Welcome to the AM’s Players To Watch for Gameweek 38 as we wrap up this column for the 2018/19 Premier League season. Before we get in to it I wanted to thank you all for reading our Rotoworld PL content and interacting with the team on social media over the past 10 months. It’s been a lot of fun and personally is set to be my most successful FPL campaign with a current overall rank of 6200th heading in to the final gameweek. I hope my advice here has helped in some small way towards you reaching your own personal targets for the season. Let’s look to finish strongly!
On to the Gameweek 38 fixtures ...
Sunday 12 May
Brighton v Man City
Burnley v Arsenal
Crystal Palace v Bournemouth
Fulham v Newcastle
Leicester v Chelsea
Liverpool v Wolves
Man Utd v Cardiff
Southampton v Huddersfield
Spurs v Everton
Watford v West Ham
As is always the case on the final weekend all 10 matches kick-off at the same time; 2pm BST on Sunday afternoon here in the UK, and we should focus on teams that still have something to play for. A team having something to play for doesn’t guarantee the players from that teams will perform above and beyond those who don’t have anything up for grabs, but it does mean we have a far better idea over starting line-ups, as you’re likely to see the strongest XI possible out there on the pitch for the vital final game.
With the relegation battle already done and dusted we turn our attention to title-chasing Manchester City and Liverpool up against Brighton and Wolves respectively. Elsewhere, Chelsea and Spurs are battling for 3rd spot and a later start in the Champions League next season so should both be at full strength. It’s worth considering Manchester United attackers at home to Cardiff as they look to pip Arsenal to 5th, while Southampton players at home to rock-bottom relegated Huddersfield also look tempting.
With that in mind, here are the players ...[[ad:athena]]
Lucas Moura (MF - Tottenham v Everton) - Okay, as a Spurs fan this pick may have been slightly influenced by the insanity of midweek but Lucas Moura‘s performances prior that hattrick have been more than decent, and the Brazilian is certain to start with Heung-Min Son suspended and Harry Kane still on the road to recovery. Moura’s searing pace is sure to cause the Everton defence problems and he has proved that he’s one of the very best finishers in pressure situations.
Marcus Rashford (FW - Manchester United v Cardiff) - Life under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started out pretty splendidly for Marcus Rashford, and while things have most certainly tailed off over the past six weeks the young striker should be pleased with his return of ten goals and seven assists for the season. Relegated Cardiff visit Old Trafford on Sunday and Rashford should lead the line with both Alexis Sánchez and Romelu Lukaku doubtful through injury, so he’s likely to come in as my FPL free transfer in place of Raúl Jiménez.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (DF - Liverpool v Wolves) - Trent Alexander-Arnold seems to have it all; defensively solidity, maturity, natural attacking instinct, intelligence and phenomenal delivery from set pieces and open play. The young star has been instrumental over the course of Liverpool’s fantastic campaign and is the top defensive pick for this weekend due to doubts over Andrew Robertson’s fitness. He also deserves to be England’s new permanent right-back given Kieran Tripper’s loss of form over the past six months.
James Ward-Prowse (MF - Southampton v Huddersfield) - You’ll want to field a Southampton attacker for their home clash with lowly Huddersfield, and I’m leaning towards set-piece expert James Ward-Prowse. JWP has had his most consistent season with seven Premier League goals to his name (although surprisingly not a single assist!) since Ralph Hasenhüttl arrived at the club back in December and I believe the 24-year old is capable of playing the role of match-winner here.
Sadio Mane (MF - Liverpool v Wolves) - Why not Mohamed Salah? Well firstly, he’s extremely pricey in the majority of fantasy formats. Secondly he’s returning after a concussion which always makes me feel slightly uncomfortable. And thirdly I actually have a reasonable hunch that Sadio Mane will be the man to have a big game against Wolves on Sunday as the Reds look to push their title rivals all the way to the finish line.
Captain Choice: Sergio Agüero (FW - Manchester City @ Brighton) - Almost too perfect. It’s the last day of the season, Manchester City will almost certainly need a win to seal the title and the Argentinian striker is in fine form goalscoring form .... Captain AGGGUUEERROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
That’s it for Gameweek 38 and the season! Check out the Rotoworld Features page to access a host of fantastic content to get you ready for the weekend. If you have any questions about a specific player or your own fantasy team then feel free to post them in the comments below or hit me on Twitter (@nikarg) and I will get back to you.
Thanks again for reading - good luck to all managers this weekend and enjoy the summer off!
