The weekend’s FA Cup fixtures have been and gone and as promised we are here to give you another update on how this affects the upcoming FPL fantasy calendar. Unfortunately, while we do have a few details for you – thanks to a few untimely draws we’ve also got another wait on our hands too.
As predicted, the hatchet has indeed been out, and some teams schedules have been torn asunder (with the potential of more to come). Blackburn, Chelsea and Fulham will now no longer have a fixture in gameweek 29 while they – or in the case of Blackburn, their opponents Birmingham – have an FA Cup quarter-final to contest. Much for the same reasons, having previously had double gameweeks scheduled, Portsmouth, Stoke and Birmingham will also have their calendar cut down to just one fixture for week 29 as well…
There are still three FA Cup replays that will take place next week, and each with it’s own ramifications – here is the breakdown of what each result could mean to our fantasy calendars:
Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace looks on paper the most cut and dry fixture, but after Villa scraped a draw at Selhurst Park, no-one can say for certain. If Villa do win however, they will have a blank fixture in gameweek 29 to go along with the one they already have in gameweek 28. An awful prospect for Dunne, Collins and Milner owners.
Tottenham vs Bolton should have been resolved already, but Tom Huddlestone conspired to continue Spurs’ poor form with penalties of late. If Spurs go on to win the replay at the Lane, then their trip to Manchester City in gameweek 29 will be postponed and both teams will have a blank week. If Bolton pull the victory rabbit out of the hat, then their weekend fixture with West Ham will be postponed and their current double gameweek will be cut back to a single (away at Sunderland), while the Hammers (much like Villa) would miss two consecutive weeks of action.
Stoke vs Manchester City is a fixture we’ll be seeing often, with a dry run practice in the double gameweek tomorrow night. A Stoke victory has no effect on the schedule because Fulham have already made sure that their weekend fixture in gameweek 29 has been postponed after the drubbing of Notts County. Stoke still have the trip to Burnley remaining for the gameweek however, while Fulham now face a blank. A Manchester City victory in the replay with Stoke next week, much like above, would also be enough to postpone City’s home fixture with Spurs in gameweek 29 – so with both teams still in it, a blank week for both clubs looks a dinstinct possibility then.
As you can see we’ve already updated our Season Ticker with everything we know to this point, and for one week only even added an extra colour – “ooooooh”. However, again, we’ll let you know all the final details after the three replays take place next Wednesday and exactly which of those green squares will turn a dreaded shade of yellow.