This article is part of our FPL Best XI series.
Finally, the last international break in this season is over and now the Premier League returns for the final push of the 2014-15 campaign.
Gameweek 31 kicks off with quite a bang, as Saturday's opening match sees fifth-place Liverpool head to the Emirates Stadium to face an Arsenal team that ran off six straight league wins prior to the break.
Later on, the usual Saturday slate features a trio of bottom-six teams on the road, as Hull City travels to Swansea City, Queens Park Rangers visits West Brom and Aston Villa goes to Manchester United.
Meanwhile, last-place Leicester hosts West Ham and Everton awaits Southampton with their sights on a third consecutive win.
Once those games are in the books, leaders Chelsea will continue their march toward the summit at home versus Stoke City to close Saturday's action, while Sunday's ties both involve relegation implications.
First, 18th-place Burnley will hope to take points off Tottenham at Turf Moor, before 17th-place Sunderland tries to stay afloat versus Newcastle in another installment of the Tyne-Wear derby.
From there, some late action of Gameweek 31 includes Crystal Palace hosting Manchester City on Monday, and Queens Park Rangers at Aston Villa on Tuesday for both teams' second match of the round.
With those matchups in mind, as well as possible squad changes stemming from the recent layoff, let's unpack the Best XI for Gameweek 31 of the Premier League.
Goalkeeper:
Joe Hart
With three clean sheets over his past five league outings, few goalkeepers are in better form than Hart. Additionally, the England No. 1 conceded just one goal from two games over the international break, which followed a confidence-building 10-save effort at Barcelona in the Champions League. Come Monday, Hart will go against a Crystal Palace attack that Manchester City has held scoreless in four straight meetings. So while the Eagles have played much better under manager Alan Pardew, Hart's recent performances and Man City's upper hand on Palace in recent years make the Englishman a fine selection on the road this week.
Defenders:
Branislav Ivanovic
In terms of fantasy production this season, Ivanovic is the standard-bearer for Premier League defenders. However, though his four goals, five assists and 13 clean sheets look fantastic on paper, some Chelsea observers may agree that Ivanovic's attacking exploits have at times come at the expense of his positional discipline. That development might not matter so much this week though, as the Serbian's Chelsea team has compiled a clean sheet in six of their past seven league matches against this weekend's opponent, Stoke City. Additionally, Chelsea boasts 16 unblemished defensive outings from their last 22 Premiership games at Stamford Bridge, further boosting Ivanovic's outlook this Saturday.
Ashley Williams
Coming off a clean sheet victory over Aston Villa last time out, Williams will hope to lead his Swansea outfit to a similar performance this Saturday at home versus Hull. The Tigers have embarrassingly won just once from their past 14 away dates in league play and have gone scoreless in four of their past six road matches. Furthermore, Steve Bruce's side have failed to score in five of their last seven league matches overall. Considering Hull's hard time in front of goal, along with Swansea's 1-0 win against the Tigers earlier this season, Williams could very well build on his tally of 11 clean sheets.
Phil Jones
In wake of a less-than-stellar midweek experiment at the base of England's midfield, Jones should return to his normal center-back position for Man United's Saturday contest versus Aston Villa. Heading into that affair, the Red Devils have clinched a clean sheet in three of their past four league matches and have blanked Villa in three of their last six encounters. Moreover, no team has scored fewer goals this term than the Villains, who prior to their most recent away match had managed just four road goals all season. United's second-most played defender, Jones should be geared up to capitalize on a good clean sheet opportunity at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Midfielders:
David Silva
Before linking up with the Spanish national team last week, Silva scored in Man City's 3-0 assault on West Brom, which marked his fourth goal in five league games. Silva also scored twice earlier this season versus Crystal Palace, who he'll go against once again this Monday. While the Eagles have frustratingly gone 11 home matches in the league without a clean sheet, no team has recorded more than Manchester City's 62 goals to date, and Silva has accounted for 11. The Citizens also lead the league in goals over the past six matches, so Silva and his team head to Selhurst Park full of confidence in advance of this week's contest.
Gylfi Sigurdsson
After starting the season like a house on fire, Sigurdsson has cooled off considerably since, especially in the assist category. The Swansea midfielder has not set up a goal since November, but still leads his team with eight on the season. Additionally, Sigurdsson started last month by scoring against his former club, Tottenham, giving him five goals this term. This weekend, Sigurdsson will play a Hull City club that blew a two-goal lead in their most recent outing and have been horrible on the road lately. Meanwhile, Swansea hasn't lost back-to-back home games in over a calendar year, so their midfield maestro Sigurdsson could spark a triumphant return to the Liberty Stadium following a loss there in Gameweek 29.
Oscar
A player that surely enjoyed himself over the international break, Oscar notched the opening goal of Brazil's 3-1 win over France. He was then rested for Brazil's subsequent game against Chile, which took place in London. As a result, Oscar should be in good spirits and fairly fresh for Chelsea's game this Saturday at home versus Stoke City. In fact, Oscar also scored the last time he faced Stoke at Stamford Bridge and the Blues sport an overwhelming 15-0 aggregate score versus the Potters from their past six meetings on home soil. Overall, those factors bode well for Oscar's prospects of snapping a Premier League goal drought that dates back to mid-January.
Marouane Fellaini
Like Oscar, Fellaini also impressed during international play, as the big-haired Belgian scored in both of his country's games. Those goals followed Fellaini scoring in Manchester United's most recent home match, putting him in stellar form heading into Saturday's home game versus Aston Villa. An increasingly present figure in the Red Devils' attack, Fellaini has attempted 19 shots over his past nine appearances for United, who have dominated Aston Villa at Old Trafford lately. To that point, Man U has registered 14 goals from their past four home matches versus Villa, an awesome record when considering United attackers like Fellaini.
Forwards:
Charlie Austin (C)
The Premiership's fourth-leading scorer, Austin has been responsible for 15 of Queens Park Rangers' 31 goals on the campaign, the largest percentage of player-to-team goals in England's top-flight. However, Austin's tally comes from just 27 league outings, giving him an average of more than one goal every two games. That handy record could be especially fruitful for fantasy owners this round, as QPR is slated for two matches in Gameweek 31. First, Austin will play a West Brom team that he turned a hat trick on earlier this season. Then, he'll face an Aston Villa outfit that he bagged a brace against previously as well. Overall, Austin has scored all five of QPR's goals this season against their two opponents this round. That eye-opening statistic makes Austin an easy selection for this week's Best XI captain.
Olivier Giroud
When discussing Premier League players on top form, Giroud should be among the first players mentioned. Following another goal over the international break, the high-flying Frenchman has now racked up 10 goals over his last nine starts across all competitions. That includes a brace in his last league match, which he'll look to build on with another strong showing versus Liverpool this weekend. While Giroud scored against the Reds earlier this season, the Merseyside club will also be without top defender Martin Skrtel on Saturday due to suspension. That absence should hardly help Liverpool against arguably the Premiership's hottest striker, as Giroud has now brought his season total to 13 goals in merely 14 league starts.
Harry Kane
Perhaps Giroud's biggest competitor on form, Kane's hat trick in Gameweek 30 brought his tally to 19 goals through 20 league starts this season. However, on the whole, Kane has produced 27 goals in 29 starts for Tottenham across all competitions, and he scored just seconds into his international debut for England last week. While Kane can no longer fly under the radar, this weekend he should still see plenty of scoring opportunities at Burnley. That's because the Clarets have allowed the second-most goals in the Premier League this season, while only Chelsea has scored more goals than Tottenham in their past six road games.
