Six top-flight teams, including Bournemouth, are about to play twice in Gameweek 33.
This makes it the biggest ‘double’ of this Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season.
We’ve already covered a lot of chip strategy last week and early this week, including Wildcard, Bench Boost and Free Hit articles.
But for those managers not deploying any chip, just using ordinary free transfers and/or looking more of a deep-dive into Gameweek 33, we’re ‘Scouting the Doubles’.
So, let’s analyse Bournemouth’s opponents and the most appealing FPL picks from the Cherries’ ranks.
- READ MORE: Best Chelsea players for FPL Double Gameweek 33
- READ MORE: Best Leeds players for FPL Double Gameweek 33
- READ MORE: Best Brighton players for FPL Double Gameweek 33
- READ MORE: Best Man City players for FPL Double Gameweek 33
- READ MORE: Are ANY Burnley players worth buying for FPL Double Gameweek 33?
BOURNEMOUTH’S GAMEWEEK 33 FIXTURES
| xG rank (last six) | xG rank (season) | xGC rank (last six) | xGC rank (season) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 14th | 10th | 18th | 7th |
| Leeds | 13th | 11th | 4th | 12th |
While a trip to Newcastle would appear to be the trickiest fixture on paper, it’s maybe not a bad time to be facing the beleaguered Magpies.
A three-week break did nothing to kickstart Newcastle’s stuttering season, with a Gameweek 32 defeat at Selhurst Park leaving them 14th in the table. It’s one clean sheet in 18 matches for Eddie Howe’s side in all competitions.
Indeed, their xGC has taken a real turn for the worse lately, with only Wolves allowing more ‘big chances’ (BC) in the last six matches:
The Cherries are also the Geordies’ bogey team! Bournemouth have scored nine goals in their last three visits to Tyneside, and haven’t lost to Newcastle in the league since 2019/20 – well before Iraola’s arrival.
On the flipside, Leeds have hit a bit of form. They’ve conceded just four goals in the last six matches, although they’ve also scored a league-low three goals in that time:
One thing worth mentioning is that Leeds and Bournemouth, who meet next Wednesday, are both bottom for penalty goals conceded (six each) in 2025/26. Newcastle are just one behind:
The Magpies are also in the bottom five for set-piece goals conceded (13) this season. Six of those have come in the last 10 Gameweeks.
ROTATION RISKS
Above: Bournemouth’s minutes in their last two weekend/midweek turnarounds, via our Minutes Tracker (a white block means not in the squad)
The Cherries have recently had two weekend-midweek turnarounds, in Gameweeks 25-26 and Gameweeks 28-29. On both occasions, and as is the case in Double Gameweek 33, they had the following weekend off.
Iraola made just two changes on both occasions. And, on both occasions, Eli Kroupi Junior (£4.6m) and Ryan Christie (£4.9m) only started one of the two matches. A sign of things to come in Gameweek 33, then?
There are fewer concerns about the back four, while Rayan (£5.5m) has started every league match since his full debut. As for Alex Scott (£5.0m), he’s completed 90 minutes in each of the last 12 Gameweeks.
TOP FPL PLAYER PICKS
THE DEFENCE
It’s fairly straightforward at the back, with James Hill (£4.2m) and Marcos Senesi (£5.2m) the stand-outs. Given the £1.0m saving, and the fact that Hill can match or better Senesi in many respects (more of which below), the former is arguably the pick of the bunch.
Since their successful centre-half partnership began back in Gameweek 19, they’re ranked first and second among defenders for DefCon (DC) points:
Adrien Truffert (£4.7m), interestingly, is the Premier League’s top full-back for DefCon points (12) during this period. There has been an assist in each of the last two Gameweeks, too.
However, he doesn’t really boss Senesi or Hill in any area (even creativity), so he’s very much third in the Fantasy pecking order.
Hill v Senesi v Truffert: From Gameweek 19 onwards
| Hill | Senesi | Truffert | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defensive contributions per 90 mins | 12.2 | 10.3 | 8.8 |
| Shots | 6 | 9 | 5 |
| Shots in the box | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Chances created | 9 | 4 | 8 |
| xGI | 1.40 | 2.08 | 1.61 |
Álex Jiménez (£4.5m) has banked DefCon points just twice this season, so is a bit of a Fantasy footnote.
THE ATTACK
We’ve already addressed Kroupi’s game-time prospects above. Like Danny Welbeck (£6.3m) and maybe Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6m), there’s the distinct possibility of one benching in Double Gameweek 33.
Still, at a commendable minutes-per-goal average of 131.1, which is better than the above two, he could easily do the business in whatever pitch time he’s afforded.
If we want the likelihood of two starts (and returns), however, Marcus Tavernier (£5.4m) and Adam Scott (£5.0m) are our two best bets.
Scott has gone from early-sub candidate to first name on the teamsheet. He’s now completed 90 minutes in 12 successive Gameweeks, and met the DefCon threshold in eight of those (he was close in two others):
Gameweek 32’s match-winning strike was only his third goal of the season, so don’t expect attacking returns to flow with regularity. However, it’s worth mentioning that his goal at Arsenal came after Tyler Adams (£4.9m) came on. The introduction of Adams, a natural ‘six’ who Bournemouth have been without recently, allowed Scott to push a little further forward.
As for Tavernier, he bosses the underlying statistics. Since his return to the side after injury in Gameweek 28, he’s right up there with the midfield leaders for both shots…
…and chances created:
Finishing isn’t his strong suit (a bit like Evanilson (£6.7m)), but multiple routes to points (set pieces, open-play chance creation, a share of penalties) help cover that.
Rate My Team (RMT) indeed fancies him as the top-scoring Bournemouth asset of the Gameweek.
