Looking ahead to Fantasy Football Gameweek 38, @FantasyYIRMA has frisked the fixtures to try and make sense of where the points are going to come from in this week's games.
As I sit here looking at the screen I'm burdened with the overwhelming expectation to reflect on the season that was 2016/17 and put together a War and Peace style monologue looking back over the previous 37 fantasy football gameweeks..well.. Fuck that!
Never mind 37 gameweeks - I've still just about recovered from Gameweek 37 itself! There are key times in a fantasy season that people remember and it shapes the way they play the game.
Prior to Thursday night when Leicester played host to Spurs, there had been a substantial number of Billy Big Balls popping up on twitter, gloriously defining their decision to Captain Alexis Sanchez as being one of their key life defining moments - you know like when your first kid is born or when you accidentally switch to a low fat mayonnaise and make the harsh realisation that you can probably make do with it. Now let's put it into context - Arsenal had a double gameweek - Sanchez finished up on 27 points - 54pts as captain. They had every right to gloat - that's a fantastic points return.
Then Harry Kane turns up and turned gameweek 37 on its head. At this point there are two types of fantasy football managers - those with Kane and those without. By the time he had scored his 4th Goal of the night that South Park picture - You know the one - the one with the guy sitting by his PC with the wry smile of masturbatory glory had been posted online so much that twitter itself almost cracked.
So as we go into the final round of matchups Harry Kane is up by 2 goals in the race for the Golden Boot and you wouldn't bet against him adding to his goal scoring tally away at Hull. The two other main competitors for the boot face off against each other at the Emirates where Sanchez vs Lukaku is likely to only be a side event now given the Champions League permutations where 2 of Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal will make it into the European promised land. It would take one Hell of a game to see Sanchez or Lukaku catch Kane and 1 game just doesn't seem enough.
And if anyone sees Manolo Gabbiadini tell him I owe him a slap...So there's that!!
In midfield I guess we have to look at the teams with something to play for.. Liverpool and City both need to win against Middlesbrough and Watford respectively and you would have to say they are both heavy favourites for these fixtures. Last day of the season is typically a hectic affair not least because all 10 fixtures are played simultaneously at 3pm.
There's certainly history for there being an abundance of goals but again it's a tough one to predict given that no one is truly sure who's head is still in the game and who's already thinking of that all-inclusive week in Magaluf I referenced in our last post. If gameweek 37 proved anything it's that squad rotation can be a real pain in the balls for Fantasy managers so it's best to stick with teams still focused on getting a result.
For me there are a number of match winners in the City line up so I'll lean towards Philippe Coutinho in the Liverpool match to come up trumps at Boro. There is no doubting his ability and there are few players in the premier league that you would back more if he gets a yard or two space to turn and smack a curler into the top corner.
If Mathieu Flamini Starts for Palace I'm putting a fiver on him scoring first goal!! So there's that!!
In defence I was fully going to pick Gareth McAuley Michael Keane however there's still an injury concern with him following a knock at the time of writing. It's a shame because it would be a fitting opportunity for him to play his final game for Burnley with a number of Premier League vultures circling Turf Moor looking to take the ex-United man on to pastures new for next season.
Advert
The other reason for looking at Burnley for the final gameweek is that West Ham were shocking last week against Liverpool and genuinely looked like they were simply going through the motions so with that in mind I've flipped a coin on the full backs I think will start and Stephen Ward picked by 1.6% and costing a budget 4.5m gets the nod from me.
And if you are relying on a Burnley defender to win your mini-league it's already too late... So there's that!!
On a final note - Big thanks to the ODDSbible Boys who have quite literally let me write whatever the fuck I want over the past few months in this column. I believe I have achieved my original aspiration of including either Mathieu Flamini or Gareth McAuley in EVERY preview I've written for the site. Genuinely my two favourite current players.
Best of luck to everyone in the final gameweek and be sure to follow us on Twitter!
Advert
Written by Ryan @FantasyYIRMA
FantasyYIRMA.com established in 2012, is a niche Fantasy Football site focused on providing news, views and insight for the English Premier League.
Featured Image Credit: