Just a few more free transfers to spend — who are the best players to buy for the run-in? We're gonna look at all positions with help from FPLReview projections as well.
🧤 Goalkeepers
There's a couple of eye-catching fixtures next gameweek:
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Man City have Southampton away
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Forest home to Leicester
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Brentford away to Ipswich
Sels tops the keepers table with 4.2 projected points, though it's not the same Forest defence we saw earlier in the season. 9.87 expected goals conceded over the last 6 matches ranks fourth worst, only behind the 3 relegated teams.
🔍 By the way, look how much Chelsea have improved!
4.88 xGC is best in the league:
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Arsenal second
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Man City third
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Villa fourth
Despite conceding 4 times to Brentford, Man Utd's data has shown an overall improvement too.
Ederson was back in the starting 11 for Man City last match and kept a clean sheet. His predicted minutes are a bit of a question mark, which is why he doesn't appear in the table — though I'd expect him to continue starting.
The other team mentioned was Brentford, who face Ipswich, which has Flekken on 3.8 projected points.
⚖️ We're at a stage of the season now where, with 3 gameweeks to go, there's very little separating lots of players. Looking at the "Next 3" column, they're all hovering around 11 points. So if you have a gut feeling about certain teams and players that are 50/50s — back yourself. You can always fall back on the fact that, at least according to the data, it was a 50/50 call. That always helps me feel a bit better if I make a data-backed decision that doesn't come off.
Raya has Liverpool away next, which has him bottom of the table with Kepa on 3.5 points, though he's still just barely top of all keepers for the final 3.
If you've got the Areola and Raya combo, then Raya is marginally favoured — by literally 0.1 points — so that's another 50/50.
Liverpool lost 3–1 to Chelsea on the weekend with a rotated side. We might not see Liverpool at their best next gameweek either. The title is theirs already and no one can take that from them.
🛡️ Defenders
Is this the week we finally get to see Gvardiol at LB?
O'Reilly didn't have the best game vs Wolves before his early sub. He's only 20, in fairness, with a bright future ahead, but Pep has the option to use Akanji in CB with Rúben.
Partly wishful thinking as an owner myself — who remembers his end to the 23/24 season? That run from GW33 of 4 goals and 2 assists in 5 games.
So Gvardiol is joint top on 4.6 points, along with Aina and Neco Williams.
🔎 Who's the best Forest defender?
Looking at their season data:
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Milenkovic: best xGI with 4.08
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Williams: 3.35
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Then Murillo, then Aina
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Milenkovic leads on minutes per xGI as well
I'd go for Milenkovic for his superior data — but also the fact that Leicester have conceded 111 headed goal attempts, more than any team. No other team has even conceded more than 100!
He's also the most expensive, along with Aina. If you need a cheaper pick, then Williams is the answer.
🙌 Quick honourable mention to Trent, the GOAT FPL defender in my view — and Liverpool have just officially announced he'll be leaving at the end of the season.
91 attacking returns over the last 8 seasons — crazy output. Had some good FPL memories with him, like that Leicester 24-pointer: 1 goal, 3 assists, clean sheet in a single gameweek.
I'd probably avoid in FPL now though, as Slot’s incentive is to play Bradley — we saw Trent subbed off before 60 minutes last match.
Man City have always had that tendency to lock in and finish seasons strongly, haven’t they? Doubling up with Gvardiol and Rúben has served well recently, and there's every chance that continues — particularly with Southampton next. It’s an amazing fixture and they’ll be among the best for clean sheet odds next gameweek.
Trippier makes the table with 3.5 points, 3 assists in his last 4 games, home to Chelsea though which isn’t the best entry point — Arsenal away after that as well. He could be a fun GW38 punt.
Newcastle are top among all teams for non-penalty xG over the last 6 — they've generated a ton of chances, plenty coming from him down that right-hand side.