What the FA Cup replay results mean for the Blank Gameweek 31 picture

Plenty of uncertainty remains over how many postponements we’ll get in Blank Gameweek 31.

The FA Cup quarter-finals clash with that set of fixtures in late-March and another three Premier League teams made it through to the fifth round following their midweek replays, with only one – Southampton – falling by the wayside.

The Saints were defeated 3-2 by Tottenham Hotspur in north London on Wednesday, although may still blank in Gameweek 31 (more of which below).

A youthful Liverpool side squeaked past Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday to set up a meeting with Chelsea in the last 16, while Newcastle United defeated Oxford United after extra-time on the same evening and will next face West Bromwich Albion.

So far we have only two Premier League fixtures definitely going ahead in Blank Gameweek 31:

Burnley v Watford
Wolves v Bournemouth

We won’t find out which of the other eight scheduled Premier League fixtures of Gameweek 31 will be taking place until the beginning of March, with the FA Cup fifth round taking place in the midweek between Gameweeks 28 and 29.

One of Spurs v West Ham or Norwich v Everton will definitely go ahead in Gameweek 31, as Jose Mourinho and Daniel Farke’s sides meet each other in the next round of the FA Cup and one of those two clubs will be eliminated.

The ties in the FA Cup fifth round are as follows:

Chelsea v Liverpool
Derby County v Manchester United
Leicester City v Birmingham City
Portsmouth v Arsenal
Reading v Sheffield United
Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City
West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United

Therefore, at this stage, we can still have anything between two and seven blanks in Gameweek 31.

Blanks will be confirmed in Gameweek 31 if the following events occur:

The maximum of seven blanks will happen in Gameweek 31 if Manchester City, Manchester United or Sheffield United, Leicester, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle all win their FA Cup fifth-round ties.

Looking further ahead to Gameweek 34, which clashes with the FA Cup semi-finals, there are again only two Premier League matches currently confirmed as going ahead:

Everton v Southampton
West Ham United v Burnley

The results of the FA Cup fifth round and quarter-finals will determine which of the other scheduled Premier League games will survive.

There’ll be fewer blanks in Gameweek 34 (a maximum of four) and, given that there is a free midweek after that set of fixtures, it is widely assumed that 2019/20’s first ‘big’ Double Gameweek will fall then, with outstanding fixtures from Gameweek 28/31/34 needing to be rearranged.

More details of the blanks and doubles can be read below: