In the latest article from our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers, Fantasy all-rounder Obay Eid/FPL Milanista – who has risen to 18th in our Live Hall of Fame – recommends Gameweek 25 transfer targets and discusses his own plans.
The most exciting part of Fantasy Premier League (FPL), where doubles and blanks come into play, is here. Proper planning is needed, as this offers a big opportunity to gain ground and significantly improve overall ranks.
Gameweek 25 has four teams doubling, including Liverpool and Manchester City. Therefore our thinking must focus on finding the ultimate way of covering these two sides without hindering our teams afterwards. This mainly has to do with Liverpool players then blanking in Gameweek 26.
Uncertainty regarding their only two players to exceed 100 points this season – Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.6m) – adds another dilemma to our thinking and must be properly assessed before we decide on this week’s moves.
MAN CITY
The most obvious team to cover and focus on for Double Gameweek 25 is Man City. The champions are in good form, possess lots of explosive options and – unlike Brentford – have great fixtures after their double. Furthermore, what their players have over Liverpool and Luton Town assets is an actual match in Gameweek 26 – an enticing fixture at Bournemouth.
Offering my input towards the week’s most talked about issue in the FPL community, I re-affirm that investing in players like Erling Haaland (£14.4m), Phil Foden (£8.0m), Kevin De Bruyne (£10.8m) and a defender (personal preference is Nathan Ake (£5.1m), then Ruben Dias (£5.5m) and Kyle Walker (£5.5m)) is unquestionable.
An exciting pick could also be Julian Alvarez (£6.7m), fresh from a rest during Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Copenhagen. Although he’ll always be a risk for minutes, going forward.
LIVERPOOL
The next most sought-after team, with good reason, is Liverpool and their two juicy fixtures versus Brentford and Luton. Both can potentially be full of goals. Also nice is that the Reds are in Saturday’s early kick-off, meaning possible team leaks could assist our decisions.
Alexander-Arnold is absent until after the EFL Cup final, whereas Salah is back in contention. But him starting straight after a hamstring injury is unlikely. Again, unless your transfers are endangered by overnight price changes, I’d try waiting until near the deadline for any news. Of course, Diogo Jota (£8.3m) and Darwin Nunez (£7.6m) are great options to own.
However, investment in Liverpool assets is directly related to the number of Chelsea, Tottenham and Luton players that you currently own. These four teams will blank in Gameweek 26 so, if fielding a full XI requires major surgery to the side, then it might need reconsidering. After all, Liverpool play twice over the next two Gameweeks just like most of the rest. Taking a four-point hit to buy an asset that’ll then need another one to be removed may not be ideal.
BRENTFORD + LUTON
Getting Double Gameweek 25 players from Brentford and Luton, in my opinion, is low in the pecking order given the difficulty of their matches. Though I can certainly see reasons to invest in the Bees, given they’ll feature in Gameweek 26 and Blank Gameweek 29, especially if Ivan Toney (£8.2m) is joining your team.
Brentford’s talisman has only blanked once since returning from suspension, delivering four attacking returns in four matches. Being on penalties and free-kicks adds to his fixture-proof points potential.
An injury to Alisson (£5.8m) might also be a boon for those investing in Toney.
Sergio Reguilon (£4.4m) is another player on my watchlist but I doubt I’ll be moving towards a schedule that puts a defender against Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal over these next four Gameweeks.
Meanwhile, I’d avoid Luton as they face the same blanking issue as Liverpool assets but without the same immediate upside.
It’s also good to emphasise the importance of planning ahead, at a time when blanks are bringing up significant barriers. These need taking care of, otherwise unnecessary hits or chip usage will occur.
Blank Gameweek 29 isn’t far away, meaning those teams with good fixtures until then must be on our radars – even if that means losing out on a Double Gameweek name. Straight away, my eyes are drawn towards Aston Villa, West Ham and probably Spurs (after Blank Gameweek 26) targets.
FPL MILANISTA: GAMEWEEK 25 TEAM + TRANSFER
