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 35 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.
Aaron Cresswell
Position: Defender
Team: West Ham United
Rostered: 87%
Prospects: Cress is back, and back with a bang. Last GW, playing in a heavily rotated side featuring a back four he managed to replicate his early-season form with a score of 13.5 with no CS or attacking return. Although he has no Double GW35, I would most likely start him ahead of a whole host of double and triple gamweek defenders. Back on set pieces, he will have a really good floor in every game, with potential returns and clean sheets as well.
Verdict: Time to get cheeky. Triple GW Victor Lindelöf or Double GW Andreas Christensen should get you close with this one.
Ricardo Pereira
Position: Defender
Team: Leicester City
Rostered: 81%
Prospects: I am not promising that RiccyP will be lights out in the remaining fixtures. Nor am I promising he even starts. But this guy was a top 3 defender last season and has potential for a Double GW35, oh and you can get him dirt cheap. After a long injury layoff, he came back into the side with the promise of plentiful returns, which have been few and far between. Managers who roster RiccyP will surely have been frustrated enough with him missing out in the last few games to get you a good deal. This one is a low-risk, high-reward situation, so proceed accordingly.
Verdict: Getting him in for a reliable single GW player like Ben Mee or Luke Ayling would be my initial offer, but I am willing to up the offer if my roster can take the hit of him potentially missing out again.
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 overperforming and are likely to decline in value of the coming weeks. These are your "sell high" players.
Raheem Sterling
Position: Forward
Team: Manchester City
Rostered: 100%
Prospects: This just hasn't been Sterling's year. Previously one of the few unmovable's in Pep's lineups, the Roulette has hit him hard this season. That coupled with horrible form and a gradual loss of his floor for fantasy points has seen his stock fall miserably (remember, he was a consensus first-round pick this season). With only 4 games remaining the market is very limited for Sterling, but you still might be able to get someone decent in return. You are going to have to convince other managers that he will feature in at least 3 of the remaining 4 and will be motivated to show his talent as his England spot has come under threat in recent weeks.
Verdict: Packaging him in a deal for a similarly rotation-threatened player might be your only option to come out on top in a trade involving 'Heem. Pulisic, Jota, Saka, or Havertz could be considered targets for the England international.
Emile Smith Rowe
Position: Midfielder
Team: Arsenal
Rostered: 53%
Prospects: "The guy who saved Arteta's job", he featured for the first time this season on Boxing Day, when Arsenal needed a spark to get their season back on track and the young Croydon native provided the spark they needed with 4 assists in his first 6 games. However, it was nothing more than a flash in the pan as, since January 16th, Smith Rowe has only managed to add one more assist to his tally. With the squad looking healthy again, he will find his opportunities limited and there are only so many attacking points to go around. The allure of Double GW35 might be the last chance for you to get any value in return for young Emile.
Verdict: Jarrod Bowen, Daniel Podence, or Andros Townsend is about the level you are looking at as possible players to target, so I would not hold out for much value. Try and get a deal across the line after he misses out on the starting lineup on Thursday which should in theory increase his chances of minutes during the double gameweek.
Strategy in Focus: "The carpet bombing"
Anyone who has played in a league with me in previous seasons knows that I have been a frequent user of this strategy. As the name suggests, it is basically this: You send out an obscene amount of offers and hope one hits the target.
"You send out an obscene amount of offers and hope one hits the target."
This strategy has a few inherent flaws that make it one that is very rarely successful. Its main flaw is that because you are sending out offers blind, meaning there was no prior discussion of needs and valuations with the trade partner, you are constructing your offers so that on the off chance these offers get accepted, you are definitely the beneficiary of these trades, meaning they are almost exclusively very one-sided. As I mentioned before, I used to love this tactic, as it requires minimal effort from the manager making an offer and can lead to a trade conversation. However, when you consider the offers from the opposing manager's point of view these offers take time to answer and could be considered an insult to one's fantasy knowledge. This is the main reason behind my vow for this season to cut back on these "carpet bomb" offers.
So if it is not a good tactic, then why am I featuring it? There are certain situations, where I can condone the use of this @draftgenie patented strategy. 1. Last-minute, before you drop a player for the worst player on your opponent's roster. 2. Trades that clearly benefit your opponent. 3. Player for FAB trades. If you know yourself to be a manager who just loves to throw out offers in situations not listed above, please check with your league mates if they would like to receive these offers or would prefer a DM instead. Clearing the air in advance is ALWAYS the best solution.
Use it wisely.
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