FPL Transfer Watch: Preparing for Gameweek 34

FPL Transfer Watch: Preparing for Gameweek 34

This article is part of our FPL Transfer Watch series.

It's mid-April, which means one thing: double gameweeks! Last week, we discussed the two teams that played an extra game (Everton and Crystal Palace) for players to bring into your squad. This week, with half the league playing two matches, we'll look at players who have second games that makes them incredibly worthwhile to bring into your squad, as well as players for whom a second game does little to boost their values.

This week's heavy slate features a small smattering of marquee matchups including Chelsea against Manchester City on Saturday, Leicester City against West Ham on Sunday and the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Wednesday. The teams who are playing multiple matches this week include Everton, Manchester United, Newcastle, West Brom, Watford, Manchester City, Liverpool, West Ham, Arsenal and Crystal Palace.

While that's not to say that there aren't key players on the other 10 squads who merit transferring in and out, we're going to narrow the scope a bit to just players playing multiple matches this week.

TRANSFERS IN

Alex Iwobi (MID)
104,526 transfers in, most overall, most among midfielders

Iwobi got his first start on one of the biggest stages in all of Europe, the second leg of a must-win tie at Camp Nou against Barcelona. While he didn't score, he certainly made his mark on the match. In three Premier League starts for the Gunners, Iwobi has gone from the next big thing to virtually un-droppable. Against Everton, Watford and West Ham, hardly the dregs of the Premier League, he has two goals and two assists while linking up confidently with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to form a formidable attacking trio in midfield while Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin hold things down on the defensive side.

With matches against Crystal Palace and West Brom this week, two teams barely on the safe side of the cut line, look for Iwobi to continue his torrid pace. Furthermore, at a price tag of just £4.6, there's no surprise he's the most-added player of the week. If you haven't added him picked him up, there's no time like the present.

David de Gea (GK)
58,978 transfers in, fifth-most overall, most among goalkeepers

Stability has hardly been the name of the game for United this season as their back-four has fluctuated wildly. While de Gea may not have the lowest goals-against average, and he may have conceded three in a short span against Spurs last weekend, he has been arguably the best keeper in the Premier League this season—with all due respect to Hugo Lloris. De Gea's 12 clean sheets in 28 matches is hardly going to break any records, but he's been on an island time and again while coming up with saves other keepers can only dream of making. With Aston Villa and Crystal Palace on deck for this week, de Gea has a strong chance of keeping two clean sheets, as United held both teams off the score sheet in their first meetings (de Gea didn't play against Villa the first time around).

Alberto Moreno (DEF)
41,968 transfers in, 12th-most overall, second-most among defenders

This past week has seen goals come from some unexpected places for Liverpool. Moreno scored a goal and added an assist in last weekend's Premier League match against Stoke City while Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren scored the equalizer and the match-winner, respectively, in Thursday's wild Europa League tie with Borussia Dortmund. Despite these goals from odd places, I wouldn't bet on any of those three players replicating their offensive form this upcoming week. With Bournemouth—a team that has shown flashes of offensive brilliance—and Everton on deck, clean sheets are unlikely while goals are even less likely from Moreno. Despite his recent form, Moreno isn't worth picking up; however, because his value hasn't gone anywhere, he's also not worth dropping to pick up a new defender in a similar situation.

TRANSFERS OUT

Ross Barkley (MID)
130,254 transfers out, most overall, most among midfielders

Everton has been bitten by the injury bug at the worst time, and Barkley was one of the unlucky bunch to be caught in it. He's scored just two goals since Nov. 28, and they both came in the same match against Newcastle. Furthermore, he hasn't tallied an assist in 2016; a 13-match stretch. Barkley's dip in play has caused more than 100,000 people to flee from his grasp, watching his value dip £0.3 from its zenith. Carrying a back injury and with matches against Southampton and Liverpool, dropping Barkley is probably a safe bet this week, despite getting multiple matches out of him.

Bacary Sagna (DEF)
32,772 transfers out, 11th most overall, second-most among defenders

A once un-droppable fixture of City's back-four, Sagna has played in only three of the past eight matches, ceding the starting role to Pablo Zabaleta. Without a discernible injury—he did play in both legs of City's Champions League tie against PSG—Sagna's influence on the side has certainly waned. While it may be a measure of keeping the 33-year-old fresh, with no goals and three assists in 40 matches across all competitions, Sagna doesn't quite have the fantasy value one looks for in a fullback. With Chelsea and Man City on the docket this week, City could keep a clean sheet or two, but that doesn't make the £5.7 Sagna worth keeping on your roster. Use those funds on a cheaper defender who is playing multiple matches this week as well.

Scott Dann (DEF)
18,906 transfers out, 19th-most overall, sixth-most among defenders

With a majority of the most-dropped players come as a result of injury or playing only one match this week, we slide all the way down to Dann, a man who's done little to draw our ire, as someone who's being dropped by many. Dann has seen his value shoot up from £5.1 on Nov. 8 all the way up to as high as £5.9 at the beginning of March before settling at £5.7. With clean sheets in consecutive matches, this seems like an odd time to cut ties with Dann, but with Arsenal and Manchester United—teams that have struggled to score at times this season—on the fixture list, keeping that streak alive seems unlikely.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Weidy
Brian is a former RotoWire contributor.
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