Wildcard Draft: FPL Partridge

Twitter’s own FPL Partridge shares thoughts on how he will proceed with his activated Wildcard chip.

So, finally, my Wildcard is active.

I’d held onto it despite some difficult weeks, with the intention of attacking the Gameweek 16 fixture swing for the likes of Manchester United, Watford and West Ham.

At the time of writing I’m sitting around 200k, having fallen from 50k after doubling up on Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in expectation of a new manager bounce that never came.

I need to make up ground with this Wildcard and will discuss my initial feeling of how I’ll do that, below.

GOALKEEPERS

Having missed out on the Aaron Ramsdale points and price rises, he is now £5m. I’m not sure he’s the man for the job at that price. In fact, David de Gea is likely going to be my goalkeeper pick (also £5m) due to his incredible fixture run and the fact Ralf Rangnick has already stated several times the importance of tightening up defensively and keeping clean sheets.

I’ll pair him with a £4m goalkeeper and may take the chance on Southampton’s stand-in, Harry Lewis, on the slim chance that he nails down a regular starting place whilst Alex McCarthy and Fraser Forster are injured.

DEFENDERS

The first defender on my list is surprisingly the cheapest. Brandon Williams makes my squad as a £3.9m defender who is playing regularly and is actually second for chances created by defenders over the last two Gameweeks.

The guy at the top of that list, Trent Alexander-Arnold, also makes my wildcard squad and takes up the second ‘nailed on’ position. The rest of the defensive positions are still uncertain, but at the top of this list is probably João Cancelo. I haven’t owned him yet this season and it has cost me. Whether or not I’ve missed the boat on him remains to be seen, but I’ll likely play safe and cover the highly-owned Man City full back.

Over the last four Gameweeks, Spurs have the third-best expected goals conceded (xGC) figure, behind Manchester City and Liverpool. They also have fairly decent fixtures in the long term and so one of either Sergio Reguilón or Ben Davies will make my squad.

The final defensive spot depends on my strategy. As Man City aren’t the same goalscoring force they were a couple of seasons ago, I feel like double defence might be a more reliable, if less explosive option, than double attack. I also feel like I need an edge over Cancelo owners, of which there are many, and so double City defence might be a decent differential pick. If so, Rúben Dias would likely make it into my team.

MIDFIELDERS

We’ll start with the obvious picks: Mohamed Salah – because he’s Salah – and Diogo Jota because everyone owns the Egyptian, so an additional edge is needed from the Liverpool attack.

I then need to cover Man City’s attack for their good fixtures. Although he’s clearly over-performing, Bernardo Silva seems likely to play most minutes, is confident and playing very well. Bought at £7.4m (now £7.5m), he will likely be my first choice City attacker, although I would like Phil Foden and feel like Jack Grealish is about to step back into our thoughts after he recorded five shots in the box in Gameweek 15.

With an excellent run of fixtures, Jarrod Bowen is making a strong case to be picked after recording 14 shots in the box during the last six Gameweeks.

The final midfield spot would likely go to Emile Smith Rowe, who I picked up for £5.9m and is good to play every week (if fit) until facing Manchester City in Gameweek 21.

FORWARDS

With new management and a great fixture run, Cristiano Ronaldo will be a popular pick over the coming Gameweeks and could even be a captain option if we lose trust in Salah. Bringing him in on a Wildcard seems sensible.

Watford sit top of the Fantasy Football Scout Season Ticker over the next eight Gameweeks and, although they haven’t been winning, they’ve still been finding the next. One of either Joshua King or Emmanuel Dennis will make the cut, followed by Jurgen Locadia as my budget forward.

I’m still not entirely convinced on a few things: