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. Gearoid
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Johnstone
    TAA Justin Dallas
    Salah Bruno Son Soucek
    Adams Kane Bamford

    McCarthy Anguissa KWP Mitchell

    1. TAA and Son to Stones and KDB (-4)
    2. Adams and Bamford to Antonio and Watkins (-4)

    A. BB
    B. TC Salah or KDB (if he comes in)

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

    Triple captain on Cresswell try and stop me

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

      High risk, high reward... GL !

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

      Actually tempting to cap him...

      1. Tango74
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Who you captaining

        KDB or Salah

        KDB looks tired

    3. Front 442
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Antonio for me

    4. Pep bites Kun
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Doherty syndrome 🙂
      Good fixtures though

    5. MoSalad
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I seriously considered him as a choice but couldn’t bring myself to leave it on him.

  3. Devils Hunter
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Should I triple captain KDB for Double gameweek 19? Or leave it off?

    1. McSauce
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I have done it

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

      On paper it’s a great GW... But on a paper

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

      This is the million dollar question for many.

      There's plenty of DGW's left to arrange... there'll be another shot at TC in the future when KDB/Salah/Bruno are in better form.

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

    Reminder that if you BB you should put your best players on the bench so the BB is more successful 😎

    1. #Swish41
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      LOL

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

      I don't really feel comfortable benching souceck

    3. Pep bites Kun
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      lol - have you changed your jocks since the start of the season?

  5. #Swish41
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    McCarthy > -4

    A. Fabianski
    B. Martinez

    Fabs tweeted he was fit so better option?

    1. JabariParkersEyelid
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      B makes more sense long term. A better for this week.

      I go B as it saves a transfer further down the line.

      1. #Swish41
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Good shout, thank you!

  6. davies
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Balbuena > Lowton -4

    Yay or nay?

  7. zuio
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Im not gonna BB this week, should I TC then? If yes, who should I TC(Salah or KDB)?

    1. stu92
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      KDB is the obvious TC choice, but there will be other DGW in the future to TC so don’t feel like you have to.

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

        What other game weeks will there be and TC options?

        1. stu92
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          GW26 looks likely at the moment, but teams will also have other double gameweeks throughout the season. Check Ben Crellin’s Twitter for much more detail on it.

        2. bitm2007
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          GW26 as a big DGW and GW37 are all but certainties, but there will be others as well with so many fixtures to rearrange.

  8. Sotamendi84
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    play raphinia or get gundo (-4)?

    1. stu92
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Play

  9. Jet5605
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Seems like there's a lack of whipping boys now. Palace, Sheff Utd both had cleanies last week and even Fulham look tight.

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

      Feels harsh you’ve included Palace with Sheff Utd and Fulham as potential whipping boys. As a palace fan, I’m probably being precious

  10. stu92
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Hey guys.

    Is this worth a BB, or do I just put the Leeds guys on the bench*? The Southampton postponement has really messed with weeks of preparation...

    Martinez Johnstone*
    Robbo Zouma Coufal Targett Alioski*
    Salah Bruno Son Soucek Raphinha*
    Vardy Antonio Bamford*

  11. McSauce
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    TC KDB

    LETS GOOOO

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

      ballsy

  12. NoName
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    G2G?

    Martinez
    TAA Justin Coufal
    Salah KDB Foden Bruno Barnes
    Vardy Bamford

    (Steer, Dallas Davis Mitchell)
    0FT .3ITB

    1. stu92
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Looks good mate

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

        Cheers 🙂

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

    A) Lookman, Antonio -4
    B) Raphinha, Watkins
    C) Gubdogan, Adams

    1. All For One
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      C

    2. stu92
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A, for the much higher ceiling with two doubles

  14. All For One
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Smith Rowe or Holding 1st sub?

  15. Steinburg FC
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    any body else rolling the their FT?

    1. Phlajo
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yep

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

      I probably am now. Was planning a -8 to BB but the Pedro Neto injury would make it a -12.

      I always think if there is any doubt the best course of action is to do nothing.

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

    Final decision for BB to accompany Martinez:
    A. Zouma/Justin Dallas Soucek
    C. Chilwell Cresswell ESR

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

    Worth it take a -12 to trigger BB?

  18. Knowsnothingaboutnothing
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    BENCH BOOST ?

    Meslier - Holding - Dier - Bamford

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

      Not the worst BB, but definitely nowhere near the best either with 0 DGWers

  19. The Left Duke #3
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Did Taylor & Adams -->> Stones & Antonio for a -4 last night.
    TC locked on Salah.10 DGW* players & Son.

    Martinez* (Forster)
    Robbo* Justin* Stones* Coufal* (Dallas)
    Salah*(TC) Bruno* Son Soucek* (Bissouma)
    Vardy* Antonio* (Bamford)

    Shame about the Leeds fixture cancellation but C'est a vie.

    All the best for your DGW ladies & gents 🙂

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

    DCL for Werner, yey or ney

    1. Defochibe
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Maguire to Cancelo?

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

      Nope. I'd rather Antonio and a bucket of cash to spend, than getting Werner right now

  21. tissae
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Son + Kane -> KdB + Vardy for -8. Yay no nay?

    1. Front 442
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      All day

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

    Okay so just wanted to apologies to all the KDB cappers out there. I've TC'd him so its a guaranteed fail

  23. Thunderbolts
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Anyone playing triple captain this week or is it too soon to use? Maybe keep in pocket for later?

    1. Nightcrawler
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Saving it

    2. clodhopper
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Some triple gameweeks on horizon

  24. Nightcrawler
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    FOR THIS WEEK

    A) McCarthy and Creswell

    B) Mendy and Dier

    C) Mendy and Creswell (-4)

  25. Van der Faart
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Adams to
    A) Antonion
    B) Watkins
    C) Hold and play Holding (means only 7 DGW players)

    1. Carcetti
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      holding

  26. Carcetti
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Help please

    A) TAA + Soucek + Adams (-4)

    B) Soucek + Firmino

    C) Vardy + 4.5 midfield fodder

  27. Catastrophe
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    No BB for me. Should I pull the trigger on any of these?

    A) TC KDB
    B) TC Salah
    C) Zouma -> Stones (-4)

    Thinking to pass on all.

    Cheers

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

      In a similar boat as my BB ruined by postponements ... half thinking of Salah (TC) but dont own KDB

  28. McPollolocco
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Should i triple captain salah??

  29. SoShy
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Has a fixture ever been added after a deadline?

    1. Gandalf
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Pretty certain no. The rumours about Shrewsbury game not going ahead are so weak that can be ignored though

  30. The Legend Squad
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    A) Robertson and Stones
    B) Chilwell and Dias

    Thoughts?