There were mixed feelings amongst the community over this week’s double Gameweek 34 announcements, given the poor form or tough fixtures of the three teams involved.
Nevertheless, our hot topic posters have been full of advice on how to approach the upcoming period, with a strong focus on the best time to deploy Fantasy Premier League’s precious chips.
Further insight into the underlying statistics of those teams with a pair of Gameweek 34 fixtures is given in our Members Tables round-up and there is more data analysis in our community articles section, courtesy of our resident captaincy expert.
Finally, we take a look at our community competition standings to find out who will be hoping to profit over the season run-in.
The Community Articles
During the break from Premier League action YMA has taken stock of his What The Form And Fixtures Say article series to review its success in predicting captaincy hauls.
Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.
The Hottest Topics
Double Gameweek news is often treated with a fanfare, yet with two relegation scrappers and one of the Premier League’s most fixture-frazzled sides involved in the latest refresh, enthusiasm has been somewhat muted.
As aa33 was quick to point out, the rescheduling of postponed matches in Gameweek 34, when the FA Cup semi-finals also take place, means that only Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Manchester United have two league fixtures.
With ‘Boro languishing in the relegation zone and Sam Allardyce’s troops sitting perilously close to the drop in 16th, there was little love for their players in Rumour Mill’s hot topic on key double Gameweek players to target.
Tough encounters against Liverpool and Tottenham that week further dampen excitement around Big Sam’s side.
Even United’s array of talent come packaged with a health warning, says Makeveli123, due to an exhausting set of fixtures in April.
However, those with a Bench Boost chip still to play could find comfort in double Gameweek 34’s scheduling, according to Enzo the Baker, particularly as a number of the single fixture teams enjoy easier match-ups.
There was further advice on when to deploy chips around double Gameweeks from Jarvish, and Silver dropped by to discuss the best time to use the Triple Captain chip over the season run-in. We also asked for your top tips on dealing with double Gameweeks.
With two postponed fixtures still to be re-arranged, Arsenal and Southampton players are set to be in demand for the season run-in.
Already Rossamous is taking a look at some key Saints assets to draft in, with their attack-minded left-back Ryan Bertrand top of his shopping list.
Our discussion on Arsenal players to consider found that, aside from their top scorer Alexis Sanchez, few Gunners appeal for their impending doubles.
Turning to more immediate concerns, we asked for your early thoughts on the best captaincy options for Gameweek 30. Leicester’s Jamie Vardy and Chelsea striker Diego Costa were two of the most frequently mentioned names and were also the focus of Holmes’ discussion on transfer targets.
This pair of strikers also took centre stage in our Gameweek 29 Rough with the Smooth round-up, where new owners of the Foxes’ marksman, who scored and assisted away to West Ham, claimed the bragging rights.
Finally, with even England opting for a wing-back system, we canvassed your views on whether FPL should reclassify these raiding defenders as midfielders.
The Members Tables
For those looking to take a punt on Palace players for their tricky double Gameweek 34, I’ve created this table looking at their most attacking options. Sticking with the double teams, London Fox has focused on Manchester United’s best sources of goals and assists for this latest table.
If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.
The Community Tournaments
This week saw the launch of two new community competitions, with Jarvish announcing details of his Frequent Posters Cup competition, which is reserved for our community’s chattiest participants.
Meanwhile, Team Cruel has set up a community league in the newly-launched Norwegian Fantasy Football game, which has been designed by the same bright sparks behind FPL.
In TorresMagic‘s Last Man Standing competition, Ginola14 hit the top score in Gameweek 29 with 95. There are now 244 teams left after 61 were eliminated when the safety score was set at 67.
It was business as usual in the rest of our key community contests with Dan Clapson clinging on at the summit of Red Lightning’s January to May league and Hutton Dressed As Lahm retaining top spot in his Top 10K Any Season league.
An impressive score of 90 points, taking hits into account, means that Mark has extended his lead at the top of the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league over second-placed Torres Magic to 18 points.
Gilles Wanlin is another league leader who refuses to budge. He continues to dominate my Millionaire’s Club, for those with a FPL rank above one million at the Gameweek 12 mark. Since then he has climbed from 1,238,588 to a season-high of 15,917 in the overall placings.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-ups please email me a brief summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
