It’s almost as if the international break came at the right time for us FPL managers. It has given us time to take a breather and evaluate our teams. Evaluating and planning is exactly what we’ve been up to during this international break.
After careful examination of fixtures, teams, players, and their form, we’ve come up with a gameweek 31 wildcard draft template guide that should take you from now till the end of the season.
This wildcard draft alongside our chip strategy guide will be more than enough to see you through the remainder of the season.
Let’s now take a look at some of the FPL assets we should target for our Gameweek 31 wildcard draft. We’d, first of all, create our first eleven before selecting our bench players.
GW31wildcard draft: Our Goalkeeper
Nick Pope
Nick Pope will be the goalkeeper for our gameweek 31 wildcard draft and he will be our goalie from now till the end of the season. Why Pope, you may ask? Well, while other teams have nine games to go, Burnley have eleven games to go.
This means they are going to have a couple of double gameweeks, three to be precise, from now till the end of the season – no other goalie has that many games to go.
The number of fixtures and the upcoming double gameweeks make it hard to ignore Burnley’s shot-stopper. Another great thing about Nick Pope and Burnley is that their fixtures from now until the end of the season aren’t all that difficult – five of their next eleven fixtures have an FDR of two, while only two of their next eleven fixtures have an FDR of four and five.
Nick Pope’s great fixtures alongside three double gameweeks make him a good keeper now, and over the course of the season.
Gameweek 31 wildcard draft defender picks
In this wildcard draft, we are going to pick three defenders that will be staying in our team from GW31-38. These three defenders would be premium FPL assets. We will then pick two other budget FPL defenders who will be bench players.
Andy Robertson
Andy Robertson will be the defender we go with in our gameweek 31 wildcard draft. It’s a bit of a tricky one between him and Trent. If we’re being honest, Robertson has been outperforming Trent in recent weeks.
In fact, in their last five games, Robertson has picked up seven more points than his full-back partner Trent. His impressive form has earned him a player of the month nomination.
And while Trent might be a popular pick, we’d be going with a bit of a differential here with Andy Robertson. However, if form changes and Trent starts outperforming Robertson, he will come into our team.
Another thing worth noting is that Trent is currently down with injury and could miss the game against Watford. If that should happen, Robertson would be a really good replacement.
Joao Cancelo
Joao Cancelo is a must-have FPL asset going into the final weeks of the season. Man City are currently fighting for the Premier League title – they are just one point clear of rivals Liverpool.
This is a good thing for FPL managers because Man city can’t afford to drop any more points and they will have to field their strongest XI from now till the end of the season.
Joao Cancelo is a very crucial part of this Man City team and if they are going to win the league this season, they’d need him to be at his best.
Reece James
Looks like he’ll soon return to full fitness, which is good for us FPL managers. James’ numbers have been ridiculous this season.
He currently sits top of the goal-scoring chart for defenders, has six assists already this season, and averages 6.4 points per match.
He is a great FPL asset and will be in our Gameweek 31 wildcard draft. Chelsea’s clean sheets and James’ attacking returns make him a great pick from now till the end of the season.
One downside is that Chelsea don’t really have much to play for in the league this season and so James might not start all the games from now till the end of the season.
Apart from that, though, I think he’s a really good asset to bring into your team.
A great alternative that is way much cheaper is Ben White. I know he’s not a full-back and he’s not as explosive as James. We are working with a budget and not everyone can afford all three premium defenders.
Arsenal still have much to play for this season and there’s no doubt White would be crucial for them. For that reason we’d be going with Ben White.
Gameweek 31 wildcard draft Midfielder picks
In our gameweek 31 wildcard draft, we’d be going with five players in midfield. Our midfield picks would be a combination of premium, mid and low budget midfielders.
Mo Salah
Salah kind of picks himself if we’re being honest. The player with the most FPL points this season, the player with the most goal involvements, and the top scorer in the league with 20 goals.
He’s a must-have FPL asset and a player that could be captained from GW31-38 he is a Rolls-Royce of an FPL asset and should be the first name on your team sheet.
If you don’t want to select Salah and are looking to go down the differential route, check this post out for other premium differential FPL assets.
Riyad Mahrez
Mahrez will be the next midfielder on our list of midfielder picks in gameweek 31 and the upcoming gameweek from now till the end of the season.
He is one of the most in-form players right now – he has scored 22 goals in all competitions this season – and ten of them are in the premier league.
