Summary

Send your FPL questions for expert Gianni

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    Get Involved - Would you bench Enzo, Semenyo or Welbeck?published at 15:49 BST

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    Liam: Hi Gianni, who would you bench out of Enzo, Semenyo and Welbeck?

    Gianni: Benching dilemmas like this are never easy, Liam. Enzo Fernandez has the home fixture and will likely start as the 10 against a potentially tired Nottingham Forest team. Danny Welbeck’s Brighton are in red-hot form and he’s the focal point of their attack, while Antoine Semenyo hasn’t been producing from the right side of late and has been outshone by Cherki. I think, reluctantly, I would bench Semenyo. Just.

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    Get Involved - Should I replace Van Dijk with Saliba?published at 15:44 BST

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    Chris B: Is it worth me using a free transfer on Virgil to Saliba? I already have a backline of Kelleher, Hill & Gabriel and plan on adding O'Reilly next week ready for the DGW.

    Gianni: Every free transfer is precious now and short-term punts need to come with upside. With this in mind, I’m not sure Saliba is a big enough upgrade on Virgil, even with their fixtures in mind this week. I would go straight to O’Reilly, who offers more attacking threat than any defender in the game at the moment.

  3. get involved

    Get Involved - Get your FPL questions in!published at 15:42 BST

    FPL Q&A with Gianni

    Great first question from Graham.

    Over to you now folks.

    Here's a reminder to get your questions in for our FPL expert Gianni Buttice this afternoon.

    Plenty have already been getting in touch, but there’s still time to fire over your questions.

    Gianni will be with us right until 17:00 BST, helping you tackle all those tricky decisions ahead of Gameweek 35.

  4. get involved

    Get Involved - Which three Palace players should I bring in?published at 15:38 BST

    Click 'Get Involved' to send your questions

    Graham: Hey Gianni, I’m wildcarding this weekend ahead of DGW36 and flip-flopping badly on which three Palace players to bring in. I’m thinking Henderson, Lacroix and maybe Sarr. Also a frontline of Haaland and two from Bowen, Thiago and Watkins. Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

    Gianni: Hey Graham, I’m on wildcard with triple Palace too, they’re fine to bench this week and whilst I think there will be some rotation in the double, players like Henderson and Lacroix are surely good for two starts. Sarr, however, is far from guaranteed to start twice in the double but a 90 and a 30 wouldn’t be the end of the world. I’m picking Thiago on Wildcard too as the Brentford attack always produce big chances and I quite like their run-in, after all they’re playing for a European spot.

    Dean HenersonImage source, Getty Images
  5. This week’s burning FPL questionpublished at 15:35 BST

    FPL Q&A with Gianni

    Thomas Woods
    BBC Sport FPL writer, best finish 9,100th

    With four weeks left in the FPL season, it is about striking a balance between finding explosive differentials to help you jump up in rank and keeping faith in the consistent performers who have helped you all season.

    Also, for most managers, this week will be all about planning for the final double gameweek of the season next time out.

    Manchester City and Crystal Palace play twice in gameweek 36 so, if you are not already tripled up on Pep Guardiola's side, make sure you have a plan to use your transfers for that reason.

  6. Postpublished at 15:35 BST

    Craig Nelson
    BBC Sport reporter

    Before we get into our Q&A with Gianni, if you are wondering where to start with your team this week, here's a bit of food for thought from BBC Sport's own FPL expert Thomas Woods...

  7. Gameweek 35 fixturespublished at 15:32 BST

    All kick-offs 15:00 BST unless stated

    Premier League

    Here's a reminder of this weekend's full schedule of games:

    Friday, 1 May

    • Leeds v Burnley (20:00)

    Saturday, 2 May

    • Brentford v West Ham
    • Newcastle v Brighton
    • Wolves v Sunderland
    • Arsenal v Fulham (17:30)

    Sunday, 3 May

    • Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (14:00)
    • Man Utd v Liverpool (15:30)
    • Aston Villa v Tottenham (19:00)

    Monday, 4 May

    • Chelsea v Nottm Forest
    • Everton v Man City (20:00)
  8. When is the Gameweek 35 deadline?published at 15:31 BST

    FPL Q&A with Gianni

    Time is of the essence today.

    Leeds and Burnley kick off the latest round of Premier League fixtures at Elland Road from 20:00 BST, so the deadline for FPL transfers is 18:30 tonight.

  9. Meet our expert - Gianni Butticepublished at 15:29 BST

    FPL Q&A with Gianni

    Gianni ButticeImage source, Premier League

    Gianni Buttice is an FPL expert and best-selling author of Fantasy Premier League: Unlocking the Secrets to a Top 1% Finish.

    He has only finished outside the top 100k three times in the past 14 seasons and has eight top-50k finishes.

    Gianni runs an FPL YouTube channel, is a regular on the Official Fantasy Show, Sky Sports News FPL show and has appeared on the BBC's Fantasy 606 podcast.

  10. It’s FPL Q&A time!published at 15:27 BST

    FPL Q&A with Gianni

    Thanks Alastair.

    That might be all we have from this afternoon's Premier League news conferences, but between now and 17:00 GMT we will turn our focus to the Fantasy Premier League ahead of Gameweek 35.

