What you need to know for Gameweek 30 and 31
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Hello and welcome to Fantasy Gameweek. This is our round-up of everything you need to know for Gameweek 30 and 31 in Fantasy Premier League. It includes the news that matters, the key data from Impect, our data partner, and the risers and fallers.
The deadline for transfers and changes to your team for Gameweek 30 is 11am UK time on Saturday March 30 - that’s today!
Here are three key news stories this week:
-John Stones and Kyle Walker will miss Manchester City’s vital match against Arsenal due to injury. More here
-Bukayo Saka, Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli haven’t trained this week for Arsenal, but manager Mikel Arteta said on Friday they could still play against Man City. More here
-Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier could return this weekend. More here
These are the fixtures for Gameweek 30:
Gameweek 30 is followed almost immediately by Gameweek 31 and a set of midweek fixtures. These are the matches:
These are the most transferred-in players this week so far:
And these are the transfers-out:
Now for the key data from Impect, our data partner. This is what has happened in the last ten gameweeks…
These are the top-five and bottom-five teams for xG per game - in other words, the best and worst attacks. As a reminder, xG measures the quality of chances that a team creates by attributing a score to each chance based on the likelihood of it being a goal. For example, if the chance was certain to be a goal then it would get an xG score of 1.
Best
Liverpool - 2.92
Arsenal - 2.1
Man City - 2.05
Tottenham - 1.94
Aston Villa - 1.89
Worst
Burnley - 0.99
Sheffield United - 1.12
Crystal Palace - 1.12
Nottingham Forest - 1.17
Newcastle - 1.39
And here are the best and worst for xG per game conceded - in other words, the best and worst defences:
Best
Arsenal - 0.48
Man City - 1.05
Brighton - 1.15
Nottingham Forest - 1.28
Crystal Palace - 1.37
Worst
Newcastle - 2.4
Sheffield United - 2.11
Burnley - 1.96
Brentford - 1.89
West Ham - 1.89
Moving on to the players, these are the top-10 for Offensive Impect, which measures the attacking effectiveness of a player for their team when they are on the pitch:
Darwin Nunez - 100
Ollie Watkins - 99.4
Cole Palmer - 98.9
Rodrigo Muniz - 98.3
Phil Foden - 97.7
Kevin De Bruyne - 97.1
Heung-Min Son - 96.6
Gabriel Martinelli - 96
Bukayo Saka - 95.4
Kai Havertz - 94.8
And these are the players with the highest xG:
Darwin Nunez - 6.53
Dominic Solanke - 5.53
Bukayo Saka - 5.07
Rodridgo Muniz - 4.99
Ollie Watkins - 4.86
Erling Haaland - 4.55
Luis Diaz - 4.48
Richarlison - 4.44
Phil Foden - 4.41
Ivan Toney - 3.95
Next, these are the post-shot xG rankings. As a reminder, post-shot xG measures the quality of a chance after the shot has been taken, so it also takes into account the quality of the shot:
Darwin Nunez - 7.29
Ollie Watkins - 6.73
Rodrigo Muniz - 5.85
Bukayo Saka - 5.27
Phil Foden - 5.07
Richarlison - 4.85
Rasmus Hojlund - 4.55
Carlton Morris - 4.23
Douglas Luiz - 4.15
Ivan Toney - 4.02
These are the top-10 players for bypassed defenders, which measures how many opposition defenders a player takes out of the game with their passing or dribbling. It is a way to track a player’s attacking influence in a game:
Kevin De Bruyne - 14
James Maddison - 12
Casemiro - 11
Enzo Fernandez - 11
Bruno Guimaraes - 11
Martin Odegaard - 11
Wataru Endo - 10
Pascal Gross - 10
Alexis Mac Allister - 10
Bruno Fernandes - 10
Cole Palmer - 10
Heung-Min Son - 10
Now let’s see the top-10 players for bypassed defenders receiving, which measures how many opposition defenders were taken out of the game when a player receives the ball. It measures the quality of the attacking positions that a player gets themselves in with the ball:
Darwin Nunez - 23.4
Dominic Calvert-Lewin - 23.1
Ollie Watkins - 21.3
Richarlison - 19.7
Erling Haaland - 19.1
Ivan Toney - 19
Neal Maupay - 18.7
Danny Welbeck - 18.5
Jean-Philippe Mateta - 17
Rodrigo Muniz - 16.6
Lastly, these are the top defenders for Offensive Impect, which shows the defenders who are contributing to attacks, which is really useful to know for FPL:
Gabriel - 100
Lewis Dunk - 98.6
Kieran Trippier - 97.3
Fabian Schar - 95.9
Alfie Doughty - 94.5
Ben White - 93.2
Max Kilman - 91.8
Marcos Senesi - 90.4
Chiedozie Ogbene - 89
Axel Disasi - 87.7
Finally, let’s look at the risers and fallers…
Risers
Darwin Nunez (FWD, £7.5m)
A combination of injury and Liverpool’s participation in other competitions means we’ve seen less of Nunez than we’d like in Premier League action in recent weeks. But when the Uruguayan has played, he’s continued to look a huge threat and, crucially, is now turning that threat into FPL points. Since Gameweek 19, Nunez has delivered attacking returns in seven of his nine appearances and looks a near-certain starter, provided he’s shaken off his hamstring strain. If he is fit, his fixtures could barely look more appetising, with Brighton’s shaky defence coming to Anfield in Gameweek 30, followed by Sheffield United in Gameweek 31. Looking slightly further ahead, Liverpool have a Gameweek 34 double fixture against Fulham (A) and Everton (A), meaning you probably want at least two – if not three - of their players in your side ahead of that.
Conor Bradley (DEF, £4.2m)
Trent Alexander-Arnold isn’t expected back for Liverpool until April 7, meaning the impressive Bradley is likely to start those next two fixtures. Bradley offers the opportunity of both attacking returns and clean sheet points and is clearly priced as a player unlikely to play for a title-chasing outfit. He’s certainly one of the biggest upside defensive options in the next two weeks, assuming he gets the nod at right-back over Joe Gomez.
Rodrigo Muniz (FWD, £4.6m)
We had Muniz as a riser ahead of Gameweek 28 and FPL managers who backed the Brazilian were eventually rewarded with a two-goal, 13-point haul as Fulham swept Tottenham Hotspur aside 3-0. Muniz now has six goals and an assist in his last seven outings, with Sheffield United (A) and Nottingham Forest (A) up next. At just £4.6m, Muniz could be a must-pick for the run-in, particularly as his low price point should free up much-needed cash to invest elsewhere in your side.
Fallers
Vicario (GK, £5.3m)
The manner of Spurs’ 3-0 defeat at Fulham was concerning and it isn’t the first time they’ve looked open at the back. The injury to Micky van de Van is a huge blow and means all their defensive assets need to be downgraded, including goalkeeper Vicario, who is relatively expensive at £5.3m.
Richarlison (MID, £6.9m)
Richarlison was finally looking to have settled at White Hart Lane before his untimely injury. Since then, the return of Son and the form of Brennan Johnson have seen the Brazilian relegated to the substitutes bench. He could still muscle his way back into the line-up, of course, but for now he’s probably one to keep an eye on rather than add to your FPL side.
Emiliano Martinez (GK, £5.3m)
In FPL terms, Martinez is all name and no game. He hasn’t become a bad goalkeeper overnight – far from it – but Villa aren’t reliable defensively and haven’t kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 23, against Sheffield United. With Manchester City and Arsenal on the upcoming schedule, there are better, lower-cost options between the sticks.
That’s it for this edition. Thanks for reading and good luck in Gameweek 30 and 31. Fantasy Gameweek will be back next week to preview Gameweek 32
Graham and Tom
