Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for Double Gameweek 19

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Double Gameweek 19 ahead of today’s 11:00 GMT deadline.

The fixture schedule has shifted once again. Like a surreal game of Grandmother’s Footsteps, it’s moved every time you turn to look at it. 

Aston Villa lost and regained their Double Gameweek in a matter of hours, although they now face Newcastle United instead of Everton in addition to Manchester City. But the clever fixture juggling did not extend to Leeds United and Southampton, with their upcoming midweek game postponed to accommodate Southampton’s rescheduled FA Cup tie.

During these testing times, we can expect further changes with little warning.

In a letter sent last week, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters alerted clubs that they should plan for more matches being postponed or rearranged at short notice. And a joint statement from the Premier League, FA and EFL, restated the desire to complete the season in May.

So, who knows what twists and turns await? Could we yet see Leeds vs Southampton rearranged for Gameweek 19?

Shrewsbury, already without their manager Steve Cotterill for Tuesday’s tie, may suffer more ill-effects from coronavirus (COVID-19), or, by some miracle, could the Shrews beat Southampton on Tuesday? However unlikely, Leeds and Southampton would then both have a free weekend slot.

But that might be taking ‘Fantasy’ football a step too far. Sticking with what we know, here’s Legomané’s updated fixture ticker:

‘TBA’ fixtures Possible Gameweek Slots
Aston Villa v Everton24-to-28, 30-to-34, 37
Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur 26, 32, 37
Burnley v Fulham24-to-28, 30-to-34, 37
Everton v Manchester City24, 26, 27, 32, 37
Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur26, 32, 37
Leeds United v Southampton24-to-28, 30-to-34, 37
Manchester City v Southampton24, 26, 27, 32, 37

Triple Gameweek Scenario

Future Double Gameweeks, and possibly Triple Gameweeks, await Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.

The two sides contest the EFL Cup final (coinciding with Gameweek 33), and are both still in the FA Cup and European competitions: should they progress to the latter stages, Spurs will potentially have to squeeze five matches into three available Gameweek slots, and Man City would have to fit five games into five free slots.

So no COVID-19 leeway and additional fixture shenanigans could lie ahead.

To Bench Boost or not to Bench Boost?

After the latest changes, a question facing many managers – and one tackled by our Scoutcast trio of Joe, Seb, and Karam – is now that Leeds and Southampton don’t have two matches in Gameweek 19, is it still worth using the Bench Boost?

The thing is, if you already Wildcarded in Gameweek 16, and you set up your team to Bench Boost, you need something bigger than this to back out from it. Because it’s one of the chips that if you don’t do it now, you will wait for another chance [and] you might have a lot of funds remain on your bench.

– Karam

Leeds-fan Seb added:

Ideally I want to be Bench Boosting all 15 players for double, unless someone crazy has got a great fixture, [but] often they might be more expensive, so typically you’re going to have medium to cheap assets on the bench, that’s the goal … On Leeds, so I think if you’ve been forced into this a little bit and you still want to use that Bench Boost, it’s not terrible. They’re playing Brighton at home … if you’ve got Bamford, Dallas, and Raphina on your bench maybe that is a Bench Boost – Bamford could score three!

However not all managers feel the same. Pro Pundit Az has been reduced to eight Double Gameweek players, scuppering any hopes he had for using the chip.

So, with fixture rescheduling putting any plans I had for a Bench Boost on hold, I am considering which chip I should use if any.

Instead the co-host of FPL BlackBox is contemplating using his Triple Captain. But Manchester United go to Liverpool with Bruno Fernandes (£11.3m) a booking away from a one-match ban, and Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) is out of form. Although both sides have favourable second fixtures against Fulham and Burnley respectively.

Buying Manchester City Players

The other challenge facing Az and those like Pro Pundit Darren Wiles, who used their first Wildcard late to set up a Gameweek 19 Bench Boost, is how to accommodate Manchester City players?

The Citizens didn’t feature in Darren’s original plans, given that they had just a single Gameweek before their fixture with Aston Villa was rearranged.

