Gameweek 31 - Redemption time.

Greetings fellow wannabe managers!

Hope the previous gameweek brought you guys much points! (or enough points to not make you give up). I just know that a gameweek is bad when my top points scoring player is Evans.

Summary of Gameweek 31

As expected the likes of Walcott, Miyaichi and Cisse managed to get assists or goals. However, Swansea not being able to score or keep a clean sheet even was disappointing. Fret not, Vorm was selected by almost 35% of all teams in Fantasy Football. So if he was in your team, you're not the only one who suffered. (Not me though, DE GEA FYEAH!).

Both McLean and Sessegnon managed a goal each against QPR. Do note that just like some midfielders, Dempsey and Mata (at times) , Sess plays a forward role in the Sunderland team. However, with tough fixtures ahead of them, it might be risky to have them in your team.

Lastly, the performance of Hatem Ben Arfa was surprising(2 Assists, 1 goal). Ever since filling up the right wing gap left by Ryan Taylor, the French player has been averaging about 8.6 points per game for the past 3 games. A player to look out for definitely for the remaining game weeks.

Here's an old video of him weaving through the Blackburn defence. What a finish!

Apparently, the video was recorded using a potato. Apologies for the terrible quality. I wouldn't trust Youtube videos to find out how a good a player is anyway. Good editing can even make Titus Bramble look good.

Here are the matches for Gameweek 31.

It could potentially be a great game week. Most of the big teams are playing away though (Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool). One match to be wary about would be the Tottenham vs Swansea match. The Welsh team has been random as of late, but I guess it should be a win for Spurs still (with Bale and Adebayor filling in the goals).

Some of you guys requested me to propose a fantasy team of budget players for this game week. I say to you.

Goalkeepers

Krul, Al-Habsi, Begovic - Krul > Begovic > Al-Habsi in terms of clean sheets count(10,6,4). Krul is still a cheap alternative among all the good goalies though for a long term basis. However Al-Habsi and Begovic are great options for this gameweek (expecting a 0-0).

Defenders

Evans, Simpson, Senderos, Taiwo, Shotton - Just looking for clean sheets from most of this player. Have doubts about Simpson though, (Newcastle vs Liverpool). Taiwo might be a good option if you're looking for a defender to score.

Midfielders

Miyaichi, Sigurdsson, Valencia, McLean, Sessegnon, Moses, Ben Arfa - A lot of potential is this group. Siggy, Miyaichi and Valencia has good fixtures ahead of them. I'd be interested to see how Ben Arfa performs against Liverpool (Agger and Johnson injured). He might just manage to find a weak link in The Red's defence.

Forwards

Papiss Cisse, Jelavic, Pogrebnyak - All strikers playing at home. If Cisse keeps up his form, you can expect him to be on the score sheet. Jelavic has scored twice in three league starts for Everton. Apparently, he is one of the scouts watch list in Fantasy Football as well. Pogrebnyak has been on a low profile ever since the 5-0 thrashing of Wolves. But he would be a good alternative to buy this week as Fulham face Wolves.

Fantasy Football tip:

Choose players for the future as well as for the current game week. It minimizes having the need to make sudden changes. There is a gameweek coming up soon where some teams play twice.

So have faith in your team! Have a great weekend! Redemption time!

This is Pep Mourinho, signing out!