Tips

The Complete Guide to FPL Blank Gameweek 27 tips and advice

Drowning in mayonnaise? Swimming in ketchup? Floating in salt and vinegar?

Chip planning can leave you feeling engulfed in a sea of condiments. Thankfully, like David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson striding down the beach ready to dive in and save us, we have our own David (aka DavidMunday815) and Neale (aka Skonto Rigga) to keep our heads above the vinegar.

And if that doesn’t cut the mustard, the Fantasy Football Scout guide to Gameweek 27 features a healthy dollop of fixture planning with a generous serving of discussion, strategising, and debate.

First a warning – don’t miss the deadline: remember this week we have a 18:45 UK Time deadline as two matches are taking place this evening.

The main topic of discussion in the lead up to the deadline has been the fixture developments following the draw for the FA Cup quarter-finals. The ensuing Blank and Double Gameweeks present opportunities for Fantasy managers. Neale, in his article last Tuesday, outlined the three popular strategies for navigating these crucial Gameweeks. However he pointed out that:

“There is no right or wrong way to deploy chips in FPL … Last season, Yusuf Shiekh Wildcarded in Gameweek 25, Bench Boosted in Gameweek 37 and used his Triple Captain chip in Gameweek 38 – and finished first in the world.”

This sentiment was echoed by the FPL General in his opinion piece on why you should tailor your chip strategy to your squad:

“The most important thing is to do what is right for your team. We are all going into this period from a different starting point.”

Discussion continued on the Scoutcast this week as David, Luke, and Az answered questions about chip strategies and outlined their thinking. Plans have also been debated on site with Flapjack looking at deploying his Free Hit chip in Gameweek 31 and Deulofail highlighting which players could do well.

Meanwhile, in his community article, Pep Pig put forward an alternative view focusing on which teams and players to target for those not using their Free Hit or Wildcard chips in Gameweek 31.

Elsewhere, Geoff started a Hot Topic on the three main chip strategies.

Although at this stage the picture is not entirely clear – we know about the Blank fixtures for Gameweek 31 and we have a good idea about the Gameweek 33 Blanks, but we don’t yet know when the rearranged fixtures will take place.

We could find out today when the broadcasters announce which matches they have chosen to show live in April, but there’s a chance we may not find out until after Gameweek 31.

For the moment, many FPL managers have assumed that the fixtures will simply move along to closest available Gameweek but others, such as Jarvish, have had a stab at predicting what would suit the TV companies. A Double Gameweek for Manchester City with fixtures against Fulham and Cardiff anyone?

No I’m not trying to give you nightmares but yes, that was Leroy ‘one-point-in-a-Double-Gameweek’ Sané scoring a belter of free-kick in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. City players continue to be the subject of debate – they Blank this Gameweek and in Gameweek 31, but they have three appealing fixtures in between and are in scintillating form. David gave his thoughts on what to do with their players in FPL Question Time.

Someone who never wants to give you nightmares is Greyhead, who this week enlisted the help of Britney Spears for his regular look at The Great and The Good. One manager who must feel like screaming and shouting after no doubt being driven crazy by his recent run of form is Ville Rönkä – it’s now 10 (ten!) red arrows in a row for the Career Top Ten Hall of Fame Manager.

Elsewhere in ‘The Great and The Good’, Torres Magic continues to stockpile his reserves – he’s made one transfer already this week with his money in the bank increasing from £7.7m to £8.9m. FPL Transfer Spy suggests he’s sold Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso for Leicester’s Ricardo Pereira.

The Portuguese international was the subject of a recent Members’ article, comparing him with his Leicester colleagues Chilwell and Maguire. The Foxes are the only club to avoid any of the “big six” in the next nine Gameweeks, with all five of their home matches during that time against teams currently in the bottom half of the table.

Attacking defenders were the focus of a community article by Chris Kish this week, who lamented the unreliability of clean sheets. While another Leicester City player, James Maddison features in the differentials article, spotlighting players with under 5% ownership.

However both Maddison and Chilwell were mentioned as injury doubts in Claude Puel’s press conference, as reported by Neale in his first team news bulletin. Neale will round up all the team news later on today after the remaining press conferences, and there should be a summary from Rotation’s Alter Ego.

With City and Chelsea Blanking this week, and Manchester United hosting Liverpool, attention in the short term turns to Arsenal. David has delved into the numbers to uncover who are the best Arsenal players to sign for Blank Gameweek 27. While on this week’s Captaincy video David and Neale discussed Aubameyang’s armband credentials.

With Gabonese international playing the full ninety minutes in last night’s Europa League action, perhaps a rested Alexandre Lacazette could prove the better option. David’s Captain Sensible article will no doubt help us to make up our minds, but it is a tricky debate this week.

According to G-Whizz, who serves up the latest DS stats, fixtures and clean sheet odds, Arsenal are joined by their north London rivals Tottenham as the stand out options ahead of the Gameweek. The inclusion of Spurs is a little surprising given that they travel to a Burnley side who are undefeated in their last seven matches.