But they’ve since come into form with an eye-catching 3-1 win away to Chelsea, and Pep Guardiola’s side have now kept six clean sheets in their last eight matches, giving them the best defensive record in the league.

Ahead of enticing homes matches against Crystal Palace and West Brom, Jan Sienkiewicz sides with the captain poll in backing De Bruyne with the armband:

De Bruyne is a truly world class player and it should be only a matter of time before he matches his outstanding underlying statistics. With two home games against non-top-six sides, Manchester City should continue their winning run and De Bruyne is expected to be at the heart of the action.

All this leads Darren, in his latest article, to contemplate a minus 12 to bring in Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m), Rúben Dias (£5.8m), John Stones (£5.0m) and Michail Antonio (£6.2m) for Harry Kane (£11.1m), Marcus Rashford (£9.6m), Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.8m) and Fabián Balbuena (£4.4m).

I am not rushing into any decisions but I feel multiple hits could be on the cards in order to get two or three Manchester City players in prior to the Double Gameweek and as part of my long term thinking.

– Darren

But the Live Hall of Fame No 2 remains undecided on whether to use the Bench Boost as it would include players like Che Adams (£6.0m), who is available for selection after recovering from concussion.

Tasty Transfers

In direct contrast to Darren’s multiple hit, Former FPL Champion Simon March used Marshmallows to demonstrate that patience is a virtue.

A graduate in behavioural economics, Simon referred to the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment in which children were given the choice of eating a marshmallow now or instead being given a second marshmallow in 15 minutes.

When they followed up 10 years later, the scientists found that the children who delayed gratification and waited for the second marshmallow, had scored better in their SATs, performed better in school generally and even had healthier BMIs.

Pro Pundit Simon likened this to wise FPL managers who save their chips for later in the season (traditionally the better time to play them), and the benefits of rolling a transfer.

Aside from giving you more flexibility in who you can sign, potentially shifting funds to different areas of your team, it also buys you an extra Gameweek of information and more thinking time.

Fantasy Favourite

A player both Darren and Az are tempted by is Michail Antonio. West Ham enjoy an appealing pair of fixtures in Gameweek 19, at home to Burnley and West Brom, but the question mark, as ever, is over Antonio’s fitness.

Ted Talks FPL offered some encouragement, observing that:

With Haller joining Ajax, West Ham must be confident that 1.9% owned Antonio must be back to full fitness, certainly in the short-term. He looks to be an excellent pick for Double Gameweek 19.

Pro Pundits Tom and Andy agreed, giving the Hammers striker the nod:

Michail Antonio is a bit of a favourite of mine and now he’s fit and got through 90 minutes I can’t leave him out. He’s averaging 0.47xG per 90 minutes so far this season. It’s down on 2019/20, but still excellent given his price. – Andy

I’m also backing Michail Antonio. Though he looks short of match fitness, he needs games, and as West Ham United’s only recognised striker, should see enough minutes across the two fixtures. – Tom

While Big Man Bakar, who was looking dashing in pink on the latest installment of The FPL Wire, reminded us of Antonio’s excellent early season form, despite the tricky start.

But is it too soon to take the plunge?

Team News

Frustratingly, as Colm Hayes noted in his press conference round-up, David Moyes did not provide a specific update on his injury-prone centre-forward, leaving Fantasy bosses wondering what to do.

In other news, Anthony Martial (£8.8m) and Pedro Neto (£6.0m) are doubts after suffering knocks in Gameweek 17. But both may still feature this weekend.

And Joel Matip (£5.4m) could return to Liverpool’s backline depending on how well he does in the next two training sessions.

Finally, new Fantasy Football Scout writer Jamie, ran the rule over Manchester United’s latest signing Amad Diallo and assessed the impact Robert Snodgrass (£5.7m) could make under Sam Allardyce at West Brom.

Community Competitions and Head-to-Head Fixtures

RedLightning rounded-up the latest Community mini-leagues and competitions in a hot topic yesterday.

