Fantasy Premier League: How to navigate cup-final rotations
Preparation for Gameweek 37 is tricky, given the proximity of the FA Cup and Europa League finals to the Premier League fixtures.
Though our fantasy transfers are now only impacting the short term, it's still important to make good decisions on who to buy and sell.
The key this gameweek is targeting the right fixtures and knowing which players to avoid…
Crystal Palace and Manchester City contest Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley before Palace face Wolves at home and City entertain Bournemouth, in their delayed Gameweek 37 matches, both on Tuesday.
These will be the final home game of the season for the two clubs, before Palace go to champions Liverpool and City visit Fulham on the last day of the league campaign. With three matches to play each in eight days, we can expect rotation to heavily impact their respective Premier League team sheets.
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Palace are out of the running for European qualification through their Premier League position but will earn a Europa League place if they lift the FA Cup.
This gives added motivation to be successful at Wembley, moving their two remaining league games well down the pecking order in terms of importance. FPL managers owning Palace assets should be looking to sell, including Eberechi Eze (£6.9m), despite the England midfielder scoring four goals in their past three league games.
City looked to have Champions League football sewn up before a surprise 0-0 draw away to relegated Southampton last time out. They must secure a top-five finish to be sure of inclusion in the competition next season, so their last two Premier League games are still significant, and forward Erling Haaland (£14.9m) and midfielder Phil Foden (£9.1m) made their first starts since returning from several weeks out injured against Southampton.
Manager Pep Guardiola has the squad depth to rotate in the final week of the season, so it's difficult to know exactly where to invest, despite City's motivation. You can add to the mix the first 32-team edition of the revamped Club World Cup, which starts a month from today — they will want a fully-fit squad going into that.
Josko Gvardiol (£6.5m) remains a sound investment, having started all but one of their 35 league games so far, playing 500 more minutes (over five full matches) than any other City asset. The deposed champions have kept five clean sheets in the seven games since the March international window while conceding just three times, with Gvardiol boasting a league-leading five goals among defenders.
I would look to sell Omar Marmoush (£7.5m), who found himself benched against Southampton with Haaland fit again. While I expect him to start alongside the Norwegian in City's final two games, Marmoush has looked restricted in a wider role in recent games, making him less prolific.
This season's Europa League final will be contested in the Spanish city of Bilbao on Wednesday evening between Premier League sides Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, with a trophy and Champions League qualification as the prizes. This will be a huge feat for the victorious side after hugely underwhelming domestic seasons for both leave them currently 16th (United) and 17th in the 20-team table.
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United midfielder Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) is the only asset from either club with significant ownership among active managers and should be considered a sell ahead of this fixture.
With both finals having the potential to go to extra time and penalties, fantasy managers could look to buy assets from their opponents in anticipation of rotation and fatigue. We expect Spurs and United to rotate heavily when they visit Aston Villa and Chelsea respectively on Friday ahead of their showdown in Spain.
Villa are a key team to target for the reason above, with their striker Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) being the most transferred-in player this week and a popular replacement for Marmoush. He has three goals and one assist in the seven matches since the March international break and is set for increased minutes with Marcus Rashford having suffered a potentially season-ending hamstring injury.
An attacking double-up with Morgan Rogers (£5.7m) could prove fruitful: they combined for the only goal of the game against Bournemouth last weekend. Rogers boasts 18 goal involvements for this season and could be a good replacement for Fernandes this week.
Villa's last game of the season is away to Manchester United, who could be fatigued after their European final in midweek, and Unai Emery's men are still looking to secure a Champions League place.
Investment in Chelsea assets is trickier as they are trying to qualify for the Champions League too, but also have a UEFA Conference League final against Spain's Real Betis three days after their Gameweek 38 fixture.
They travel to Nottingham Forest, who will be equally motivated in the race for Champions League football, on that Sunday. Cole Palmer (£10.5m) may still be worth a look.
Considering the next opponents of the FA Cup finalists, Wolves are at Palace in midweek before hosting Brentford on the final day. They are out of the running for European qualification, so their motivation is questionable, especially off the back of two defeats since securing Premier League survival. Despite this, I'd still look to invest in striker Matheus Cunha (£7.1m), who has 22 goal involvements in the league this season and could be playing for a move away.
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Bournemouth also carry appeal with relegated Leicester City to come at home on the final day following their trip to the Etihad Stadium and the potential of European football coming with eighth place — that's currently occupied by Brentford, who are two points ahead of them.
Forward Evanilson (£5.8m) and midfielder Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) remain the most attractive picks from the Bournemouth attack, with 15 and 16 goal involvements this season respectively.
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