Why motivation could increase fantasy points production at both ends of the table

It’s the business end of the season – the Easter festivities may have coincided with an ill-timed international break – but at least we can now look forward to a riveting set of fixtures in Gameweek 32. Both North London clubs play on Saturday giving them the chance to close the gap on those runaway Foxes, who entertain Southampton at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.

Arsenal are up first, with Watford the visitors to the Emirates. Goals look likely, the Gunners cannot afford any more slip ups if they are to get themselves back into contention, and the bookmakers have reacted accordingly.

Alex Iwobi could be an interesting proposition – he scored on his Premier League debut at Goodison Park but will he retain his place? The Arsenal youngster has recovered from a bout of food poisoning he picked up while on international duty with the Super Eagles and could offer serious value for money – he’s just £4.5m on the Official Fantasy Premier League game and $3,000 on DraftKings UK.

Spurs travel to Anfield in the evening kick-off and will hope that Jürgen Klopp has one eye on that Dortmund reunion. It promises to be an absolute cracker and could feature seven of the players that starred in Berlin for England but it is almost impossible to call.

Leicester City will have the advantage of knowing if their lead has been cut to just 2 points or if they can extend it to 8 when they take to the field on Sunday against the Saints. Vardy is hard to ignore after coming off the bench and finding the net against the Germans.

There’s another relegation 6-pointer taking place when Norwich City host Newcastle United – Rafa Benitez really needs to get something out of this one if he is to preserve the Magpies top-flight status. It’s sure to have some sort of bearing on the battle for survival and it might just open the door for Sunderland, who face West Bromwich Albion. If ever a game promised to be the epitome of nineteenth-century football it could be this one. The two sides have the worst possession stats in the division and both managers – Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis – are known for their dour football and direct approach.

The Baggies sit comfortably in the middle of the table so all the motivation is with the Black Cats. Big Sam won’t mind how he wins and you can bet your bottom dollar that he will have done his homework, setting up his team accordingly, to get the desired result.

Never under-estimate the power of motivation at this stage of the season so the likes of Jermain Defoe, Patrick van Aanholt and Wahbi Khazri all merit serious consideration. The latter is Sunderland’s highest rated player on WhoScored and he should be fit despite the fact that he withdrew from International duty with Tunisia due to injury.

Read more on goal projections, one of the key fundamentals to fantasy football success