Welcome back to the penultimate week of the 25/26 season.
We've now officially entered squeaky bum time as far as the Premier League and its fantasy game are concerned.
In the league itself, the high stakes match between West Ham and Arsenal on Sunday had it all. Chances missed, massive saves made and a controversial refereeing decision to chalk off a West Ham equaliser.
It leaves the very extremes of the table both with just a 2 point gap between glory and in the case of the relegation fight, a drop door to the Championship.
This game week is a bit of an odd one in terms of scheduling. We have a match on Friday between Villa and Liverpool which is always worth bearing in mind - don't miss the cut-off! Then a break for the FA Cup Final on Saturday with the remaining matches across Sunday to Tuesday.
Off the back end of that, it's also worth noting that Villa play in the Europa League Final on Wednesday.
The scheduling introduces a couple of additional points for FPL managers to consider when picking their teams
Priorities and Squad Management
For the likes of Villa and Chelsea it's likely that their focus will be on the cup competitions. Villa are all but guaranteed Champions League football via their league position anyway and so silverware is very much their priority.
Chelsea aren't realistically going to finish any higher than 8th and so the Cup is their route into the Europa League and a chance at redemption following a very poor season.
I think we'll see a lot of Villa players rested for the visit of Liverpool tonight. Does that make it a game to target? This is a Liverpool side that was booed off in their most recent match against Chelsea.
For Chelsea, their league game comes after the FA Cup final so it's perhaps more a question of who might still be nursing a hangover at the start of next week should they win. At the same time, it's Spurs who visit Stamford Bridge and I very much doubt the Chelsea players or supporters will be looking to do them any favours!
For City, it's going to be all in on both fronts! FPL sides got burned earlier in the week by Pep shuffling the pack against Palace. That sort of suggests that the likes of Haaland and O'Riley, popular picks who didn't feature at all in that game, will be back and available for both matches.
It doesn't of course guarantee that a few players might be brought in and out. Phil Foden played well on Wednesday in his first league start in over 2 months and Ruben Dias returned to the bench after a fairly lengthy lay off.
What's to play for?
Lots is the simple answer!
Exactly who still has something to play for whether that be the title itself, survival in the league or a place in Europa next year is much harder to ascertain at this point but by my reckoning there are only 6 sides who can start dreaming of their summer holidays at this point.
The results across the next 4 days will also be huge in determining just how many spots in Europe will be available and what place in the league you need to achieve to get one!
I won't go through every permutation (there's plenty of articles out there that do that) but for most of the teams in that midtable scrum, the best sequence of results (as well as getting a win themselves this weekend) would be for
- Liverpool to win at Villa
- Chelsea to win the FA Cup
- Chelsea to beat Spurs
- Villa to win the Europa League
Those results could keep even teams like Everton, Fulham, Sunderland and Newcastle in with an outside shot at knicking a place in Europe next season and so for FPL managers it does provide a certain level of comfort in knowing that your picks and their teams are probably going to show up in the matches this weekend!
Hive FPL Classic League
Still lots to play for in this and all the Hive FPL competitions too!
Blue Mooners continue to hang onto top spot. Cunha Do Sum'4 Mee shaved 3 points off their lead but the gap remains at a healthy 20 points. Do the 22/23 Hive FPL Champions have enough time to close the gap?
Below them Sutter Kane, top of the league for much of the season, is making a late charge with 92 points this game week while Suffragette City also hit 90+ points to consolidate their top 10 spot. It might be a little late for them or anyone else to mount a title challenge at this stage of the season. I think it's realistically a 3 horse race.
Of course the prize funds extends down to 10th spot so there is still plenty to play for. Tengo Rangers also had a great game week while Hiveheadz, a very consistent side over the 4 years of the Hive FPL have also entered the fray.
Chips were of course a big factor in most of those sides hitting big scores last week. Here on out, it will primarily be your free transfers, captain picks and what you've already got in the squad that will decide things at the end of the season.
