Gameweek 32 posed a real FFUKing captaincy dilemma for FPL managers, with Cole Palmer (£6.1m) leading as the favoured choice among 37% of the top 250,000 managers, followed by Mohamed Salah (£13.4m) at 28%, Erling Haaland (£14.3m) at 17%, and Son Heung-min (£10.1m) at 13%.
Ultimately, Salah and Haaland both scored, earning eight points each, while Son and Palmer contributed assists, garnering five points each, resulting in minimal impact solely due to captaincy decisions.
Meanwhile, Alexander Isak (£7.9m) and Phil Foden (£8.3m) disappointed as popular transfer-ins. Despite Foden’s recent hat-trick, he remained benched by Pep Guardiola for Manchester City’s game against Crystal Palace, citing the upcoming Champions League fixture against Real Madrid and player fatigue. Thanks Pep. But all board the KDB (£10.3m) Express? The Ginger Prince bagged 2 goals and an assist.
Isak, while acquired by slightly more teams than Foden, managed only two points despite playing the full 90 minutes in Newcastle’s win over Fulham.
Compounding frustrations, many managers had to let go of players like Ollie Watkins (£8.8m), who returned from injury with a brace, and Bukayo Saka (£8.9m), who scored and earned bonus points for Arsenal, only to face the prospect of Champions League commitments.
Injuries marred Gameweek 32 in the FPL, with concerns arising for Bowen, Ait-Nouri being subbed off, and Toney being benched.
Jarrod Bowen (£7.9m) suffered the most significant setback, being forced off after 54 minutes in West Ham’s 2-1 victory over Wolves due to injury.
With West Ham set to face Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday, Bowen faces a tight race to regain fitness. Post-match, manager David Moyes expressed concern, stating, “We have to hope he’s okay. You need all your top players at this stage of the season and Jarrod is one who’s been doing great for us.” Moyes elaborated, suggesting Bowen might have sustained a knock to his hip or back, resulting in stiffness.
Meanwhile, Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.7m) provided a silver lining for the 250,000 FPL managers who acquired him this week, providing an assist against West Ham. However, his joy was short-lived as he was withdrawn just a minute later as a precautionary measure.
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil shed light on Ait-Nouri’s situation, stating, “He’s got a sore calf. He’s got some pain in his calf and it was a big bow. But we wanted to take him off before it got any worse and hopefully he’ll be OK for next week.”
Malo Gusto (£4.3m) was rested after a period of illness and did not make the matchday squad. And in the Manchester United v Liverpool game, Marcus Rashford (£8.4m) went off in the second half.
Key FPL Gameweek 32 stats
Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 32: Players
- Shots – Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah – 6
- Shots on target – Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Carlton Morris, Pablo Sarabia and Mohamed Salah – 3
- Shots in the box – Luis Diaz – 6
- Big chances – Chris Wood – 3
- Goals – Kevin De Bruyne and Ollie Watkins
- xG – Pablo Sarabia and Mohamed Salah – 1.19
- Non-penalty xG (NpxG) – Chris Wood – 1.15
- Key passes – Oliver Arblaster – 5
- Big chances created – Kevin De Bruyne – 3
- Assists – Sergio Reguilon – 2
- Expected assists (xA) – Kevin De Bruyne – 1.17
- Expected points (xPts) – Kevin De Bruyne – 18
Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 32: Teams
- Most shots – Liverpool – 28
- Highest xG – Liverpool – 3.6
- Lowest xG – Bournemouth – 0.34
FFUK Movers and Shakers:
Top scorer this week with an impressive 88 was Mike Brearty, with my cup opponent Chris Smith finishing second on 85. Great!
Remaining Top of the Pops after GW32 is Mark Tarbox, extending his lead on John Harper and Jason Beal. All to play for but the FFUK Super Computer has Mark as hot favourite.. !
With the final countdown truly underway, the Conts has no mercy, and this week it was Tina Whitehouse who was left in last place by a single point from Kushal Shah, who spent the 2nd weekend in a row giving me a point by point update on how he was about to be Conted out! (Did you know Bealer was 100% out until Porro scored, no? Well I did!🙈)
Unlucky Tina, but you gots to go!
GW33 is upon us and looking ahead at the fixtures, I can forsee more captain conundrums. Be lucky!
Ciao for now…
Ameet (FFUKing 83rd)
FFUK 