The race for the Champions League took precedence in Gameweek 36 with Newcastle United beating Chelsea to go third and give themselves a huge chance of qualifying for next season.
Ollie Watkins’ (£8.9million) solitary goal was enough for Aston Villa to scrape past Bournemouth, which also puts them in the mix for Europe’s elite club competition. The Villa forward should be a popular option for the final two games.
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Crystal Palace put in another impressive display in their 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur — but has the time now come to get rid of the FA Cup finalists’ assets?
Here are the main talking points from the weekend’s action.
What to do with your Palace players
Daniel Munoz (£5.2m), Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m), Eberechi Eze (£6.9m) and Ismail Sarr (£5.6m) have been popular options.
Munoz, Eze and Sarr were all in the points last gameweek but with the FA Cup final just three days before their plum fixtures against Wolverhampton Wanderers (H), rotation is likely.
Mateta is an easy sell — he has not completed 90 minutes since returning from a head injury in March, indicating how Palace are managing his minutes. With a direct replacement in Eddie Nketiah (£5.9m), he’s more likely to miss out than the others.
Munoz, Eze and Sarr will probably be rested against Wolves too.
Palace play Liverpool (A) in Gameweek 38, so this is a good time to move on Eze and Sarr if you can find players with two good final fixtures.
Munoz has a better chance of starting than the attackers and using transfers on defenders at this time of the season has lower upside. Benching him might be a better option.
Palace have the FA Cup final on Saturday (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Time to buy Ollie Watkins?
Watkins has 16 goals and seven assists and Villa are one of the few teams with a lot to play for.
As Unai Emery’s side chase a Champions League spot, their last two games are against Tottenham Hotspur (H) and Manchester United (A), who will likely play rotated sides.
Villa’s game against Spurs is five days before their Europa League final against United, and their match in Gameweek 38 against United is four days after the final. Ange Postecoglou and Ruben Amorim have been ringing the changes around their European exploits.
Manager Emery will see their final two games as must-wins and Watkins will be nailed to start, especially with Marcus Rashford (£6.6m) out for the season.
Both teams’ defences are not great and Watkins is a proven FPL asset. For those managers with Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak (£9.5m), a move to the England international could be shrewd.
Is Watkins on your list? (Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)
Should we sell Alexander Isak?
Twenty-three goals and six assists represent a great league season for Isak.
However, Newcastle’s next fixture is against Arsenal (A) and, with only one game left after that, there is an argument to sell.
On the last day, they play Everton (H), who have a resolute defence. Only five Premier League teams have conceded fewer than their 44 goals and they boast the fifth-best expected goals (xG) against (43.5) tally.
Watkins looks the best replacement but Yoane Wissa (£6.8m) and Evanlison (£5.8m) are good picks if they allow you to upgrade another spot in your team.
Alexander Isak celebrates scoring against Brentford with Jacob Murphy and Bruno Guimaraes last month (Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Isak is one of the best FPL assets, so holding him is fine, but the options mentioned have better fixtures and could allow you to improve the rest of your team.
Omar Marmoush worries
Erling Haaland (£14.8m) started his first game since his injury in Gameweek 29, restricting Omar Marmoush (£7.5m) to six minutes off the bench against Southampton.
The Egyptian is a popular FPL asset and with a decent fixture up next in the league, against Bournemouth (H), owners will be wondering what to do with him.
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Earlier in the season, we could wait a week or two to assess the situation, but being aggressive is the play at this late stage.
There are good alternatives at a similar price or even cheaper. Wissa or Evanilson are the top targets here, although with Evanilson, you might want to wait until Gameweek 38.
Bournemouth play Manchester City (A) next, but then have Leicester City (H). Brentford have two plum games against Fulham (H) and Wolves (A) and Wissa is a fine option who will likely play 90 minutes.
If you have money in the bank and can stretch to Watkins, get the Villa man.
(Top photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
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