Finally, Liverpool players should not be discounted either this week or in the long term: after their trip to Old Trafford they have a favourable fixture run and matches in both Blank Gameweek 31 & 33. David asked whether it might be time to bring in Sadio Mané alongside, or perhaps instead of, Mohamed Salah?

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

COMMUNITY TOURNAMENTS

Gameweek 26 saw the finals of both FFS cup competitions take place. The free-to-all FFS Cup was won by Man-Chest-Heir F.C, who transferred in Son for Richarlison on his way to a score of 67, while Jay # was victorious in the FFS Members Cup. Jay # took a bold 8 point hit ahead of the final but each of this new signings – Son, Pogba, Lacazette – delivered.

Well done to both managers on their success in the competitions, and commiserations to our losing finalists Jambo17 and Get It Inter Ya.

Happily they don’t have to wait long for another chance at cup glory as the next FFS cup competitions start within a week – FPL managers have from now right up to 18:45 GMT on Tuesday February 26 to enter their teams. For details on how to enter please follow this link.

In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing competition the safety score in Gameweek 26 was 57, this saw 82 managers eliminated. 534 teams are through to Gameweek 27, when the threshold for elimination moves up to 14%, a minimum of 75 managers will depart. The final will take place in Gameweek 37.

Jay Lovejoy is the new leader of our main FFS League, with Sean Tobin second on the same number of points. They are both 3 points ahead of Omer Weisberg, the previous leader, who drops to fourth. Jay and Sean move up to sixth and seventh overall, only 19 points behind the new world number one Joel Tesfai.

Jay is in his thirteenth FPL season with one previous top 10,000 finish – 9,256 in 2013/14. Sean has had five top 5,000 finishes in eight seasons, the best of which was 923 in 2014/15. He is number one in our Live Hall of Fame and recently appeared in one of J0E‘s Meet the Manager videos.

For insights into the Hall of Fame managers, last week Neale put together an analysis of the current top ten in the Live Hall of Fame, including player ownership and chip usage.

Adam Levy has increased his lead over Tore Bjørheim to 18 points at the head of our FFS Members League. He’s up to eighth overall, only one point behind Jay and Sean. It’s getting very tight at the top! This is Adam’s sixth season, his best finish of 10,847 came last year.

Mark maintained his 39-point lead over David in the FFS Mods & Cons. He is number two in our Live Hall of Fame and recently appeared in another of J0E‘s Meet the Manager videos. Rumour has it that he’s brought in Newcastle’s Salomón Rondón as one of his two transfers this week.

James Wells strengthened his grip on first place in RedLightning’s Top 10k Any Season mini-league. He holds a 32-point lead over Callum Croal (aka Jambo17) the runner-up in our FFS Members Cup.

Jonathan Horrocks is the new leader in RedLightning’s January to May League following an impressive Gameweek score of 96, as previous leader JOZ V drops to tenth. Jonathan has had five previous top 10,000 finishes in twelve seasons, the best being 1,673 in 2010/11.

If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-Ups, please email us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition at geoff@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

1,640 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Daghe Munegu
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Play Diop or Shaw?

    1. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Diop

    2. Bees4Lyf
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Diop

    3. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      There's a dripping tap round here.

      1. Pompel
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Schlupp?

        1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
          • 6 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          I did the deed.

  2. Canary_Kid
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Start:
    a) Guita (lei)
    b) Etheridge (WAT)

    1. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      b

    2. JoeSoap
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      b

  3. chaser123
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    AWB to:
    - S. Cook
    - Rice

    1. chaser123
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      (I already have Fabianski)

    2. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I'm hungry.

      1. chaser123
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        hahaha

      2. Now I'm Panicking
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        😀

      3. Pompel
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Think Cook is of the boil

  4. Winners900
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Damn, no that AWB is out.

    I have to start Westwood(vs) Spurs.

    Is it any midfielder worth getting in for a hit? I have actually 4.2m iTb aswell.

    Already got Pogba, Salah, Son, Fraser

    Cheers!

  5. Balotellitubbies
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    A) Auba (C), McNeil, S Cook
    B) Son (C), Barnes, Pereria

    1. Gringo Kid
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      B

    2. JoeSoap
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      b

  6. LIARS POKER
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Camarasa or TAA first on bench? (Starting Robbo)

    1. Canary_Kid
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I'm going Camarasa

    2. Halftime
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      TAA is injured

      1. Halftime
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Sorry I meant AWB

      2. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        thankfully

  7. Manani
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    bottomed:
    AWB > Schar
    or
    Richarlison > FANderson
    or Kamra > 9.5m or below

    1. maaaaloney
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Kam to Arnautovic

      1. maaaaloney
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        my bad

    2. dunas_dog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      AWB to Lascelles as Schar 2 yellows from 2 game ban

      1. El Matador
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Yedlin

  8. Stupendous
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Ah!!! Last minute Arnie to Auba Capt

    Too risky with these tweets

    Auba best start!!!

