What you need to know for Gameweek 29
Only eight teams play in Fantasy Premier League this week
Hello and welcome to Fantasy Gameweek. This is our round-up of everything you need to know for Gameweek 29 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 28 is 1.30pm UK time on Saturday March 16. Only eight teams have a match this week - it’s an opportunity to play your free-hit chip.
Here are three key news stories this week:
-Aston Villa are hopeful that Ollie Watkins - the top-scoring player in Fantasy Premier League - will be fit to play West Ham after suffering a cut to his knee. More here
-Richarlison is set to make Tottenham’s match-day squad this weekend after recovering from injury. More here
-Rasmus Hojlund should return from injury for Man United in the FA Cup this weekend. More here
These are the fixtures for Gameweek 29:
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 - 2.85
Arsenal - 2.15
Man City - 2.14
Tottenham - 1.97
Aston Villa - 1.81
Worst
Burnley - 0.98
Crystal Palace - 1.1
Sheffield United - 1.21
Nottingham Forest - 1.35
West Ham - 1.44
And here are the best and worst for xG per game conceded - in other words, the best and worst defences:
Best
Arsenal - 0.58
Man City - 1.03
Brighton - 1.28
Liverpool - 1.35
Bournemouth - 1.44
Worst
Newcastle - 2.46
Burnley - 1.98
Sheffield United - 1.97
West Ham - 1.95
Brentford - 1.93
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:
Ollie Watkins - 100
Cole Palmer - 99.2
Phil Foden - 98.3
Kai Havertz - 97.5
Bukayo Saka - 96.6
Carlton Morris - 95.8
Rodrigo Muniz - 95
Ivan Toney - 94.1
Rodri - 93.3
Martin Odegaard - 92.4
And these are the players with the highest xG:
Dominic Solanke - 6.81
Darwin Nunez - 6.64
Bukayo Saka - 5.92
Phil Foden - 5.2
Ollie Watkins - 4.77
Luis Diaz - 4.75
Erling Haaland - 4.55
Julian Alvarez - 4.35
Richarlison - 4.32
Mo Salah - 4.12
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 - 7.64
Ollie Watkins - 6.38
Bukayo Saka - 5.83
Julian Alvarez - 5.58
Phil Foden - 5.33
Rasmus Hojlund - 5.27
Rodrigo Muniz - 4.83
Mo Salah - 4.67
Richarlison - 4.5
Joao Pedro - 4.34
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:
Bruno Fernandes - 11
Pascal Gross - 10
Alexis Mac Allister - 10
Bruno Guimaraes - 10
Ross Barkley - 10
Cole Palmer - 10
Martin Odegaard - 10
Christian Norgaard - 9
Rodri - 9
Ryan Christie - 9
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:
Ollie Watkins - 20.6
Ivan Toney - 18.4
Jean-Philippe Mateta - 17.4
Rodrigo Muniz - 15.7
Luis Diaz - 13.8
Dominic Solanke - 13.8
Kai Havertz - 13.1
Jarrod Bowen - 11.6
Phil Foden - 11
Alejandro Garnacho - 10.5
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
Alfie Doughty - 98.1
Lewis Dunk - 96.2
Kieran Trippier - 94.3
Chiedozie Ogbene - 92.5
Fabian Schar - 90.6
Ben White - 88.7
Max Kilman - 86.8
Malo Gusto - 84.9
Rayan Ait-Nouri - 83
Finally, let’s look at the risers and fallers…
Risers
Son Heung-min (MID, £10m)
South Korean flyer Son would be an appealing pick regardless of the sea of blank fixtures in Gameweek 29. The fact Tottenham Hotspur are one of only eight Premier League teams with a game this weekend means he is a clear candidate for the captain’s armband. Son followed up his goal in Gameweek 27 with a goal, two assists and 17 FPL points in Gameweek 28 as Spurs swept aside Champions League-chasing Aston Villa 4-0. A trip to Fulham on Saturday is by no means easy, but you’d back Son to deliver returns against most teams in this kind of form. What’s more, his next two home fixtures are against two of the worst defences in the league at the moment – Luton Town and Nottingham Forest.
James Maddison (MID, £8m)
A Son-Maddison Spurs midfield double-up will be popular in the baron fixture landscape of Gameweek 29, but with upcoming match-ups looking appealing for the Lilywhites, there’s an argument for sticking with them once their big-name positional rivals are back playing Premier League football. For his part, Maddison has a goal and assist in the last two Gameweeks and is well-placed to build on a developing understanding with Son that was cut short earlier in the campaign due to injury.
Cole Palmer (MID, £5.7m)
No game for Palmer this week but if you haven’t got him in your plans for the rest of the campaign, what are you thinking? Incredibly, the Chelsea attacker is in fewer than a third of FPL sides, despite being the eighth top scoring player this season at an artificially low price-point. He was at it again against Newcastle in Gameweek 28, bagging a goal, an assist and 13 fantasy points as Chelsea secured a 3-2 victory. After the blank fixture in Gameweek 29, Chelsea’s opponents are Burnley (H), Manchester United (A), Sheffield United (A) and Everton (H), providing ample opportunity for Palmer to deliver more impressive returns in what is proving to be a breakout season.
Fallers
Neto (GK, £4.7m)
You may have pivoted to Bournemouth stopper Neto in a perfectly logical attempt to take advantage of two prime-looking home fixtures against Sheffield United and Luton Town in Gameweek 28. While the Cherries are exciting in attack, they are vulnerable in defence, conceding five goals across the two fixtures. You may be dropping your Free Hit this week, but make sure you have a plan to shift away from Neto if you brought him in for the double gameweek.
Erling Haaland (FWD, £14.4m)
Another ineffective outing for FPL’s most expensive asset means he’s once again a faller. With the likes of Son and Mo Salah now fit, there will be a genuine question over whether sticking with the Norwegian is the right approach. After City’s blank Gameweek 29, there are two home fixtures – although they’re against Arsenal and Aston Villa, two sides that have already beaten Pep Guardiola’s men this season.
Emiliano Martinez (GK, £5.3m)
In FPL terms, it appears Martinez’s name is swaying people into picking the goalkeeper, rather than Aston Villa’s defensive prowess, with over 13% of sides selecting the Argentinian despite his relatively poor points returns. Villa have just two clean sheets in their last 12 fixtures, against Sheffield United and Everton – two of the league’s weakest attacks. A 4-0 defeat at home against Spurs in Gameweek 29 was yet more evidence of the porous nature of this backline. Given Martinez is the third priciest goalkeeper in fantasy, you’d be well advised to look elsewhere for value-for-money clean sheet points.
That’s it for this edition. Thanks for reading and good luck in Gameweek 29.
Graham and Tom