Of the top 15, only 2 have chips to play
- Fire Power (3rd) - Triple Captain
- Formidable Milano (15th) - Bench Boost
How they deploy them will be crucial to their end of season push for top spot and top 10 respectively.
Hive FPL Cup
The big shock of the QFs was Murima's victory over Cunha Do Sum'4 Me, a defeat which marked a pretty poor week for 
| Team | Hive Account | Team | Hive Account | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murima |  | v | Garuda XI |  |
| Suffragette City |  | v | Blue Mooners |  |
Murima's reward is a semi against Garuda XI while top of the table Lee Bennet is still chasing the possibility of a historic treble as he goes up against Suffragette City for a spot in the final next week.
H2H Division 1
Massive wins for Likodra FC and BlockchainFPL over their closest rivals Red Cards of Rohan and Cunha Do Sum'4 Me have narrowed it down to a 2 horse race for the title.
However, those 2 defeated teams will still have a big bearing on who ends up champions! Cunha Do Sum'4 Me play Likodra in GW37 while Red Cards of Rohan take on Blockchain FPL in the final week. One slip up now and they'll be no opportunity to catch back up!
At the bottom, Spero FC and Hungry Lions got hugely important wins to move themselves 3 points clear of the drop zone. Formidable Milano's good run continues but have they left it too late to escape relegation?
Again, we've got some real 6 pointers down at the bottom in GW37.
Hungry Lions (14th) take on Skander (16th). A defeat for either could spell the end of their runs in the Hive top flight (they've been there since the beginning).
Meanwhile last year's Classic League champs Spero FC (13th) have also found some late season form but are up against Formidable Milano (17th), a team that came up with them last season and are fighting tooth and nail to remain in Division 1.
GW36 Results
H2H Division 2
In Division 2 very little has changed - it remains a bum's rush for the top 5.
Sutter Kane may have moved to within striking distance at the top of the Classic League but their 91 points wasn't enough to seal victory in their head to head.
Still they and Hasalaand are 4 points clear of 6th and so need a win in 1 of the 2 remaining matches to guarantee promotion.
Racibo are in pole position to join them on 75 points and we then have 6 teams locked in heated battle for the final promotion spot on 72 points.
Total points is almost certain to determine who goes up so every single score (as well as winning their head to heads) is going to be crucial. Will we see anyone crack under the pressure?
GW36 Results
GW37 Tips
A pain in the Arsenal
With just 2 matches to go and those coming against an already relegated Burnley and a Palace side with priorities very much elsewhere then surely the title is Arsenal's to lose!
The only fly in their soup at the moment is injuries to their 2 first choice right-backs in Timber and White.
However, for FPL managers that does open the opportunity to pick up a lesser owned and cheaper defensive asset for 2 matches that you'd back the Gunners to get a clean sheet in.
After the failed experiment of Declan Rice in that position last weekend, the most likely candidate is Mosquera who at £5.3mil and in just 0.2% of teams could be a really handy differential if you don't already have 3 Arsenal players in your squad.
Lewis Skelly too might be worth a look. He's started recent matches in midfield but benefits from still being classed as a defender in the FPL world.
Or if you're keen on someone with a bit more of an attacking output you could consider Leandro Trossard who got Arsenal's winner last week having assisted in the win at Fulham the week before.
Brentford of the Champions League
That would be one of the ultimate underdog stories in sports history! However, it's very much within the Bees powers to achieve just that.
Their opponents this weekend are Palace, one of those sides who are just keeping warm for their big day later in the month. The West London team meanwhile have to win this match to keep up their hopes of Europe next season.
At home, in particular, they are a threat! Dango has an xGI of 3 in his last 5 home matches while Damsgaard is beginning to pull the strings in the manner that he did last season.
Of course they are feeding one of the most important FPL picks of the season in Thiago, a player whose net transfers have dropped in 4 out of the last 5 game weeks. This could either be a great opportunity to get him back in or if you've stayed loyal you might be about to reap the rewards compared to those who jumped ship on a guy with 22 Premier League goals this season!