Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice to Double Gameweek 24

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Double Gameweek 24 ahead of today’s 11:00 GMT deadline. A small double in which only four sides – Everton, Manchester City, Burnley and Fulham – are playing twice.

Following the FA Cup results and quarter-final draw in midweek, the Fantasy landscape has shifted once more. 

We now have a better idea of how the upcoming Gameweeks will shape up and, unfortunately, those cup ties have handed us a few injury blows to contend with.

Team News

The Double Gameweek 24 announcement at the start of February thrust Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.7m) high up on our list of targets – he was even spoken about as a potential captaincy candidate by Hall of Fame No 1 Fábio Borges and five-time top 1,000 manager Tom Freeman.

However, such plans have since been shelved with Carlo Ancelotti confirming that his main striker is set to miss Sunday’s encounter against Fulham, along with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (£4.8m):

Both (Calvert-Lewin and Pickford) will not be available for the game on Sunday. We are looking for the next game on Wednesday where we think both of them will be available. I think (Calvert-Lewin) stopped [playing] before the problem [developed]. He only had a sensation, a feeling that something was not good and he stopped. He has a little problem, he can play on Wednesday.

– Carlo Ancelotti

One match against Manchester City is much less appealing than a double that includes Fulham.

And there was worse news for owners of James Justin (£5.2m), the most-popular defender in FPL, with the Leicester City full-back ruled with a long-term injury:

Elsewhere, Callum Wilson (£6.7m) faces at least six weeks on the sidelines, while Michail Antonio (£6.7m) isn’t certain to be available when West Ham United host Sheffield United on Monday. Although David Moyes did say his striker is “doing well” and would “hopefully be close” to being involved against the Blades.

On a more positive note, fears that Nick Pope (£5.5m) and Rúben Dias (£6.1m) were set to miss the Double Gameweek have been allayed. Both were reported to have trained ahead of the weekend after missing out in the FA Cup. 

For a full recap on the latest press conferences, read David’s round-up and check out Neale’s Predicted Line-Ups

Fixture Fun

Neale looked at the possible implications on the fixture schedule resulting from the FA Cup. 

At the moment, just three Premier League matches are confirmed for Gameweek 29, when the quarter-final ties are due to take place:

  • Brighton and Hove Albion v Newcastle United
  • Fulham v Leeds United
  • West Ham United v Arsenal

The other seven matches from that round of fixtures will therefore have to be rescheduled – the option of moving them to midweek isn’t possible as Gameweek 29 is followed by an international break. 

The most likely destination appears to be Gameweek 26, which would make it the biggest Double Gameweek of the season. But with four other matches also needing to be rearranged, a fair amount of juggling is expected. 

Legomané updated his ticker, which includes non-Premier League matches.

(click on image above to enlarge)

As Neale explained in his article, there’s a balancing act for Fantasy managers when it comes to planning for Blank Gameweek 29 as the six teams with a confirmed fixture are unlikely to play twice in Gameweek 26.

Managers with their second Wildcard and Free Hits chips still at their disposal will be at an advantage. But if you are trying to navigate the fixtures without them, all is not lost.

Every FPL boss will receive three free transfers between the Blank and Double Gameweeks and, combined with a judicious use of bench players, this should help us field a respectable side.

And the FPL Gods may spring a surprise with additional fixtures in Gameweek 29, a possibility for teams already knocked out of the FA Cup.

Pro Pundit Plans

Tom, who has a full set of chips to choose from, is considering the following strategy:

  • Gameweek 25 – Wildcard
  • Gameweek 26 – Bench Boost
  • Gameweek 29 – Free Hit

The only downside, he noted, is that because Gameweek 25 is a Double for Leeds and Southampton, his Gameweek 26 Bench Boost would include players who play once. Not ideal.

The alternative he is considering is to use his Bench Boost now, followed by a Wildcard in Gameweek 26. Although with the injury to Calvert-Lewin, he might be reconsidering. 

Az was having similar thoughts before the news of Calvert-Lewin’s injury. Faced with a benching dilemma between West Ham duo Tomas Soucek (£5.4m) and Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m), who enjoy a home game against Sheffield United, playing his Bench Boost now seemed a good solution.

But speaking on the latest episode of FPL Black Box, Az mentioned the possibility of switching Calvert-Lewin to Richarlison (£7.9m) and saving his Bench Boost.

Although fellow Pro Pundit Seb isn’t convinced: “Richarlison doesn’t particularly interest me, I wouldn’t have considered him before DCL was out, the latter’s absence doesn’t change that.

Instead, he’s potentially joining Pro Pundit Lateriser in moving to Danny Ings (£8.4m) as his Calvert-Lewin replacement. 

