Time to target Brentford, Liverpool and Fulham stars? FPL talking point

Gameweek 32 is emerging as a popular point to play the wildcard for Fantasy Premier League managers, and there is a chance to make short-term gains by targeting teams with good fixtures in weeks 30 and 31.

Brentford face bottom-of-the-table Wolves followed by a Leeds side who are in a relegation scrap.

Igor Thiago (£7.2m) is a good pick in the forward line and doesn’t need much explaining: he’s on penalties and has 18 goals and one assist in 28 starts so far this season.

He has been a little quiet of late though, with only one attacking return in his last four.

You could also have midfielders Dango Ouattara (£6m) and Kevin Schade (£6.9m) – who I like for these fixtures as they grabbed an attacking return each away to Burnley in gameweek 28.

Defensively they have the likes of Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) and goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher (£4.7m).

Liverpool face a Spurs side who have shipped a massive 14 goals in their past four games in all competitions.

Plenty of options exist in the attacking positions, with Mohamed Salah (£14m), Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.9m), Alexis Mac Allister (£6.3m) and Florian Wirtz (£8.3m) all viable.

It’s worth noting that just because Salah is the most expensive, and historically has been an amazing FPL pick, there’s no evidence to suggest the Egyptian will outscore the cheaper Liverpool midfielders over the next two gameweeks.

Striker Hugo Ekitike (£9.1m) has been disappointing of late (apart from the haul v West Ham) but I’m confident he will come good against Spurs and Brighton. He has 11 goals and four assists in 20 starts this season.

Virgil van Dijk (£6.2m) would be my defender of choice, especially as he has three attacking returns in the past four gameweeks, but if money is tight then go for the cheaper Ibrahima Konate (£5.5m).

However, BBC commentator Chris Coles, who was a guest on the podcast this week, has decided not to include any Liverpool players in his team.

“I have no Liverpool players… but I am worried about Liverpool because Tottenham at home is a great fixture for them,” he said.

Like Brentford, Fulham also face two teams in the bottom six so let’s take a look at their assets.

Harry Wilson (£6m) has been the standout pick for Fulham this season. If he’s not fit, go for the in-form midfielder Alex Iwobi (£6.4m) who has three goal contributions in his past three games.

Defensively it’s a bit trickier. Assuming Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) gets his place back in the team after missing the past two matches, he’s still the best pick due to his potential for defensive contributions.