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

    Kilman playing? Thinking of switching to Zouma -4

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

      Take the hit.

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

      Take the hit

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

      Zouma

    4. Over Midwicket
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Doubt it. I sold him - useless player.

  2. Over Midwicket
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Crazy to TC Cancelo?

    Seems like a minimum of 36 points plus baps and any return tripled

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

      Yes with Pep saying yesterday that even Cancelo isn’t safe from rotation

      1. Over Midwicket
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Pep didn't say that though.

    2. Jam0sh
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Different at least

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

      If he gets both games...

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

      Too risky with all the other options. Rather save TC

    5. Paqueta Rice
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Really tempting actually ha in this mad season just have to play for fun now

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

    Play:
    a) Bamford
    b) Dier
    c) Raphinha

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

      A

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

      a

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

      A

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

      a

    5. FDMS All Starz
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A/C

  4. Dion D's Solo Shower
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Who's the best MAX 8.1£ mil. midfielder?

    A) Grealish
    B) Foden
    C) Soucek
    D) Ziyech
    E) Barnes
    F) Other

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

      a

    2. thom830g
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Foden atm

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

        Assuming he starts

      2. Dion D's Solo Shower
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Too much of a rotation risk maybe?

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

      C or D.

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

      A for certain starts
      B for the risk takers due to pep roulette
      C if you are chasing

    5. potatoace
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Between E and C right now

    6. Paqueta Rice
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      In the order you have it imo

    7. odannyboys
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      foden

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

    Is fabianski playing today?

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

      No idea, he is dodging my calls atm

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

      Apparently, he posted on Twitter he is ready to play

    3. Yes Ndidi
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      His twitter feed says he thinks he is.

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

    Is Lowton or Dallas the better option this week?

    1. potatoace
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Dallas.

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

    Considering capt Vardy over Salah...
    Smarty or dumdum?

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

      I'm doing it.

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

      I'm doing it

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

      I've thought about it, but will propably stick with salah

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

        This

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

      Fine line, Vardy

  8. DARK SIDE OF THE LOON
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    So tempted to TC KDB but those "tired" comments by Pep!

    1. Yankee Toffee
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Same!

    2. Greasy Grealish Gang
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Just do it! ~ Nike

      1. DARK SIDE OF THE LOON
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Huge impact, if it goed either ways, in my money league!

        1. Greasy Grealish Gang
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Either way, good luck!

          1. DARK SIDE OF THE LOON
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 2 months ago

            You too!

  9. Yankee Toffee
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    TC KDB?

    Y/N

  10. MarkoSD
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    A. Son kane antonio
    B. Son salah target -4
    C. Mane kane target -4

    1. Yankee Toffee
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A or B

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

      B

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

      B

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

    Bottomed

    Any Chelsea fans? Werner likely to play both games?

  12. TSN
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    bottomed. need advice here.
    martinez

    AWB - cancelo - saiss - cresswell
    salah - bruno - grealish - son
    kane - bamford

    sub: leno - holding - ESR - brewster

    A.leno saiss ESR --> johnstone Coufal Soucek and use BB (-8)
    B. saiss > coufal, BB
    C. saiss > stones, BB
    D. no BB, save FT, GTG.

    Cheers!

    1. FPL Bond @ Twitter
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      C looks good. Stones great pick long term.

  13. odannyboys
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Bamford or watkins?

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

      bamford

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

      Bamford long term

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

      Bamford long term, Watkins punt this week

  14. HuthTheMagicDragon
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Martinez (Forster)
    Coufal Cancelo Dias (AWB Dallas)
    Bruno (S)alah Son Soucek Foden
    Vardy Antonio (Dallas)

    0.8m in the bank on a WC, any tweaks?

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

    Worried about not owning KDB.

    A. Bruno to KDB (-4) & captain KDB.
    B. Go without KDB & captain Salah

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

      A

  16. Pompel
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Holding to Dawson for a -4 ?

    1. potatoace
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      No. Why?

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

        Dawson two good dgw fixtures, should be at least one cs. So at least 2 points gained, maybe 8

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

    Soucek Holding or Cresswell ESR?

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

    Anyone remember Laporte the DGW king of last season and capping Stones/Dias?

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

      Chilwell this time around?

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

        Ziyech far post cross -> Chilwell goal

        You love to see it

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

    Bottomed!

    A) Neto
    B) Barnes (-4)
    C) Mount (-4)

    Please assist

    1. Yes Ndidi
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Either worth the hit. Barnes possibly with better fixtures.

  20. MGD
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Chillwell, Zouma or James?

    Currently on Chillwell..

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

      Zouma plays both, Ziyech back for set pieces

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

        You don't think Chilwell plays both?

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

          James defo won’t

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

    A or B

    A Kane & Grealish to Antonio & KDB

    B Grealish & Dallas to Foden & Dias

    Johnson,
    Zouma, Robbo, Stones,
    Bruno, Son, Grealish, Salah
    Kane, Bamford, Watkins

    Martinez, Soucek, Coufal, Dallas

    PLAY BB?

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

      I like b

      Bb

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

        Cheers, you think Phil plays a part in both no KDB?

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

          I just brought him in for a hit

          Starts 1 and 20mins in the 2and is my hope. Always looks lively and against tired legs could still get points

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

      I’d do A and only A.
      Foden is not guaranteed minutes. Antonio isn’t either, but I can’t see West Ham not starting him when they need points these games.

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

      A - not just the DGW but next few fixtures City look strong

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

    At least leeds and Brighton play early in the gmwk... we'll half know if most of our BBs were a success or not

    1. FPL Bargain
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      haha. yes. We can always hold out for the Shrews game being cancelled or Shrews beating SOU to put the DGW back together again.

  23. FPL Bargain
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Would you bench boost this?

    McCarthy Dallas Adams Raphinia

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

      Yup. Looks decent enough

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

      Not for me

  24. Dunkin
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Start Wood or Bamford?

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

      Bamford

  25. Jdpz
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    a) play Bamford
    b) Dier to Stones (-4) and play Stones (not Bamford)

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

      Play Bamford imo, not much in it though.
      Stones could only play one, or they concede in one and its a fail

  26. Nolberto Solano
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Which option?

    A) Lowton -> Cancelo (-4)
    B) Dallas -> Cancelo (-4)
    C) Lowton & Dallas -> Cancelo & Dias (-8)

  27. boroie
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Right, need some probabilities from the FF experts out there...

    1) Probability of Spurs having a triple GW later in the season...

    2) Probability of Shrews calling FA Cup tie off and Leeds v Southampton being reinstated next Tuesday...

    3 Probability of KDB out scoring Salah this week...

  28. jeff09
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Who scores more points:
    A) Rashford & Vardy
    B) KDB & Antonio (-4)

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

      A

  29. BERGKOP
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Why is Johnstone in the scout picks? Am I missing something?

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

      DgW / save points / cheap

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

        Cheers

  30. Bobby_Baggio
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Morning all. Worth -8 to do Adams > Antonio? Means I probably will bench Bam.

    Johnstone
    Justin - Stones - Coufal - Dias
    Salah - Son - Bruno - Soucek
    Kane - Bamford

    McCarthy - Raphinha - Adams - Alioski.

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

      No. I'd just play Bam

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

        Cheers