The January to May League, which started scoring in Gameweek 17, remains open for those who want to track their progress until the end of the season. The code to join is h62bh1. The current leader is Denville Tyrell, who has risen from 29,903rd to 5,121st in the last two Gameweeks.

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 19 can be found below:

Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

May your arrows be green!

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

5,142 Comments Post a Comment
  1. laoshi
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Choose one:
    1. Taylor and Fernandes to Cancelo and KDB -8
    2. Taylor, Rapinha and Kane to Stones, KDB and Watkins -12
    3. Taylor to Cancelo -4

    1. bashtag
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      3

    2. JAYPEE
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      3

    3. You've got red on you.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      3

  2. bashtag
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Opinions please:
    Rashford to Soucek (have bruno) to enable wilson to vardy
    Yay or nay?

    1. laoshi
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yes

    2. Q
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yeah

    3. Boberella
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yep

    4. Warby84
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I wouldn’t both Double games, Wilson could get 1 within the 2 games

    5. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      No Rashford is your man

  3. ymx
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Am I going crazy?
    Kane/Son/KWP --> Antonio/KDB/Stones???

    1. ymx
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      With a -8.

    2. Jehstafari
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I did similar but found a way to keep Son. Losing both Spurs doesn’t feel right

    3. Pompey5
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yes. Esp if you have value in Kane and Son.
      Do you have a plan to get them back as they will have doubles later

      1. ymx
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        No value in Son and 0.2 in Kane so not too bad really

    4. Pompey5
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yes. Esp if you have value in Kane and/or Son.
      Do you have a plan to get them back as they will have doubles later

    5. Chill, we'll call you
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Kane could outscore any of those in 1 game.

  4. Kiwivillan
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    My bench after -8 of mostly SGW players. BB lock it in?

    Areola Son Kane Bamford

    1. Q
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yeah

    2. laoshi
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I would

    3. King Kun Ta
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yep

    4. kennethrhcp
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Bb

  5. Mane Mane Mane
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    What’s the likelihood stones plays both games

    1. Flynny
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      High

    2. Ron_Swanson
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      High to none

  6. Jones Kusi
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    BB. GTG?

    Johnstone
    Justin Taylor Stones Zoumaa
    Salah(c) Bruno Son Soucek
    Vardy Antonio

    McCarthy Raphinha Dallas Bamford

    1. Kiwivillan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I took hit for McCarthy

  7. Boss Hogg
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Worth bench boosting with:

    Darlow, Bamford, Dallas, Smith-Rowe

    ?

    1. Digital-Real
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      yes, there is possible 20pts there from the BB

  8. winchester
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    dias or cancelo?

    1. el polako
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Cool kids have both.

      1. winchester
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        😀

    2. mcsteely
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Cancelo

    3. thegaffer82
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Cancelo by a distance (considering the rotation threat for Cancelo is massively overestimated on here)

    4. kennethrhcp
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Dias

  9. Hits from the Bong
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    On -4 with zero in bank. Should I:
    1. Triple captain Salah
    2. Bring in KDB for Salah

    Martinez
    TAA Stones Coufal
    Salah Bruno Son Grealish Soucek
    Kane Antonio

    Steer Wilson Dallas Taylor

  10. Meinhoff
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    A) TAA + Bruno
    or
    B) Rashford + Jesus

    On a FH

    1. Orion
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A 100%

    2. Jersey Boy
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      You can’t seriously be considering TAA on a FH?

  11. spursthecircus
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Grealish is on 4 yellow cards, so there's a risk his DGW19 could actually end up only with a single game. However, his fixtures after the DGW look real tasty and Aston Villa are posting good numbers though we're unsure whether COVID has hit them badly.

    Contemplating these:
    A. Grealish + Son > Salah + Soucek
    B. Grealish + Kane > Salah + Antonio
    C. Keep Grealish, Son and Kane (go without Salah)

    A, B or C?

