Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the Gameweek 24 transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers. 

‘The Great and The Good’ this season are the FPL Godfather Mark Sutherns, the BlackBox pair of Az and Andy North, Scouts FPL General, Joe and Tom, the FPL Wire trio of Pras, Lateriser and Zophar, FPL celebrities FPL Harry, Martin Baker, Pingreen, FPL Frasier and Luke Williams, Hall of Famers Ben Crellin, Fabio Borges and Tom Dollimore, and last year’s mini-league winner Huss E.

“Why does it always rain on me?”

Just as we were starting to warm up to the season, Double Gameweek 26 was provisionally announced, sending a fresh chill of excitement through the community. Of course, we now know it’ll be Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers playing twice – time to layer up with players from those teams.

Over the last couple of weeks, Bruno Fernandes (£9.6m) has become the hottest thing in FPL, as since he moved into the No 10 role, we no longer have to rely on defensive contribution (DefCon) bingo points for returns.

As for Cole Palmer (£10.4m), well, even Michael Fish (showing my age) would struggle to forecast his returns or appearances over the coming weeks.

And then there’s Erling Haaland (£15.0m), who was standing out in the rain, gloves on after a relatively quiet run and last week’s benching. Faith in the robot was being tested, although not as much as Bukayo Saka (£10.0m), who must have already moved into the spare room after his warm-up injury.

OVERALL PERFORMANCE

Tom Freeman, FPL Frasier and Andy North (yes, really) were our top scorers this week as they were drenched in points.

The common themes were Hugo Ekitike (£8.8m) soaking them with a brace and the quiet, unassuming drizzle of points coming from that Sunderland defender Nordi Mukiele (£4.5m).

In truth, it was greens for most as the Bruno captain boots gave them all a chance to splash in the puddle of points. Well, almost all of them…

FPL GENERAL’S WILDCARD

FPL General is the only manager who’s stepped out into the storm and hit the Wildcard button, while everyone else stays indoors, clutching their free transfers and preparing for the upcoming Gameweeks.

The Arsenal triple-up was always coming, but instead of wrapping up with Saka, he’s gone for Declan Rice (£7.4m). Maybe he should have gone all in on their defence – it may be as flashy as a thermal vest, but might yet be the smart play.

The real cold-snap gamble is Palmer, betting that Chelsea are finally starting to thaw. However, it still feels like a gamble with niggling concerns over his fitness. There’s no imminent ‘double’, either.

Manchester United get the full downpour treatment too: a triple-up featuring the inevitable Bruno, plus Bryan Mbeumo (£8.4m) and Harry Maguire (£4.3m). Yes, Harry Maguire.

Daniel Munoz (£5.8m) is packed for the trip as well, with his Gameweek 26 and 27 fixtures looking like clear skies in an otherwise gloomy forecast.

At £3.9m, Bournemouth’s James Hill is the new vogue budget pick — cheap insulation, but does he do the job when funds are frozen?

But it’s a disappointing start for FPL General with a red, as he feels the pain of shipping out Marcos Senesi (£4.8m), Florian Wirtz (£8.3m), Matheus Cunha (£8.0m), Antoine Semenyo (£7.8m) and Ekitike. Timing is everything in this game.

TRANSFERS

Gameweek 24 was a wet weekend for transfers, with a number pulling their collars up, refusing to go outside and wisely keeping their transfers dry.

Those who stayed indoors were largely spared, while the few who ventured out did so clutching their essential Bruno umbrella, which stopped the worst of the rank erosion.

Unfortunately, the rain hit Lateriser hardest: he ditched Anthony Gordon (£7.3m) and Ekitike just before the skies cleared, and both promptly started splashing in the points puddles.

‘THE GREAT AND THE GOOD’ TEMPLATE

The Gameweek 24 template was basically a persistent drizzle of points – nothing exciting, but you stayed dry if you dressed properly.

Bruno Fernandes reached 100% ownership, officially becoming the league-issued raincoat: everyone had one, everyone needed one, and he reliably stopped things getting worse without ever brightening the day.

The only shuffle came at the back, where Mukiele replaced Patrick Dorgu (£4.4m) as the fifth defender. A move that felt like swapping slightly soggy socks for marginally drier ones.

The full template is below.

Dubravka (94.4%), Raya (44.4%)
Gabriel (88.9%), Timber (55.6%), Andersen (38.9%), O’Reilly (33.3%), Mukiele (27.8%)
Fernandes (100.0%), Saka (66.7%), Enzo (61.1%), Rogers (44.4%), Rice (27.8%)
Haaland (88.9%), Thiago (61.1%), Ekitike (55.6%)

DIFFERENTIALS

This week, I have had a quick look at the differential picks amongst The Great and The Good, as per LiveFPL. They are rank-dependent, but good to see if there are any names worth looking out for to keep the clouds away.

Ekitike is a common differential source for those who have kept faith, and it does seem that the fortunes of the Merseyside clubs will determine whether there are big jump in ranks with Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m), Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m), Michael Keane (£4.7m) and James Tarkowski (£5.8m) appearing as impact players amongst this group of managers.

Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) and Eli Jr Kroupi (£4.7m) had good weekends, so many will already be looking at them as there is hardly a flood of options up front, whilst Palmer is the hope for Lateriser and FPL General.

• Huss E – van Hecke, Verbruggen, Ekitike
• Tom Dollimore – Szoboszlai, van Dijk
• FPL Harry – Dewsbury-Hall, Richards, Anderson, Verbruggen, Tarkowski, Ekitike
• Martin Baker – Salah, Richards, Keane, Verbruggen, Ekitike
• Ben Crellin – Collins, Lacroix, Andersen, Szoboszlai, van Dijk
• Fabio Borges – Schade, Lacroix, Andersen, Kroupi Jr, van Hecke
• Mark Sutherns – Hill, Bowen, Roefs
• Zophar – Kroupi Jr, O’Reilly, Verbruggen, Mukiele
• Joe Lepper – Le Fee, Dalot, Anderson, Alderete, Ekitike
• Frasier Crane – Dewsbury-Hall, Roefs, Senesi, Ekitike, Mukiele
• Tom Freeman – Xhaka, Sels, Dalot, Mukiele, Ekitike, Bowen
• Andy North – Andersen, Kroupi Jr, Anderson, Mukiele, Ekitike
• Luke Williams – Keane, Ndiaye, O’Reilly, Tarkowski
• Pingreen – Rodon, Le Fee, Szoboszlai, van Dijk, Tarkowski, Ekitike
• Pras – Hill, Andersen, Alderete, van Dijk, Ekitike
• Lateriser – Richards, Verbruggen, Evanilson, O’Reilly, Palmer
• FPL General – Martinez, Munoz, Bowen, Palmer, Mbeumo
• Az – Thiaw, Verbruggen, Anderson, Senesi, Tarkowski, Ekitike

Anyway, that’s all from me for now, and remember: don’t have FPL nightmares. 

For those affected by any of the topics raised above, you can find me here on Twitter or BlueSky.