Welcome back to Hive FPL for GW35 of the season.
Where do we start? There's so much going on in the league itself as well as the 4 x Hive FPL competitions that are currently running.
The Gunners are back top of the league after a very Arsenal like 1-0 win against Newcastle at the weekend. With City not playing until Monday evening, Arteta's side have the opportunity to stretch their lead to 6 points while Pep has to play catch-up.
United have now secured Champions League football for next season, you'd have got long odds on that happening at the turn of the year with 4 games still to play.
Liverpool and Villa could both join them in Europe's elite competition with victories themselves this weekend.
Then we're into the log jam!
Brighton certainly have the momentum at this point in time and they face a Newcastle team who have lost their last 4 and look more likely to finish closer to the relegation spots than Europe.
Bournemouth face a Palace side whose priorities perhaps lie elsewhere while Brentford and Chelsea both play in fixtures that are significant to the outcome of their own seasons and those of their opponents as they face West Ham and Notts Forest respectively.
From an FPL point of view, managers will be selecting from a standard 10 match round this weekend while also having an eye on GW36 which includes an 11th match as City and Palace play each other.
Let's have a quick review of the various Hive competitions
Classic League
Much like last season, this one looks likely to go down to the wire!
Blue Mooners are hanging on to top spot for now but it seems like the chasing pack get closer every week.
Earlier in the season, the classic league was being dominated by Division 2 sides but more recently we've seen the likes of 
The top 10 all get a share of the main prize fund and it's looking like a 14 team race for that. It'd take a true collapse for any of the current top 5 not to finish in the top 10 so realistically it's a 9 team shoot out for the final 5 spots.
The Hive FPL Cup
I've been promising to do a bit on it for several weeks and so here we go.
We're down to the final 16 teams!
| Team | Hive Account | Team | Hive Account | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffragette City | - | - | Formidable Milano | - |
| Hungry Lions | - | - | Fire Power | - |
| Murima | - | - | Spero FC | - |
| racibo | - | - | Hiveheadz | - |
| Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee | - | - | Steve Herbae | - |
| Garuda XI | - | - | Hasaaland | - |
| Bennett's Boys | - | - | Blue Mooners | - |
| Los Magos del Balón | - | - | Newton Heath RFC | - |
We've got some heavy hitters in amongst those sides. The likes of Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee and Blue Mooners are both chasing a Classic, Cup, H2H treble this year.
In total we have 7 Division 1 sides still in the mix plus the likes of Hasaaland, Fire Power, Garuda XI and Racibo who are all currently in the top 11 of the Classic League.
Spero FC, Classic League champions from last season are still alive and finishing the season strongly. Can they make it 2 trophies in 2 years?
At the other end of the spectrum we've got Los Magos del Balón who are currently 50th in the Classic League up against Newton Heath RFC who are 29th. One of those sides will be through to the Quarter Finals to face the big boys and the chance of cup glory!
Division 1 Head to Head
Likodra FC are back at the top taking advantage of BlockchainFPL's slip up to take a 2 point lead with 4 to play.
Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee are very much still in the hunt, not least of all because they play the 2 sides above them in GW36 and GW37! This could be an epic finish to the season.
At the other end, the bottom 4 are going to have a tough time reaching the safety of 15th place. In fact, Vickoly FC and Legion FC could have their relegation confirmed by the end of the game week.
Formidable Milano's superior total points haul gives them a small chance of digging themselves out of a hole but they'd probably need to win the last 4 rounds.
It's therefore looking like a scrap to avoid the final spot in the bottom 5 between 6 teams.
I'd previously said 50 points would be good enough for safety. It could still be the case but 52 would make survival all but certain. In that sense, there's still a little bit of work for Nonzy FC and Jungle Squad to do this season. However, it's the other 4 who are really in the thick of it.
This then is very much the last chance salon as far as Formidable Milano are concerned. A loss would all but see them relegated but a win would pull them to within 3 points.
Both sides used their free hits in GW34 so the player comparisons are based on their respective GW33 squads.
The most obvious thing to note is there aren't many differences between these 2 sides!
Hungry Lions have a slight disadvantage with Gudmundsson unavailable due to injury, you'd imagine he would have been in the running for a start with Leeds at home to Burnley.
