What you need to know for Gameweek 34
A big week in Fantasy Premier League
Hello and welcome to Fantasy Gameweek. This is our round-up of everything you need to know for Gameweek 34 in Fantasy Premier League. It includes the news that matters, the key data from Impect, our data partner, and the risers and fallers. This is a big week, as you will see below…
The deadline for transfers and changes to your team for Gameweek 34 is 1.30pm UK time on Saturday April 20.
Here are three key news stories this week:
-Erling Haaland is doubtful for Manchester City’s match with Brighton due to a muscle injury. More here
-Jurgen Klopp thinks Liverpool have become "too easy” to play against after a bad week for the club. More here
-Matheus Cunha is out for Wolves, dealing a blow to managers who had transferred him already for Gameweek 34. More here
These are the fixtures for Gameweek 34. It’s a double gameweek for Arsenal, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Everton, Liverpool, Sheffield United and Wolves, but also a blank gameweek for Tottenham…
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 - 2.76
Chelsea - 2.27
Man City - 2.25
Arsenal - 1.96
Fulham - 1.88
Worst
Sheffield United - 0.96
Burnley - 1
Luton - 1.09
Crystal Palace - 1.19
Brighton - 1.26
And here are the best and worst for xG per game conceded - in other words, the best and worst defences:
Best
Arsenal - 0.55
Man City - 1.09
Liverpool - 1.27
Newcastle - 1.31
Tottenham - 1.31
Worst
Man United - 2.47
Burnley - 2.25
West Ham - 2.23
Luton - 2.23
Aston Villa - 1.85
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:
Cole Palmer - 100
Ollie Watkins - 99.5
Kai Havertz - 98.9
Alexander Isak - 98.4
Bukayo Saka - 97.8
Rodrigo Muniz - 97.3
Phil Foden - 96.7
Darwin Nunez - 96.2
Bruno Fernandes - 95.7
Nicolas Jackson - 95.1
And these are the players with the highest xG:
Rodridgo Muniz - 6.85
Cole Palmer - 6.76
Erling Haaland - 6.69
Dominic Solanke - 6.36
Luis Diaz - 5.82
Alexander Isak - 5.48
Ollie Watkins - 5.06
Bukayo Saka - 4.64
Darwin Nunez - 4.52
Mo Salah - 4.27
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:
Rodrigo Muniz - 7.49
Ollie Watkins - 7.06
Cole Palmer - 6.75
Luis Diaz - 5.29
Alexander Isak - 5.12
Nicolas Jackson - 4.66
Erling Haaland - 4.32
Jean Philippe Mateta - 4.22
Mo Salah - 4.21
Kai Havertz - 4.21
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:
Alex Iwobi - 14
Enzo Fernandez - 13
Kevin De Bruyne - 13
James Maddison - 12
Casemiro - 11
Bruno Fernandes - 11
Cole Palmer - 11
Martin Odegaard - 11
Bruno Guimaraes - 10
Pascal Gross - 10
Alexis Mac Allister - 10
Eberechi Eze - 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:
Nicolas Jackson - 21.2
Rodrigo Muniz - 20.4
Ollie Watkins - 20.2
Darwin Nunez - 19.5
Dominic Calvert-Lewin - 18.6
Erling Haaland - 18.6
Rasmus Hojlund - 18.4
Jean-Philippe Mateta - 17.4
Ivan Toney - 17.3
Danny Welbeck - 17.3
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:
Lewis Dunk - 100
Sergio Reguilon - 98.6
Andy Robertson - 97.3
Lucas Digne - 95.9
Malo Gusto - 94.6
Ben White - 93.2
Axel Disasi - 91.9
Fabian Schar - 90.5
Pedro Porro - 89.2
Dara O’Shea - 87.8
Finally, let’s look at the risers and fallers…
Risers
Nicolas Jackson (FWD, £6.8m)
Chelsea demolished lowly Everton 6-0 in Gameweek 33. Cole Palmer’s four-goal performance was undoubtedly the highlight, but the England midfielder can’t really rise much more in our eyes. Jackson is a different story, however. His 14-point fantasy return for an attack that has played beneath its collective talents this season caught our eye. Chelsea aren’t particularly reliable and face Arsenal this week, but they also have two double gameweeks between now and the end of the campaign. Jackson looks a surefire starter and offers differential appeal for the run-in.
Alexander Isak (FWD, £8m)
No double fixture for Newcastle this week but don’t let that stop you buying into the outrageously talented Isak. The Swedish hitman has seven goals in his last six starts since returning from injury. He ruthlessly exposed Spurs’ dodgy defence with another brace in Gameweek 33. Newcastle are bang in-form and now have one of the easiest sets of fixtures of any Premier League side.
Fallers
Jordan Pickford (GK, £4.7m)
If you brought in Pickford ahead of Everton’s double gameweek against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, you’re probably wondering why at this stage. The Toffees were abject in Gameweek 33 and face two talented attacks in Gameweek 34, meaning a clean sheet in either game looks unlikely. Pickford at least offers shot-stopping points opportunities, but there are better ways to use your transfers.
Ben White (DEF, £6m)
White has been a top performer among defenders in FPL this season, but Arsenal have looked less certain at the back recently and were taken apart by Aston Villa in Gameweek 33. If you’ve got White in for the double fixture against Wolves (A) and Chelsea (H), you’re keeping him. If you don’t, the £6m price tag should be enough to make you look elsewhere.
Darwin Nunez (FWD, £7.7m)
Nunez’s potential remains appealing but he continues to frustrate in front of goal and now has competition from fit-again Diogo Jota for minutes ahead of a double fixture against Fulham (A) and Everton (A) in Gameweek 34. Like White, if you’ve already invested, you’re sticking with the Uruguayan this week. If you haven’t, there are more reliable alternatives.
That’s it for this edition. Thanks for reading and good luck in Gameweek 34.
Graham and Tom