When Seb shared his thoughts 12 hours before the deadline, the Saints striker had found a place in his XV. Although with his Wildcard active, that is subject to change:

I’m not sold on Ings but the Calvert-Lewin injury has forced a front-line rethink. He is the best suited to my plans due to his upcoming doubles and ability to be converted easily to a number of other strikers in due course. He has missed a lot of big chances recently (four in two matches), which can be read in two ways: he’s been poor or he’s been unlucky. My reading will probably be decided by if I pick him or not!

– Seb

Lateriser was slightly more upbeat:

It might even be a good idea to jump on Danny Ings, who has a decent looking fixture against Wolves in Gameweek 24 before his Double Gameweek in 25 … I particularly mention Ings here because, to me, he looked really sharp against Newcastle and got a lot of shots off which hasn’t been the case with him normally.

Seb’s Wildcard

This week’s Scoutcast used Seb’s Wildcard plans to structure debate around a number of key talking points ahead of Gameweek 24. But, given that it was recorded before Everton’s thrilling 5-4 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup, it included the now stricken Calvert-Lewin.

To bring us up-to-date, Seb has kindly revealed his revamped Wildcard squad as it stood on the eve of the new Gameweek:

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that nothing has changed, aside from the introduction of Ings for Calvert-Lewin.

As Joe was quick to observe last Tuesday, Seb has answered the “Which Man City trio?” question by doubling-up in attack.

The Raheem Sterling pick allows Kevin De Bruyne back in the future with ease. Or a simpler return to Mohamed Salah (whose absence does concern me; we’re all casting him off very easily, especially with Fulham in Gameweek 27). I’ll miss the extra City defender, but there are plenty of other options in that department over the coming weeks.

– Seb

It’s a move that was first mooted on site by Camzy ahead of Gameweek 23 – and which proved to be correct with Ilkay Gündogan (£6.0m) and Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) combining for 21 points against Liverpool. And last week’s Scoutcast also promoted the England international as an option for our midfields.

This week, David and Jan have put their weight behind the switch to double attack.

Part of their reasoning has to do with how poor Man City’s upcoming opponents, Spurs and Everton, have been of late. Especially at the back. Over the last four Premier League matches they feature among the worst defences in terms of expected goals conceded (xGC):

On balance, it looks as if Spurs and Everton are both much more likely to concede, maybe even heavily, against Manchester City – than struggle to ask questions of their own going forward.

– David

Gündogan and Sterling top the expected goal involvement (xGI) for Pep Guardiola’s troops in the last six matches. And Sterling’s position on the left of Man City’s attack could be crucial given a weakness down the right flank for both Everton and Spurs.

Over the last six matches, only Southampton (27) have given up more chances down their right-hand side than Jose Mourinho’s men (25). Everton have conceded 22 chances there, the seven-worst in the Premier League, and more than they have given up through the middle or the left.

– Jan

This vulnerability sees Sterling favoured narrowly ahead of his team-mate in Jan’s Captain Sensible article. 

Community Competitions and Head-to-Head Fixtures

You can now enter the Fantasy Football Scout Cup competitions, qualifying will get underway in Gameweek 25.

A total of £300 in prizes is available across the two tournaments, entry is free for the open-to-all Fantasy Football Scout Cup but only Premium Members may sign up for the Members Cup.

RedLightning rounded-up the latest Community mini-leagues and competitions

For those participating in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. There’s been a small tweak this week by Mat (aka matzi11a) to the fixtures and results displayed on that page.

From now on, the main page automatically shows the current Gameweek rather than requiring a manual intervention each time. The final scores will therefore be available quicker at the end of the Gameweek.

The fixtures for Gameweek 24 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

3,176 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Pukki Blinders
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    DCL to Richa for a -4?

    Allows me to BB

    1. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Nah. Why are people bench boosting this week anyway?

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

        It needs to be played if you want to TC in gw26.

        1. Bennerman
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Eh? No it doesn't

      2. DandyDon
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Very difficult to set up around blank in 29 (if no FH). Read zophar article earlier today

    2. DandyDon
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yes. Looking at a -8 to BB this week. No doubt trust in Burnley will massively backfire!

  2. Atters
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    First sub Raphinha or Targett?

  3. Kellz86
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    King differential anyone?

    1. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Wouldn't go near him right now

      1. Kellz86
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Already did

  4. DNML
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Want to do something stupid lol.
    Mee or Digne for captain?

    1. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Out of the two DIgne but I wouldn't

      1. DNML
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Salah Bruno?! Son benched...

    2. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Mee 100%

    3. DNML
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Ta, both served me very well in previous seasons and I’m switching between them last 15 minutes

    4. Kellz86
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      King differential is pretty stupid, I’m all aboard

  5. Mr.K
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Should I play Kane over DCL? Both might only play against ManCity..

    1. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      DCL at best will play Man City only, and that's not confirmed. He was ruled out of Fulham.

      So Kane 90 mins vs DCL unknown mins.

      Go with Kane

    2. fc_skrald
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      What is wrong with Kane?

      1. fc_skrald
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Sorry, forget it..

