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. nmertens
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    I haven’t used any bonus yet, should I..

    A) triple Captain KDB

    B) bench boost (Meslier, reguilon, Holding, Zaha)

    C) do nothing

    Thanks

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

      A, seize the moment!

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

      c

  2. boborhino21
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Would you benchboost :

    McCarthy - raphinha - neto* - Mitchell?

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

      No

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

      Defo not

  3. Weeb Kakashi
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Anyone else with Sterling (C)??

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

      No, he is dead to me after stealing the pen off KDB midweek

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

    Are Cancelo and Dias nailed on for both games do you think?

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

      They are unless Pep decides to rest them

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

        So no then

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

      Pep = no

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

    A) Podence -> Foden for -4
    B) Dier -> Stones for -4
    C) Both for -8
    D) Neither

    Not bench boosting

    Team is

    McCarthy - 4m
    Dias - Robertson - Justin - Dier** - Coufal
    Salah (C) - Fernandes (VC) - Grealish - Bissouma - Podence**
    Antonio - Kane - Bamford

  6. AC Yew
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Adams to Watkins for double?

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

      No, wouldn’t be surprised if Villa pull a Fulham and have one of their games pushed back again.

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

    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!

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

    Play Raphina or take a -4 to get Cancelo ? Thanks

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

      take -4 get cancelo

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

      I'd get Dias.

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

    BB active. Already -4 but is there anything else i can change or am I GTG?

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

    McCarthy Raphinha Dallas Bamford

  10. Grounderz
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Start Lookman (DGW) or Bamford (SGW)?

  11. Muscout
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Torn between Salah TC or KDB, currently going for Salah

    Salah:
    Pros -
    Well rested
    Loves a shot
    13 goals vs 3
    Will this leading goalscorer really get another DGW? (May set up BB for such a week)

    Cons -
    Plays United and Burnley who are both good defensively
    I support United...

    KDB:
    Pros -
    Good fixtures

    Cons -
    Looks exhausted (too exhausted to take a pen?? May be due a rest)
    Doesn’t look as clinical
    AV game a small risk of cancellation?

    Anyone care to add some points?

    1. Supernintendo Chalmers
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Take who you support out of the equation.. it's one of the leading causes of red arrows.

      Salah TC

  12. sentz05
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Captain
    A Vardy
    B Salah

    1. Ady87
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Not mad on either and I own Vardy. Probably Vardy.

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

      B

    3. Marcin the Pole
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Salah

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

    Start O’Shea or Raphina??

    1. Marcin the Pole
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Raph for me

  14. Ady87
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Not taken a hit yet. What we saying, anything worthwhile? £1m banked. First XI are DGW except Son, bench SGW.

    Johnstone
    Dias Stones Coufal AWB
    Son KDB Bruno Soucek
    Bamford Vardy

    Subs: Leno Dier Saka Bamford

    Plssssss

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

      Bam not double.

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

    What do you think of my team and I'll let you know what I think of yours
    Fab
    Cancello - Chil - Dallas
    Salah - (B)runo - Son - Soucek
    Kane - Cavani - Bam

    Nyland, Struijk, KWP, Bissouma

    Struijk first on bench? Heard he is OOP this week

  16. Raf
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Hi guys, need help, 1ft. 0 itb. Who’s your one transfer? And bb or not to be?! Doin my head in


    Johnston
    Dias coufal cancelo
    Son Fernandez raphina kbd(c) soucek
    Kane Bamford

    McCarthy dallas dier adams

    Thanks

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

      I'd be tempted to BB but not sure McCarthy starts, maybe use the FT on him if you get some confirmed news

  17. cruzex
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Firmino or werner?

    1. Marcin the Pole
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Neither? Out of the two however, Werner.

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

      Firmino

  18. Marcin the Pole
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Transfers done. BB activated. GTG?

    Johnstone
    Cancelo Coufal Justin
    Salah (C) Mane Bruno Soucek Gundo
    Vardy Wood

    McCarthy Bamford Targett Ayling

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

      Yes

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

      What would you do if people answered that you're not good to go?

      1. Marcin the Pole
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Ask them what they think is wrong with the team and make either a transfer, or a change to the captain?

        1. Marcin the Pole
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Well, either that or run around the perimeter of my house 37 times wearing pink dungarees and singing American Pie. One of the two though for sure.

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

      No kdb????

      1. Marcin the Pole
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Would have required too much surgery to get him in unfortunately, and I didnt want to lose Mane or Salah.

  19. royals forever
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    For the next few GWs pick 1 pair

    KDB & Smith-Rowe
    Rashford & Saka

    Any ideas would be welcomed

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

      EMS and Saka could get similar pts but Kdb should comfortably outscore Rashford if they do put teams to the sword

      1. Marcin the Pole
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        This. A.

  20. 1nonly
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Should I play BB?
    Take 4pts to bring DGW Keeper

    Anguissa/ Saka/ Bellerin/ Forster.

  21. DD DUBAI
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Sacrifice Watkins or Bamford for Vardy ?

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

      Watkins easy

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

      Check Vardy home record this season

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

    A. Play Bamford

    B. Get Stones, bench Patrick (-4)

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

      B

  23. KGFC
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    On a FH - anything to change to this midfield?

    Salah - KDB - Bruno - Ziyech

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

    Surely Klopp has used this rest period to get Pool fired up, as if they needed any extra motivation for Sunday. They need to move the ball quicker...

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

      As long as Thiago starts and Henderson plays midfield

  25. cruzex
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Werner + Maddison or Antonio +rashford?

  26. Merlinho
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Is there a good DGW defender option under 4.8 who isn’t West Ham (as I’m full)?

    It would be for a -4 too for benchboost, I may be better off just keeping the chip.

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

      Konsa
      Lowton or someone else from Burnley

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

      Coufal
      Shaw

  27. Taegugk Warrior
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Adams to Antonio for -4, Y/N...?
    Already did -4 btw. So it will be -8 for this week...

  28. Futureform
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Foden worth a punt to play the 2 games, or pep roulette likely?...

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

      Pep roulette I’d say he won’t start both. Please help me out with the below

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

      Thanks, will do!

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

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

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

      A I think. Fixture is good.

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

    Any Chelsea fans? Werner likely to play both games?