Mahrez is currently selected by 4.2% of FPL managers, which is pretty low for an 8.7 million Man city midfielder who is scoring goals and is on penalties.
I think a lot of FPL managers are sleeping on this and gameweek 31 would be a good time to bring in the Algerian winger. Mahrez plays against one of his favorite opponents, Burnley, in gameweek 31 – he has scored eight goals in eleven games against them.
If you don’t want to go for Riyad Mahrez, Kai Haverts is a good alternative, the Chelsea man has been in good form in recent weeks and he is one you could alternatively go for.
Raphinha
Raphinha would be a good player to have from now till the end of the season and would also be a good addition to our gameweek 31 wildcard draft.
Leeds are currently fighting to stay up and they are going to need their best player, Raphinha, to be in top form from now till the end of the season.
This sort of added incentive is what makes Raphina a good asset not just for gameweek 31, but for the rest of the season.
There’s no doubt that he would play a vital role if Leeds were to stay up. He is the player who has picked up the most points amongst Leeds’ assets, has the most goals, and is joint second in the assist chart for Leeds this season.
He truly is one of their best players and one who would have to come clutch for his team. If he does come clutch, we FPL managers do not want to miss it.
Bukayo Saka
With nine games left this season, we really have to select the right FPL assets and when selecting FPL assets at this time, we want to make sure we pick players who have something to play for.
Arsenal fit the bill in that regard. They currently sit fourth in the Premier League table and are fighting for a place in the UCL next season.
This makes Saka, who has been Arsenal’s best player, a really good FPL asset to add to our GW31 wildcard draft. The Arsenal man has picked up the most points amongst Arsenal’s FPL assets, he is the joint top-scorer and is second on the assist chart for Arsenal football club.
His form and Arsenal’s fight to play in the UCL next season makes him a perfect fit for our Gameweek 31 wildcard draft.
Anthony Gordon
Anthony Gordon is on this list because of his price. A midfield player who is valued at 4.5 million, who is a nailed-on starter for Everton with a couple of double gameweeks left for him, it really is a no-brainer that he has to be in our team.
Gordon has been one of Everton’s best players this season and he would definitely play a pivotal role if they were to stay up.
Gameweek 31 wildcard draft Forward picks
In this Gameweek 31 wildcard draft, we are going to be selecting three forwards Kane, Broja and Wout Weghorst.
Harry Kane
Harry Kane is a must-have. The Englishman is the most in-form forward in the game at the moment and it’s really hard to look past him.
There’s nothing better than seeing an in-form Harry Kane – the Spurs forward has picked up 51 points in his last five matches. After a difficult start to his season, it is good to see Harry Kane back on form and scoring goals.
His immaculate form has given him a place in our gameweek 31 wildcard draft team.
Wout Weghorst
We all know that strikers have been really poor this season. It has been hard to pick a striker and many of us have probably used up to four different strikers already this season.
That being said, it looks like Weghorst is the way to go from now till the end of the season. The reason being the number of fixtures he has left and Burnley’s fight to stay in the division.
They have a lot to play for and if they’re going to score goals, you’d be expecting their center forward to be in and amongst the goals.
Weghorst is Burnley’s main man and he’ll be our second striker in this wildcard draft.
With the main eleven out of the way, let’s now pick our bench players
- Foster (Watford)
- Broja (Southampton)
- Roberts (Burnley)
- Ait Nouri (Wolves)
Gameweek 31 wildcard draft and team selection from now till the end of the season
Now that we’ve identified the players we are going to be selecting, it now time for us to reveal our team and see how it would look from now until the end of the season.
Here’s how we are going to be setup for gameweek 31. Still not the final team as we are going to tweaks and changes to the team selection and provide more thoughts on the best captain for gameweek 31 so make sure to check back as we’d be writing more articles on these things.
Here’s how our team would look from gameweek 32-38.
Whether you’re looking to get an added advantage over your rivals or you’re looking to move up in the overall rankings, this gameweek 31 wildcard draft alongside our chip strategy guide should give you that added advantage over your rivals.
Redeyedrae, is an FPL content writer with years of experience in playing and writing about FPL. He has written for major FPL blogs like ALLABOUTFPL, Fantasytipsters, FF Titans, and nevermanagealone. With his deep knowledge of the game, he has become a trusted source for FPL fans worldwide. His content is well-researched and always up-to-date. He’s passionate about helping FPL managers gain an edge in their leagues by sharing insights and analysis about everything fantasy football on raensports.
