Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 37 tips including perfect team for Chelsea and Man City's huge doubles

Welcome to my regular Fantasy Premier League advice column – and this week, I’ll be dispensing my advice from just outside the global Top 1,000 after failing to captain Erling Haaland last time out. A definite mistake, but hopefully that won’t dissuade you from listening to my thoughts on a huge double gameweek, with six teams playing twice and bench boosts flying everywhere.

Newcastle United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion and both Manchester teams will be playing twice in the FPL this time out, and that means we’re going to be doing everything we can to get as many players who play twice in our teams as humanly possible – and for many of us that means 15 players as a lot of managers, myself included, have saved their bench boosts for this very occasion.

So this week, I’m going to run through what I believe to be the best possible 15-man squad for the gameweek, and I’ll break it down into a starting XI and substitutes for those of you who don’t need to worry about a bench boost. Obviously, most of you us won’t be able to get to this exact 15-man squad without taking a hit or two – although I’d advise taking a -4 if you have to, as this is the kind of scenario where it can reward you handsomely – but this should offer a decent template for one of the biggest gameweeks of the season. And don’t forget that your deadline this week is 11:00 BST on Saturday, with no Friday kick-off to worry about.

Building the perfect team for GW37

Let’s start with the goalkeepers and defence. This is perhaps the trickiest part of the team to sort out, as a lot of the teams doubling up have pretty porous defences and don’t keep too many clean sheets – do we really expect Manchester United to hold either Arsenal or Newcastle to a blank after Monday night?

I’d start with two Manchester City defenders. That means that you have to live without Phil Foden or Kevin de Bruyne (Erling Haaland is essential, to my mind) but there are simply more good midfield options this week than there are defenders. Kyle Walker and Joško Gvardiol are the two best options for my money.

I’d also want one Chelsea player towards the back – Đorđe Petrović is a good option, but if he’s definitely fit then Malo Gusto may well be better still as he offers a higher points ceiling. I’d wait to see what Mauricio Pochettino says about his fitness on Friday before committing, however. Petrović is still one of the best goalkeeping options available, but if you go for a Chelsea defender then I think goalkeeper is where you just have to compromise the hardest. André Onana and Bart Verbruggen are my other shouts – I wouldn’t be shocked if nether kept a clean sheet, but they will hopefully bag some save points at least.

I’d also say that goalkeeper is the one position I don’t mind having a single gameweek player in, at least if you’re bench boosting. I wouldn’t take a -4 to move Jordan Pickford out, for instance. Pickford and Verbruggen would be a perfectly fine goalkeeping set-up.

As for the rest of the defence, I’d probably take Dan Burn from Newcastle, while keeping an open mind about Kieran Trippier if Eddie Howe says he’s fully fit. Pedro Porro remains a solid inclusion despite Spurs’ recent struggles (or at least a better inclusion than most single gameweek players), Micky van de Ven is a decent alternative and Lewis Dunk is also worth a shout.

I’d only go with one Spurs defender as I’d definitely recommend doubling up in midfield. Son Heung-Min is a must-have and either James Maddison or Richarlison are worth rolling the dice on too. Cole Palmer is also non-negotiable, partly as his low price makes him such a good enabler, and Anthony Gordon is a requisite for the same reason. For a fifth midfielder, I’d expect Bruno Fernandes to be fit, although United’s tough fixtures mean I don’t blame anyone for looking elsewhere. Pascal Groß is an interesting differential option.

Up front, I think there’s a clear best front three – Haaland alongside Alexander Isak and Nicolas Jackson. There simply aren’t any other forwards whose form and quality make them better shouts. If you’re desperate for a differential, maybe Danny Welbeck or Rasmus Højlund would work, but neither excite me in the least.

All of that means that my vision for the ideal Gameweek 37 team is as follows: Petrović/Onana/Pickford, Verbruggen; Walker, Gvardiol, Burn, Porro, Gusto/Dunk; Son, Palmer, Gordon, Fernandes, Richarlison/Maddison; Haaland, Isak, Jackson.

I think I’m least convinced about Fernandes in this line-up, and I don’t blame anyone for taking Foden or De Bruyne and switching out a Manchester City defender for someone else, but I still think this is as close to the ‘correct’ 15 as you can possibly get.

And if you’re only worried about finding a starting XI, here’s my team: Petrović; Walker, Burn, Porro; Son, Palmer, Gordon, Foden/De Bruyne; Haaland, Isak, Jackson. Naturally, your team value and transfer situation might make it impossible to get that exact team, but that shouldn’t be out of reach for most players who have had half-decent seasons.

As for the captain chip, it’s a toss-up between Haaland and Palmer. The former is probably playing the odds, but Chelsea are up against two very leaky defences (Nottingham Forest and Brighton) and Palmer has an incredible record away from Stamford Bridge. I suspect most players will go for the Norwegian, so if you need a differential to make up some ground in your mini-leagues, Palmer is a really good shout. Isak isn’t a bad call either if you really need to find something different, but he comes a very clear third for me, especially with Callum Wilson back.

3 Added Minutes FC

Finally, as always, a quick update on my example team, 3 Added Minutes FC. By most standards, our 92-point return was pretty excellent – it’s a solid 20 points above the average – but failing to give Haaland the armband still cost me about 750 places in the worldwide rankings and I’m now down to 1659 overall. Hopefully my bench boost can propel me back into the Top 1,000 ahead of the final gameweek.

As you can see, I need to make changes in defence to get to 15 players, with the injury to Fabian Schär proving a real gut punch. I also need to shift Ben White if possible. Barring late knocks and the like, I’m probably forced to keep either White or Diego Dalot while bringing in Burn and Dunk. Given United’s diabolical performance against Crystal Palace, I’m not sure I trust Dalot to do better than White will against United, but I’ll wait until the press conferences to make my decision. I don’t see a good -4 move or enough of a reason to take a bigger hit than that.

That’s all for the penultimate gameweek of the season – best of luck, and may all of your bench boosts provide you with some huge hauls as we head down the home straight.