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. user.n
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Bruno for DeBruyne?

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

      Bruno or Borat?

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

        Bruno long term

        1. user.n
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          This GW

    2. Klip Klopp
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Im gonna go without KDB. Is foden cover?

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

        Burning up the pitch at the mo. No such thing as cover, but he's in form.

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

      Nah

    4. Rochdale_Cowboy
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Go for it

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

    FOR THIS WEEK

    A) McCarthy and Creswell

    B) Mendy and Dier

    C) Mendy and Creswell (-4)..

    1. JoeJitzu +42
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      C, imho

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

    GTG fellas?! No BB or TC

    Martinez
    Cancelo | Stones | Coufal
    KdB (C) | Bruno | Son | Grealish
    Kane | Antonio | Watkins

    (Forster | Neco | Holding | S-Rowe)

    Scared about no Salah or Soucek

    Any changes you would make? Help is appreciated as always 🙂

    1. Bonus magnet
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Kane + Grealish -> Salah + Soucek or Foden

      1. Bonus magnet
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Sorry need a striker (cheapie) then

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

        Would you do son + grealish to Salah + soucek

  4. Pep Roulette
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Werner will play both games?

    1. Mufc202020
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Wont start I reckon

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

      No idea. I’ve gone for him. Could be a good ride, could fall flat on its face.

      Join me 😆

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

    This ain't worth a BB right?

    Martinez, Saka, Tierney, Mitchell

    1. Mufc202020
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Naaaa

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

      I’d be pretty happy with that. It’s not often that all my subs are starters. Arsenal have a decent fixture too

  6. ClipityKlopp
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Has many of you guys out there played a wildcard. Is it ok to wildcard or should I save

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

      Probably a bit late now for this week...

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

        Cheers

    2. Geoff
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I did!

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

        Cheers

  7. Henning
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Crazy to cap Soucek over Salah?

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

      Yes madness

    2. Rochdale_Cowboy
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Morning spice session

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

      Ludicrous imo

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

      Ballsy!

    5. Bonus magnet
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Go for your daily exercise and then come back and rethink

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

      A big NO it is, haha thanks everyone.

  8. unholysmoke
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Pick one of these to upgrade for a bench boosted GW19. 1.4 banked, one FT.

    Steer [never plays but 4.0]
    Bowen [Soucek cheaper and better]
    Bamford [only playing once, Antonio cheaper]
    Fabio Silva [cheap but shite]

    Swapping Steer for a keeper who is actually playing (twice) is tempting but I have Ederson as my number 1 now so I'd have to undo that at some point.

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

      I think Bamford will do well in the one fixture
      I'd upgrade Fabio Silva

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

        Cheers. Antonio? I know Haller is gone and it's a good week for West Ham but the guy just isn't scoring

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

          I'm bringing him in. He isn't scoring, but he is their only striker, and they have 2 plum games. Its a bit of a gamble, but could pay off massively. If not Antonio how about Wilson?

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

            Doesn't fill me with optimism. Is he really more likely to score against Arsenal and Villa than Fabio is against West Brom? I'm leaning towards just getting Fabianski in for this week.

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

    Feel like i need to sort my keepers, but i have the exact funds to get this team for -4 which is probably worth a bench boost as i tend to have 1 or two very cheap players to get a better XI

    Sanchez Button
    Cencelo Stones Dallas Targett Mitchell
    Grealish KDB Bruno Son Soucek
    Kane Bamford Anotonio

    Change is Mendy, Kilman and DCL -> Cancelo Soucek and Antonio

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

      Like those three changes. But if Mendy is nailed not sure what Cancelo buys you. Yes he gets forward but no attacking returns at all yet.

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

    Hmm I really think KDB is going to be rested for one of these games... tempted with Sterling

    1. Ozzy smith
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I'm confident he starts both, will come off early if comfortable. They can't afford to bench him.

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

        Agree

    2. Rochdale_Cowboy
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Yes and no

      1. Party time
          3 years, 2 months ago

          This

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

        Pep said no, but don't trust Pep.

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

      Won’t get much more satisfaction from Salah TC this week if it pays off.. I’m pretty sure Salah will get 1 vs Utd

      1. Holmes
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        pretty sure he gets zilch over 2 games

      2. aleksaa2
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Then don't, usually last min desicions are the worst ones.

    4. OverTinker
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      How much time till deadline? An hour and ten minutes right ?

      1. Holmes
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        yep

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

      Salah & KDB (C) or (TC) will be massive this GW.

      Gtg? Rash + Son -> Salah + Caveleiro (-4)

      Areola
      Dias - Stones - AWB - Coufal
      Salah (C) - KDB - Bruno - Caveleiro
      Kane - Antonio

      (Martínez, Holding, Smith Rowe, Brewster)

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

      Capt Antonio or Salah?

      1. user.n
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Salah for me

      2. Rochdale_Cowboy
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Is this a joke?

        1. Gasa
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          no

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

            Salah

    7. Chief Break-Everything
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Play a) Reguillon or b) Dallas ?

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

        A

        1. Chief Break-Everything
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Thanks

      2. Rochdale_Cowboy
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        B

    8. Garfield1001
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Would you bench boost the following:

      McCarthy Dallas Raphinha Adams

      Thanks.

      1. Collie01
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Yes

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

        Yes

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

        Yes

    9. Purse83
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Cresswell in for Dallas or Lowton?

      Good luck guys!

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

      Anyone double WHU defence? Coufal Cresswell?

      1. Holmes
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Thats the ideal combo...

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

          Cheers going for it rather than Soucek for BB

        2. Rochdale_Cowboy
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          West ham will let you down

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

        I did have until balbuena.
        I am also a wham fan. So dawson as 4.5 looks a good option. If you can afford get ogbonna or crewell.

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

          Thx Cresswell is my preference

    11. Gearoid
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

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

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

      Would you -4 for city def or
      -8 for double city def

      ??

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

        -4 yes

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

          Thanks now need to decide which 1!!

          Dam PEP, Garcia and Walker itching

    13. jaywills
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Anyone looking at Foden over KDB?

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

        I

    14. have you seen cyan
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Bruno cap for me, who you going with?

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

        Kevin for me.

        I'm a fixtures man clearly

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

        KDB. Hate the idea of Bruno cap when the presence of Pogba is ruining him as an asset.

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

      Good luck getting your Q's answered guys....

      These pages are bloody flying. I can't even read all the comments let alone respond to people

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

      Play Lowton Or Dallas? Leaning Dallas...

    17. Sid07
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Would you BB this lot?

      Meisler taylor Dallas Bamford

      Will do Brewster to Watkins (-4) for playing 11

    18. The Frenchie
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Good morning guys, would you?

      A) Triple Captain De Bruyne
      B) Bench Boost

      Fabianski (BUR & WBA)

      Stones (CRY & AVL)
      Dias (CRY & AVL)
      Cresswell (BUR & WBA)
      Coufal (BUR & WBA)

      De Bruyne (CRY & AVL)
      Bruno Fernandes (LIV &FUL)
      Salah (MUN & BUR)
      Maddison (SOU & CHE)

      Vardy (SOU & CHE)
      Bamford (BHA)

      Meslier (BHA) / Holding (NEW) / Smith-Rowe (NEW) / Brewster (TOT)

      I used my wildcard on GW17 so I'm not sure I will have the opportunity having a decent bench in the future.. Also, is it the time to triple captain or will we have more opportunities in the future?

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

        TC salah

    19. jaywills
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      What would you do out of these two?

      1) Balbuena, Rafinha, Regulon out -> Stones, Lowton, Foden In (-8)
      2) Balbuena, Rafinha, Kane out -> Craig Dawson, KDB, Brewster (-8)

    20. ball c
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A) Johnstone
      B) Areola

      For second keeper on BB.
      Thanks

      1. g40steve
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        A

    21. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Too many asking & no one replying!

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

        Everyone cacking themselves me included. Panic city

      2. Geoff
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        We'll do an A/B in a few mins, they get decent replies 🙂

        1. g40steve
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Cheers

    22. Saka Punch
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Dallas -> Chilwell worth a -4?

      Yay or Nay

      1. Pino
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        yay