Hi guys. Thought I would write an extra article before Gameweek 27, seeing as there is no league action this weekend. We are approaching the most exciting time of the FPL season in a few gameweeks. Blank and double gameweeks are on the horizon, and a well thought out plan to set your team up right for the future could give you some massive help with your overall rank. I’ll be outlining my thoughts and recommendations on how you should approach your transfers in the coming weeks.

I’d like to reference a blog I recently read from Ian Baldwin, who beautifully outlined the chances for each team to play in Gameweek 30. I’ll be referencing the numbers and stats that Ian outlined, and I’d highly recommend reading his post here.

Gameweek 27 – 32

All of your transfers between now and before Gameweek 30 should focus on 2 strategies:

Trying to field a full 11 for Gameweek 30 Setting your team up well for Gameweeks 31 and 32.

Gameweek 30 will be the largest blank gameweek of the season. Only four teams are guaranteed to play: Leicester, Newcastle, Southampton, and Stoke. It will difficult for almost every team to field 11 players while still maintaining some optimism for Gameweek 31 and 32. Any transfers you can make now to improve your chances of a player playing in Gameweek 30 will potentially give you a boost in rank. It will feel hopeless to start a full team, but the difference between you playing 8 players versus 6 could help your rank by the thousands.

You can see that Bournemouth/Swansea, Norwich/Man City, and Liverpool/Chelsea have the highest chances of being played. But none of the games apart from the four teams listed above are guaranteed to play. So unless your team consists of only the guaranteed-to-play teams, there’s a chance you will not be able to play a full 11 players. You’ll want to try to bring in players from teams that have a better chance of playing. Also consider the fixtures in Gameweek 31 and 32:

We can see that Man City, Newcastle, Leicester, and Chelsea have good fixtures in both 31 and 32. West Ham, Arsenal, and Spurs have good fixtures in either 31 or 32. From this, I would prioritize getting rid of players who aren’t on any of these teams above.

SHIPPING OUT

Man United would be the team with the worst players to own, because they are almost guaranteed to blank in Gameweek 30 and have bad fixtures in 31 and 32. In addition, United look out of sorts and ridden with injury, so I would be hesitant to keep any of their players, de Gea included. I would also get rid of any Everton, Watford, and Crystal Palace for the same reasons.

HOLDING ON

Spurs don’t look likely to play in Gameweek 30, but I would hang onto them. They are one of the most valuable teams to own players from, and one blank 30 should not discourage you to get rid of them. Given they play Bournemouth and Liverpool in 31 and 32, they can still earn you some real points.

Man City could play in Gameweek 30, so I would hold onto them. Aguero is likely the player that everyone owns from Man City. He’s currently risen to £0.6 since returning from injury, so shipping him out would result in losing a lot of value.

Arsenal may be a team to hold onto as well. They are almost certain to blank in Gameweek 30. I could go either way with keeping or getting rid of the Gunners. They play Everton in 31 which isn’t great, but they go on a hot run of fixtures in Gameweek 32. It might be the best option to get rid of Arsenal players after the Swansea game, and pick them back up in 32 for Watford.

Gameweek 33 (WILDCARD)

The FPL rules prevent you from using more than one of your chips in the same week. This means that in order to field the team you want for the Double Gameweek 34, you have to use your wildcard the week before. I think the best time to play the second wildcard would be leading up to Gameweek 33. By then, we should know which teams will be playing in the double gameweek. Again it will be important to balance your team for both 34 and the weeks following. You don’t want to invest in only double gameweek teams and then get screwed over in the next week.

Gameweek 34 (BENCH BOOST)

I think the best time to play the Bench Boost chip is in Gameweek 34. We will likely see more than half of the teams in the league playing double games. The Bench Boost chip will allow you to earn points for all of your 15 players. If used correctly, near to all of your 15 players will be earning points, which will really add up. If everyone on your team blanks which is highly unlikely, you’ll still end up with 15 x 4 = 60 points for the week. With the right captain option, I’m predicting that the highest score for Gameweek 34 will be 200+ points. Gameweek 34 has the potential to completely change your entire season if you prepare correctly.

Gameweek 37 (TRIPLE CAPTAIN)

The FA Cup may create a smaller Blank Gameweek 35, following by a small Double Gameweek 37. Since there won’t be as many teams having double games in 37, I think the triple captain is best suited to being used this week. Since the triple captain will only apply to one player, you will be able to utilize the Bench Boost and Triple Captain to their best potential by using them in 34 and 37 respectively.

Thanks for reading! Transfers locked to come next week!