Week 37 Player Picks: Double Your Penultimate Pleasure

This isn’t some measly two or three team double game week. That’s super wimpy! Nope, this is a massive, roided up, uber-macho 10 team double game week, so load up!

CHELSEA - at West Brom, v. Watford

WATFORD - at Everton, at Chelsea

ARSENAL - at Stoke City, v. Sunderland

SUNDERLAND - v. Swansea, at Arsenal

WEST BROMWICH ALBION - v. Chelsea, at Manchester City

MANCHESTER CITY - v. Leicester City, v. West Brom

SOUTHAMPTON - at Middlesbrough, v. Manchester United

LEICESTER CITY - at Manchester City, v. Tottenham

TOTTENHAM - v. Manchester United, at Leicester City

MANCHESTER UNITED - at Tottenham, at Southampton

Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Southampton and Tottenham look to have the most favorable pair of match-ups. If Chelsea locks up the Premier League title at West Brom, Antonio Conte could rest some of his stars against Watford. The Gunners have only an outside shot at cracking the top four, likely needing to win out plus get help from Liverpool or the Citizens stumbling. Additionally, Arsenal goes straight from one double game week to another, which means the regulars will be exhausted even if Arsene Wenger will surely want to keep starting the stars.

KEEPERS

Willy Caballero (Manchester City)

Sometimes all it takes to get some confidence is having the undisputed claim to the #1 spot, even if it’s through injury.

Petr Cech (Arsenal)

Arsenal’s defense has slipped a bit from its usual heights this season, but after all, Stoke City and Sunderland’s offenses are both quite subpar.

Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea)

Chelsea got its defensive mojo back with clean sheets in its past two games and it would be no surprise to keep that going to finish out the winning campaign.

Fraser Forster (Southampton)

The Saints have picked up the pace with five clean sheets in the past 11 games. You’re not going to get a penalty save every time, but you probably won’t need one.

Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

It’s never a bad idea to go with the league’s stingiest defense and the second best team overall when you’ve got a pair of chances at a clean sheet win, right?

DEFENDERS

Gary Cahill (Chelsea)

The Blues may see some rest, but you don’t worry about the gladiators in back getting rotated as much as you do the more fragile speedsters up front. Fellow defender Marcos Alonso scored last game, so that means it’s Cahill’s turn.

Ben Davies (Tottenham)

If you don’t have the cash to splash for Toby Alderweireld or Jan Vertonghen, Davies is your man. However, there is a bit of a worry that Danny Rose will be available on the back end of the double.

Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)

Bow down to the great wisdom of Ken and go with Kompany who has been a fantasy force on the cheap since his return from injury. Gael Clichy is probably the next-best option to get in on the Citizens’ back line.

Adrian Mariappa (Watford)

I keep worrying that Mariappa will hit the bench, but he keeps starting and putting up points (in Fantrax), so I’m rolling with him.

Jack Stevens (Southampton)

Stephens and Maya Yoshida are both doing great jobs picking up phantom/bonus points along with clean sheets at cut rate prices.

MIDFIELDERS

Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

KDB tends to perform better with Sergio Aguero out, but when he’s on a roll you should go with him regardless of whether Kun is healthy again or not.

Christian Eriksen (Tottenham)

Eriksen’s been in fine form lately, and Mauricio Pochettino rarely rests him, so he seems like a slightly better call than Dele Alli or Son-Heung Min, but hey, I would not fault you for going with any of them.

Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

I’m not as high on Hazard as I would normally be due to the risk of him being rested as mentioned above, but even so, if you’ve got him in your team already, you’ve got to keep rolling with the superstar.

Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)

His form has fallen off lately, but he’s the top scorer in Official and that means he’s always got a chance of providing big returns in a double game week. [Note: Alexis is listed as a midfielder in Official, but as a striker in Fantrax.]

Leroy Sane (Manchester City)

Sane has played at least 65 minutes in 13 of the past 14 games. Meanwhile, Raheem Sterling has only done so nine times, and it’s 11 for David Silva. So when it comes to City’s midfield outside of KDB, when you measure production combined with the chance of starting twice, I like Sane.

STRIKERS

Diego Costa (Chelsea)

As with Hazard, I’m slightly worried that Costa may not get both starts. But also as with Hazard, if he’s already in your team, it would seem crazy to drop him.

Manolo Gabbiadini (Southampton)

The Italian import has faded of late, but if you’re looking to save funds, he’s worth a punt on the hope that he starts both games and gets the glory back. Shane Long and even Charlie Austin could nab the second start, though, so be wary.

Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)

In his Tuesday post, Stall asked if we should go with Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jesus. Kun is coming off an injury and Jesus is cheaper, so you can see what I’m thinking here.

Harry Kane (Tottenham)

The Spurs talisman is three goals behind Romelu Lukaku in the race for the Golden Boot award, but he has a game in hand on the Everton sniper and he’s on penalty duty, so don’t completely put it past him.

Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

The Foxes’ fixtures are tough. But with seven goals and five helpers in his past 10 games, Vardy’s absolutely rolling, so don’t be shy.

In Official, I wanted to use my triple captain chip (on Alexis) in DGW36 and the bench boost in DGW37, respectively, so I used the unlimited transfer a bit earlier than optimal in GW35 rather than waiting. Unfortunately, what seemed like a smashing line-up then looks wanting now, as that tradeoff left me with roster holes in the form of Arsenal’s Gabriel and Tottenham’s Kyle Walker, neither of whom can be expected to start both games (or perhaps either) in DGW37, so it’s probably worth taking a points penalty to drop both, and perhaps Jakupovic as well since he only has the one game. Them’s the breaks, eh?

In Fantrax, I’ve got plenty of money lying around (10.45) after compiling my preliminary squad so I may upgrade somewhere, not sure where yet, though.

My current teams:

OFFICIAL: Cech, Jakupovic / Alonso, Clichy, Gabriel, Stephens, Walker / King, Moses, Sanchez, Sane, Son / Costa, Gabbiadini, Kane (C) [using bench boost]

FANTRAX: Caballero / Clichy, Davies, Kompany, Mariappa, Stephens / Eriksen, KDB, Sane / Jesus, Kane

How are your squads looking? What players have you already swapped out and in? Who else are you considering? Join in the chat below!