Erling Haaland + other Man City attackers vs Wolves (H).

Erling’s back on the menu, and so long as he’s fit and likely to play, he’s virtually always a captaincy shout too. He plays a Wolves side that seem to have resigned themselves to the banal middleground of mid-league purgartory. Too good to be relegated, too mediocre to strive.

The Norse God’s stats continue to be remarkable when he plays. His non-penalty xG is the highest over the last 10 gameweeks, and he’s only played 7.5 of them.

Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden are interesting alternative picks, but should be considered differentials. They are for the chasers, not the leaders.

Option 2) Cole Palmer vs West Ham (H).

Though Wolves have conceded at least one goal every gameweek since Gameweek 26, their xGC (expected goals conceded) is relatively strong.

West Ham’s is not. In fact, if we’re using the last six gameweeks as a yardstick, it’s the worst in the league.

A lot of the popularity of a Cole Palmer captaincy will hinge on how he performs on Thursday evening. If he returns emphatically, he’ll be a favourite for captaincy on Sunday. If he blanks, he could be criminally overlooked.

Option 3) Alexander Isak vs Burnley (A).

The most popular transfer in this week, a lot of active FPL managers suddenly own Alexander Isak ahead of his Double Gameweek 37 fixtures.

But his fixture in Gameweek 36 is rather meaty too.

The problem with Isak isn’t his fixture. It’s his away form. Check out his most recent games: notice anything?

All of his hauls happen at St James’ Park. That six points away at Chelsea is his second-highest points tally away from home all season, bested only by a 13-pointer outlier against West Ham back in Gameweek 8.

Anthony Gordon suffers from a similar affliction.

Option 4) Bukayo Saka vs Bournemouth (H).

Bukayo Saka reminded DGW35 Wildcarders why it was probably premature to oust him ahead of Double Gameweek 37, and there’s every chance he does it again at home to Bournemouth.

The thing is, as the graphic above illustrates, Bournemouth’s defence aren’t half-bad, and Saka’s form has been sporadic for his lofty standards. Since his three-gameweek run of consecutive double-digit hauls between Gameweek 24-26, he’s only managed the feat twice since.

He also plays the early kick-off on Saturday. Let’s not forget what Gandhi has to say about that:

Captaincy conclusion

We repeat this a lot, but all of your FPL decisions at the moment should, to some extent, be informed by where you are and where you want to be in your mini-league and/or overall rank aspirations.

If you’re happy with your current standing, a safe captaincy bet is best. That will likely be Erling Haaland vs Wolves or, depending on what Cole Palmer does on Thursday evening, the Chelsea man against West Ham.

If Palmer underperforms against Spurs, he’s an interesting differential for those chasing down mini-league leaders and decent overall ranks.

Saka and Isak are less appealing, but either could, of course, expose us for the obvious frauds that we are.

An honourary mention to Ollie Watkins away at Brighton, Bryan Mbeumo at home to Fulham and - yeah I’m saying it - Chris Wood away at Sheffield United. The truly artisanal picks for the discerning amongst you.

The Prof sits at 208k with six players (three Chelsea, three Spurs) still to play in Double Gameweek 35.

He’s almost certainly going to roll this week, depending on news from on Fabian Schar’s injury status.

Captain = Erling Haaland.

His current team below is built with Fantasy Football Hub’s AI-powered MyTeam tool. Try it here and you’ll be helping us out too.

The key stats for Gameweek 36.

Other Stuff We Found Interesting

• Mykolenko is out for six weeks after tearing his ankle ligaments against Liverpool.
  

• Emi Martinez is also out for two weeks.
  

• Leicester City have been promoted. We’ll do a lazy deep-dive on all the promoted teams in pre-season.
  

• Sheffield United have been relegated, to the shock of absolutely nobody.

Final words.

Short one this week, but given that our collective crosshairs are trained on the beating heart of Double Gameweek 37, there isn’t a great amount to say. Besides, there’s a reason we’re not called IndustriousFPL.

Stay lazy.

The LazyFPL Team.

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