Holly Shand: “In the short-term, there’s little impact, with Manchester City‘s potential increasingly high. They need to chalk up wins against Brentford and Crystal Palace over the double gameweek to reduce the gap at the top to, at worst, two points – from the current five.
“Erling Haaland is bang in form. He’s scored in three straight games, taking his tally to 25 goals for the campaign, and he has already scored three goals past his upcoming opponents earlier in the season.
“Given he’s gunning for the Golden Boot, there should be no doubts over holding him for the final two gameweeks. Rayan Cherki is also a wise signing: he has four goal involvements in his last four games, and sits joint-top for shots alongside team-mate Erling Haaland. He already has more than 200,000 new owners ahead of this game.
“On the other hand, the motivation for buying Manchester City and Arsenal players because of the likelihood of the title race going down to the wire could change, shaking up how we set up our squads for gameweek 37 and – even more so – in gameweek 38.
“While fantasy managers would normally concentrate their transfers on those players who double this week, the smart play would be to ignore Crystal Palace assets who have their attention elsewhere, banking transfers for the final two gameweeks.
“This gives flexibility to play into the narratives with selections and punt on a differential or two for the final day of the season. If the title is already sewn up at this stage, then there’s also the option to move away from the assets from Manchester City and Arsenal, concentrating on those sides with something still to play for.”