Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 38 mailbag: Bench Boost buys, sacking off Saka, and holding Haaland

Pedro Porro is expected to see a lot of transfer traffic this gameweek Ben Stansall Share articleAfter 10 months of managing your Fantasy Premier League teams, the final gameweek arrives this Sunday (deadline 2.30pm UK time/9.30am ET). To give you the best possible routes to points for one last time this season, we asked our FPL experts Holly Shand and Abdul Rehman to answer any questions you had before your final roll of the dice. With questions ranging from the ultimate Free Hit team to which Manchester City and Arsenal players to prioritise, here are their answers. Note: Some questions have been edited for brevity. Gameweek 38, Free Hit team? — Jason B. Holly: Gameweek 38 could be huge for Free Hit with the title already decided. Well done for holding it this long, Jason! Here’s the team I’d go with: David Raya (£6.2m); Gabriel (£7.3m), Konstantinos Mavropanos (£4.5m), Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m); Bruno Fernandes (£10.4m), Mohamed Salah (£14m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m), Max Dowman (£4.2m); Erling Haaland (£14.7m), Richarlison (£6.4m), Danny Welbeck (£6.4m). What teams and players have the most to play for in Gameweek 38, and which will be ‘on the beach’? — Jason B. Abdul: Bournemouth and Brighton have the biggest motivation in the top half of the table. Both teams can finish sixth and get a possible Champions League position. If Aston Villa finish fifth after winning the Europa League, then sixth place will qualify for the Champions League. So I think if you have attackers from these sides, then play them. There won’t be any risk of rotation or second-string teams. In the bottom half of the table, it’s Spurs and West Ham who have everything to play for as they fight to maintain their Premier League status. Players such as Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m), Mavropanos, Richarlison, and Pedro Porro (£5.2m) are all great options for the final day. Both teams have must-win games: West Ham play Leeds at home, whereas Tottenham host Everton. The two biggest ‘beach teams’ are Arsenal and Manchester City, with the title race over. Many of us will have three players from each of these teams, so it’s going to be tough determining who plays and who doesn’t. Which midfielders to target if chasing in your mini league? Thanks — Adam J. Holly: Salah is an interesting option ahead of his Anfield farewell, with Liverpool still needing points to secure Champions League football. At £14m, he’s not easy to fit in. At Arsenal, Dowman becomes the youngest Premier League title-winner, and it would be fitting for the 16-year-old to make his first start on the final day. Elsewhere, Gibbs-White has 14 goal involvements in 2026, with his side hosting Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon, while Bruno Fernandes got his 20th assist of the season last time out, and he now has the opportunity to own the assist record outright if he can notch another away at Brighton. Best budget Bench Boost options, as I’ve got three transfers left for the final push. — Chris L. Abdul: I would look at West Ham, Brighton and Burnley. Mavropanos is fantastic value, and Brighton have some great options, such as Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.7m), Yankuba Minteh (£5.5m) and Welbeck. Brighton will also play at home to Manchester United, who are guaranteed third and may be ‘on the beach’. Burnley’s Jaidon Anthony (£5.0m) and Zian Flemming (£5.3m) are also good shouts if you want to go for differentials. They play Wolves at home and with both sides already relegated, I am guessing we will see an end-to-end game with plenty of goals. Ollie Watkins… Discuss. — John S. Holly: Ollie Watkins (£8.7m) is ending the Premier League season in scintillating form, with a place in England’s World Cup squad a key motivator in this spell. He’s produced five goals and two assists in five starts since the last international break, when he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad. However, Aston Villa might rotate heavily following their Europa League final win. He’s been underrated as a Fantasy asset in the last six gameweeks, but you may have missed the boat if you’re looking to bring him in at this late stage. With the title done before Gameweek 38, who are the least likely rotated Arsenal and City players (that are highly owned)? – Stu M. Abdul: I do not think Arsenal will rotate too heavily as they will want to keep rhythm for their Champions League final, which is six days after the final game of the season. Gabriel and William Saliba (£6.3m) would be the ones I think are least likely to get rotated. In the attack, it’s much harder to guess. For Manchester City, I would guess Haaland will start — seeing as he will want to increase his goal