The Premier League have this afternoon rescheduled Aston Villa’s home clash with QPR, which was initially pencilled in for Saturday April 20, or Gameweek 33 to you and I. Due to the former’s progress to the FA Cup semi-final, this fixture will now take place on Tuesday April 7 – handing both sides a double Gameweek 31.
Tim Sherwood’s in-form side face a testing trip to Old Trafford on the Saturday before welcoming the R’s to Villa Park three days later. There’s no doubt that Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor will be the prime candidates for points after racking up three goals apiece over the last two matches, though it’s worth noting that the midlands outfit then have trips to Spurs and City on either side of their blank Gameweek 33 before finishing the season with three home fixtures in four (EVE, WHU, sou, BUR).
It’s likely that many Fantasy managers will still be holding their QPR assets after Chris Ramsey’s side were handed a double Gameweek 28. Those looking to ship out Charlie Austin and Matty Phillips will now be prepared to hold for the short-term, though the R’s don’t have it easy – prior to rolling up to Villa Park, they travel to a West Brom side with four home clean sheets in five under Tony Pulis. Despite scoring just once in his recent double, Austin fired 15 attempts against Arsenal and Spurs, whilst Phillips has now scored or assisted in four of his last five appearances. Certainly, with Chelsea, Liverpool and City – in addition to a blank Gameweek 33 – in the subsequent five rounds of fixtures, planning an escape route looks essential.
For now, this is just a heads-up article – we’ll be publishing a pair of Scouting the Doubles articles nearer the time.
