Welcome back for another article
Who are the best players to buy? Who are the essential wildcard picks?
DGW33 is officially confirmed and final. We know who will double, and those 6 teams that double will blank the following week in gameweek 34. So the rest of the season is basically mapped out now; it's just that Palace v Man City postponement to be rearranged still, and that has a good chance of dropping into GW36.
Anyway, let's quickly talk about the double gameweek having just been finalized.
The 6 teams are Bournemouth, Brighton, Burnley, Chelsea, Leeds, and Man City. If you're new to FPL, double gameweeks carry lots of potential because you get the points from both games. Haaland will be the most popular captain; if he scores against Arsenal and a hat trick vs Burnley, then you'll get all those points doubled as captain, plus appearance points, bonus points, etc., all doubled.
Arsenal losing to Southampton was a spanner in the works, and chip strategy is more divisive now. The reason being there's little incentive to carry many Arsenal players on a wildcard in GW32, and the likes of Bournemouth, Burnley, and Leeds have rough fixtures. Bournemouth have Arsenal this week, Leeds have Man Utd away, and Burnley players are just an avoid except in a DGW potentially. Oh, and Chelsea and Man City play each other this week as well.
So if you've still got your wildcard, bench boost, and free hit, then the two prevailing strategies are to wildcard this week and set up for a big DGW33 bench boost, then free hit in BGW34. Again, as a reminder, those 6 teams doubling in 33 do not have a fixture in GW34.
So WC32, BB33, FH34 is a common strategy. The other common one is FH33, WC35, and BB36. This looks pretty good too because then you don't have to sell players this week with good fixtures: Bruno, Gabriel, Rice, Ekitike, Thiago, Dango, etc. Those guys. That lets you keep them a week, free hit the best DGW33 team, but only works if you'll be able to field 11 players in GW34, which is easier now Arsenal don't blank.
Then wildcard GW35; Man City and Palace are expected to double in GW36, the final double of the season and a very small one. So you can wildcard triple Palace in. The downside is it's not a great bench boost and obviously all single gameweek players. And if Palace progress in Europa Conference League, then rotation could be at play because the league will be dead for Palace and that's all they've got left to play for.
🧤 Goalkeeper
Verbruggen is a name I'm expecting to see everywhere for GW32 wildcarders. He makes a lot of sense because it's Burnley this week plus the DGW33, and he's relatively cheap at 4.5m. Raya tops the keepers table this week with 4.0 points. Arsenal are home to Bournemouth with the early kick-off on Saturday—not ideal given they're having to play midweek in the Champions League as well.
To remind you—the teams still in Europe that play this week before GW32 are Arsenal, Liverpool, Villa, Forest, and Palace.
Another keeper worth looking at if wildcarding this week is Darlow. He's started 10 league games in a row with Perri the cup keeper; Darlow is the league keeper and the Leeds double is decent: Wolves home and Bournemouth away. Dubravka, thanks for the memories, but I wouldn't have him on a wildcard despite him doubling. The doubles aren't fantastic really; the two best teams doubling are Chelsea and Man City, and in their cases, you'd rather look at outfield players with more upside: Haaland, Semenyo, O'Reilly, Guehi, Joao Pedro, Palmer, Cucurella, etc. Therefore, the budget keepers have some appeal.
On a wildcard, the keeper combo to consider is Verbruggen and Darlow, assuming you still have your bench boost, of course. Otherwise, you've got the flexibility to keep Raya in there! 🧤
🛡️ Defenders
Gabriel went off in the FA Cup with a knee injury and was spotted on the bench with ice on it. Potentially not a serious one, and we've got the benefit of seeing what his involvement is midweek in the Champions League. The yellow flag has knocked him down the table to 3.9 points; with that removed, he shoots back up to the top. He's one you could consider keeping on a wildcard even if bench boosting GW33. At the end of the day, he's been by far the best defender this season and one fewer fixture does not guarantee he'll be outscored by those with a double.
Van Dijk tops the table this week on 4.4 points. Liverpool are heading into such a difficult period: it's PSG on Wednesday, then Fulham home on the weekend which is a must-win, then on Tuesday the second leg vs PSG.
Van Hecke is another rising name for the same reason as Verbruggen. He's a safe, reliable option in Brighton's backline. The only other one I would entertain is Kadioglu at left back; he's started every game since GW5, which surprised me.
West Ham have Wolves home this week which has Wan-Bissaka and Diouf on the table; avoid them unless you're on WC35. If you're on a wildcard, you may want to consider a Leeds defender for your bench this week, Gudmundsson or Rodon—they're both super cheap. I like Rodon the most given the defensive potential. 🛡️
If you're all out of chips, then Newcastle are a team to look at, basically Hall, Thiaw, and Gordon. Bournemouth are doubling in GW33, so Senesi and Hill are both worth looking at.
⚽ Midfielders
With Man Utd facing Leeds at Old Trafford, the top player this week is Bruno on 6.7 points and the best captain based on FPL Review data. He's a rare exception many wildcarders are looking to retain who won't double for the rest of the season. Only Haaland can better his 14.7 xGI this season. ⚽
My ideal midfield 5 if wildcarding this week would be Bruno, Palmer, Tavernier, Stach, and Semenyo. Stach is another Leeds player who went off injured in their FA Cup win over West Ham, so it does depend on him being okay.
Avoid Wirtz despite him making the table; it's tough to predict Slot's line-up. Szoboszlai feels like just about the only safe one there. Sarr doesn't quite make the table on 4.5 points but is worth a mention, particularly for those all out of chips. Since they don't blank in GW34, he's handy there, plus he has the Man City postponement likely to be in GW36. Same applies to Munoz.
🎯 Forwards
It's actually a tie at the top between Haaland and Bowen! Both are on 5.7 points. Man City have Chelsea away, and West Ham have Wolves home, which explains how they're similar. That said, Chelsea haven't defended well as of late, plus Chalobah and James are sidelined for a while. 🎯
Thiago is another rare example like Bruno who is valid to keep on a wildcard; 19 goals this season. Potentially a sell in GW36 if you were to keep hold. However, if you need a forward this week, Bowen wins. They're actually dead even for projected points for the next 5, so in a nutshell, Bowen wins if chasing upside. Both are on pens.
Welbeck is another popular name in the conversation. Will Welbeck definitely start both games in a double? That's always a slight risk with him at his age. Calvert-Lewin is not on the table this week given his fixture, but he's a very valid third forward. The most popular front 3 for GW32 wildcarders is looking like Haaland, Joao Pedro, and Calvert-Lewin.
It's good to be back and talking FPL again! If your head is a bit scrambled, I'll be back on Wednesday with my team selection article and my plans. See you soon for the next one.