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 Blank Gameweek 34.
There are a couple of late-arriving articles to bring to your attention, too: FPL General’s Gameweek 34 Free Hit team reveal and The Great and The Good.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 34 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 11:00 BST on Saturday 26 April.
SHOULD YOU FREE HIT?
Four clubs are without a match in Blank Gameweek 34 – Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City – and the average top 100k squad contains 8.963 of their players.
If you own lots of these and are one of the 68 per cent yet to deploy the one-week-only Free Hit chip, this is one of your final chances to use it.
Don’t worry about losing any saved-up free transfers. This season brought a rule change where these now get carried over to the other side of Wildcard and Free Hit usage.
BEST FREE HIT IDEAS
Unanimous Scout Squad picks like Mohamed Salah (£13.8m), Alexander Isak (£9.6m), Matheus Cunha (£7.0m) and Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.0m) will form the core of many Free Hits.
Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham are facing the league’s bottom three, so we’ve picked out these opponents’ soft spots that can be exploited.
- READ MORE: Where are the bottom three clubs weakest?
- READ MORE: FPL Q&A Free Hit special – Best Newcastle picks, Trent + more
Beyond that, Zophar wonders whether Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) will start after last week’s cameo goal. His current draft doesn’t feature Ryan Sessegnon (£4.1m), but fellow chip user Lateriser is happy to take a risk on the out-of-position Fulham man’s minutes.
One of the big debates revolves around Cole Palmer (£10.6m). The Chelsea attacker is goalless in 11 matches but has explosive potential, as shown in last year’s equivalent home meeting with Everton.
Elsewhere, Luis Diaz (£7.6m) gets a go at distracted Tottenham Hotspur, while Raul Jimenez (£5.3m) looks set to start at Southampton based on his manager’s press conference comments.
NON-USERS
For those managers not activating their Free Hit, there are decisions to make about which players should go.
Up front, Joao Pedro (£5.6m) is a simple sale because he’s banned for three matches. Both Omar Marmoush (£7.7m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.8m) are blanking, giving Chris Wood (£7.0m) appeal because he’s ended his goal drought.
Like Wood, midfielder Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) plays in Gameweek 34 and follows it with good closing fixtures. He could replace Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m), who was named as a substitute last week.
It was the playmaker’s first league benching since January 2022, as Manchester United are prioritising their European semi-final. It’s similar for Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (£10.5m) too.
If you’re on a Wildcard this week, here are a few drafts to consider.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 34 CAPTAIN
Liverpool are just a point away from securing the league title. With that in mind, Mohamed Salah is the recommended armband recipient of our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm.
In joint-second place, it backs Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak.
You can see what Hibbo thinks in his weekly Captain Sensible piece here.
TEAM REVEALS
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection, which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name, understandably piles in on Liverpool and the relegation zone’s opponents.
Meanwhile, centre-forward Evanilson (£5.8m) is an appealing differential when at home to Man United.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 16 Premier League teams. These predicted line-ups can also be found in our weekly previews.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 34!