    1. King Kun Ta
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A

    2. Orion
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A

  12. Abusive_Sgt_Daelrhos
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    What to do here lads, cheers! 0.1 itb, 1ft

    Meslier, Button
    Coufal,Justin,Chilwell,KWP,Mitchell
    Salah,Kdb,Bruno,Son,Soucek
    Wood,Bamford,Che

    1)Wood-->Antonio
    2)Chilwell-->Cancelo

    1. King Kun Ta
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Def 1

  13. King Kun Ta
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    And the armband goes toooooo....

    A Vardy
    B Salah
    C KDB

    Ta lads!

    1. Abusive_Sgt_Daelrhos
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Vardy

    2. Sean
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Leaning B

    3. mcsteely
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      KDB

    4. EWH2020
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I hope these answers bring you closure

      1. JELLYFISH
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        lol - those 3 answers sum it up perfectly

    5. J ⚒ Gimme ur Mané
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      C

    6. King Kun Ta
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Thanks, that makes it a lot easier! hahahaha

    7. Ron_Swanson
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Three armbands to KdB

    8. kennethrhcp
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Kdb if I had him

  14. Pringle
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Would you start Pieters over Dallas this gw?

  15. Costa Nostra
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Play Lowton or Dallas??

    1. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Lawton, could grind a cs at WH

  16. Brosstan
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Pages flying.. see you after deadline, GL all

    1. Woy_is_back
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Someone hacked your account?

    2. Flair
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      GL bro

  17. United20
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Dier > Cancelo or Dias?

    1. Meinhoff
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Dias more nailed

      1. United20
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        What about Stones?

  18. EWH2020
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Bench boost?

    Steer, Son, Bamford, Mitchell

    1. dark91
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      It's a 50/50 decision
      Both Son and Bamford can score big this GW while Steer and Mitchell will probably return 0 each

    2. QUEN
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Hit for steer

  19. shirtless
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    I brought in Mane for KdB GW16 wildcard. The fixture swaps have put a damperner on my plan! Would you bring in KdB? I quite like the thought of the Salah double-up still. Also have DCL issues!

    It's basically

    Salah(c) Mane Antonio for free

    Or Salah KdB(c) or (tc) & Pieters (bench DCL)

    Or Salah KdB(c) or (tc) & Antonio (-4)

    I'm really not sure if KdB outscores Mane this week?

  20. thegaffer82
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    One big last decision to make....

    BamBam out for Antonio

    Yay or Nay?

    1. JELLYFISH
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      nay nay never

  21. PattBrofield
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Adams and Son to Vardy and Soucek?

    1. King Kun Ta
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yep

      1. PattBrofield
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Cheers

  22. stevogums
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Worth taking 4 for go Patricio out and dble keeper in

  23. JELLYFISH
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    I'm feeling dizzy....

  24. Nightf0x
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Neto to ?

    A) soucek (have antonio)
    B) gundogan/foden
    C) traore/elghazi

    1. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      C

  25. arkom
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    McCarthy --> Mendy (-4)

    Yay or nay?

  26. as33
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Is Antonio gonna start?

    1. Eastman
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yes. Played in the cup

  27. Eastman
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Start Shaw or Son? Have Kane.

  28. ymx
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Do I -8 for Kane/Son/KWP --> Antonio/KDB/Stones???

  29. JAYPEE
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Would you BB?

    Martinez
    Dias Dallas Justin
    KDB Salah Fernandes Son Soucek
    Antonio Watkins

    Forster, Bamford, Phillips, KWP

    1. T88MYE
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      See my comment below..

      With all starting players I think I would.

      1. JAYPEE
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        I’m unsure if Forster or Phillips will start if I knew I would’ve done it

  30. T88MYE
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Really Struggling. 2nd Keeper is putting me off BB.. what should I do? 0FT, 0.1ITB

    DDG, Steer*
    Stones, Dias, Justin, Dallas*, Dier*
    KDB, Salah, Bruno, Soucek, Son
    Watkins, Antonio, Bamford*

    1. Don’t use BB
    2. Use BB with no GK & single GW bench
    3. -8 to sort the 2nd keeper out? Who?