Cianan’s Column: GW30: Set and forget?

By that headline, I refer to how it’s probably worth rolling your transfer this week. Set your best starting 11 and take a load off, although that doesn’t exactly elicit significant article engagement. If this column persisted only on readership, I’d no doubt be out of a job.

Ahead of a lot of blank and double-gameweek chaos, transfers are going to be crucial heading forward, amidst League Cup, Champions League, and FA Cup fixture stacking. If you’re planning on wildcarding GW32, you’ll want to shift some of the bench-boost fodder assets on by GW35 (assuming you’ve free-hit in blank GW34). If you’ve already wildcarded, you’ll still probably want to bench boost in GW35, and thus will want transfers to facilitate asset aggression, ensuring you’ve got as many doublers as possible to weather the storm of more chip-oriented GW32 wildcarders.

However, this rigmarole isn’t to say there aren’t transfers that can be made. These two diverging strategies will both want to avoid free-hitting next week, weathering the blanks, so they can play the chip in GW35 instead. Thus, if there’s a transfer to be made this week that helps your team now and next week, ahead of a likely wildcard for most, you may as well make it. Of course, this comes with risks – the player could get injured, leaving you without a full team for next week, but you aren’t going to climb The Boar’s mini-league without risks.

So, how do you determine what moves you should make now or whether to roll? Using my own team, for example, Alderete’s game against Brighton (H) in GW30 is passable. The odds of a clean sheet aren’t great, but he’ll likely net a four(ish)-pointer. Andersen is a great defender to own for GW30 alone, as he’s stellar for DEFCON and faces Burnley (H). Could he outscore Alderete this week against Nottingham Forest (A)? Perhaps, but he also could not, and I could wait to make that move next week, minimising risk. Thus, I likely won’t be making a move, even if odds are I will make that same transfer next week. Heading into a GW32 wildcard with transfers in the bank for future weeks is simply too eye-catching.

Despite this, you might have a non-playing asset ahead of GW31 you wanted to shift on anyway. Some, like Rice, for example, could be shifted to a more proactively offensive midfielder like Wilson (if fit). There is no guarantee the latter would outscore the former, particularly in the DEFCON era, but if you’re chasing upside, I don’t hate such a transfer. Still, it isn’t one I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Another transfer people are debating is selling Haaland because of his GW31 blank. However, West Ham (A) is a stellar fixture, one he could easily thrive in if he gets strong minutes. Unless you’re flush with transfers and can sell Haaland to a genuinely convincing GW30 option who plays in GW31 (e.g. Ekitiké v Spurs (H) and then Brighton (A), Pedro v Newcastle (H) and then Everton (A), or Thiago v Wolves (H) and Leeds (A)) and can use spare funds to upgrade another asset (such as a Salah/Wirtz differential punt), it’s not worth the resources. Plus, you can also just sell the Norwegian next week for a slight loss in team value if you want a different striker in your dead-end GW31 outfit.

Rapid recommendations

● Captain-wise, it has to be Haaland unless there is a leak he won’t start. Then I’d go for Thiago v Wolves (H) or Fernandes v Villa (H), without much to split the pair.
● For a differential captain, Salah is probably the one. A few managers have brought him in, given his historical points-scoring, but he’s a humongous risk and potential dead-weight at £14.0m. I don’t mind the move as much if you’re wildcarding GW32, however.
● Don’t buy blanking GW31 players! Of them all, Semenyo is tempting, having scored thrice and assisted once in his past four gameweeks, but one gameweek is likely not worth next week’s headache.
● At the time of writing, Senesi is the second most transferred-in player in FPL. With Burnley (A) this week, I can see why, but surely you’d rather buy the far cheaper Hill?
● After his 13-pointer last time out, Timber has again established himself as the best non-Gabriel Arsenal asset. It’ll therefore probably be a Gabriel, Timber, Rice triple up for GW32 wildcarders.

The Boar Standings

1st: Dwight Club (1696) – managed by Cianan Sheekey
2nd: parths11 (1691) – managed by Parth Malik
3rd: Meganerd FC (1671) – managed by Megan Green