Get ahead of the Group Chat thanks to our new regular column from FPL expert Jonas Sand Låbakk.
By Graham Ruthven, in conversation with Jonas Sand Låbakk
Introducing our expert
Jonas is a 21 year old student who, like FotMob, hails from Norway. He was Fantasy Premier League champion for the 2023/24 season, finishing ahead of 11 million other managers. So who better to provide expert advice?
Read his expert advice every week.
*Don’t forget the FPL deadline for this round – make your transfers and get your team sorted before 2.30pm BST on Sunday 25 May*
The Eye Test vs. The Stats
With this weekend being the final gameweek of the season, there’s no need to make future plans for your FPL team. It all comes down to Sunday’s matches.
Many teams have nothing to play for which could make assessing assets difficult. Others, however, are still competing for European football. There is plenty on the line heading into the final weekend.
There is just one point between Newcastle United in fourth place and Nottingham Forest in seventh. There are, however, assets in teams that have nothing to play still worth monitoring heading into GW38.
Justin Kluivert (5.9m) has enjoyed an excellent season for Bournemouth, but the Dutchman has recently suffered a dip in form.
Kluivert’s minutes have been unpredictable, perhaps meaning he should have been included in my ‘long shot’ category, but the fact Bournemouth finish their season with a home fixture against Leicester City is hard to ignore.
Leicester have conceded the third-most Expected Goals (71.6) this season. While the Foxes are unbeaten in their last three, Bournemouth will fancy their chances of hurting the visitors to the Vitality Stadium.
With 0.54 Expected Goal Involvements (xGI) per 90 minutes, plus the fact Kluivert takes penalties for the Cherries, Kluivert could be a good pick-up for GW38 even if he hasn’t shown much in the last two gameweeks. A big score this weekend wouldn’t be surprising.
In many ways, Jarrod Bowen (7.9m) has been the opposite of Kluivert this season.
The West Ham winger has flown under the radar and hasn’t been all that popular with FPL managers. However, Bowen has been in excellent form, registering four goals and two assists in his last five games. He has proven himself as a consistent points scorer.
Bowen is a nailed starter for West Ham and should play 90 minutes against Ipswich Town this weekend. He has recently played as one half of a front two with Mohamed Kudus and his 0.47 xGI per 90 minutes means he shouldn’t be ignored as an option for your FPL team.
Long shot
Evanilson (5.8m) has shown himself to be a solid replacement for Dominic Solanke at Bournemouth this season, notching 10 goals and five assists in 26 assists for the Cherries.
As mentioned earlier, Bournemouth have a favourable fixture at home to Leicester City to end the season and so that makes Evanilson even more attractive as an option from an FPL point of view. The Brazilian could be set for a big haul.
Not only have Leicester conceded the third-most xG in the league, they have conceded the third-most goals (78). As a strong attacking side, this could be a good match-up for Bournemouth with Evanilson a potential differential – he is owned by just 4.6% of FPL managers.
The Bournemouth centre forward is all but nailed on to start against Leicester and should be good for at least 80 minutes of play on Sunday.
Upcoming games to follow
The final gameweek of the season has a history of being a goal-fest and there’s good reason to believe this season’s final gameweek will be no different. Here are the most exciting fixtures from an FPL perspective.
Bournemouth face Leicester City at home with this the standout fixture for FPL value. The Cherries will have opportunities to find the back of the net. Kluivert, Evanilson and Antoine Semenyo (5.7m) should all be on your radar.
Liverpool clinched the title a few weeks ago and haven’t won a league match since then.
However, Arne Slot’s team will want to finish their season strongly while Crystal Palace have nothing to play for at Anfield this weekend after winning the FA Cup last weekend.
With both teams in relaxed mood, there could be goals on Merseyside this weekend, making attacking assets like Mohamed Salah (13.6m), Luis Díaz (7.5m) and Eberechi Eze (7.0m) sensible to target.
Finally, Arsenal’s away match against Southampton is worth monitoring.
The Gunners have struggled for consistent form recently, but a match against the worst team in the league to finish the season could see them end on a high note.
Bukayo Saka (10.3m) has the potential to deliver a big score with defensive assets like David Raya (5.5m) and Ben White (6.1m) potentially good value for a clean sheet.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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