I reveal my current FPL Wildcard team for the upcoming Double Gameweek 34 and give explanations for my choices and analysis

The home stretch is in sight and with Double Gameweek 34 coming and the bigger Double Gameweek 35 around the corner, for a lot of us, it’s time to use those second Wildcards to prepare our teams for the final 5 Gameweeks.

My situation is as follows; I’m sat at a healthy 90k overall after 3 decent Gameweeks on the bounce, giving me a great chance of pushing on with the Wildcard active and Bench Boost ready to be deployed in DGW35.

With a lot of differential options now viable, given their Double Gameweek involvement and final fixtures, the second Wildcard could prove vital in deciding our season’s success or failure.

With the second Wildcard for most, deployed at this time, designed to set up a Bench Boost DGW35 squad, it’s important not to forget that you’re not just choosing a squad for the next 2 GWs, but for the rest of the season.

It’s also important not to discount players from teams with only Single Gameweeks remaining, such as Liverpool, as they are one of the best performing attacking and defensive teams in the league and have good fixtures remaining, so it’s all about finding the best balance in relation to your team value.

Luckily, team value may not play too huge a role in this years second Wildcard, as quite a lot of the viable options on offer, are of good value, and some of the more expensive options are either out of form, or are huge rotation risks, so don’t worry too much if you’re looking at a lower team value of circa £102m.

My Current Wildcard Team (subject to change after the press conferences conclude)

This team was created on a team value of £104.3m and leaves me with £4.8m in the bank.

I know that’s a ludicrous amount of money to hold back, but I feel as though my team is well set up for DGW34/35 and beyond that too, with the flexibility of bringing in Sterling/Salah should the need arise.

The money gives me the option to go many different ways with my free transfers beyond that. I can bring in KDB for Jota, Lacazette for Deeney, Sterling or Salah for Eriksen and Robertson for Dunk/Duffy.

Goalkeepers

Hugo Lloris (£5.4m, 5.5% ownership) – Given Spurs’ favourable fixture run-in, a Spurs defensive option is wise, especially now, as 4 of their last 6 are at their new home in the Tottenham Hotspur stadium – where they’ve kept 2 clean sheets against Palace and Man City – and are against, Huddersfield, Brighton, West Ham and Everton.

Hugo is nailed-on and cheaper when compared to the other Spurs defensive options, so it makes sense to go with him.

Ben Foster (£4.6m, 6.8% ownership) – I’ve opted to go with Foster over Ryan for my keeper based simply on the two facts that he has better fixtures for DGW35 than Ryan and represents a better Bench Boost option as a result, and it allows me to play Lloris in DGW34 against Huddersfield, which is a very good chance for a clean sheet which I wouldn’t get if I were to go with Ryan, as I’d want to play him over Lloris with the DGW34 fixtures they have.

Defenders

Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m, 10.9% ownership) – I’ve included Laporte in my team, despite tough DGW35 fixtures, as City have kept the second most amount of clean sheets in the league (16) and outside of DGW35, have good fixtures.

Additionally, City have kept 4 clean sheets in the 8 games they’ve played against the top 6 teams, so it’s not beyond them to get one in DGW35 either. On top of this, Laporte is a decent attacking threat from set-pieces, with 2 goals and 2 assists this season and seems to be nailed on (as much as a player can be in Pep’s team).

Alexander-Arnold (£5.5m, 19.9% ownership) – Trent is a no-brainer for me given the value. £5.5m for a defender playing very attacking in the best defensive team in the league with good fixtures, albeit without a Double Gameweek, is too good to turn down.

1 goal and 7 assists already to his name from an attacking POV, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him add to this tally before the season is up.

Lewis Dunk (£4.4m, 3.5% ownership) and Shane Duffy (£4.7m, 8.8% ownership) – These two are included mainly because of Brighton’s DGW34 fixtures against Bournemouth and Cardiff at home. They’ve only kept 6 clean sheets this season, which is pretty poor, as only Huddersfield, Fulham and West Ham have kept less however, 5 of them have come at home, so there is encouragement.

There’s plenty of encouragement from an attacking perspective for these two as well, especially Shane Duffy. From CB, the pair have registered 45 goal attempts between them, Duffy 30 and Dunk 15, with Duffy the highest scoring defender in FPL with 5 goals. So even if they concede, there’s still a reasonable chance of picking up some points.

