If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 20.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 20 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 11:00 GMT on Saturday 4 January.
CUNHA MISSES ONLY ONE GAMEWEEK
Once the post-Ipswich Town scuffle took place, FPL managers knew a ban was coming for Matheus Cunha (£7.0m). In the meantime, he scored past Leicester City and hauled against Manchester United – but an official punishment finally arrived on New Year’s Eve.
Many well-established news sites were fooled by a fake story claiming that the Brazilian received a five-match ban. But, in reality, it’ll actually just be two – including an FA Cup occasion.
Some may therefore choose to keep Cunha, though a bunch of nasty-looking fixtures upon his return could mean it’s time to replace him. We’ve looked at some leading candidates, while Zophar discussed both Chris Wood (£6.8m) and Gabriel Jesus (£6.9m).
ROGERS + TIMBER BANNED TOO
Meanwhile, all Morgan Rogers (£5.5m) and Jurrien Timber (£5.7m) needed to do for one more night was avoid their fifth yellow card. Both failed and will be missing Gameweek 20 as a consequence.
In more positive news, owners of Nicolas Jackson (£8.2m) can breathe a sigh of relief as the Chelsea forward has successfully reached the 19-match threshold. Though only because he was benched on Monday, away to Ipswich.
SECOND WILDCARD IS AVAILABLE
As well as the suspension barrier, Gameweek 19 was also the last opportunity for managers to use their first Wildcard. LiveFPL reports that 46.91% of overall teams ended up wasting the chip.
The second Wildcard is now available for activation and those unlucky enough to have a combination of Cunha, Rogers, Timber and injured pair Jarrod Bowen (£7.4m) and Joe Gomez (£4.8m) may decide to immediately use these unlimited free transfers.
If you’re one of them, here are a few drafts to provide some ideas.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 20 CAPTAIN
Unsurprisingly, Mohamed Salah (£13.6m) is the recommended armband recipient of both Captain Sensible and our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm.
He’s having an all-time legendary FPL campaign, taking only 18 matches to exceed 200 points.
In second and third place, they back Erling Haaland (£14.8m) and Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) in a different order.
TEAM REVEALS
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – picks a couple of names from Liverpool, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Fulham.
Ipswich’s Liam Delap (£5.6m) was superb in the win over Chelsea and is one of this week’s three differential picks.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 20 Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 20!
