Alistair Bruce-Ball
Commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live
Alexander Isak’s fitness is one of the key issues going into the final weekend of the season particularly as he’s owned by more than half the managers in the game.
Eddie Howe would clearly love his top-scorer to start against Everton on Sunday with Champions League qualification on the line but there are plenty of good options available if he or maybe you don’t want to take that risk.
Bournemouth centre-forward Evanilson will be a popular choice for their home game against Leicester even though eighth place and possible European football is now out of reach for Andoni Iraola’s team.
That’s not the case for Brighton who can guarantee eighth if they avoid defeat at Spurs and that’s why I think Danny Welbeck could be a good pick against a team who will still be coming back down to earth after the celebrations of winning their first trophy in 17 years.
And if we get word that Kai Havertz is going to start for Arsenal at Southampton then there’s another differential replacement for Isak – all three of those strikers I’ve mentioned are under 7% ownership.
Captaincy is going to be crucial as always and could make the difference in whether you win a mini-league or not so I asked Statman Dave on the podcast this week to suggest his top five captaincy picks for gameweek 38 – he went with the following in reverse order….
5. Jarrod Bowen vs Ipswich (a)
4. Evanilson vs Leicester (h)
3. Erling Haaland vs Fulham (a)
2. Mo Salah vs Crystal Palace (h)
1. Bukayo Saka vs Southampton (a)