Dilemmas of the Week - GW 37 (25/26)

Not too many new injuries again this week, it seems, so...., hopefully, this can be another brief one.

I am trying to streamline these weekly round-ups a bit from last year, restricting myself for the most part to just the injuries etc. affecting players that are likely to have a major significance in FPL; and also, of course, only to new injuries - I figure everyone should be aware of players who've already been ruled out for some time!  

[For some years, I have found the 'Injuries & Bans' summary on Fantasy Football Scout the most reliable resource for this kind of information; although this site, Premier League Injuries, is a very good alternative (often a little quicker to update, I think - though it did go through a bit of a glitchy period for a while last year).  Go check these out for more comprehensive coverage. 

I see the Fantasy Premier League site has added an improved 'Player Availability' page this year (though hidden under 'The Scout' tab?!). That also seems to be reasonably comprehensive and up-to-date, but god knows how it's supposed to be 'organised' - maybe by 'date of injury'? Obviously, arranging it by club and alphabetical order would be more sensible; but the denizens of FPL Towers seem to have a deep aversion to the sensible.]

I've recently discovered this additional resource, the weekly Predicted Lineups from Fantasy Football Edits. My longtime standby for this sort of news, Fantasy Footall Scout, does usually provide some explanatory commentary on its predictions, even including reminders of the key injury concerns, and sometimes also some discussion of possible alternate selections; so, if you like a bit more detail with your 'probable lineups' for the week, that could still be the preferable roundup to look at. But because FPL Edits is so stripped-down, it's rather more straightforwardly accessible, easier to scan through quickly; and I think it's also perhaps a tad more reliable with its expected formations and lineups, and a little quicker to update.

So, what are the conundrums we face ahead of Gameweek 37?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

There's still no word on the nature of the injury that forced Riccardo Calafiori to come off against West Ham last Sunday, but it seems he's still a doubt for this week. The knee injury that caused Ben White's early withdrawal in that game is at least serious enough to rule him out for the little that remains of the season.

Kaoru Mitoma pulled a hamstring when playing Wolves last Saturday, and will miss the remainder of the season.

Hannibal Mejbri was withdrawn against Villa last week, but apparently it was just cramp or fatigue rather than anything too serious, and he is possibly/probably in contention to play this week.

Pascal Struijk made an appearance against Spurs last week, but was forced off by the hip problem that's been bothering himn for a couple of weeks.

Manuel Ugarte supposedly missed selection last week because of a back issue - but does anyone really expect to see him playing in the Premier League again?

Joelinton is said to be a 'slight doubt' for Newcastle because of a thigh problem - but given how much he's suffered with muscle injuries in the past, I would imagine that means he's definitely out of action this week.

Do we have any players who are dropped, or not looking likely to get the starts we hoped for?

Bournemouth's Ryan Christie is out for the season, after picking up a three-match-ban red card for a bad foul on Timothy Castagne last week. Joachim Andersen also picked up a red card and a three-match ban for his crunching challenge on Adrien Truffert in the same match. Dan Ballard is in the middle of a three-match-ban for 'violent conduct' (a hair-pull), so we won't be seeing him again this season either.

Harvey Elliott is ineligible to play for Aston Villa against his parent club Liverpool on Friday night - although, since we haven't really seen anything of him all season, that's an irrelevant technicality. Facundo Buonanotte is similarly barred from representing Leeds against Brighton, though he too has hardly featured lately for his loan club.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

I have to say, Liverpool are looking really ragged to me, and I don't think I'd be taking a chance on any of their players for a tough last two fixtures - even the always excellent Dominik Szoboszlai or the just-back-from-injury Alexander Isak. I don't have much faith in a De Zerbi renaissance at Spurs either, and I suspect they'll probably struggle, and almost certainly drop points against both Chelsea and Everton. Although Chelsea are looking fairly awful too....

The big problem this week is the FA Cup Final happening before the end of the league programme. With City and Chelsea contesting that on Saturday afternoon, their GW37 league games against Bournemouth and Spurs are delayed until Tuesday evening. Given that the Cup game is always likely to be especially emotionally draining, even if it's a fairly straightforward game, and could be physically too, if it goes to extra time and penalties, it's probably better - if possible - to avoid relying too much on City or Chelsea players on Tuesday. Some of them might well not play at all; and those who start might not be at their best, and might only get short minutes. A lot of FPL managers already got burned by Pep's rotations of Doku, Cherki, Reijnders, and even Haaland in last week's would-be 'Double Gameweek'; something similar is sadly likely this time. But.... at this stage of the season, with chips and Free Transfers probably all used up, folks won't really enjoy the option of moving out City/Chelsea players; alas, if they have too many of them, they could well end up fielding a short FPL team this week, or at least having a few 1-point returns. It is a cruel game.

Did anyone play so well, you have to consider bringing them in immediately?

I liked the look of Junior Kroupi, Josh King, and Kevin Schade last week,.... and everyone at Everton recently! But not enough to make any of them priority acquisitions. At this stage of the season, you really just have to save your transfers in case you get hit with a sudden avalanche of injuries in the final week!

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!