Now we’re into the final days of this two-and-a-half-week international (and FA Cup) break, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers can start thinking about who to target for these immediate Gameweeks.
Some of you might have been tinkering with Gameweek 30 Wildcard drafts, with others still weighing up alternative times to refresh and plotting when to activate any other remaining chips.
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Either way, with the final details of some imminent Double and Blank Gameweeks still to be ironed out, we’ve selected the interesting teams and players for these next three rounds of fixtures – ones that are fully confirmed.
GAMEWEEK 30
First, let’s take a look at our colour-coded Season Ticker. This can rank clubs by overall difficulty in individual rounds of fixtures or across a period, as well as being split by attacking and defensive difficulty.
In Gameweek 30, for example, in-form Crystal Palace come out on top thanks to a plum away day at Southampton.
Bournemouth are deemed to have the second-easiest fixture, at home to Ipswich. Then it’s Manchester City’s hosting of Leicester City.
Away from facing this season’s woeful bottom three, Wolverhampton Wanderers seemingly have one of the next kindest days, despite West Ham United tightening up at the back under Graham Potter. Additionally, league leaders Liverpool are heavily favoured in Anfield’s Merseyside derby.
GAMEWEEK 31
Looking at Gameweek 31, it’s Tottenham Hotspur’s turn to face the sorry Saints.
Wolves rank highly again by facing Ipswich, though it’s also winnable for the Tractor Boys in their fight for survival. Meanwhile, Newcastle travel to leaky, goal-shy Leicester.
DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 32
In our first confirmed Double Gameweek of this season’s run-in, twice-playing Newcastle and Palace top the ticker.
Of the single Gameweek sides, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion face the relegation zone trio.
THE GAMEWEEK 30-32 PERIOD
And finally, here is the overview of all three Gameweeks, ranked by overall difficulty.
Naturally, the Magpies and the Eagles top the charts with their four matches. It therefore makes perfect sense to target their players over the next three Gameweeks.
Wolves are next, then Bournemouth, Liverpool, Man City, Brighton and Arsenal. Each of these have promising FPL assets.
Newcastle
Plenty of expectation is placed on Alexander Isak‘s (£9.3m) shoulders as we approach Double Gameweek 32. The forward is consistently their greatest attacking threat, scoring 19 goals and assisting five others. He ranks second in the league for points-per-start (6.80) and minutes-per-goal (107.3) among regular starters.
Anthony Gordon (£7.4m) is only for Gameweek 31 onwards due to a suspension, though his fitness is also in question. Luckily, Jacob Murphy (£5.0m) presents a cheaper alternative on the other wing. He has started 15 consecutive league matches and indeed is the team’s most productive midfielder this season.
Stepping in for Gordon will be Harvey Barnes (£5.9m), who assisted the Gameweek 28 winner and had four chances himself. Averaging an attempt every 30 minutes, he has only one less goal than Gordon in over 1,000 fewer minutes.
Bruno Guimarães (£6.1m) converted Barnes’ cross and even he can be a decent attacking threat, delivering nine returns so far.
- READ MORE: Best Newcastle players to buy before Gameweek 32
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Defensively, Kieran Trippier (£5.6m) is a punt-worthy pick in Lewis Hall’s (£4.8m) absence. His share of set-pieces makes him a more consistent attacking threat than Tino Livramento (£4.5m), but for more money.
Fabian Schar (£5.4m) and cup hero Dan Burn (£4.4m) should be safe bets at centre-back and tend to carry a little more direct goal threat than the full-backs. However, if Burn is your flavour of choice, be warned: he’s currently on eight bookings. Get two more before Gameweek 33 and there’ll be a two-match ban.
Crystal Palace
As for Palace’s high-flying attack, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) will be popular, having recovered from the head injury that denied him Gameweek 28. Before then, the Frenchman accumulated eight goals and an assist in eight matches, supported by promising underlying numbers.
Team-mate Daniel Muñoz (£5.1m) is excellent value for money, combining five clean sheets with three assists and a goal in his last eight appearances. Other wing-back Tyrick Mitchell (£4.8m) could prove to be a shrewd differential if he starts to deliver on his underlying stats. Behind them, Dean Henderson (£4.6m) is one of the division’s most in-form goalkeepers.
When it comes to Eberechi Eze (£6.7m) versus Ismaïla Sarr (£5.6m), we’ve dedicated an entire article to these midfielders.
As well as that, both Eddie Howe (£1.5m) and Oliver Glasner (£0.8m) are strong options for the Assistant Manager chip.
Wolves
Moving on from Double Gameweek 32 teams, we won’t see the talented but hot-headed Matheus Cunha (£6.9m) until Gameweek 32. It’s a shame for those hoping to capitalise on Wolves’ promising immediate fixtures via their main source for both creativity and goals.
Last time out, Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.3m) delivered the goods by scoring twice at Southampton. He withdrew from Norway’s squad with a broken hand but should be fine to lead the line against West Ham.
Another budget-friendly option worth considering is Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (£4.9m). He’s created more Opta-defined ‘big chances’ (five) than anyone else over the last six Gameweeks, scoring once and assisting four. Stay away from Hwang Hee-chan (£6.1m), though, as he’s essentially a non-entity in this season’s FPL.