tally — and maybe Bernardo Silva (£6.2m) and John Stones (£5.4m) will get the nod as they will be departing at the end of the season. Barring Haaland, I don’t think there is anyone from the City team we can be too confident in. Ultimately, we are all guessing. But one bit of advice: delay your transfers for as long as possible before the deadline, as we may get some team leaks. FPL player of the season? Biggest bargain of the season? — Jason B. Holly: My FPL player of the season has to be Bruno Fernandes, as the only player I began with in Gameweek 1 who is still here for Gameweek 38. Not only has he got 31 goal involvements from 34 starts — despite missing two penalties! — but he’s been absolutely dominant for key passes (132) and big chances created (33), levelling the Premier League assist record. Gabriel has to be the biggest bargain, beginning the campaign at just £6m and ending in the 200-point club. He now has the chance to break the record for the best Fantasy season for a defender on the final day. Rogers replacement for this week? £7.6m budget. — Robert D. Abdul: Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.1m) and Gibbs-White are my two favourite midfielders at that price point. They both have the bonus of not being too highly owned, either. I actually mentioned these two players in my Gameweek 38 differentials piece (below), so you can go ahead and give that a read for my more detailed reasoning. Hey there! Evanilson, Beto or Fulham’s Wilson to start? 🙂 — Petros K. Holly: I think you have to back the player from the team with something to play for, which is Bournemouth’s Evanilson (£6.6m) away at Nottingham Forest. But if you’re looking for an attacking punt on the final day, I’d be tempted to make a transfer for Welbeck or Richarlison in your forward line. Both are at home on the final day, with their sides needing a result at each end of the table. Is William Osula for Igor Thiago a good choice to free up funds for Saka? – Patrick D. Abdul: I would only make that switch if you were chasing. Otherwise, I do think Thiago (£7.3m) is the better option this week in isolation due to him likely playing 90 minutes and being on penalties. I also would not advise bringing in Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) now, with the title race over. If doing William Osula (£5.5m) to Thiago allows another strong upgrade, then it could be worth it. Instead of Saka, you might want to look at a Liverpool midfielder such as Szoboszlai or Florian Wirtz (£8.3m). I would like the all-out, rank-chasing version of your combined wisdom Gameweek Free Hit team, with Bench Boost! – Brian D. Holly: One thing to note, Brian, is that you can only use one chip per gameweek, but I would definitely prioritise Free Hit over Bench Boost if you’ve made it this far with both remaining. So here’s a balanced Free Hit: Raya; Gabriel, Mavropanos, Virgil; Fernandes, Salah, Gibbs-White, Dowman; Bowen, Richarlison, Welbeck. Bench: Guglielmo Vicario (£4.7m), Szoboszlai, Porro, Marc Cucurella (£6.1m). Abdul: On Holly’s team above, if you want to amp up the risk, then you can play Porro and Vicario over Raya and Gabriel. That would mean your team has around seven differentials. I’ve got two free transfers and a bench boost, any top tips? My team is: Raya, Verbruggen, Gabriel, Andersen, Van Dijk, O’Reilly, Kadioglu, Dewsbury-Hall, Cherki, Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Anderson, Igor Thiago, Haaland and Kroupi Jr. Thanks in advance! — Dominic K. Abdul: I would get rid of your weakest links who are likely to be a minutes risk. Those players are Rayan Cherki (£6.6m), Casemiro (£5.9m) and Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m). Taking these three players out will cost you a -4, but it’s worth it if you are playing your Bench Boost. I would go for Porro, Szoboszlai and Jack Hinshelwood (£5.2m) as the replacements. This is what I have going into Gameweek 38. Only one transfer and up 30 points in my mini league, with £3million in the bank. My team is: Raya, Verbruggen, O’Reilly, Van Hecke, Truffert, Gabriel, Munoz; Bruno Fernandes, Bruno Guimaraes, Saka, Dango, Wilson; Haaland, Kroupi, Thiago. Thoughts? — Justin H. Holly: I think your team is sound here, Justin, and I would maybe look to just utilise that one remaining transfer to improve things on the final day. I think maybe the defence could see some rotation, particularly with Nico O’Reilly and Daniel Munoz (£5.9m), so I’d make a move for someone like Pedro Porro. Spurs need a point to survive, with Porro having a high ceiling given his advanced positioning and set-piece responsibility. Fulham’s clash with Newcastle United is potentially a dead rubber for Harry Wilson (£5.9m) and Bruno Guimaraes (6.9m), so you could spend that transfer in midfield too, with Szoboszlai among the options to consider. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms