Premier League: Team of Round 32

As this week's Team of the Round demonstrates, the key to Round 32 of the Premier League was to select as many players from teams playing twice as possible. Only three of this week's TOTR appeared once in R32 and two of the three are only included to show a more representative XI that adheres to the team limit rule at Superbru.

Though this feature usually just includes the eleven top scoring players, given this round was a double gameweek, it seemed silly to also include Kyle Walker (12), Cesar Azpilicueta (13) and Sergio Aguero (9) as 7 out of the 11 players would then be either Chelsea or Manchester City squad members.

Community average score in Round 31: 70
Community best in Round 31: 113
TOTR score: 157

Defence

After back-to-back clean sheets against Fulham and Cardiff, Manchester City defenders got the points we all expected them to in this round which explains why Ederson and Aymeric Laporte make this XI. Laporte is the highest scoring defender of the week thanks to his assist for Kevin de Bruyne at the Etihad against Cardiff, narrowly topping Cesar Azpilicueta who scored away at the same opposition but didn't pick up clean sheet points.

Though he did also appear against Tottenham, Patrick van Aanholt picked up 11 of his 12 points against Huddersfield in this round as he bagged a goal in a 2-0 win at Selhurst Park. Kurt Zouma (Everton) and Wes Morgan (Leicester) earn a place in the backline for managing a goal and a clean sheet too despite only having the one fixture.

Midfield

There are some names to take note of in this TOTR midfield following some impressive Round 32 performances. Ruben Loftus-Cheek stands out most as this week's ideal captain having scored a goal in each of his fixtures against Cardiff (A) and Brighton (H). 'RLC' is one of two academy graduates that Chelsea fans have been desperate to see feature on a regular basis, and manager Maurizio Sarri has revealed that Loftus-Cheek is now over what had been a lengthy back injury, so we can perhaps expect to see him far more frequently during the run-in. As he showed quite often during a loan spell at Crystal Palace last season, Loftus-Cheek is a real goal threat when playing and seems to pick up a goal or an assist during most of his Chelsea appearances.

Similarly, Abdoulaye Doucoure is a tall, powerful central midfielder who appears to have added goals to his game this season. A far more established and regular starter than RLC, Doucoure is a key man for Watford but didn't always appear to be as much of an attractive fantasy option as he has now become. The Frenchman scored in both of his games in this round and has some favourable fixtures between now and the end of the season. Will Hughes, who tends to play wider than Doucoure, will of course benefit from the same fixtures and is also a consistent starter for the Hornets.

Finally, you won't need telling that Eden Hazard is among the finest players in the Premier League and therefore the finest fantasy options, while it was interesting to see Christian Eriksen have a good round. Like the rest of the Tottenham squad, Eriksen will perhaps be inspired by the new stadium which may improve his form. The creative Dane had been quiet for a few weeks and many expect him to leave Spurs this summer.

Strikers

The strikers were the let-down of this double gameweek - no forwards reached double figures at Superbru for this round. At half-time in Manchester City's game against Fulham, it looked as if Sergio Aguero (9 points) was set for the monster tally we expected of him as he already had a goal and an assist in the bank but a minor injury forced him out of that game and the following fixture vs. Cardiff. Similarly, Marcus Rashford was left out of Manchester United's game at Wolves with a minor knock after scoring in their win over Watford.

Premier League ideal 5-a-side teams by daily round during R32:

Saturday: Guaita, Zouma, B. Silva, Bernard/Martial, Aguero (46 points)
Sunday: Alisson/Kepa, Azpilicueta, Loftus-Cheek, Moura, Firmino (29 points)
Monday: Leno, Mustafi, Ramsey, 2 pts, Lacazette (29 points)
Tuesday: Foster, Kiko, Hughes, Babel/Jota, Deeney/Gray (36 points)
Wednesday: Kepa/Ederson/Lloris, Laporte, Eriksen/RLC, Hazard, Giroud (43 points)

There isn't much time to learn from this round and sort your team out for Round 33 - it begins tomorrow evening with Liverpool visiting Southampton! Squad management continues to be a bit of a nightmare with just six games taking place in R33. Best of luck to all!

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