Give Saka the captain’s armband – FPL tips & team of the week

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The Fantasy Premier League season heads straight into a second straight double gameweek.

You’ll likely see a lot of similar teams among your rivals and FPL experts at the moment, but there are still advantages to be made if you play it smart. There are only four teams playing twice in week 33: Manchester City, Aston Villa, Arsenal, and Crystal Palace.

Who should be Triple Captain in FPL this week?

Bukayo Saka from Arsenal is the standout player for this week.

Saka is the most exciting pick given that Ipswich will play twice, and Palace will host them.

Does Mikel Arteta rest him? Newcastle are struggling to maintain their lead in second place, so the Gunners manager can’t afford too much rotation.

Between the Palace game and their Champions League clash with Paris St-Germain, they also have a six-day break.

This week, should I bench boogie?

Even if we get another double in 36, Gameweek 33 has the best chance to Bench Boost before the season’s conclusion.

If you have 15 playing assets and you like the match-ups for most of them, then pull the trigger.

There aren’t many nailed-on assets among Arsenal, City, or Villa, so the main issue is game time. Although the pace is less predictable, cup competitions might be in the cards for all four teams.

Which players should I choose for a given gameweek?

Don’t be afraid to send out good single gameweek players to bolster your team with another double option.

Liverpool – face woeful Leicester so Mohamed Salah is a must and Virgil van Dijk has as good a clean sheet chance as any double gameweek defender.

West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen makes a jump-out performance against relegated Southampton. You should also have confidence when establishing a defensive weapon for West Ham.

Manchester United – Wolves at home could be productive for Bruno Fernandes. His five double-digit wins this year came against teams that were (at the time) in the bottom five.

In Gameweek 33, which Crystal Palace players can I rely on?

Daniel Munoz, a defensive player, finished with -1 point in Gameweek 32, which is difficult to come back to. He’s still super attacking – with eight entries into the box in 32 – and was close to an assist, but Bournemouth and Arsenal are both likely to score against Palace.

Even if Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr, and Jean-Philippe Mateta are already on your team, I still believe in them.

What was the team’s performance last week?

With four players scoring in total, defense was nearly a failure, but Kieran Trippier’s 12-pointer saved the day.

Jacob Murphy (19 points) was the star man but 70 points is still disappointing for a double gameweek.

Protector and defense

David Raya, Arsenal, keeper, £5.5m

Arsenal’s William Saliba, $6. 5 million

Ipswich (a) and Crystal Palace (h) square off.

The two most reliable Arsenal defensive assets in a week where they could easily get two clean sheets. I am aware of it, but very consistent.

Liverpool Virgil van Dijk, £6. 6 million – Leicester (a)

Leicester scored last week but lost their previous eight games without scoring. This week’s most blatant clean sheet scream.

He would be a better choice than Palace’s (see above), and Villa, who have kept three clean sheets in their last four games but are unlikely to do so this week.

Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City, £6.2m – Everton (a), Villa (h)

Midfielders

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Arsenal, £10.5 million – Ipswich (a), and Palace (h): Bukayo Saka (captain).

For the reasons stated above, I’d be confident about Saka’s minutes this week. He is recovering from an injury, but he also needs some game time.

He gets the armband because of his previous experience, which allowed him to easily score double digits in both of these games.

Mohamed Salah (vice-captain), Liverpool, £13.8m – Leicester (a)

Salah’s net transfers were negative for the first time since week eight of last gameweek. Don’t be one of the sellers for him, though.

And if you are risk averse, or worried about game time for your doublers, Salah would make a very safe captain choice.

Morgan Rogers, Aston Villa, £5.6 million (h), Man City (a), and Newcastle (h)

It turns out Rogers was foolish to speculate about his last-week rest. He’s become a player who starts every game for Villa. You do not expect them to score in either of these matches, but Rogers is the only Villa forward you can really expect to start both.

West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, £7.5 million- Southampton (h)

This match-up is too juicy to pass up for West Ham’s talisman. Despite having a 7/ 10 season so far, Bowen still has four double-digit seasons.

He has 17 shots, 12 of which have been in the box, in his previous six games. Bowen usually overperforms his expected goals (xG) yet he has just one goal in that time from 1.4 xG, suggesting he might be due.

Eberechi Eze, Crystal Palace, £6.9 million (H), Arsenal (A), and Bournemouth (H).

With little league play to play for and an FA Cup semi-final four days later, I’m becoming more and more convinced Palace boss Oliver Glasner rests some key players in the Arsenal game.

But Eze is still worth a punt. He could have hauled in week 32, as previously mentioned, and things would have changed a lot about him.

West Ham's Jarrod Bowen Getty Images

Strikers

Everton (a), Villa (h), Omar Marmoush, Manchester City, £7.3 million.

If you don’t own Saka, you can hear him shouting “Triple Captain” in his previous four games.

If you’ve owned and watched Marmoush play in those four games, you’ll be feeling like he could have scored more and his underlying statistics back that up.

The Egyptian has had four big chances, including four on target and four on target, and he is a haul waiting to happen.

Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, £5.8 million (a)

Since the Brazilian made his first start on his return from injury five games ago, he has led the way among strikers in almost every category.

Jorgen Strand Larsen, a Wolves striker, has the most goals in the box (16), the most chances in the box (7), and the highest xG (4.44), making him the only forward with five goals behind Evanilson’s four.

Subs bench

West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola, $4.2 million (h) Southampton

West Ham defender Max Kilman, £4.3 million (h)

Iliman Ndiaye, Everton, striker, £5.2m – Manchester City (h)

Southampton defender Jan Bednarek, £4 million (a) West Ham

Total cost for Teal: £99.9 million.

Watch the player

Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest Getty Images

Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood for £6.9 million.

The 18-goal striker is fit again and Forest face leaky Spurs this week, before a home game against Brentford.

What team should I use?

West Ham – Southampton (h), Brighton (a), Spurs (h)

If your budget is tight, the Hammers have cheap defenders to choose from, as well as midfielders Bowen and Mohammed Kudus ($6.2 million), who are frequently playing forwards while they are not particularly wealthy.

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Surprise as 100 Spaniards turn up at non-league game

Jude Winter
RB MEDIA Dozens of Spanish football fans wearing Harborough Town football shirtsRB MEDIA

Football tourists from other countries are frequently welcomed at Wembley, Old Trafford, and Anfield, but they are not as prevalent at Harborough Town’s home ground in Leicestershire.

Imagine your surprise when more than 100 Spanish sports fans showed up for the Saturday non-league team’s game against St. Ives Town.

The Spaniards were subscribers to an English football-related Spanish YouTube channel, which has since begun making travel arrangements.

RB MEDIA Dozens of spanish fans watching a Harborough Town FC matchRB MEDIA

Ilie Oleart, a native of Barcelona, founded the Spanish-language television station La Media Inglesa (LMI), which airs English football games to Spanish-speaking viewers all over the world.

The next step for LMI was to show English football, according to Mr. Oleart, who backs La Liga side Espanyol.

He stated, “Our goal was to turn a small, isolated English club into a small, isolated club with a worldwide fan base.”

Wycombe Wanderers A group of spanish fans walking to a Wycombe Wanderers football game whilst holding a flag saying Wycombe Wanderers

In September, I met people at the club to learn about their history, the town, and facilities, according to Mr. Oleart.

We believed they had the right values to impart to our audience.

The Bees, a club that was previously known as the Bees, have already won fans’ attention this year by reaching the FA Cup second round for the first time and signing former Brazilian international Sandro.

The partnership with LMI offered an “opportunity to grow our fanbase and our income” through a “global audience,” according to club chairman Peter Dougan, and it might lead to sponsorship deals.

He claimed that the key to success was “being in the right place at the right time.”

Mr. Oleart said his group was “very happy” with their experience despite Harborough’s 2-1 defeat to St Ives Town in their Southern League Premier Division Central encounter.

He claimed that it was undoubtedly the best trip he and I have ever taken.

Alvaro Sanz, a fan, continued, “We occupied a full stand and started cheering immediately.”

“We even taught some chants in Spanish to quite a few local fans who also came along.

Supplied image of Alvaro Sanz with another man, both wearing yellow football shirtsSupplied

Residents of the town center watched in delight as two coachloads of Spanish supporters arrived before heading off to the stands to sing Spanish songs before kick-off.

It felt like our club, according to Mr. Oleart, not just any club anymore.

After the game, we met the players and had a drink with them in the pub, which is unheard of at a Premier League club.

“We wanted to make sure the trip allowed us to establish relationships with their fans as well.”

I’m sure there will be many great memories to create in the future, and I’m hoping to bring 200 to 300 fans with me the next time. There are many things to do to work on the alliance and make it stronger.

RB MEDIA Spanish fans flying a Harborough Town flagRB MEDIA

Pete Dougan, Bees chairman, stated: “It was a fantastic day and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Our fans were singing songs in English while the stadium’s fans also sang songs in Spanish. It was enjoyable.

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Thomas equals course record to lead RBC Heritage

Images courtesy of Getty

RBC Heritage first-round leaderboard

-10 J Thomas (US), -7 R Henley (US), S Scheffler (US), -6 W Clark (US)

Other notables: -5 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), -4 J Rose (Eng), and T Fleetwood (Eng).

Justin Thomas set a course record by leading by three shots after the RBC Heritage first round.

At Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina, Thomas birdied 11 holes for a 10-under-par 61.

The 31-year-old American leads compatriots Russell Henley and world number one Scottie Scheffler in the pursuit of their first victories since taking home his second major at the US PGA Championship in 2022.

After posting a first-round score of 66, former US Open champion Wyndham Clark is one shot further back, while Matt Fitzpatrick is in a group of five under.

Justin Rose, who lost to Rory McIlroy in a play-off at the Masters, is tied for 10th after hitting 67 in his first round.

Thomas set the tone with six birdies on the front nine, before recovering from a bogey on the 10th with five birdies in six holes on the back nine.

Thomas remarked, “I feel like I didn’t do anything crazy.”

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