This week’s FPL Challenge allows managers to select a team of seven players made up of of two defenders, two midfielders, two forwards and a goalkeeper as part of the All-Rounder challenge.
Here, FPL expert Sam Bonfield reveals how she’s tackling Gameweek 32.
This week's FPL Challenge means making some tough decisions.
There are a host of players who have attractive fixtures and picking four midfielders and three forwards would in itself be a difficult challenge as there are so many good options.
Alongside the restrictions of the challenge, Gameweek 32 is also a Double Gameweek (DGW32) for both Newcastle United and Crystal Palace. This brings a whole new dilemma as to whether the seven-strong FPL Challenge squad should be solely made up of DGW32 players.
In the main game you are only allowed to own a maximum of three players per team. However, in FPL Challenge that number rises to five. Therefore it is possible to build a team just purely focused on those players with two fixtures.
However, doing that would mean missing out on the likes of Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Liverpool and Chelsea, whose players could all be excellent options this week.
Goalkeepers
My immediate thought for the goalkeeper was to invest in either Nick Pope (£4.9m) or Dean Henderson (£4.6m). The Palace and Newcastle 'keepers both have a Double Gameweek. However, I am put off by their fixtures. Pope faces Manchester United and Palace, both of which are capable of scoring goals and therefore I am worried about the clean-sheet potential this round.
Likewise with fixtures against Man City and Newcastle, I also can't see clean sheets for Crystal Palace this Gameweek. As such then it seems more appropriate to invest in a single-Gameweek goalkeeper who has more potential for a clean sheet.
Top-scoring goalkeeper Matz Sels (£5.1m) faces Everton at home, with the Toffees improving but still struggling in front of goal. Meanwhile, Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) arguably has the best fixture of the round at Southampton.
However, this fixture is sandwiched between arguably the biggest games of the season for Villa in the UEFA Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. Southampton also have a habit of scoring a consolation goal; in fact they have only failed to score twice in their last 11 Premier League matches.
Brighton's Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) is therefore my goalkeeper of choice for the round. Verbruggen faces a Leicester City side who lost again on Monday and have become the first team in the history of the English football league to lose in eight consecutive home games without scoring a goal. In fact, Leicester have now failed to score in 10 of their last 11 Premier League matches home and away. Verbruggen therefore feels like the goalkeeper with the most potential for a clean sheet.
Defenders
Picking Daniel Munoz (£5.2m) feels different to investing in Henderson. With Henderson, if the clean sheet is lost then his route to points feels more limited to save points. However, Munoz has proved time and time again this season that he is popular in FPL because of his attacking threat.
The Palace defender has nine attacking returns this season, which is only bettered by Antonee Robinson (£4.9m) from Fulham, who has 10, but has also played a game more. Therefore even if the clean sheets don't stick against Man City and Newcastle, there is always potential upside from attacking returns.
Alongside Munoz I have opted for a single-Gameweek player, which was also a tough choice. Aston Villa's defence appeals, with the likes of Ezri Konsa (£4.4m) and Lucas Digne (£4.5m) attractive options. However, the threat of rotation due to the Champions League fixtures worries me.
If Digne is named in the starting XI on Saturday afternoon then I will bring him in. For now though, I have opted for Chelsea's Marc Cucurella (£5.4m). Cucurella was rested in Gameweek 31, coming on for just 13 minutes, which means that he didn't register the clean sheet points, despite Chelsea keeping one. Prior to this, though, Cucurella has three clean sheets and two goals in his last four Premier League starts. Having been rested in Gameweek 31, I would expect to see him back in the starting XI for the DGW32 match against Ipswich Town.
After his clean sheet and assist in Gameweek 31 which resulted in an 11-point haul, Tino Livramento (£4.6m) is also a good option for Newcastle's DGW32, despite clean sheets looking unlikely.
Midfielders
Cole Palmer (£10.7m) was benched in Gameweek 31, potentially ahead of Chelsea's Conference League match away in Poland against Legia Warsaw. Like Cucurella, I would expect to see him back in the starting XI for Sunday's match against Ipswich.
However, Palmer has been on a difficult run of form. He's returned just two assists in Chelsea's last 10 Premier League matches. He also blanked in the reverse of this fixture back in Gameweek 19. It's very uncomfortable to leave him out however I think there are two better options across the rest of the Gameweek.
Eberechi Eze (£6.8m) and Jacob Murphy (£5.2m) look like the best options from the DGW32 teams. Eze registered nine points in Gameweek 31 as a result of his two assists, while Murphy scored two goals to register 16 points.
Murphy has now produced attacking returns in successive Gameweeks, and since Gameweek 15 only Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) and Alexander Isak (£9.5m) have more attacking returns than Murphy.
I also like the differential potential of a Villa midfielder, although I am torn on which one to invest in. Donyell Malen (£5.3m) now has attacking returns in back-to-back Gameweeks and is not registered in Villa's Champions League squad, making a start in DGW32 more likely at Southampton. However, Morgan Rogers (£5.6m), Marcus Rashford (£6.7m) and Marco Asensio (£6.2m) all have greater attacking threat.
For now, I have Murphy and Malen in my FPL Challenge picks, however I will be keeping a close eye on the Villa team news on Saturday afternoon and reacting to that if Rashford, Asensio and Rogers get the nod against Southampton.
Forwards
Unlike in the other positions, this is not one that I feel I can think outside the box. The likes of Nicolas Jackson (£7.7m), Ollie Watkins (£8.9m), Omar Marmoush (£7.6m) and, if fit, Chris Wood (£7.0m), would all be interesting picks, however the Double Gameweek for two in-form forwards means that this is a fairly easy decision.
Alexander Isak (£9.5m) was a doubt heading into Gameweek 31 with a groin strain. However, he started the game and played 71 minutes. Though Isak didn't produce a goal or an assist, he did have three attempts on goal and since Gameweek 9 Isak has only blanked seven times. In that time he has registered 158 points which is more than any other forward in the game by 30 points, and is only bettered by Salah across the entire game. With a Double Gameweek, he is an obvious pick, and also my captain.
This is also the case with fellow Double Gameweek forward Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m).
Mateta found his shooting boots in Gameweek 31 against Brighton, and was unlucky not to register more points. Prior to his injury in the FA Cup against Millwall, Mateta had registered attacking returns in seven of his previous eight Premier League matches to collect 64 points.