  9. Now I'm Panicking
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Going with the casuals. Salah (c)

    1. MGD
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Haha great post...

    2. Pompel
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Thought I was the only one on Salah
      Still waiverong whether to switch to Pogba, but Liverpool will keep it tight

  10. MGD
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    I’m cap Salah and forget...

  11. Ange Ball
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Who do I captain

    A) Anderson
    B)Rondon
    C) Salah

    1. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Fanny lover here

    2. The Darkest Knight
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      NOT B

    3. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Anderson for me

    4. Our Man Charlie
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      in the A camp here

  12. JoeSoap
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Captain Son or Anderson?

    1. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Ain

      1. RamaJama
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Son

    2. dunas_dog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Son

    3. JoeSoap
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Thanks all

  13. Gaffa914
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Rashford —-> La(C)azette SIIIIIIUUU

    1. La Roja
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      😀

  14. Gentle_Turks
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    So WB to Lascelles worth a hit if I only have 10 for this week? I guess plenty of you have done it??

    1. Paul Psychic Octopus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Plenty haven't

  15. Super Nashwan
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Friday night deadline = tipsy transfers

  16. Make United Great Again
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Son (C) this week. That is all.

    1. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Same

  17. Make United Great Again
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Good luck.

  18. nibby
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Cap who?
    A) son
    B) anderson
    C) arnie

    1. dunas_dog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Son

    2. Business Cat
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I wanted Arnie(c)...seems he might not play 🙁

      Son(c) it is then

  19. Sid07
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Firmino to auba for a hit ?? Will captain him

    1. whosBenj
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Yeah

    2. Hy liverpool
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Keep bobby

  20. tucaoneo
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    I am benching Salah and Pogba because this is the only week to do it.

    1. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Autosubs...

      1. tucaoneo
        • 5 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        😀

  21. Winners900
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Why is so many buying Anderson?

    1. Yank Revolution
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Price bracket has no standout options and w Arnie back, he should score more points than he has recently (we've seen he is capable of it)

  22. klavan
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Arnie on bench?

    1. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Here is our “predicted” line up for the match. We predict Arnie is on the bench.. ⚒
      West Ham United : Fabianski, Zabaleta Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Snodgrass, Noble, Anderson, Antonio and Hernandez.

      https://twitter.com/ExWHUemployee/status/1099013245174718464
      ------------------------------------------------------------

      I think there is a reason "predicted" is in quotation marks. Remember this guy is usually ITK

  23. Majestic Chanka
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Brought in and capped Filipe Anderson

    Wish me luck!

    1. drughi
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      no

    2. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Same

    3. korbendallas82
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Capped Anderson. My procentage of possible captain points is very low. So this will be highlighted I think. Poor choices.

  24. Jinkys Oars
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Captain
    A.Pogba
    B. Salah
    C. Son?

    1. whosBenj
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      A

    2. Tcheco
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Son

    3. AuFeld
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I'm going Pogba. Have Auba as well.

  25. OptimusBlack
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Kun > Auba and lost just 0.1

    Yaaay
    Naaay

    1. whosBenj
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Can't decide. Think I'm gonna do it. But I wanna captain Pogba. How can I -4 Auba and then not captain him!!!

    2. FPL_DON
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      yes

    3. Yank Revolution
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Kun too valuable to ship and Arsenal aren't exactly Man City on the goals front, plus who will get the prospective pts, Auba or Laca? Ive been on that roller coaster before and wanted to get off, so I did.

  26. LewanGOALski
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    A) AWB ➡ Diop / Rice for (-4) as partnof preparation for BGW31 and 33

    or

    B) play TAA (double with Robbo)
    ?

    1. Saïss Doesn't Mat…
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      gw31 is quite far away no need to do it now for a hit

    2. Bees4Lyf
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I’m playing the double and may take a -4 next gw with more info hopefully

  27. pundit of punts
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Captains?

    Salah here.

    1. La Roja
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      La(c)a

    2. Revival
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Laca

    3. MattysFantasyFooty
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Auba

    4. whosBenj
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Pog hatty Boom

    5. LewanGOALski
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      FA

    6. DandyDon
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Laca

    7. Stockport Hatter
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Auba

    8. Pompel
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Salah
      There will be penalties

    9. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Anderson

    10. Amey
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Auba

    11. Dybala10
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Son.

  28. barcaa7
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Sigurdsson to F.Anderson for -8??
    yes or no

    1. Tcheco
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Noooooo

  29. Daghe Munegu
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Rash to Rondon?

    1. whosBenj
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Nah

  30. Scotty B
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Who to (c)?
    A Rondon
    B Son
    C Rondon

    1. Now I'm Panicking
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      A or C

    2. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Oh dear.

    3. Scotty B
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Who to (c)?
      A Rondon
      B Son
      C Anderson

    4. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Anderson or Anderdon

    5. Bees4Lyf
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      The one in form