Last Saturday morning, the Premier League announced an extra fixture in Gameweek 25 for Liverpool and Luton Town. This means that, along with Manchester City and Brentford, those clubs also have a double gameweek.
Our transfers for the next two weeks will mostly be geared towards bringing in players from these four teams. However, we mustn’t get too carried away with double-gameweek players as sometimes, signing them means transferring out good single-gameweek players.
It is always important to plan and have sufficient double-gameweek players but it’s all about striking the right balance. In this article, we will go through some potential double-gameweek “traps” and players you should think twice about removing.
| Team | Gameweek 24 | Double Gameweek 25 | Blank Gameweek 26 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Burnley (H)
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Brentford (A) and Luton (H)
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Sheffield United (H)
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Manchester United (H) and Liverpool (A)
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Manchester City
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Everton (H)
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Chelsea (H) and Brentford (H)
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Bournemouth (A)
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Wolves (A)
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Liverpool (H) and Manchester City (A)
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West Ham (A)
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Double Gameweek 28 announcement
The Premier League also confirmed the rearrangement of Bournemouth and Luton’s abandoned match from Gameweek 17, which will be played on March 13. This means those two teams will have two fixtures each in Gameweek 28.
This may have implications for what transfers you are looking to do this week. If you were planning on getting rid of Dominic Solanke (£7.1m), for example, you may want to reconsider.
It’s tough to give specific advice on which players to keep or sell, as this will all be team-specific. Therefore, it’s important to make a plan for your team from now until Blank Gameweek 29 and think about when you are going to use your chips. This doesn’t have to be anything concrete, but having a rough idea is important.
This fixture ticker from Ben Crellin is useful to save or bookmark.
Here's my updated Blank and Double GW schedule spreadsheet.
Bournemouth vs Luton was moved to GW28 earlier today.
Beyond GW32:
– GW34 will probably be a mini Blank GW and a smallish DGW
– GW37 will be a big DGW
– and we might get another mini DGW pic.twitter.com/oIIhCOmima— Ben Crellin (@BenCrellin) February 7, 2024
Identifying the traps
Liverpool and Luton players are the trickiest assets to transfer in, as they are the only two teams who double in Gameweek 25 but then also have a blank in Gameweek 26.
With both these clubs, the looming Gameweek 24 looks like a good time to invest in their players as both have good fixtures — Liverpool welcome second-bottom Burnley to Anfield and Luton have a home fixture against last-placed Sheffield United.
Players such as Darwin Nunez (£7.4m), Diogo Jota (£8.1m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) will be popular, and rightfully so. They are worth investing in purely in isolation but what is just as important is who you are transferring out to get them in. We may need to look at getting rid of players such as Richarlison (£7.2m), Ollie Watkins (£8.8m), Solanke and Pedro Porro (£5.9m), who are good assets and fine long-term options.
We need to be careful as to not remove good Fantasy Premier League assets for double-gameweek players for the sake of it.
GO DEEPER
FPL tips: Which Liverpool players to target ahead of their double gameweek
Players such as Luis Diaz (£7.4m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.2m) don’t look as attractive. They are decent assets when they are starting and playing, but Gakpo is a big rotation risk and Jota’s underlying numbers are better than Diaz’s, and I also feel with their current form the Portuguese is ahead in the pecking order.
The likes of Alexander-Arnold, Nunez and Jota look like better options at the moment. However, even they can be prone to getting rotated. Especially when we factor in that Liverpool play in the Carabao Cup final on February 25, three days after their second fixture of Double Gameweek 25 at home against Luton.
Despite the risk, this isn’t to say it’s not worth going for them, especially in this case when the fixtures are so good.
For Liverpool, my top three picks would be Nunez, Jota and Alexander-Arnold, and think it’s worth investing from this week. Depending on how your team is set up, Alisson (£5.7m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.3m) are great options too, and should both start all three games in the next two gameweeks.
I would avoid any other Liverpool players. Diaz and Gakpo are the next-best options but the uncertainty around their minutes is just too much. You will likely be getting rid of a good asset in the process, too.
Most Manchester City assets are prone to rotation, as we all know. Of their attackers, Erling Haaland (£14.2m) is the only one likely to start in Gameweek 24 and both fixtures in Double Gameweek 25.
City have a Champions League last-16 first leg away to FC Copenhagen sandwiched between Gameweek 24 and Double Gameweek 25, so there is a chance the likes of Kevin De Bruyne (£10.8m) and Phil Foden (£7.9m) may get rested. However, I wouldn’t let this put you off them as they are likely to get some minutes in all of those fixtures and also have a good game in Blank Gameweek 26 at Bournemouth.
Kyle Walker (£5.5m) is City’s most nailed-on defender, but Nathan Ake (£5.0m) has started the last seven games and is cheaper.
Brentford’s Ivan Toney (£8.1m) and the Luton duo of Alfie Doughty (£4.6m) and Thomas Kaminski (£4.5m) are solid options, who are first-team regulars. Brentford have a double in Gameweek 25 and play in Blank Gameweeks 26 and 29 while Luton have another double in Gameweek 28 but blank in Gameweek 26, so if you are looking to invest, make sure you have sufficient players to cover that.
Identify which players are going to get a good amount of minutes and then plan accordingly. I think having between five and six doublers in 25, and eight to 11 players in Blank Gameweek 26 with one or two hits is fine and perfectly achievable for most.
If you are in a position where you are going to be left short, don’t be afraid to use your chips.
| Team | Top three picks |
|---|---|
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Manchester City
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Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Kyle Walker
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Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold
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Alfie Doughty, Thomas Kaminski and Ross Barkley
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Ivan Toney, Mark Flekken and Ethan Pinnock
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Single-gameweek players to be wary of selling
Spurs and Chelsea blank in Gameweek 26 and both have some popular assets. Richarlison and Cole Palmer (£5.9m) are highly owned. Many FPL managers will be thinking about selling them.
Aston Villa were knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea on Wednesday, which means their fixture in Blank Gameweek 29 against already-eliminated West Ham will go ahead. This means that Watkins’ and Douglas Luiz’s (£5.5m) stock has increased. They also have good fixtures in that time.
I would be wary of getting rid of the likes of Richarlison and Watkins especially. Both have great fixtures in the next few games, and Spurs’ fixtures after Blank Gameweek 26 are fantastic.
Chelsea’s fixture away to Arsenal in Gameweek 29 will become a blank if they beat Championship visitors Leeds United in the FA Cup fifth round. They will be strong favourites to win that tie, which makes someone like Palmer a bit more disposable as his Carabao Cup finalists are already getting a blank in Gameweek 26.
West Ham have fixtures in Blank Gameweeks 26 and 29, at home against Brentford and Villa respectively, which makes selling their assets tricky too. Jarrod Bowen (£7.9m) and Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) are both highly owned and have great fixtures once they get past the meeting with Arsenal this weekend.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
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