FPL Gameweek 31: Tips, Captain, Transfers, Differential & Team

Gameweek 31 could be another calm round of Fantasy Premier League before we jump back to the chaos of blank gameweeks and double gameweeks again. So, let’s discuss our FPL GW31 Tips with the best picks, fixtures to target, transfer targets, captain, differentials, odds & team selection.

1. Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 31 Tips

• Now, you should have a pretty good picture when you use your remaining chips like free hit or wildcard
• If you do not aim to free hit in GW32, you can save one free transfer so you have 2 free transfers available before the crucial blank gameweek 32
• If you plan to free hit in GW32, use all your free transfers now (focus on GW34 double gameweek players), as no transfer can be carried forward after playing the free hit chip
• Rashford replacement: if you will not free hit in GW32 than Arsenal midfielder or even Andreas are great Rashford replacements. If you will free hit in GW32, Jack Grealish is the obvious joice
• Do not forget, there are Champions League fixtures midweek, so wait until they are finished before you make your moves
• Keep Maddison. He is a quality player and he should deliver soon. Sell him after he scores, not after he blanks.
• Keep Toney now for blank gameweek 32. Time to sell was previous gameweek. If you sticked to him, stick to your strategy.

2. Free Hit in GW32 or GW34?

It depends on your preferences and your team’s current shape.

However, we like to use Free Hit in a double gameweek where big teams play twice rather than in a blank gameweek where big teams do not play.

We think, points potential for the free hit in Gameweek 34 is higher than it is in Gameweek 32. Because in GW32 you would have to load up (apart from Arsenal and Liverpool) on players from weaker teams whose points potential is lower. But in Gameweek 34, you would load up on City, Liverpool, and United players with excellent fixtures.

But that is just our view – you will have to make your own conclusion based on your team’s current situation. If you have enough Manchester City, United, and Liverpool players for double gameweek 34 already, then you could free hit in GW32 where the majority of your current squad blanks.

However, if you could field 11 starting players in Gameweek 32 with no hits (or a maximum of 1 hit), you could save your free hit for double gameweek 34.

Read more: When is next double gameweek in FPL?

3. Key players to own and transfer targets for GW31

Key players

• Haaland – if you have him great. If you will free hit in GW32, you could buy him now. If you will not free hit in Gameweek 32, wait until GW33 to buy him
• Trippier – the top-scoring defender, have a fixture in blank and 2 fixtures in the upcoming double gameweek as well
• Arsenal attacking players – you want the best players from the best teams in your team regardless of the fixture
• Watkins/Toney – good form, solid fixtures ahead, and both have matches in blank GW32
• Manchester City defending player – Dias/Ederson/Aké – for those managers who aim to free hit in GW32
• Salah or Kane – you likely cannot have them both if you have Haaland. Both are captaincy options for Gameweek 31 and have fixtures in blank GW32. Salah also has a double gameweek in GW34, so he is the preferred option for managers without a wildcard or free hit

Potential transfer targets:

1. Salah (if you do not have any chips left)
2. TAA / Alison (if you do not have any chips left)
3. Haaland, Grealish, Dias, De Bruyne (GW32 free hit)
4. Saka (if you sold him)
5. Andreas (as a way to upgrade someone else in your team)

Players to transfer out:

1. One of your Brighton players, if you do not free hit in GW32 (but aim to bring him back for double gameweeks)
2. Rashford
3. Havertz/Chelsa players (if you do not free hit in Gameweek 32)

4. Fixtures to target in Gameweek 31

In which fixtures we could expect a lot of fantasy points? Fixtures to target in double GW31 according to bookies odds:

• Manchester City vs Leicester: Citizens 81 % to win, 56 % to score 2.5+ goals
• Tottenham vs Bournemouth: Spurs 67 % to win, 37 % to score 2.5+ goals
• Nottingham vs Manchester United: Red Devils 59 % to win, 29 % to score 2.5+ goals
• West Ham vs Arsenal: The Gunners 58 % to win, 28 % to score 2.5+ goals
• Leeds vs Liverpool: The Reds 54 % to win, 30 % to score 2.5+ goals

5. Differential for GW31

Gundogan (Manchester City, 7.3m)

• owned only by 2.3 % of FPL managers
• great one week punt for GW31 against shaky Leicester defense

6. Best captain pick in FPL GW31

Haaland is the obvious captain pick for Gameweek 31. However, if you are looking for a differential captain, you could consider to captain Kane who is also reliable captaincy options this season or Salah in his fixture against Leeds.

7. Using Chips in Gameweek 31

We do not plan to use any chip in Gameweek 31 – we are saving our free hit for Double Gameweek 34. However, if your team is in bad shape, you could possibly use your wildcard. But be careful, design your wildcard team with blank gameweek 32 and double gameweek 34 fixtures in mind. You can find our GW31 Wildcard draft here:

• FPL Wildcard Team Inspiration for GW31

And if you are slowly starting to plan your free hit squad for blank gameweek 32, here are our first thoughts and our first draft for GW32 free hit team:

• FPL Free Hit Team Inspiration for GW32

8. What bookies odds say about Gameweek 31

As usual, we converted bookies odds into probabilities using our Odds to probability calculator, to assess the potential of gameweek 31.

Clean sheet odds for GW31

With a 48 % probability of keeping a clean sheet, Manchester City leads the clean sheet odds table for GW31 followed by Tottenham (42 %). Bookies also expect Arsenal (40 %) and Manchester United (39 %) to do well defensively in Gameweek 31.

⚽Clean sheet odds for Gameweek 31 in #FPL#GW31 #FPLCommunity

Find full table at: https://t.co/qqR5rk3ohZ pic.twitter.com/G5X7PT3RCw

— Fantasy Football Reports (@FplReports) April 14, 2023

Expected vs. actual clean sheets

Due to a correction in the number of clean sheets: Manchester United, Newcastle

Manchester United overperformed their defensive expectations the most from all teams. They should have kept 8.58 clean sheets instead of 13 according to our expected clean sheets table.

Due to an improvement in the number of clean sheets: Manchester City, Southampton

Manchester City underperformed their defensive expectations the most of all teams. They should have kept 12.93 clean sheets instead of 10 according to our expected clean sheets table. Citizens have also “the most clean sheets left” in them for this season according to our Clea Sheets left table.

You can see the Expected clean sheets table, Clean Sheets left table and clean sheet odds for all Premier League teams here.

Goalscoring odds for GW31

As usual, Haaland (62 %) leads the goalscoring odds table for the following round of Premier League. He is followed by Kane (48 %), Alvarez (43 %) and Salah (39 %).

Find out who is most likely to score a goal in GW31 in our table: Premier League Goalscoring Odds.

9. FPL GW31 Team selection

Now let’s look at our FPL team selection for Gameweek 31 – Scout squad. Haaland is our captain. If Rashford is out, Grealish would be his replacement.

10. Fantasy Premier League Tips

Find more tips, strategies and picks for Fantasy Premier League in these articles:

• Beginner? Read our guide: How to play Fantasy Premier League
• Confused about the rules? Read the Official rules of the game or check our FAQs
• Want to beat your mini-league rivals? This article is for you: 7 Key Tips for Fantasy Premier League Success
• Interested in improving your decision-making process when picking players to your fantasy team? Check out Books that will help you to improve your FPL skills

We hope our FPL GW31 tips helped you to gather some useful information before the gameweek 31 deadline.

Join our Fantasy Football Reports League if you haven’t already with a league code of zte1cv. Or click the auto-join here.

Good luck in FPL GW31!