Formidable Milano also have the option to bring in defenders from relegation threatened sides in Bijol and Williams. Hungry Lions have Gabriel as a potentially significant differential.
Upfront, Joao Pedro is expected to be available for Chelsea again although it's perhaps less clear as to who will be starting for the Blues this weekend. Hungry Lions have Wellbeck, part of an inform Brighton side.
The major factor here could be FM's additional chip. Both teams still have their triple captain and I'd guess they have that earmarked for Haaland in GW36 but Formidable Milano also have a bench boost. If their focus is surviving in Hive Division 1 then this is surely the H2H to play it in!
GW34 Results
Division 2 Head to Head
From the sides fighting to stay in the top flight to those scrambling to get out of it.
This is by far the most competitive Division 2 we've ever had so to those still in with a chance of promotion, good luck!
Blue Mooners can seal promotion with a victory and I think it's only a matter of time before Sutter Kane join them. It's after that where the real fun begins. There are still just 3 points separating 9 teams in the hunt for 5th. One slip up could cost you the season!
All eyes will be on this one. Hasalaand sit in 4th with a 3 point cushion on 6th place. A win puts 1 foot into Division 1, a defeat sucks them back into the pack.
Jeremie Ping Pong lost last time out to surrender their spot in the top 5, another defeat here might be terminal with just 3 matches to go.
Both these sides have pursued the same chip strategy over the last 3 weeks - wildcard, BB and free hit but appear to have come to different conclusions over which players to select.
Jeremie Ping-Pong might be set to benefit from the strong Leeds representation versus already relegated Burnley tonight. They have the option to double up in defence and look for Calvert-Lewin to get on the scoresheet.
The 2 trump cards for Hasalaand look to be Fernandes and Gabriel, the 2nd and 3rd highest point scorers of the season to date!
GW34 Results
GW35 Player Picks and Tips
Play it conservative or go all in?
The obvious picks for captaincy this weekend will be Haaland because as is the case every week, he has the shortest odds for anytime goal scorer and Gabriel with Arsenal at home to a Fulham team that hasn't scored on the road since February. Neither is particularly inspiring and both would represent the 'play it safe' option.
There is then the possibility for managers to throw a bit of a curve ball and look elsewhere.
Bruno Fernandes at home to Liverpool should get some attention. The United captain has not blanked in his last 7 and Liverpool are hardly water tight at the back this year.
Even more left-field might be to go for Leed's Calvert-Lewin. 11 goals this season from an xG of 13.8. The goals have dried up a bit of late but the chances haven't. He's never been the most natural finisher but you'd imagine he'll get some opportunities this evening.
The Notts Forest band wagon continues to roll on with a first leg win over Villa in the Europa League last night. Morgan Gibbs-White has hit 20 and 13 points respectively over the last 2 GWs while Igor Jesus has 5 goal involvements in his last 4 matches too. They play a managerless Chelsea side who have lost 5 on the bounce in the league.
Differentials to consider
Leeds - many teams are already staked with Leeds players following the double game week in 33. A home match against Burnley and then 2 massive fixtures versus Spurs and West Ham follow. It might be less a case of buying in more Leeds players than it is in keeping them and actually putting them in your playing XI.
Casemiro - The Brazilian has been absolutely everywhere in United's last 2 games, recording 25 and 23 defcons respectively as well as popping up with a goal against Brentford. Critics might say that Casemiro rolling back the years now is good timing as he seeks an exit from the club in the summer and probably a lucrative deal in Saudi but hey, as FPL managers it might work out quite nicely!
Isak - This would be a punt and not a cheap one! Isak did score last time out and comes up against a United defence that is missing key personnel while keeping just 1 clean sheet in their last 7. He did score on his last visit to Old Trafford too, a 2-0 win for Newcastle. The plus is he's in just 4% of teams, the minus is he's still £10.3mil and therefore likely to require a bit of shuffling around to bring in.
For those looking for a bit of extra actions this Weekend. Head over to Sportsblock for the start of the Matchday Matrix contest
https://sportsblock.app/contests/matchday-matrix/matchday-matrix