We analyse whether some highly-owned Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Man City and Aston Villa stars could be at risk of rotation
The Scout assesses the impact of the title race being over and European finals for Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace and how this will affect managers’ team selections in Gameweek 38 of Fantasy Premier League.
Many Fantasy managers will be heading into Gameweek 38 with a number of Arsenal and Manchester City players in their squads after many had anticipated their battle for the title would continue until the final day.
But Man City’s draw at AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday evening handed Arsenal the title and could increase the likelihood of rotation for their matches against Villa and Palace respectively on Sunday afternoon.
Crystal Palace v Arsenal
Crucially, both Arsenal and Palace have European finals on their agendas in the next week.
Arsenal face Paris Saint Germain in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday 30 May, which is six days after their visit to Palace.
Mikel Arteta now has the luxury of managing the minutes of his key players on Sunday or even leaving them out of the squad.
While this does mean that Fantasy managers are now very much at the mercy of the Arsenal boss on Sunday, the high ownerships of David Raya (£6.2m) and Gabriel (£7.3m) also means that many of your rivals will be in the same position, so there’s no need to transfer them out.
Palace’s UEFA Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano, meanwhile, takes place on Wednesday 27 May, just three days after the encounter with the Gunners.
Key attackers Ismaila Sarr (£6.4m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) will surely have their minutes managed, although it’s fair to say that most owners would have planned to bench them against the Gunners’ formidable defence anyway.
Man City v Aston Villa
With this being Pep Guardiola’s last match in charge of Man City, he’ll surely want to go out in style with a win against Aston Villa, and an attacking line-up has to be expected.
Erling Haaland (£14.7m), Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m), Antoine Semenyo (£8.0m) and Jeremy Doku (£6.5m) could all keep their places, with Rayan Cherki (£6.6m) returning as a No 10 and Phil Foden (£8.0m) playing as a deep-lying midfielder.
For Villa, there’s an argument that their players who have been named in international squads for the FIFA World Cup, including the likes of Morgan Rogers £7.3m) and Ollie Watkins (£8.7m), will have their minutes managed after Villa’s UEFA Europa League triumph on Wednesday evening.
On the other hand, if this is Guardiola’s last match in charge of Man City, then what better way to spoil the party then get on the scoresheet against them?
In such a scenario, those players will surely want to play a part in the type of match where clean sheets at either end of the pitch would seem very unlikely.
