For all those planning towards the GW31 and GW33 blanks, you may find this useful.
Let’s begin with who plays in both GWs.
There are 9 teams who have a fixture in both weeks. These are:
Bournemouth (GW30 fixtures turn great)
Burnley (GW31 fixtures improve)
Chelsea (GW29 the fixtures turn great)
Everton (Very up and down run in)
Huddersfield (I am avoiding)
Leicester (Excellent fixtures from GW27)
Liverpool (Great fixtures from GW28)
Newcastle (Excellent fixtures from GW 27)* might blank GW33
West Ham (Great fixtures 5 from their next 6)
I think it is perfectly acceptable to have 8, 9, 10, or 11 players going into GW31.
Concentrating on who to bring in can be a difficult one depending on your team’s circumstances, rank and ML surroundings.
The obvious start for me is to keep your Liverpool assets. I would look to bring in 1 or 2 Leicester players: Schmeichel (5.0m), Pereira (5.3m), Maguire (5.4m), and Chilwell (5.0m) all represent value at the back. Maddison (6.6m) could come back onto the radar. I also like the prospects of Harvey Barnes (5.5m) who has looked a real livewire of late. Though I must admit I will be watching Tielemans (6.0m) this weekend to see if he has a more offensive role after his debut against Spurs at Wembley. He is a player who could offer great value. He Currently has 0.1% ownership.
Looking at Newcastle, again several candidates could enter our thinking. They may have a blank in GW33, but it is still to be decided. Dubravka (5.0m) is their highest scorer this season on 93 points, which doesn’t bode well for their outfield players. Though with a recent break in sunny Spain they could be ready to enter the latter part of the season with a real intent. The Season Ticker in the Member’s section looks ridiculously kind. We could consider Lascalles (4.6m), Yedlin (4.5m), or Schar (4.6m). The latter showing that his brace (in GW23) wasn’t entirely lucky as he continues to be a threat given the opportunity. Whilst Ritchie (5.8m) could still offer value, his new wing back role puts me off slightly, though he is a constant threat with set pieces including penalty duties.
Before I skip straight do Rondon (5.7m) I’d like to throw in that Almiron (6m) could still enter our thoughts and play a big part in the enticing fixtures ahead. I will be watching closely against Huddersfield, and if the signs are there I am more than willing to take a plunge on the speedy Paraguayan.
Moving onto West Ham, who start us off with a very juicey home fixture against Fulham this Friday evening. I’ve made it clear on FFS that I will be bringing Arnautovic (6.8m) in for this game. Even going as far as throwing the armband on him. Call it a hunch. Though the ever familiar Felipe Anderson (7.2m) will surely enter most of our calculations. The prospects of these two repeating what they did in the earlier parts of the season is mouth-watering. Balbuena (4.2m) is poised for a return, as is Lanzini (6.4m). He could yet play a big part in West Ham’s season.
Chelsea are showing huge inconsistency at the moment, though we could be foolish to overlook the likes of Hazard (10.8m) and Higuain (9.5m) from GW 29. Their 5 fixtures from here are ful (a), WOL (H), eve (a), car (a). WHU (H). If they hit any kind of form then you can guarantee these 2 would be involved. My advice would be not to write Chelsea assets off just yet. Especially Hazard.. he can’t do it on his own, but this could be his last season. With 12 goals and 10 assists to his name I’m sure he intends to end the season on a high and put Europe’s elite on standby.
Bournemouth have shown moments of brilliance this season and currently sit in 11th position. (The same number of points as West Ham and Everton above them). Though looking at their fixtures from GW30, some could argue they couldn’t get much better. Wilson (6.3m) possibly returning for this turn in fixtures could be a real eye-opener and the same could be said for Brooks (5.0m). Fraser (6.1m) will no doubts be on many radars too.
I know some FPL managers can be reluctant to lose value in players, or remove certain players just to fill the blanks, but there are many options available to us. I have no doubts some of the above could prove to be golden. A simple plan on a spreadsheet (or pen and paper) can make it look so much easier.
There are many more options and I can’t possibly cover them all. Though that said, I wish you all luck in whatever strategy plan you decide.
FPL Chip Strategies:
FPL chip strategies for the Blank and Double Gameweeks ahead
All the best
Pep Pig
5 years, 1 month ago
I think a different way to look at it is to think about which players with value tied up and are likely to be kept through the WC. For me, My season keepers are Fab, Pogba, Rash and AWB, while still on the fence about Doherty. I have almost 2M in TV invested there, and can still get out 10 players for GW31