Launched in late March, the official Fantasy Challenge game is offering managers a fresh twist for Gameweek 35.
Separate from the main Fantasy Premier League (FPL) format, Fantasy Challenge is essentially a series of independent weekly Free Hits. Yet each one comes with a stipulation.
Gameweek 35 gives double points to all players from five London sides – Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur.
Point-scoring is the same, it’s still a 15-man squad and the budget remains £100m. A captain and vice-captain need picking too, with prizes on offer.
But two big differences are that you’re allowed up to five players per Premier League team and the line-up can be edited at any point up until there are less than four teams left to play in the Gameweek.
FANTASY CHALLENGE GAMEWEEK 35: SCOUT PICKS
The reason for this stipulation is our arrival at London derby weekend, where each of the selected five have at least one encounter with a nearby neighbour. Brentford and West Ham United instead face Merseyside opponents.
Similarly to last week’s challenge that multiplied Sheffield United’s Double Gameweek points by two, this essentially makes it a Quadruple Gameweek for both Chelsea and Spurs.
Therefore picking and captaining Cole Palmer (£6.2m) is an obvious choice, assuming he recovers from a midweek illness. His previous five matches have accumulated a staggering 10 goals and 79 FPL points.
On the other hand, Nicolas Jackson (£6.9m) is frustrating to watch. He’s way under his expected goals (xG) tally and was lucky to avoid a Tuesday night red card. But a starting forward’s double being doubled is hard to ignore.
Further back, Chelsea’s defence has conceded 26 goals in 11 matches, so let’s just grab Djordje Petrovic (£4.6m) for his potential save points.
At least Spurs have one of the league’s most attacking defenders to offset their own leakiness. In this position, nobody has recorded more attempts (42) than Pedro Porro (£5.8m) and he finally got his maiden goal of the season in Gameweek 32.
A two-week break has followed their 4-0 defeat at Newcastle United, justifying the midfield double-up of Son Heung-min (£9.8m) and Brennan Johnson (£5.8m). The former is goalless in three matches but a trusted FPL legend, whilst the latter betters all team-mates for big chances (16) this season.
North London rivals Arsenal warmed up for Sunday’s big clash by comfortably overcoming Chelsea. Eight clean sheets in 11 matches, where Ben White (£6.0m) actually registered nine because he was taken off before Aston Villa breached their imperious backline.
His two goals versus the Blues were matched by team-mate Kai Havertz (£7.4m). Outshining Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) once again, he’s on seven goals, five assists and 87 points in the latest 10 outings.
As for Fulham v Crystal Palace, Eberechi Eze (£6.1m) is in exciting form but let’s opt for Rodrigo Muniz (£4.6m) as the substitute forward instead of Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.1m). We’ll get to see the teamsheets from Craven Cottage, so Michael Olise (£5.6m) can come in for Eze if he fails to shake off an injury.
Elsewhere, two non-London players make the line-up, such is the confidence that Newcastle will beat Sheffield United. Maybe not the same 8-0 scoreline as in September but enough for Alexander Isak (£8.1m) and Fabian Schar (£5.6m) hauls.
JOIN THE FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT MINI-LEAGUE
By the way, you can join the mini-league that we’ve created.
Simply follow this link and you’ll be added automatically once you’ve entered the game.
League Code: 59d69w
FANTASY CHALLENGE PRIZES
END-OF-SEASON DRAW
- Trip to New York City
- Exclusive tour of the NBC Studio
- Includes flights and accommodation for five nights
Eligibility to win this random draw requires you to have joined the game and entered a team before 2023/24 ends. Each Gameweek team entry is an entry to the prize draw.
WEEKLY PRIZES
The top three each receive an official Premier League Nike match ball, the EA SPORTS FC game and a bundle of FPL merchandise that includes a rucksack, t-shirt, mug and more.
On top of this, the weekly winner will get a signed Premier League shirt.