    We have FPL expert Gianni Buttice on hand to answer your burning questions, so click 'Get Involved' to submit them now.

  11. Postpublished at 15:25 BST

    Alastair Telfer
    BBC Sport

    Craig will take things over from here.

    Shortly it will be time for our FPL Q&A.

  12. Recap: Another busy PL news conference Fridaypublished at 15:20 BST

    Here are the key lines from today's Premier League news conferences:

  13. Onana ruled out of Tottenham matchpublished at 15:17 BST

    Aston Villa v Tottenham (Sun, 19:00 BST)

    Aston Villa

    Aston Villa boss Unai Emery gave an update on midfielder Amadou Onana, who came off injured against Nottingham Forest in the Europa League on Thursday: "Difficult. He had a scan and we will see the consequences after it and how he is feeling, but for Sunday it is sure he is not available."

  14. Wilson winner 'a big boost'published at 15:14 BST

    Brentford v West Ham (15:00 BST)

    West Ham United

    Callum WilsonImage source, Getty Images

    West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo on Callum Wilson's late winner against Everton in the relegation fight: "It was a big boost and we are so happy. It increases the level of confidence."

    On if his team will watch Tottenham's game on Sunday against Aston Villa: "Everyone is free to do whatever they want. I for sure will watch the game, some players will watch the game.

    "The priority is what we do."

  15. Postpublished at 15:11 BST

    Brentford v West Ham (15:00 BST)

    West Ham United

    West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo on team news: "Small knocks but it seems like everyone is going to be okay."

  16. 'Honestly, I don't know' - Pereira on team newspublished at 15:08 BST

    Chelsea v Nottingham Forest (Mon, 15:00 GMT)

    Nottingham Forest

    Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira on team news: "Honestly, I don't know. We had bad luck to lose two wingers, Callum [Hudson-Odoi] and Dan [Ndoye]. We had bad luck to lose two centre-backs, Murillo and Jair [Cunha]. And [Ibrahim] Sangare. But in the end, at the end of the day, this is a big chance for the players who are working hard to have the opportunity to play and to prove themselves, to prove that they are in condition to help us in this special moment of the season."

    On if Jair Cunha is a doubt: "I don’t know".

    On if Murillo is available: "I don’t know. I'm trying to be honest, because I don't know. I really don't know … I must wait three days and I hope they give me good news about the injured players because we need them."

  17. 'Attacking players can be and will be absolutely lethal'published at 15:05 BST

    Brentford v West Ham (Sat, 15:00 BST)

    Brentford

    Brentford boss Keith Andrews was asked about his side not making the most of their opportunities in the recent draw to Fulham and defeat by Manchester United: "The big thing for me is if we're not creating chances or looking like scoring, that would be more worrying.

    "There is comfort in the fact we are, but then you obviously want to take that next step. I'm pretty relaxed that we have attacking players that can be and will be absolutely lethal.

    "We're going to fight hard to try and win the game."

    Brentford celebrate goalImage source, Getty Images
  18. Janelt and Henderson 'pretty close' to being fit, Henry still outpublished at 15:02 BST

    Brentford v West Ham (Sat, 15:00 BST)

    Brentford

    Jordan HendersonImage source, Getty Images

    Brentford boss Keith Andrews provided an update on his squad's fitness before the visit of the Hammers:

    "Vitaly [Janelt] and Jordan [Henderson] are pretty close, so we'll make a decision on that tomorrow, but they've made good progress.

    "Rico [Henry] is not as close."

    On Josh DaSilva, who was included in a matchday squad for the first time since January 2024 for Monday's defeat at Old Trafford: "Josh had to work really hard to get back to this point, so it was lovely to have him as part of the squad. He wouldn't be on the bench if I didn’t think he could make an impact of sorts.

    "We haven't really wanted to shout about the progress he's making from the rooftops and add more pressure to his journey back, which has obviously been very, very long.

    "We're very careful around how and when we train him. We still need to look after him really carefully but he's looking pretty free and has trained really well over the last few weeks."

  19. Kluivert back in training but Sunday will be too earlypublished at 14:59 BST

    Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (Sun, 14:00 BST)

    Bournemouth

    Justin KluivertImage source, Getty Images

    Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola gave an injury update on his squad as Justin Kluivert is back with the team after five months out: "It's very positive news for us, Justin is a very important player in our team. He has been training this week, still not fully but at a very good level. Probably Sunday arrives too early for him but I think he will help us in the last games of the season and he will have quality minutes. His knee is responding really well after training.

    "The only [other] one out is Lewis Cook, I hope next week he starts training with us but everyone else is recovered and we hope now with Justin and Lewis everyone is in a good place to help because we will need everything. I hope everyone pushes."

  20. get involved

    Get Involved - FPL Q&A with Giannipublished at 14:57 BST

    Click 'Get Involved' to submit your FPL question for Gianni

    We still have some more Premier League managers to hear from, but here’s an early heads up to send us your questions for our FPL expert Gianni Buttice.

    The page will switch focus to FPL planning from 15:30 BST. Gianni will be with us right until 17:00 BST, helping you tackle all those tricky decisions ahead of Gameweek 35.

    Send your questions, marked for Gianni, using the ‘Get Involved’ button.