A whirlwind Premier League season is on its last legs as cup competitions make way for the remaining four fixtures.
Last week’s postponed game at Old Trafford due to fan protests has been rescheduled to this game week for what could be a huge points return in a mammoth game week 35.
The major talking point from GW34 was the failure of Harry Kane, the most captained player against Sheffield, to register a goal or assist in their 4-0 win which Gareth Bale scored a hattrick.
This GW presents a golden opportunity to reclaim those lost points with some teams playing twice, and Manchester United playing THRICE given their outstanding fixture with Liverpool.
Additionally, the confirmation of the various cup finalists should lead to more consistent team selections too.
Here, Football Castle selects the best differentials and captaincy choices ahead of the Gameweek 35 deadline at 18:30 BST on Friday 7 May.
Goalkeeper
Vicente Guaita (£4.8m) could be a cheap differential heading into GW35 as he faces Sheffield and Southampton. The Blades and Saints are relatively low scorers and the Palace shot-stopper offers a huge save potential with 113 points this season.
Kasper Schmeichel(£5.4m)
The Dane will be eyeing a 12th clean sheet of the season against Newcastle while he could rack up some save points at Old Trafford in the other half of Gameweek 35.
Defenders
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) has been Liverpool’s standout player recently, with 42 points in his last five matches. The Englishman faces Southampton and Man United, before some juicy fixtures for Europe-chasing Liverpool up until the final day.
A must have if you can afford him.
Lucas Digne(£6.1m) is in the top five over the last six matches for chances created by a defender. The Everton man delivered another assist in GW 34 and will be looking for a late boom against West Ham and Aston Villa, before final fixtures against Sheffield, Wolves, and Man City.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is fit again for the Toffees who have a chance to feature in Europe next season.
Midfielders
Wilfried Zaha(£7.2m) has two attacking returns in his last four starts since returning from injury. He plays Sheffield and Southampton in a double game week, the two teams with the worst defensive records in 2021 – who have conceded a combined 119 goals all season. Zaha is the highest-scoring Palace player with 10 goals and four assists to his name this season, and he is my favourite captaincy differential choice for GW35.
Gylfi Sigurdsson(£6.9m) Offers huge potential for goals when he takes on West Ham and Aston Villa – two sides who have struggled to keep clean sheets recently. Sigurdsson is joint-second top scorer and is also on set-piece and penalty duties for Everton.
Gareth Bale(£9.1m)
The Welshman was the hero of GW34 as he upset the majority who captained Harry Kane with an incredible hat-trick against Sheffield. With 30 points (a third of his season’s total) delivered in Ryan Mason’s two games in charge; Bale is firmly in favour in his single fixture against Leeds as he continues a tasty end to the season.
Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m) becomes the overwhelming favourite for captaincy due to his triple game week fixtures against Aston Villa, Leicester and Liverpool. However, GW34 and Harry Kane’s blank ought to have taught a thousand or two a lesson?
The Portuguese never gets dropped and the fixture congestion looks to have taken its toll with a single assist in the last five GWs.
It is imperative to have an alternative captain choice, as it is unlikely he completes 270 minutes against all three decent opponents each with something left to fight for.
Christian Pulisic(£8.3m) was disappointed to start from the bench in the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid and will be itching to continue his run of four goals in his last five starts. The American has already scored against Man City and Arsenal for Chelsea and would be looking to add to his tally, with enough opportunities to impress ahead of this month’s finals.
Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) is a key target for the DGW encounters against Southampton and Man Utd.
The Liverpool marksman has scored in each of his last three starts and is just one goal behind Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot. Pertinently, Salah ends the season in a flurry after GW35 with games against West Brom, Burnley, and Crystal Palace.
Forwards
Kelechi Iheanacho(£6.3m) is an obvious inclusion as he sits top of the Premier League for shots on target over the last six games. Iheanacho has duly produced nine goals and two assists since Double Gameweek 26 as the Foxes take on struggling Newcastle on Friday before a huge meeting with Manchester United.
No player has scored more Premier League goals off the bench than Edinson Cavani(£7.9m) this season and his goals per 90 minutes average of 0.58 is the best of the United assets. The prolific marksman faces Aston Villa, Leicester and Liverpool after scoring another brace against Roma on Thursday night as Man United qualified for their first final under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
With seven goals and three assists in his last six games in all competitions, the Uruguayan barely needs to start to have an impact. He is the Red Devils’ most reliable asset going into the triple fixtures and could win points in each.
Harry Kane (£11.9m) may have pulled the ultimate blank as he was not involved in any of Tottenham’s four goals against Sheffield. I bore a spectacular brunt in the anguish as I activated my triple captain chip on Kane (six points) while Bale delivered 21 unutilized points in my midfield.
All would soon be forgotten with Kane despite his single GW35 fixture as he sits only one ahead of Salah on the Golden Boot race. Expect the England captain to end the season in a flurry of goals for a more adventurous team under the new manager.
