Advance Double Gameweek Planning

I know its early to be considering this but stick with me. This article will look ahead to the second half of the season to try and predict when double Gameweeks are likely to fall. For those who are unfamiliar with these rare weeks in which teams have two matches they can be a real gamechanger and take careful planning. This is especially the case this year when all Fantasy Premier League players will have a second wildcard to use anytime after winter and useful chips, including triple captaincy and the ability to include bench points in your final Gameweek tally. In short maximising double Gameweeks fully can be a massive advantage against your rivals.

By my reckoning, having looked closely at the full schedule, the only potential double Gameweeks (DGWs) this year in the last 12 weeks of the season are Gameweek (GW) 34 and GW37

Potential Double Gameweeks

GW27 = N/A due to GW 28 being midweek
GW28 = midweek round of Premier League fixtures
GW29 = Champions League last 16 2nd leg (4 games) *note Premier League matches cannot be played on days of Champions League matches*
GW30 = Champions League last 16 2nd leg (4 games)
GW31 = International break
GW32 = Champions League quarter final first legs
GW33 = Champions League quarter final second legs
GW34 = Free
GW35 = Champions League semi final first legs
GW36 = Champions League semi final second legs
GW37 = Free
GW38 = End of season

Potential Blank fixtures

The League Cup final could lead to two Premier League games being postponed (GW27)
FA Cup quarter finals could lead to eight Premier League games being postponed (GW30)
FA Cup semi finals could lead to four Premier League games being postponed (GW35)

The DGWs for the League Cup finalists will seem to have to be before GW27, otherwise if any team in the matches cancelled for the League Cup final reaches the FA Cup semis, there isn’t going to be room in the fixture list.

But, that still leaves the potential for up to 12 games needing to be re-arranged for GW34 and GW37, and by my reckoning any team that reaches the FA Cup semis will have to have DGWs in both GW34 and 37

The Big Four

So, looking at the “big four”, if they reach the FA Cup semi-finals their fixtures, by my reckoning, will have to look like this:

ARSENAL

GW30 = blank (FA Cup QF)
GW34 = CPL, WBA
GW35 = blank (FA Cup SF)
GW37 = mci, sun

CHELSEA

GW30 = blank (FA Cup QF)
GW34 = MCI, liv
GW35 = blank (FA Cup SF)
GW37 = sun, bou

MAN C

GW30 = blank (FACQF)
GW34 = che, nor
GW35 = blank (FACSF)
GW37 = ARS, STO

MAN U

GW30 = blank (FACQF)
GW34 = AVL, CPL
GW35 = blank (FACSF)
GW37 = nor, whu

*Upper case denotes a home fixture, lower case an away fixture.

Best Use of Chips

For the immediate future, it is probably best to be patient and save your Bench Boost and Triple Captain chips.  Bearing in mind these chips give you the following advantage…

Normal week = effectively 12 players (11+1 extra for captain)
Triple captain = effectively 13 players (11+2 extra for captain)
Bench Boost = effectively 16 players (15+1 extra for captain)

So a bumper DGW using Bench Boost could mean effectively up to 32 players!!!  Importantly, it doesn’t seem like there will be any blank weeks immediately before a DGW, but there will be potential blanks the week after DGWs, so if you are planning to Wildcard to utilise a DGW, your best bet is going to be to Wildcard GW36, then you will have the DGW week 37 (to use the Bench Boost chip), and then only DGW38 (which tends to be a lottery anyway) to negotiate on what is sure to be a pretty strange looking team!  Meanwhile the Triple Captain chip should be next used either the GW34 DGW, or for a League Cup finalist DGW pre-GW27…

Gameweek 30 In Detail

Usually, the FA Cup quarter finals take place in a “blank” Premier League week, but as this season is shortened due to Euro 2016, this is not the case this season. So, this could theoretically mean that up to eight Premier League games will be postponed in GW30, which means there could be as few as just two fixtures in the entire GW which is going to cause all sorts of chaos! (NB, fixtures cannot be moved to the midweek after the GW30 weekend either as that midweek is a Champions League week)

How likely is this though? Well, let’s look at the 2012 FA Cup quarter final line up…

Everton v Sunderland
Spurs v Bolton
Chelsea v Leicester
Liverpool v Stoke

If this quarter final line-up was repeated this season (I know it won’t, but this is just an example!!!!), GW30 would look like this…

Man C v Villa
Newcastle v Bournemouth
Swansea v Norwich
West Brom v Man U

Sure, only six games postponed instead of eight, but unless a lot of forward planning is done (if wanted) or a premature Wildcard played (which will then blow the Wildcard/Bench Boost DGW combo GW33/34 or 36/37), a lot of teams are probably going to be playing GW30 with way less than 11 players… Food for thought.