Big week ahead? Fantasy Football tips

Double gameweek 37 provides an opportunity late in the season for some big scores particularly if you've got a chip in play, whether that’s a wildcard, a free hit, a bench boost or the triple captain.

We've got six teams doubling - Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, Newcastle and Brighton - and it's the defensive slots that are hardest to fill with any confidence.

If I was on the wildcard or the free hit then I think I'd go for Josko Gvardiol, Pedro Porro and Dan Burn as my three starting defenders but Kieran Trippier could be a very exciting differential pick if Eddie Howe tells us that he's fit to play and if you can fit him into your budget.

I wouldn't necessarily expect a clean sheet from Porro in either of Tottenham's games against Burnley and Manchester City but he's in there for the potential attacking returns given that he loves to get forward and is likely to be taking some of the set-pieces too.

Don't waste a Manchester City or Newcastle spot on your goalkeeper because they will be far more valuable to you in midfield or up front and we don't even know whether Martin Dubravka or Nick Pope will be between the sticks for Newcastle against Brighton and Manchester United.

Chelsea's Djordje Petrovic is the most sensible choice as your double gameweek goalkeeper with Tottenham's Guglielmo Vicario as back-up if you're on the bench boost.

If you're not convinced by any of them then Jordan Pickford looks to have the best single gameweek fixture with Everton at home to Sheffield United.

The eight attacking spots in your team aren't tricky to fill but the question will be how can you differentiate your team to get an edge on your FPL rivals particularly if you're behind in some of your mini-leagues?

The most popular picks will be Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden, Son Heung-Min, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak.

I definitely wouldn't want to be without Haaland, Palmer, Son and Isak and one of Foden or De Bruyne so that leaves you with three spots to play with.

We'll have a look at some of the possible differentials in a moment but the other player to mention here is Bruno Fernandes who was absent for Manchester United's humiliating 4-0 defeat by Crystal Palace on Monday night.

As bad as United were at Selhurst Park I still don't think it's the worst move to keep Fernandes if you've got him and if he's passed fit to start the two home games against Arsenal and Newcastle.

But if you've got no other issues with your team and you've got a transfer to burn then you may well want to replace him and I know quite a few managers who are eyeing up Richarlison for that move this week.

It's very difficult to back against the most expensive player in the game, who scored four goals in his last fixture for a team that needs three more wins to guarantee them an unprecedented fourth consecutive English top-flight title.

Haaland is definitely going to be the pick for those managers who are defending leads in their mini-leagues but if you're chasing then a double gameweek also provides the opportunity to make big gains if you take a risk on the captaincy and get lucky.

Isak could be that risk this week because I think a home game against Brighton and a trip to Old Trafford offers Newcastle a good chance of adding a few more goals to their already healthy tally of 78 in the league this season.

All I'll say here is don't forget to take the gameweek 38 fixtures into account when you're making your moves particularly if you’re thinking about removing Arsenal players who only have the one game away to Manchester United this week.

Those Arsenal players are at home to Everton on the final weekend of the season when the title may still be on the line so it may well be worth hanging on to them.

Which choice is likely to bring you more points? Bukayo Saka with two games against Manchester United and Everton or someone like Richarlison who has three games against Burnley, Manchester City and Sheffield United.

There's nothing to stop you taking an Arsenal player out this week and bringing them straight back in next week but if you really want the Arsenal man in gameweek 38 then I'd hang on to them.

Richarlison has already had two mentions in this piece so you can probably tell I like him as a differential this week.

Tottenham immediately looked better when he came on against Liverpool and he's facing the Burnley and Sheffield United defences in two of his last three games.

I'm going to offer Chelsea’s Noni Madueke as a suggestion for the third week in a row and I’m going to chuck Callum Wilson in there as well, either as an alternative to Isak up front or you could go all in on the Newcastle attack and have the pair of them.

Going against Haaland with the captaincy. It didn't pay off last week obviously but, as the famous line in the Cannonball Run goes, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly!

Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the Fantasy 606 podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave. Just search for 'Fantasy 606' on the BBC Sounds app and click subscribe.