At the back, Wolves are still pretty shaky despite recent clean sheets against Aston Villa and Bournemouth. Rayan Aït-Nouri (£4.8m) does at least pose an attacking threat.
Bournemouth
Elsewhere, Justin Kluivert (£6.3m) is probably still the main man to target from Bournemouth. He is the team’s penalty taker, leading scorer and top creator.
There’s also Evanilson (£5.7m), among the top performing forwards on several attacking metrics since returning to the starting XI in Gameweek 28. Hungarian left-back Milos Kerkez (£5.2m) is the Cherries’ stand-out defensive pick, assisting in three successive matches.
If you fancy someone from their backline but need to save some cash, Dean Huijsen (£4.5m) could be your guy. The Spain international offers a little bit of goal threat, nearly assisted Evanilson in Gameweek 29 and has excelled to the point that Marcos Senesi (£4.6m) may struggle to work his way back into the line-up.
Liverpool
Holding a 12-point lead with nine Gameweeks to go, Liverpool should win the 2024/25 Premier League title at a canter.
Still, with no other competitions to worry about, one expects Arne Slot (£1.5m) will be reticent to let his troops jog across the finish line. For starters, Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) has both the individual records of 36 goals and 20 assists in his sights after a sublime season to date. He is surely a hold, despite the lack of Double Gameweeks.
The same perhaps cannot be said of his attacking colleagues. Luis DÃaz (£7.5m), Cody Gakpo (£7.6m), Darwin Núñez (£7.0m), Diogo Jota (£7.2m) and Federico Chiesa (£6.8m) are challenging each other for just two spots in the XI.
And though Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.4m) recently delivered back-to-back double-digit hauls against Man City and Newcastle, there are probably better mid-priced midfield options around.
The Reds also possess one of the league’s best defences, making the likes of Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) and Ibrahima Konaté (£5.2m) look appealing. Whether they or currently injured wantaway Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m) are worthy of longer-term investment is a different topic.
Manchester City
As discussed above, Man City boast one of the most appealing Gameweek 30 fixtures: Leicester at home.
Erling Haaland (£14.8m) jumps out as a key target for that match and could be reachable – even at that price point – for managers looking to offload other pricey assets like Cole Palmer (£10.8m).
For those who can’t stretch to Haaland, Omar Marmoush (£7.3m) was the star of the show in their draw against Brighton but his game time perhaps seems less certain because Phil Foden (£9.2m) is lurking.
Jérémy Doku (£6.2m) has played 90 minutes in the latest four league outings but without any attacking returns to show off, while Savinho (£6.2m) has started six in a row and has two assists in that spell but his minutes are reducing. He didn’t even reach 60 minutes last time.
So, in reality, it’s probably Haaland or a less secure but easier to accommodate Marmoush.
Defender JoÅ¡ko Gvardiol (£6.0m) has had 34 attempts, 10 big chances and the most goals (five) of players in his position, yet no shots have come in his last five matches. It’s a less attacking role than we’re used to from the Croatian. Still, he’s guaranteed minutes when fit and has two clean sheets in five outings. It’ll be a rare occurrence if Leicester can find a way past them.
After that, an away Manchester derby and clash with Crystal Palace are slightly less appealing – particularly with them losing and drawing the reverse meetings. But their rivals are without Amad Diallo (£5.3m) and it’ll be Palace’s fourth of five games within 19 days. Moreover, Man City are still fighting to secure Champions League football.
Brighton
Perennial FPL troll Joao Pedro (£5.6m) is on a strong run of form, bagging three goals and an assist in the three matches prior to his unlucky blank against Man City.
Brighton’s penalty taker leads all forwards for penalty box touches during the last four Gameweeks and he’s created five big chances in the last six.
If you’re wanting a midfielder instead, Yankuba Minteh (£5.1m) has three attacking returns in his last five, plus 12 box shots and six big chances over his last half-dozen. Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) also has six big chances in this time, scoring twice, while five other players have recently put themselves on the scoresheet.
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Those wanting a cheap defender ahead of a future Bench Boost could turn to Lewis Dunk (£4.2m), providing he can work his way back into the starting XI.
Otherwise, go for shot-stopper Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) – who has two shut-outs in his last five matches – or Gameweek 28 goal-scorer Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m).
Arsenal
At this point, you could forgive Arsenal for abandoning all hope of catching Liverpool and instead focusing on the Champions League, where they face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals that sandwich Gameweek 32.
Before then, the Gunners will seek a fifth clean sheet in eight matches when they host Fulham in Gameweek 30. Gabriel Magalhães’s (£6.4m) goal threat has dried up a little recently but he and William Saliba (£6.2m) should remain surefire starters.
Excitement will come from Bukayo Saka‘s (£10.2m) long-awaited return from injury, provided he can rack up significant minutes, but it’ll be enough to make the game time of Ethan Nwaneri (£4.6m), Leandro Trossard (£6.8m), Mikel Merino (£6.0m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£6.5m) less secure.
