Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 37 hints, tips and captain picks as Man Utd and Man City play twice

Hints, tips and strategies for Gameweek 37 in the FPL as Manchester United and Manchester City gear up for a double gameweek.
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We’re so close to the final whistle that we can hear the champagne bottles clinking in the dressing room – or the scratch of the chairman’s pen as he draws up the P45, of course. There are just two Fantasy Premier League gameweeks left, and we’re here to give you all the big updates and suggest some strategies as week 37 hoves into view. And please don’t worry, you can’t actually be sacked by your fantasy team, even if you are bottom of the work league.

Whether you’re playing for a big prize pot or just praying for some late-season respectability, we’re going to go over the best ways to pick up some points in the final stretch of the season – and thanks to a string of injury doubts, things are a little trickier than many of us would like. You’ll need to have made your choices by 11.00am BST on Saturday.

With both Manchester sides facing doubles this week – along with Brighton and Chelsea – let’s start by taking a look at the best picks from the champions elect and a side desperately hoping they can scratch into the Champions League.

Manchester madness

We went over the way to pick your Brighton players last week, so hopefully you’re well set up in that department – and, given recent form, you’ll be well set up if you don’t have any Chelsea players. If you’re truly desperate for a differential, you can give someone like Raheem Sterling a whirl, but with their games both coming against the Manchester sides, the safe bet is to steer well clear of anyone employed at Stamford Bridge.

For Manchester City, there are no new injury concerns – Nathan Aké remains a doubt – but we always have to make sure we stay on the right side of Pep Roulette. With some players likely to be rested after the magnificent 4-0 defeat of Real Madrid this week, otherwise promising assets like Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and Kevin de Bruyne are just that bit more likely to see some bench time.

We reckon that Erling Haaland should be a safe enough pick-up, as always, but if you’re looking for some City players to make a difference, both Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden should probably shuffle up your pecking order a little bit given recent selection patterns. But Pep Guardiola loves to spring a surprise, so be aware that any selections from the sky blue half of Manchester are always a risk of at least some stripe.

For Manchester United, the biggest question mark is over the fitness of Marcus Rashford. Missing out last week with a leg injury, he’s back in training but it’s hard to say how many minutes he’ll get against Bournemouth and Chelsea. With so much on the line, it’s likely that Erik ten Hag will play him if it’s at all possible, but keep an eye out on his press conference before committing.

Rashford is unlikely to miss the full 180 minutes which makes some of the rotation players up front, like Anthony Martial, less appealing, but staples like Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw should be safe enough. Diego Dalot is a tempting cheap-ish option in defence but missed out last weekend with rest and rotation at the forefront of Ten Hag’s mind. Be warned that there are no guarantees he’ll play, but he does tend to pick up the points when he’s on the pitch.

Few people have Marcel Sabitzer in their squad but in case you do and missed the memo – he won’t play again this season following a knee injury, so make sure you ship him in case you’d had him in the hope that he gets pushed up front as an emergency striker again.

Captains and crocks

Elsewhere, there are quite a few players who could miss out on some or all of the action in Gameweek 37. Darwin Nuñez is a doubt – frustrating, as Liverpool have one of the better run-ins available – Dominic Calvert-Lewin has a question mark over his head, and Ivan Toney is of course now out not just for the season but the foreseeable future after picking up an eight-month suspension for gambling.

Gabriel Martinelli is another big-name FPL player who might well miss out, Oleksandr Zinchenko is very unlikely to feature, and Wilf Zaha, Eric Dier, Phillipe Coutinho and Danny Ward round out the list of at least faintly relevant players who may not get in the game.

If you’re looking for teams outside of those who have double gameweeks to pick players from, the best run-ins belong to Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Everton, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. It’s obviously tough to recommend any Everton players, but the likes of Eberechi Eze, Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min are all genuine considerations for spots, if you have the room for them.

As for price changes, be aware that Pervis Estupiñán, Julio Álvarez, Pascal Groß and Julio Enciso may well rise in price as doubles hove into view, while Nick Pope, Jack Grealish and Miguel Almirón are among the fit and healthy players who prices are in decline. If you’re tight on the cash needed to make your moves and planned transfers involve any of those players, make them quickly to be safe.

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As for the captaincy? Well, it’s Haaland. Unless, of course, you need to roll the dice on a precious differential. Stick to the doubles, of course, but we’d say Bruno Fernandes is the next best choice available. At this stage of the season, it all comes down to what you’ve got available – but Rashford will be a big risk and the chances are that any City player you can name will spend some time sat on the bench. Still, we won’t blame anyone with plumping for De Bruyne given the form he’s on, and while he’s far from rotation-proof, he won’t be left on the sidelines altogether. Surely. But then, this is Pep Guardiola we’re working with…

Best of luck, and may all your double gameweek players get the full 180 minutes on the field.