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 29.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 29 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 13:30 GMT on Saturday 15 March.
FREE HIT OR FREE TRANSFERS?
The EFL Cup final means that neither Liverpool, Newcastle United, Aston Villa nor Crystal Palace will be taking part in Blank Gameweek 29. A useful LiveFPL tool says that the top 100k squads have 4.868 players from these, on average.
Therefore, it’s a very popular week for chip usage. We’ve provided a few Free Hit drafts – where managers can pick a one-week-only squad – with Lateriser revealing his hypothetical one too.
- READ MORE: What is the Free Hit chip and how do you use it?
- READ MORE: Do I keep my saved transfers when using the Free Hit chip?
Like many others, he has instead accumulated free transfers for this exact moment. That’s why only three of the 18 ‘Great and the Good’ bosses made a Gameweek 28 move.
Either way, there is popularity for the in-form Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m). Two goals and two assists in three matches, about to face the lowly Leicester City side that he scored a season-high 17 points against last time. Both he and Justin Kluivert (£6.2m) are unanimous Scout Squad picks.
There’s a dilemma over what to do with Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara (£5.1m). He doesn’t blank but was benched last week. Cheap midfielders like Alejandro Garnacho (£5.9m) and Anthony Elanga (£5.3m) could replace him, as could even bigger differentials like Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.2m) or Alex Iwobi (£5.6m).
IS HAALAND WORTH IT?
Meanwhile, one of the most-bought is Manchester City monster Erling Haaland (£14.7m).
On a week where Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) and Alexander Isak (£9.3m) don’t play, managers have noticed that the Norwegian has seven goals in nine matches, ready to host Brighton and Hove Albion.
He’s a straightforward pick for Free Hitters but the more appealing fixture is Gameweek 30’s versus Leicester City. So there’s a reason to fully purchase Haaland. We look at his six-match rolling average statistics, plus other factors, to determine whether this eye-wateringly expensive asset is truly worth making sacrifices for elsewhere.
One of them would be Cole Palmer (£10.9m), who our Pro Pundits aren’t even sure should be sold.
TRENT IS INJURED
Not directly impacting Gameweek 29 because Liverpool aren’t playing, Friday’s injury update on Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) could still affect transfers.
“Trent [Alexander-Arnold] is indeed not available. He will not be there at the final. He’s still to be assessed for how long it’s going to take but we do expect him back in the end of the season.” – Arne Slot
It’s not exactly positive for a Gameweek 30 appearance, making the defender an easy downgrade to raise money. Zophar approves moving him to Man City’s Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m).
FPL Scoop has run through a more comprehensive list of possible replacements.
Also of interest is the knock that Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) picked up in midweek.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 29 CAPTAIN
The absence of Salah and Isak, combined with Palmer playing away at Arsenal, makes the armband race open and exciting. Every option will bring a notable rank gain, if successful.
Erling Haaland is the recommended recipient of both Captain Sensible and our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm, ahead of Bruno Fernandes.
They disagree over third place between Chris Wood (£7.3m) and Justin Kluivert.
TEAM REVEALS
- Tom Freeman’s FPL Gameweek 29 team reveal + transfer plans
- FPL General: Gameweek 29 team reveal + transfer plans
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit – has all four of these names alongside Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.2m) and Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.6m).
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 16 Premier League teams.
You can also see those predicted teams as part of our match previews on all eight Gameweek 29 fixtures here.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 29!
