FPL tips: A drop of Claret at the Palace

Burnley provide late-season differential potential while Gareth Bale and Eberechi Eze are two of the exciting Fantasy Premier League names to consider this week.

No sooner was a packed gameweek 35 wrapped up than a new one begins with a Friday teatime deadline – who should you trust for the final stages of the season?

Raise a glass to Clarets

Chris Wood has been a regular in our recommendations in recent weeks, driven by a run of eight goals and 66 fantasy points in eight games.

Form makes up 50 per cent of the PA news agency’s Transfer Score for each player, with the remainder combining cost, ownership and fixture difficulty rating (FDR) – remarkably, the £6.4million Kiwi is still selected in less than four per cent of all teams.

His transfer score of 87 out of 100 comfortably leads all strikers ahead of resurgent Crystal Palace man Christian Benteke (71), with Roberto Firmino‘s brace against Manchester United sparking a last-ditch jump to third for the Liverpool star (69).

Burnley’s burst clear of relegation danger is not all down to Wood, however, and midfielder Ashley Westwood has two goals and an assist in their last four games to break onto the midfield podium.

London pair shine in midfield

Bale’s up-and-down loan spell back at Tottenham has trended in a positive direction once more in recent weeks, never more so than with a hat-trick in the win over Sheffield United, and he trails only Wood in form (eight points per game compared to 8.5) and transfer score (82).

Just behind him in midfield is another exciting London-based winger in Eze, whose solo runs have lit up Palace’s late-season fixtures and saw him score as well as setting up Benteke’s opener in the 2-0 win over the Blades.

Minimal 1.4 per cent ownership helps him to a transfer score of 79, pipping Westwood (78) to second spot in midfield.

Llorente Leeds the way

Leeds match Liverpool for the easiest run-in by FDR, helping defender Diego Llorente score over 90 in three of the four transfer score categories.

At £4.4m and selected by just one of every 200 managers, the Spaniard has scores of 93 and 99 in those columns as well as 100 on FDR, with his solid form – averaging 5.2 points per game and translating in a score of 62 out of 100 – rounding out a transfer score of 79.

That is enough to pip Everton’s Ben Godfrey (77) to top spot in our defensive rankings this week, with Liverpool’s resurgent Trent Alexander-Arnold (74) next up for those with money to spare.

Llorente’s team-mate Illan Meslier is one of three goalkeepers tied on 70, ranking just behind Sheffield United’s Aaron Ramsdale and Everton’s Jordan Pickford after the decimal as barely a point separates a top four completed by Liverpool’s Alisson Becker (69).