As we reach the business end of the season, it’s important to understand the motivation of each team in the three remaining rounds of fixtures.
In Gameweek 35, we saw surprise defeats for title-winners Liverpool in their penultimate away game against a Chelsea side battling for a Champions League place.
We also saw Arsenal, who look to have a top-four finish secured, lose at home to Bournemouth as their attention wavered ahead of Champions League semi-final action.
So, looking at the slate of fixtures for Gameweek 36 — and considering the teams who have the most to play for — who are the players to target and who should be avoided?
Assessing motivation
In the final three gameweeks of the season, there are some key battles still to be decided in the Premier League and some of which have already been confirmed.
Liverpool won the title with four gameweeks to spare, while the three promoted teams were also confirmed to be relegated back to the Championship during April.
This will prove to be another busy midweek for those sides still involved in Europe — Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur — and only Chelsea look to have something significant to play for in terms of their league position.
In Gameweek 37, we have the FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City on Saturday, May 17, which could see those two teams rotate in the Premier League, with a big gap in scheduled fixtures for their opponents Wolves and Bournemouth, who play on May 10 and then May 20 (when they face Palace and City respectively).
There are other narratives to play out too, including players playing their final games for their clubs before departing for pastures new or facing retirement.
The teams to target
Despite their participation in the FA Cup final, Manchester City top my list of teams to target as they travel to bottom-of-the-league Southampton on Saturday, having gone unbeaten in their last six league games with five wins and a draw.
They are the leading defence for clean sheets in this time, with four shutouts and just two goals conceded. Josko Gvardiol (£6.4m) is the best route into their back line, with a leading five goals among defenders this season.
At the time of writing, Kevin De Bruyne (£9.5m) leads the transfers in among City players. The Belgian midfielder has three goal involvements and two double-digit hauls in five starts since the international break, having made his return from injury.
There is some concern that De Bruyne could be rotated this week, given the proximity of this fixture to the cup final, but he has played 80-plus minutes in five consecutive league games.
While I expect De Bruyne to suffer some rotation in gameweeks 37 and 38 due to the FA Cup, I believe his minutes are more secure for this gameweek.
Meanwhile, the return of Erling Haaland (£14.8m) from injury clouds the viability of both him and Omar Marmoush (£7.6m) as Fantasy assets this week.
Haaland failed to feature from the bench in their 1-0 win against Wolves in Gameweek 35 but will likely earn some minutes against Southampton before the FA Cup final. I’d hold Marmoush but prefer investing in De Bruyne over City’s forward options.
Haaland returned to the City bench in Gameweek 35 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
It’s worth noting that there’s plenty of transfer traffic for De Bruyne coming from selling Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) or Bukayo Saka (£10.3m), and it’s a luxury transfer move I’m considering myself this week. However, it may need to be reversed in Gameweek 37 or 38.
As the battle for Champions League football hots up, Nottingham Forest have a must-win game against their local rivals Leicester City, having taken just seven points from their last six Premier League games.
Chris Wood (£7.1m) has to be the focal point given his 19 goals this season, including one in four since returning from injury. He scored a brace in the reverse fixture against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side.
The Forest defence has kept 13 clean sheets this season but have failed to record one in the last five gameweeks.
However, Leicester have failed to score in 10 of their last 12 league games, making goalkeeper Matz Sels (£5.2m) and defender Nikola Milenkovic (£5.2m) sound picks this week. Murillo (£4.8m) was forced off with an injury in their draw with Palace on Monday.
Brentford are the form team in the Premier League right now, climbing up to ninth in the table with three consecutive wins. Now is a good time to buy ahead of a trip to Ipswich Town, who are already relegated.
Wood and Forest remain in the thick of the battle for a top-five spot (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
The west Londoners won the reverse of this fixture 4-3, with Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.7m) making the Team of the Week with two goal involvements apiece.
Wissa comes into this game in sensational form, having scored in four consecutive games. Mbeumo has two goals and two assists in the same period. Kevin Schade (£5.1m) is a differential, the German winger scoring three goals in the last two gameweeks.
Another side in great form is Wolves, winning six consecutive games before losing 1-0 to Manchester City at the Etihad last time out. They play Brighton at home next.
Two of their players stand out given their recent form: striker Matheus Cunha (£7.1m) and wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.1m).
Cunha has two goals and three assists from four appearances since returning from suspension, taking him up to an impressive 22 goal involvements for the campaign.
Wolves have three clean sheets in six since the international break, with Ait-Nouri also registering one goal and two assists in this period. He has a remarkable four goals and seven assists in this campaign.
(Top photos: Chris Wood, left, and Kevin De Bruyne; Getty Images)
