Is the Gameweek 34 Bench Boost being overlooked?

With the fixtures now confirmed for the remainder of the season we are now in a position to plan how to approach the Double Gameweeks in Gameweeks 34, 35 and 37.

Strategy is of course dependent on how many chips managers have left and the make-up of their teams.

But the received wisdom has it that managers who still have it available should play their Bench Boost in Gameweek 37, when Manchester City, Spurs, Chelsea and Newcastle all have attractive fixtures. Managers still with a Wildcard available can set up their teams to target those doubles and exploit the fact that most rival managers won’t have the luxury of being able to make this play.

THE ISSUE WITH GAMEWEEK 37

The problem with this strategy is that by Gameweek 37 the landscape may have changed considerably. Some teams by then will be safe from relegation, so proverbially “on the beach” and prone to more experimental lineups. Other teams might be experiencing greater rotation due to European distractions, which is what happened last season when Manchester City were targeting the Champions League. Also, as the campaign draws on, so there is a greater risk of players succumbing to injuries.

There are more teams with doubles in Gameweek 34 (seven) than Gameweek 37 (six) and the teams who only play once in Gameweek 34 have nicer fixtures than those with singles matches in Gameweek 37.

So, managers who still have the Bench Boost to hand should give serious consideration to playing it in Gameweek 34.

Arsenal and Liverpool triple-up

The doubles for Liverpool and Arsenal are particularly attractive. The Gunners’ defence has been superb in recent weeks so including Gabriel (£5.4m) and William Saliba (£5.9m) or Gabriel and Ben White (£5.9m) along with Bukayo Saka (£8.9m) or Kai Havertz (£7.3m) for matches against Wolves (A) and Chelsea (H) makes good sense in a Gunners’ triple up.

The same thinking applies to Liverpool assets, where perming any two or even three from Mohamed Salah (£13.4m), Darwin Nunez (£7.7m), Alexis Mac Allister (£5.9m) and Luis Diaz (£7.7m) for trips to Fulham and Everton could also reap rewards.

With Arsenal and Liverpool still going all out for the title, Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp will aim to play their strongest lineups in the short term at least and these are players you will probably want to keep for the run-in anyway.

Son dilemma

It’s worth bearing in mind that this strategy does mean that a decision will have to be made about what to do with your Spurs players. The north Londoners blank in Gameweek 34 but have a double in Gameeweek 35 and Gameweek 37, so do owners sell Son Heung-min (£10.1m) only to bring him back in straight away? 

Managers with a Wildcard don’t have this headache as they can sell Son, Bench Boost in Gameweek 34 and then bring him back with their Wildcard in Gameweek 35. In that Wildcard they can invest heavily in Spurs and Chelsea players to take advantage of their two remaining Double Gameweeks.

If you’ve not got a Wildcard, you may have to sacrifice Gameweek 35 to some extent. Going into this Gameweek with two free transfers will help bring back Son and Cole Palmer (£6.1m). Anyone else would need a hit.

Then again, if you are to bury your head in the sand for a Double Gameweek, this might be it:

Double Gameweek 34 players to target

Bournemouth are another side with good fixtures in Gameweek 34. Although they are away to both Aston Villa and Wolves their opponents are better at scoring goals than keeping them out. Dominic Solanke (£7.3m) is having the year of his life and can expect to add to his 16 goals this season, while injuries to Marcus Tavernier (£5.2m) and Antoine Semenyo (£4.6m) means Justin Kluivert (£4.6m) will get to keep the attacking role which has reaped back-to-back returns.

Crystal Palace have two hugely appetising home fixtures against defensively suspect West Ham and Newcastle. Jean-Phillippe Mateta (£5.0m) can add to his five returns in seven matches and will be relishing two matches at Selhurst Park where he has scored in each of his last three appearances.

Whisper it quietly but Sheffield United are starting to show signs of life and will expect to score, if not win, against Burnley and Manchester United. Ben Hamer (£4.9m) could make an interesting differential here, having returned in his last four matches running, while Ollie McBurnie (£5.4m) is also finding form with two goals and an assist in his last three outings.

Finally, Pablo Sarabia and Rayan Ait-Nouri (both £4.7m) are players to keep an eye on for Wolves. The defender has returned four times in his last six matches since being deployed in a more attacking role, while the forward has four returns in seven and is on penalties in the absence of the injured Hwang Hee-Chan (£5.4m). Arsenal will be a tough assignment but that is the first of three home matches with Bournemouth and Luton to follow.