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. Park the bus
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Start Pieters or Alioski?

    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Pieters on a double but Leeds more likely to return points.

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

      Double over 1 game for me.

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

    McCarthy
    Cancelo Chilwell Coufal
    Salah (TC) KDB Bruno HBarnes Soucek
    Kane Antonio

    Steer Dallas JLewis Brewster

    Ready to go lads??

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Remove TC and ready to go.

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

      Looks great

  3. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    I’ve had a last minute moment of madness, would you do the following moves and activate WC?

    Son to Salah*
    McCarthy to Areola*
    Cresswell* to Coufal*
    Bamford to Brewster

    *DGW

    Leaves my WC looking like this:

    Areola
    Cancelo | Stones | Coufal
    Salah | KdB | Bruno | Grealish | Soucek
    Kane | Antonio

    Steer | Dallas | Mitchell | Brewster

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

      Save the WC

    2. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I would never ever wildcard with 30 mins to go. It is nerves and anxiety making the decision

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

      Still have FH? If yes, save wc

      1. Big boy Bowen
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Cheers all, I’m gonna brave it without Salah. Like the above poster said would be silly too.

        Plus better to time the WC for when I plan to BB

    4. Shatner's Bassoon
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Not worth it

  4. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Isn't the city v villa game under threat or is that not the case?

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Would love to know that also. Anyone?

    2. @persecuted_by_mods
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Sounds like it's on but we won't know which players are unavailable from the villa side

      • AC/DC AFC
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        It's Wednesday so should be safer but all is uncertain now

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

        Dont do think bemba 🙂

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

          *this

    3. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Took my first -8 this season and now pretty happy with this squad.

      Just need some final help with choosing cpt - KdB or Salah?

      McCarthy
      Cancelo Justin Coufal
      Kdb Salah Bruno Soucek
      Kane Antonio Bamford

      Forster Dallas Lowton Romeu

      Cheers

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

        Decent. Salah tc

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

        Kane to Vardy for a - 12

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

      Is DCL and Button to > Ederson or a cheaper DGW goalie and Wilson worth a -12?

      Already on a -4, but by doing these transfers I could BB with Ederson, Raphina Wilson and Anguissa.

      1. iL PiStOlErO
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        No

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

          Alternative of course, is to play BB in GW26, which isn't ideal either.

          1. iL PiStOlErO
            • 4 Years
            3 years, 2 months ago

            I mean dont get me wrong but feels like it is not the best move, -12 is not that little and they can postpone some games again so wouldnt do it like that. But go with your gut of course .

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

              Indeed, the risk of postponements is the one thing that might sway my decision in the end. I don't have a particular gut feeling telling me it's a bad or good move actually, so that's why I had to write a little comment here on the site; as you write, -12 is not that little.

              The potential upside is that I can use the BB as a way to sort out my team for the upcoming gameweeks.

    5. TMF86
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Is Vardy likely to play both games?

      Torn on Vardy or Salah. Edging towards Salah

      1. iL PiStOlErO
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Go Mo

      2. tbs91
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        I think Salah is the better option, but Vardy has potential to do well

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

      Start Dallas or Targett?

      1. iL PiStOlErO
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Maverick

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

        Targett for me as dgw

    7. tbs91
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      NPK, Dallas, Bamford & Fabio Silver worth a BB?
      Or just get Davis without BB (part of a -8 to get in KDB & Antonio)

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

      Chilwell or City Defender?

      1. tbs91
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        City defence for me

        1. Shatner's Bassoon
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          City def also better medium turn

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

      I don't have Liverpool
      A. Salah + Antonio (-4)
      B. Mane + Vardy (-4)
      C. Son + Vardy

      1. It’s gonna Ben Mee
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        C

      2. The Wizard of Ozil
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        B

      3. janlu0
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        c

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

        B

    10. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      a) Is it worth posting for last minute advice over the next 30 mins or...

      b) Just making my mind up?

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

        a

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

        B

        1. AC/DC AFC
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Thanks.... I'm torn between a and b so I'm going to toss a coin on it

    11. Paddy Gooner
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Should I bench boost:

      McCarthy, Alioski/Anguissa, Adams, Bissouma
      (already taken -4)

      ???

      Obviously I was planning it before Southampton and Leeds games cancelled

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

        No, Bissouma lets it down

    12. Herman Toothrot
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A frontline of Minamino, Firmino and Mane would be interesting against Burnley.

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

        😀

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

      Play Bamford or Dallas?

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

        Bamford!!!

    14. h3nh3n
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Grealish or Bamford

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

        Grealish! Only because of DGW. Otherwise Bamford

    15. fc_skrald
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      This will be my team - good luck to you all!

      Martínez
      Tierney, Coufal, Cancelo
      Son, Salah(Triple C), Fernandes(VC), Grealish
      Wilson, Bamford, Kane

      Button, Lowton, Burke, Douglas

    16. Joedahla
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I have three options of hits this week. Doubt i’ll go for the -12 but maybe someone will convince me otherwise?

      Son and Robertson -> Dias and KDB (-4)
      Son, Robbo and Kane -> Dias, KDB and Vardy (-8)
      Son, Robbo, Kane and Brewster -> Stones, KDB, Vardy and Antonio (-12)

      I haven’t taken a hit all season, feel like this is the time to do it.

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

      Salah has failed me the most as a captain. Time to get disappointed once more!

      1. cuppatea78
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Join the club

      2. Thomas Shelby from Birmingh…
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Change your captain for us then

    18. GinjaWhinja
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      A) Dias and Ziyech
      Or
      B) Chilwell and Foden

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

        A

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

        A

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

      Last roll on the dice

      Salah TC or C?

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

        Neither

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

        C

    20. S3
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Bench who?
      A. Bamford (BRI)
      B. Wilson (ARS/AVL)

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

        51/49 in for Wilson.

    21. cuppatea78
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Who to start?

      A) Bamford (Brighton)
      B) Konsa (Man City & Newcastle)

    22. Andolini
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Buy dias or cancelo?

      1. cuppatea78
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Dias more nailed on but Cancelo higher points potential

      2. Don Rogers FC
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Similar metrics I think but Cancelo more fun to own and watch.

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

        Dias

    23. D1B
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      What's up peeps. Gonna BB this week and looking at 3 different options for transfers.

      A) Shaw, Anguissa, Werner -4
      B) Cancelo, Anguissa, Martial/Cavani - 4
      C) Cancelo, El-Ghazi, Watkins -8
      D) Robinson (FUL), Anguissa, Vardy -4

      Rest of team is:
      Martinez, Forster (Could swap to Johnstone for another -4 with A or C)
      Chillwell, Stones, Cresswell, Coufal
      Salah, Bruno, KDB, Soucek
      Bamford, Wilson

      Thanks for the input. Open to other suggestions too, especially on El-Ghazi replacements for < 7.2 in C

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

      My bench: Areola, Bamford Lowton Tierney
      A) Save BB
      B) Tierney --> Justin/r.James (-4), play BB
      C) Play BB (no hits)

    25. tbhogal
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Dallas to Stones -8 worth doing ?

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

        No

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

      Bench right now
      Meslier taylor Dallas Brewster

      For BB
      1) Brewster to Watkins (-4)
      2) taylor to stones (-4)
      3) 1 and 2 for (-8)
      4) Don't BB

    27. FantasyClub
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Reece or Chilwell?

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

        Chilwell

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

        Chilwell If have funds

    28. 1314
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      ANother 30 min to deadline ?