FPL Family’s Sam: How I plan to navigate the Blank + Double Gameweeks

FPL Family’s Sam talks us through her plans for the upcoming Blank and Double Gameweeks.

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Double Gameweeks always throw up conflict for me. The immediate desire is to go all in and get as many doublers as possible, but long-term planning is key.

Heading into Double Gameweek 24, I am already tripled up on Liverpool. This means my decisions this week revolve around Everton. As tempting as it is to think let’s take a hit and have two Everton players in place, I want to make sure that this is the right strategy for my team moving forward.

Since Gameweek 16 my team has been hit by constant problems. Red cards for Diogo Dalot (£5.0m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) certainly haven’t helped, nor has an injury crisis which included the likes of Bukayo Saka (£10.2m), Evanilson (£5.6m) and Dominic Solanke (£7.4m).

All of these issues have meant that I have felt like I have been constantly firefighting, rather than making the transfers that I would have liked to make. As such, I haven’t been able to roll my transfers as I would have liked. This means heading into Double Gameweek 24 with just one free transfer.

BLANK GAMEWEEK 29

This transfer also has to be made with one eye on Blank Gameweek 29. Of course, we won’t know for certain which teams will blank until after the EFL Cup semi-final second-legs, which take place in the middle of Gameweek 24.

At the moment Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur have the edge, but given Spurs’ current form, an away trip to Liverpool now looks very difficult.

A Spurs v Newcastle final will mean that the following matches are off:

• Fulham v Spurs
• Newcastle v Crystal Palace

If it is a Spurs v Arsenal final that will mean the following matches are off:

• Fulham v Spurs
• Arsenal v Chelsea

A Liverpool v Newcastle final will mean the following matches are off:

• Aston Villa v Liverpool
• Newcastle v Crystal Palace

Finally, if it is a Liverpool v Arsenal final that will mean the following matches are off:

• Aston Villa v Liverpool
• Arsenal v Chelsea

Depending on which games are postponed, I will have a varying number of players who are missing. In my current team, I will have between four and seven out. Having four players blanking will obviously be a lot easier to deal with than seven!

EVERTON DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 24/BLANK GAMEWEEK 29 APPEAL

Everton, unlike Liverpool, will definitely have a fixture in Gameweek 29. The Toffees match against West Ham United is therefore another positive for investing now, because having Everton assets not only allows us to target Double Gameweek 24 but also helps with Blank Gameweek 29. This is why, along with back-to-back wins, I am thinking about investing in the blue half of Merseyside.

Ahead of Gameweek 22, I wasn’t keen on any Everton players. Their form was poor and they were struggling at the bottom of the league. However, they have now engineered back-to-back wins and are experiencing a new manager bounce under David Moyes (£0.5m).

Meanwhile, with Graham Potter (£0.5m) benching Lukasz Fabianski (£4.1m) in Gameweek 23, I’ll probably have a goalkeeper issue in Gameweek 29 if Arsenal make it to the EFL Cup final, as I would lose David Raya (£5.5m). Therefore having Jordan Pickford (£5.0m) could be helpful, especially if I am planning to Wildcard in Gameweek 30.

Doing Antonee Robinson (£5.1m) to Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.8m) or Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.4m) could potentially be a good move, too. This is especially true if Spurs make the EFL Cup Final and Fulham blank. However, Robinson’s attacking threat and how good he has been for me this season makes me reluctant to sell, especially as I sold him once before on a Wildcard and then had to rectify that transfer later.

CHIP STRATEGY

With my chips planned for Gameweek 30 onwards, I will not be playing one in Double Gameweek 24 or Blank Gameweek 29. This means that I am expecting a red arrow in Gameweek 24 as most managers who still have the Triple Captain chip will use it now.

With needing to play through Gameweek 29 and Wildcarding straight after, I can at least afford to dead-end my team. This is another benefit of investing in Everton.

The Everton fixtures are good right through until Gameweek 29, at which point they take a turn for the worse. From Gameweek 30 onwards, they face Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Chelsea, so on a Wildcard, any Everton assets can simply be removed.

TRANSFER PLANS

I would love to roll my transfer this week. That would allow me to see who makes the EFL Cup final as well as giving more insight into the FA Cup and the impact on Gameweek 34.

However, I also see the benefit of moving for Pickford or Mykolenko. I would need to transfer out Raya for Pickford, whereas Mykolenko would be a choice between selling one of Robinson or Lewis Hall (£5.1m), or being able to upgrade Sepp van Den Berg (£4.1m).

Selling Hall is something I hadn’t really considered until this week. The Newcastle defender has been outstanding for me but the next few fixtures aren’t ideal. Even more so if Newcastle do blank in Gameweek 29, as then it’s only really the West Ham game that I would be fearful of not owning him for.

Hall could then come back in on a Wildcard to allow me to target potential doubles and nice fixtures in the second half of the season.

Sometimes in FPL, the most sensible choice isn’t the choice I would ideally like to make. But sacrificing Hall might be the best thing for the next few Gameweeks.