The long-awaited news finally arrived at Wednesday lunchtime as Manchester City‘s one outstanding Premier League fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers was slotted into Gameweek 36.
City and Wolves join 10 other Premier League sides in ‘doubling’ in that Gameweek and have the following matches:
- Manchester City: Newcastle United (h), Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Chelsea (a), Manchester City (h)
The other option was for the Premier League to place the Wolves v City fixture into Gameweek 37.
That hasn’t happened and, as a result, only five teams – Aston Villa, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Everton and Leicester City – now ‘double’ in that round of matches.
Liverpool’s clash with Southampton, temporarily postponed because of the Reds’ involvement in the FA Cup final, has simply been moved back a few days to Tuesday 17 May and will stay within Gameweek 37. Both sides play only once in that Gameweek.
No more fixtures remain outstanding, so we – finally – now have the complete schedule for the rest of 2021/22.
SEASON TICKER OVERVIEW
The clubs above are sorted by ease of fixture in the run-in, with quantity, as well as quality, also affecting the rankings.
This graphic is taken from our customisable Season Ticker.
INITIAL REACTION + KEY CITY TARGETS IN FPL
The worry regarding City assets when the matches pile up is that Pep Guardiola might up the tinkering.
But the good news for FPL managers is that the schedule is about as kind as it could be, given the number of fixtures that are still to be fulfilled.
The reigning champions don’t have any Wednesday-Saturday turnarounds in Europe, for instance, and get at least three full rest days in between most of their remaining games in all competitions.
The one exception to that is – typically – in Double Gameweek 36, when just over 72 hours separate the matches against Newcastle and Wolves.
- Tuesday 26 April:Â Real Madrid (h), Champions League semi-final, first leg
- Saturday 30 April: Gameweek 35 – Leeds United (a)
- Wednesday 4 May:Â Real Madrid (a), Champions League semi-final, second leg
- Sunday 8 May: Gameweek 36 – Newcastle United (h)
- Wednesday 11 May: Gameweek 36 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
- Sunday 15 May: Gameweek 37 – West Ham United (a)
- Sunday 22 May: Gameweek 38 – Aston Villa (h)
As for key targets, Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m), Joao Cancelo (£7.1m) and Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m) are the initial names that spring out.
Cancelo and Laporte have started all but one of the league fixtures that they have been fully fit for this season: their only benchings coming against Norwich in Gameweek 25 when there was a very quick turnaround between fixtures (Laporte was also a substitute on the opening day but was short of match fitness after a spell in isolation).
De Bruyne was not quite the same ‘nailed’ prospect in the first half of 2021/22 thanks to a real dip in form but he’s been back to his best since, starting 16 of City’s last 17 Premier League games – that one benching, you guessed it, coming against Norwich.
In that time, De Bruyne is top among all FPL assets for points (127).
Bernardo Silva’s (£7.0m) start rate is also up at over 90% this season, making him one of the less rotation-prone options, although he himself has accumulated only 55 points during De Bruyne’s purple patch.
As for the more explosive, risky options, the minutes accrued and any injuries picked up over Gameweek 35 and in Madrid next Wednesday will perhaps be crucial to determining which of them stands the best chance of sustained game-time in Double Gameweek 36.
Riyad Mahrez (£8.6m), for instance, can’t be beaten by any teammate for attacking returns (17), double-digit hauls (six), rate of expected goal involvement (one every 103.2 minutes) or points-per-start average (7.7) in 2021/22 (see the below graphic from our Premium Members Area). When he’s on the pitch, he can do serious damage – but how many minutes will he get?