Yan Valery (£4.1m, 2.9% ownership) – Rounding up the defenders, why don’t you come on over Valery. Simply chosen as a cheap enabler who has fairly decent DGW35 fixtures, he or Bednarek (£4.0m) are both good options here, with the former chosen simply for the additional attacking threat down the right.

Midfielders

Sadio Mané (£10.1m, 34.2% ownership) – With decent value already in Mané, I’ve opted to hold him, not just because of this mind, but because I think he’s in great form and on top of this, he has a really good chance of getting top goalscorer.

This is Mané’s best scoring season and he’s only 2 goals short of top goalscorer Agüero and with Chelsea, Cardiff, Huddersfield, Newcastle and Wolves left to play, City still in all competitions and Kane possibly out injured for the rest of the season, it represents a very good opportunity for Mané to steal the golden boot. He looks very sharp and continues to pass the eye test, so I’m happy for him to stay despite no Double Gameweek.

Christian Eriksen (£9.2m, 6.9% ownership) and Son Heung-Min (£8.6m, 16.5% ownership) – With a new stadium, a big quarter final Champions League win at their backs and a favourable run-in fixture wise, Spurs look set to finish strong. Investment in their assets looks wise, with Son Heung-Min by far the best value option.

Losing Kane was a big blow however, Spurs have only lost 1 of the 13 league games they’ve played without Kane since 2016 and Son does particularly well in his absence. Earlier this season he scored 3 in the 3 games he played whilst Kane was out. The fear here, is that Son could miss Huddersfield, with Lucas/Llorente available to play and 2 fixtures against Man City in the following 7 days after they play the Terriers.

Eriksen is expensive for what he’s been returning, but with Alli potentially out too with a broken hand, the creativity and goalscoring burden now falls a little heavier on Eriksen, and he’s in good form too, with a 20pt haul in Tottenham’s DGW32. Spurs also have no direct replacement for Eriksen, so he’s less likely to be rotated and has started every game he’s been available for when fit and typically completes 90 minutes.

Diogo Jota (£6.1m, 5.8% ownership) – Since he was moved up front with Jimenez, he’s scored 5 goals and assisted on 4 occasions in the 10 league games since the change. Wolves may have suffered a morale-deducing blow after dropping a 2-0 lead in their FA Cup semi-final to Watford, so there may be a backlash, but I don’t expect it to last too long.

With Wolves still having a chance at qualifying for the Europa League (Man City win FA Cup, then 7th place becomes a Europa League spot), Nuno will be looking for a reaction and will keep his players focused and with decent fixtures remaining, I fancy Jota to continue his recent form.

James Ward-Prowse (£5.1m, 3.5% ownership) – At a very cheap price and low ownership, JWP looks a great Bench Boost option for Double Gameweek 35. He’s the creative spark in that side and takes their set-pieces, and very accurately too I might add. Whilst creativity is generally his role, he hasn’t been shy of a goal this season since returning to the starting line-up, with 6 goals in his last 13 league games, 3 of them coming in the last 5 games.

Forwards

Sergio Agüero (£11.7m, 35.3% ownership) – Agüero is having a fantastic season and despite potential rotation fears, I don’t think Pep can afford to completely rest him. I think he will continue to start Agüero and try to win the game early before bringing him off later in the game, as he has largely done all season.

With good fixtures either side of DGW35 and with Agüero himself having a terrific goalscoring record against the top 6 sides (played 6 scored 8), I think, considering the large ownership, it’s risky to go without. He can go big in any game and if he can keep himself fit, then I back him to finish strongly.

Raúl Jiménez (£6.8m, 33.8% ownership) – A no-brainer inclusion for me. Exceptional value, huge ownership, good fixtures in DGW35 and either side of it excluding GW38 (LIV away).

Troy Deeney (£5.9m, 5.5% ownership) – At a low price of just £5.9m and a low ownership too, Troy Deeney represents a brilliant value prospect for the final run-in. He’s in fantastic form too, with 4 goals and 3 assists in his last 6 league games, with a penalty goal in the 3-2 comeback against Wolves in the FA Cup semi-final to boot.

Watford and Deeney are on a high right now, and with decent fixtures remaining, including very good DGW35 fixtures, it makes perfect sense to ride that wave.