We made it. Amongst the huge amount of Blank and Double Gameweeks, we’re finally at the last Gameweek for the FPL 2021/22 season. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these articles as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.
As always, I’m going to discuss the final talking points of the season, where you can make gains in your mini-leagues, and how you can increase that overall rank.
Before I get into all that, if you want to check out some of the top captaincy picks for Gameweek 38 check this article.
FPL GW38 Tips:
Salah Latest
Mohamed Salah might be back for Gameweek 38, or then again he might not.
As expected, Jürgen Klopp was asked about injury updates in his press conference and he said “It looks all good. What we do with them for the weekend, I have no idea”. He was talking about Salah, Virgil Van Dijk, and Fabinho.
He went on to mention the golden boot battle with Heung-Min Son but said there is no chance they will take any risks with Salah.
It seems likely that Klopp will do his best to give Salah some minutes because of the Champions League final and wanting to keep him in rhythm, but it could be off the bench.
If we don’t get any confirmation that he’s starting by the deadline on Sunday I would definitely sell him, it’s too much money to have on your bench.
If you don’t already own Son then he’s the obvious move and is projected to be the top scorer this week in the FPL points predictor, or you could move to Salah’s team mate, Sadio Mané.
The other option would be to buy a cheaper midfielder and put the money up front instead, even for a hit potentially. The likes of Harry Kane if available (see below), Jamie Vardy and Romelu Lukaku could all be great options.
Harry Kane Worries
You may have seen some of the noise coming out of Tottenham Hotspur that Harry Kane had to miss an event on Friday because he wasn’t feeling well.
Fortunately for FPL managers, Antonio Conte has confirmed that they did have some issues but does expect Kane to be fine for the game against Norwich. He was training yesterday and only missed the event as a precaution.
This is great news for anyone looking to back against Son who will almost certainly be the most captained player this week. Even with the added pressure of trying to get into the top 4 I expect a good amount of goals from Spurs this weekend.
It’s almost coin flip territory between the two and if you need to make up some ground you could opt for Kane instead of Son if you’re feeling brave.
Thinking Different
Talking of making up ground, this is your last chance to get one over on your mini-league rivals and secure the bragging rights. It’s also the last chance to increase your overall rank and hit that goal you’ve been thinking about all season.
Just how much you need to push it will depend on your team set up and position, but make sure you don’t have any regrets about not going for it if the opportunity is there.
One way to go really different this week is to not captain Son. I mentioned Kane already, but there’s plenty of big hitting players you could go for instead, including Mané, Kevin De Bruyne, Vardy and Lukaku.
My main worry with Chelsea and Leicester is that they both played on Thursday so the turnaround time for their final game is only three days.
It’s both teams final home game and they have no other games left after this, but player welfare will always come first, so keep that in mind when it comes to making risky picks that might not play.
Both Mason Mount and Kai Havertz missed the game last night so are looking good for starts this weekend.
Mount may not be that low owned, but he’ll certainly not be a player that is heavily captained and I expect Chelsea to score plenty against Watford. Marcos Alonso and Reece James could also be shrewd differential captains if they start.
Mané and Luis Díaz should also be under consideration by FPL managers. Both players were rested against Southampton and will almost certainly start this weekend.
Liverpool do have a Champions League game to take into account, but winning the Premier League is still possible and they have six days rest after the Wolves game before they play Real Madrid.
On paper Brentford have one of the easiest games this week, with Leeds under a lot of pressure to get a result to try and stave off relegation. Any of the Brentford attackers would be low owned going into Gameweek 38.
Ivan Toney is there if you need a forward, with Christian Eriksen and Bryan Mbeumo offering options in midfield. There’s even Yoane Wissa at just 0.2% ownership who has scored two goals in their last two games.
Keep in mind that overall ownership makes no difference if all you care about are mini-leagues. If a player is owned by 99% of all FPL managers but the one above you in the league doesn’t own them, they are a huge differential for you, even if not for everyone else.
My Team
Going into Gameweek 38 I’m currently ranked 13,378th which is more than respectable. I’d love to get a four digit finish but I don’t think I need to push it very much.
I currently own Salah and the most obvious move for me is to just switch him to Son and give him the captain's armband.
I’m 11 points off the top 10,000 and I’d be hopeful that players like Ederson, James, Alonso, Foden and Raphinha who are all in my team will make up the difference.
Another move I like is Salah to Mount as I’m sure he’s going to start, and then move Weghorst to someone like Harry Kane and give him the captain's armband.
That would be more of a go big or go home move, but it’s going to have to wait until much closer to the deadline before it’s locked in.
On that note I’ll leave things there, thanks once again for reading these articles and I wish you good luck for Gameweek 38!
Best FPL Tips Gameweek 36:
