Fantasy football

The action in the English Premier League is back this weekend after a brief interruption by the FA Cup, and the attention of Fantasy Premier League managers will no doubt turn, if it has not already, to what to do with their squads in this shortened Gameweek 27.

Those in the race for the Phakaaathi Private Fantasy League’s competition for February, meanwhile, will also need to pay close attention if they are to stay ahead in their bid to win a Qatar 3-Piece lounge suite worth R9 999.

Chelsea, Manchester City, Brighton and Everton are not playing this Gameweek, so anyone with an abundance of those players in their squad may need to think about playing the Free Hit chip, giving you a chance to change your entire squad for a week, or the wildcard chip, which enables you to change your squad permanently.

Be aware, too, that there are two games on Friday evening, and the FPL deadline to make transfers is 8.45pm SA time on Friday. It will be a tricky task to decide who to bring in, but Arsenal’s game against Southampton on Sunday does look the easiest for the top six, though Tottenham might just run riot on a trip to Burnley on Saturday too.

FPL players may find themselves in a tizz over whether to bring back Harry Kane, if he is fit, or stick to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (below). Manchester United host Liverpool in the weekend’s big match in the EPL, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in fine form in the league. Liverpool got over a bit of a wobble with a win at home to Bournemouth in their last match, but it remains to be seen what shape they are in after facing Bayern Munich in the Champions League this evening.

It could be a weekend to avoid Liverpool and United players, though the likes of Paul Pogba and Mohammed Salah are hard to drop in any given week.

You can still enter Phakaaathi’s Private Fantasy League, for a chance to win great monthly prizes, by following the rules in the competition advert at the bottom of this page.