    3. TKC07
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Kane easy choice

    4. Mr.K
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Thanks for the advice! DCL subbed.

  6. The Count of Monte Cristo
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Best of luck to everyone this GW.

    Well done to the green arrows last week, especially those with good benches.

    Us red arrows need some DGW-luck this time around!

  7. joey
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Help needed big time, another benching dilemma

    Martinez Pope

    Cancelo Stones Digne Rüdiger Coufal

    Salah Bruno Son Grealish Gundogan

    Bamford Antonio Watkins

    Currently benching Martinez, Rüdiger, Coufal and Son but don't like looking at home games against Newcastle with no Wilson and Sheffield United. May well bench Salah from Rüdiger, worth working Coufal in as well, possibly at the expense of one of the Villa lads? BB long gone

    1. Shark Team
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Pope
      Cancelo Stones Digne Coufal
      Salah Bruno Grealish Gundo
      Bamford Antonio

  8. nothingbutgreen
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    who scores more points

    a lowton
    b mee
    c tarkowski

    1. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Impossible to say - 1 in 3 chance, I say Tarkowksi

  9. Jdpz
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    a) Ings
    b) Cavani
    c) Watkins
    d) Richarlison

    1. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      What's the question?

      For this GW I'd pick ABD

  10. Dannyb
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Bench 1
    A Bamford
    B Soucek
    C TAA

    1. Taegugk Warrior
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      C

    2. The Count of Monte Cristo
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      B begrudingly

      1. Dannyb
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        That's what I've got currently, feels wrong.

  11. BENOIT
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Stones and Dias to play both games?

  12. Shark Team
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Is Bruno gonna dance in the rain on Sunday?

  13. YuvalFPL
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Richarlison, Cavani or Watkins on a WC?

    Have Bamford and Ings.

    1. Dichio24
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Watkins

  14. AC Yew
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Im starting Coufal and benching Salah and Son : D

    1. Oggle22
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Lies

  15. boroie
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Quick one...

    A - Forster -> Pope (Meslier other keeper)
    B - Soucek -> Foden

  16. FPLMACKEM
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    McCarthy,
    Stones, Cancelo, Coufal,
    Salah, Gundogan, Bruno (c), Son, Soucek
    Antonio, Bamford

    Forster, DCL, Robertson, Mitchell

    2ft 2.4itb

    Robertson, DCL, Forster > Tarkowski, ings, pope -4. Then use the BB.

    is this viable?

  17. winchester
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    bottomed.. GTG? correct bench? Adams on the pitch instead of Antonio?

    pope
    dias cancelo coufal taylor
    bruno salah gundo soucek
    antonio bamford

    martinez adams son dallas

  18. Oggle22
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Had gundo for weeks blanked
    Brought in foden for gundo blanked foden to Mahrez you guessed it blanked now I'm back to gundo sorry owners haha do I captain him or Bruno?

    Martinez
    Stones Cancelo Tarkowski
    Salah Bruno Soucek Gundo
    Bamford Cavani Antonio

    Steele Son Mitchell Holding

    Cheers

    1. Captain Haddock
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Gundo

    2. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Cap Gündoğan

  19. Captain Haddock
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    A) Bench Coufal & Robertson
    B) Bench boost, get Pope & Barnes -4

  20. DARK SIDE OF THE LOON
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Coufal or Son the only call I need to take. Any suggestions?

    1. Captain Haddock
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Son

  21. Jonesfromthere
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Ironically Pope captain is the most fun I might have all season. It feels good going for someone out of the ordinary, despite all the content creators bashing it heavily.

  22. Jdpz
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play Bamford or Raphinha??

    1. Futureform
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Bamford

  23. JollyGoodYellows
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play one of:

    A) Raphinha
    B) Son
    C) Dallas

    1. jonnybhoy
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      A

  24. Futureform
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Play Grealish or Dallas?

    1. mr messi
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Grealish

  25. gellinmagellan
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    First sub DCL or Robertson, especially with Antonio in my XI who is a serious doubt

  26. jonnybhoy
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Whos everyone captaining? Currently on Gundo but kinda want to go Bruno

  27. rdpx
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    OUT. Salah & Wilson

    IN. Kane & Sterling

    -4

    ?
    Y/N

    1. Revival
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Yes and Captain Sterling

  28. toerag
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    This probably will end in tears but:-

    Martinez
    Dias Cancelo Mee Tarkowski
    Bruno Salah Gundo(c) soucek
    Bamford Antonio

    Forster Kane Grealish Cresswell

    kane as 1st sub as IF she scores i may as well have not nave double city defence.
    in for a penny......

  29. JustPark
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    1) Start one of Son/Dallas
    2) DCL to BDR

  30. Champions League Varane
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Any of these worth a -4? One week punt...

    DCL -> Werner
    Mitchell -> Mee (have Tark)

    1. mad_beer ✅
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      No. Save the points.