The End is Nigh! Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 36 Preview

The season has raced past in a blur of Salah goals and Manchester City dominance. 

It seems like a few weeks ago we were setting up our teams and getting ready for the season ahead. Now we’re just three weeks away from it all finishing for another year. 

A spanner has been thrown in the works for Gameweek 36 by Roma as they scored two goals in the last ten minutes of the Champions League semi-final first leg. 

Liverpool were outstanding and looked comfortable until that point but now Klopp will rest and rotate at the weekend to ensure there are no Barcelona-esque slip ups!

Aside from Liverpool chasing European glory, the key battles now seem to be relegation and Manchester City vs history. 

It's mathematically possible for most of the bottom half to go down still and, realistically, Stoke or Southampton could catch Palace and West Ham on 35 points, so there's still a lot to play for down there. 

At the top, Spurs need to guarantee Champions League football with a couple more wins.

As we go into the final few weeks, I would load up on Manchester City players, pick some gems from the bottom clubs and, of course, keep one eye on the Double Gameweek just around the corner

Fixtures

Best: Man City – West Ham (a), Huddersfield (h), Brighton (h), Swansea (a)

Manchester City have won the league and they are now looking to break some records. They couldn't have chosen much better fixtures for it.

Worst: Brighton – Burnley (a), Man United (h), Man City (a), Liverpool (h)

Pity poor Brighton. Luckily they are almost safe and probably don't need any more points because it's unlikely they'll get much from this. 

Their only hope is Manchester City get bored of trouncing lower league teams and Liverpool get to the Champions League final and rest ALL their players on the final day.

Main Men

Gabriel Jesus (FWD, 10.3m, West Ham away)

Last year Manchester City made the trip to the London Stadium twice, scoring nine goals and conceding none. One of those goals was Jesus’ first of many in the Premier League. 

Manchester City just love the London Stadium because it's a big pitch with plenty of room for them to walk through West Ham’s defence. The biggest issue they have is that they won't be up against Hart, who is having a torrid time, due to the terms of his loan deal.

Jesus is guaranteed to be the focal point of Manchester City’s attack for the rest of the season as Sergio Aguero recovers from surgery in time for the World Cup. Because of this, I think he has become an essential player for FPL managers in the final weeks.

Mohamed Salah (MID, 10.6m, Stoke at home)

Who else? The Egyptian King keeps getting better and better. He was instrumental in Liverpool’s demolition of Roma on Tuesday night and he is chasing Premier League records, so he’s not likely to be rested.

Anfield welcomes Stoke this weekend with the Potters on the brink of relegation. They have conceded more shots than any other team in the last 6 weeks (by quite a margin) and we all know what Salah can do when presented with an opportunity. 

It's possible he will be subbed off early so Klopp can wrap him in cotton wool but by then he should have scored a couple of goals.

Gamble Picks

Wilfried Zaha (MID, 6.9m, Leicester at home)

Palace may be one of the few teams without a double in Gameweek 37 but he's still one to keep an eye on. 

He is the central figure in Palace’s attack and often plays up front, making him a cheap Out Of Position prospect. 

This week Palace could guarantee their safety if they beat Leicester (who are on the beach) and other results go their way. After that they have two games against teams in the bottom three (Stoke and West Brom), so there's a good chance they will end the season on a high.

Ashley Young (MID, 4.9m, Arsenal at home)

This might seem like a strange recommendation considering he is playing Out Of Position in the wrong direction (listed as a midfielder but playing as a left back). However, Young seems to be trusted by Mourinho, he can whip in a good cross for Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez and he's cheap. 

This week's fixture may not seem the best at first glance, but Mourinho would love to get one final win over Wenger, just to confirm his perceived superiority before Wenger departs in the summer. 

Arsenal will also be in between Europa League semi-final legs, so we could see some serious rotation and an excellent opportunity for Manchester United.

Defensive Picks

Jan Vertoghen (DEF, 6.0m, Watford at home)

It's been five matches since Spurs’ last clean sheet but don't let that put you off. Their final 4 fixtures could not be much kinder as they play Watford, Newcastle and Leicester (all safe, all on the beach) and West Brom (dead and buried). 

Vertonghen is the best route into the defence as he doesn't have to worry about rotation like the fullbacks. I'm assuming you have David de Gea, so Hugo Lloris is also out. 

Expect Spurs to go for a big finish with the Belgian a perfect replacement for Alonso.

Steer Clear

Arsenal

I’ve said it before: I don't trust Wenger and his selection policy anymore. 

Everybody assumed Aubameyang was undroppable due to his ineligibility in the Europa League, so Wenger dropped him against West Ham. 

Arsenal really have nothing to play for in the league: all the focus is on the Europa League and the chance of a final trophy for Wenger. 

He could play the U21s in every game until the end of the season or try to go out with a bang and pick his stars. You can't tell and that's dangerous when you're trying to make those final marginal gains.

Everton to Watford

As I have alluded to above, now is traditionally the time of year when all the teams safely sat in mid-table take their foot off the accelerator and starts daydreaming of their summer holidays. They are in no danger of relegation and European qualification is not a possibility, so why bother? 

If anything, you should target teams who come up against any of Everton, Leicester, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Watford (hence my choice of Vertonghen).

Let us know who your transfers will be or ask for advice from our fantasy team in the comments section below.