Trades can make or break your Fantasy EPL season. Fact. A successful Fantrax Draft Premier League manager needs to be active in the trade market, always sniffing out a deal to improve their roster. Be it trading in a player before they explode, or trading out a player who just isn't performing, our Gameweek 34 Trade Advice article has all of your needs covered!
Get out there and use the below advice for Fantrax trades this week. Trading is fun!
Trade In Advice
Here we're going to be recommending Fantasy EPL players to trade into your side. These may be Premier League players who are performing consistently well and are likely to continue to do so. Or they could be players who are currently underperforming but are likely to improve their points haul in the near future. These are your "buy low" players.
Luke Shaw
Position: Defender
Team: Manchester United
Rostered: 98%
Prospects: The second highest scoring defender of the season so far, the former Southampton left back has every chance to finish the season on top. Who knew he only needed competition for his spot to get up from the couch and get moving. He is having the season of his life and showing why United signed him for a huge fee as a youngster. A @draftgenie favourite, Shaw's main modus operandi are Key Passes and Accurate Crosses. He is currently in the top 10 overall for the season in both categories with 66 and 26 respectively.
Verdict: Your best chance to get him in is to try to convince his manager that United performances will fade as they will concentrate on winning the Europa League, but you will know that Shaw's points are not directly affected by how well United play. Vardy, ASM, Sterling could be big name guys who could be offered in exchange for his services.
Youri Tielemans
Position: Midfielder
Team: Leicester
Rostered: 100%
Prospects: Only two games below 7 points in the last 17 games since January 1st. The 6th highest scoring midfielder in the calendar year with only 3 goals and 3 assists in that stretch (Ghost Point Hunters, DMs open...). It's safe to say that the former Football Manager wonder-kid has found his groove. He takes set pieces, he tackles, intercepts, shoots, takes people on; he is the full package. The fact that Leicester desperately want to avoid last year's disappointing end to the season should guarantee him 90 minutes in all of the remaining games and a lot of points.
Verdict: He is one of those players who might go under the radar even his manager might not realize the gem he has got on his hands. Giving up Jesse Lingard or James Ward-Prowse might be enough to prize him away.
Trade Out Advice
Here we're going to be recommending Fantasy EPL players to trade out of your side. These may be Premier League players who are performing badly and are likely to continue to do so. Or they could be players who are currently over-performing and are likely to decline in value of the coming weeks. These are your "sell high" players.
Joao Cancelo
Position: Defender
Team: Manchester City
Rostered: 99%
Prospects: Every week a Manchester City player. This week isn't different. Cancelo has been the second highest scoring City player for the season so far. 13.9 points per start, as extrapolated from the amazing tracker run by @drafterthoughts is in the top 10 for the season. The reason I am advising to trade him out is the same with every City player: Pep Roulette. This late in the season, with some leagues already starting playoffs, one can hardly afford to keep great players on their bench if there is a way you can turn them into great starting players.
Verdict: Managers might be willing to trade you either TAA or Shaw for Cancelo's potential upside and I would do those deals in a heartbeat.
Leandro Trossard
Position: Midfielder
Team: Brighton
Rostered: 94%
Prospects: Brighton have most likely done enough to secure their Premier League status for next season, so they can probably start relaxing. It is good timing because they have a horrible schedule coming up. Trossard has largely been living off the 2 goals and 3 assists he got in two back-to-back games against Southampton and Newcastle as he has not managed to reach the 10 point mark beside those games since the 3rd of February. You should try to get rid of him before you decide to drop him.
Verdict: Roberto Firmino, Mason Greenwood, Chris Wood are some of the players you could target to get in return, but I would not hesitate to take a value hit if the trade helped me in the short term as I do not see much value in Trossard rest of the season. (We mention him in the "Last Straw" segment on the Key Pass Collective as well)
Strategy in Focus: "Hyenas get fed too"
This strategy is one that needs managers to be ruthless. We talk a lot about trading as being this great way to get to know people, an enjoyable chat with managers from all around the world. This time I am suggesting: "Sometimes you need to access your ruthless side and pounce on an opportunity when it presents itself."
"When you see a player you are interested in being benched on a team that that desperately needs a win, that is your time to pounce. offer however flimsy an offer you want. The more desperate your fellow manager is, the better deal you can get. "
With the playoffs and the end of the season approaching, managers are likely to make rash decisions that will benefit them in shorter and shorter terms. ie. one-week moves are more and more doable. If you pay attention to other matchups and rosters in your league you can vulture great players who either have bad matchups or are rested/dropped for a certain gameweek. Offering a player who will definitely play in any given gameweek or who has a favourable matchup has never been so enticing. Blank and double gameweeks offer you even more opportunities for such trades. Hyenas and vultures feed on the corpses left by other animals. This is what I am suggesting you do as well. When you see a player you are interested in being benched on a team that desperately needs a win, that is your time to pounce. Offer however flimsy an offer you want; the more desperate your fellow manager is, the better the deal you can get.
To get the best out of this strategy, the stars have to align: 1) You have to be in a healthy position regarding your league position and your roster, 2) You have to be intimately familiar with the gameweek matchups in your league and your fellow managers' rosters, 3) You have to check lineups regularly during the gameweek, and 4) You have to be able to conclude a deal mid-GW quickly, sometimes in a few minutes. When successful, this is one of the most satisfying strategies to pull off.
Use it wisely.
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