Fixtures – The Panic Room Game-week’s 28 & 29 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League
We really need to talk about game-week 29…… Well we need to talk about game-week 28 as well, but it is really 29 that is scrambling a few brains and causing night sweats for many a fantasy manger. Rest assured though, you are not alone. We usually ramble on about who has good fixtures and who hasn’t and the relevant players in this article but this week we will cut to the chase and keep it simple. You need to know which teams are actually playing for the next few weeks are which teams are not. Most fantasy managers will have 3 free transfers left ahead of GW29 unless you were prudent or lucky enough to save one up, in which case it’s 4 at a maximum. You may well need them all! Let’s get to it then….
This is how the land lies for the next three weeks.
The fixtures in RED are those that are not playing in that game-week.
All the GREEN ones are playing.
The YELLOW is basically the West Ham vs Hull game. If Hull win tonight then that one is off as well. We will update this article to show that as and when we know. Come on Brighton!!!
The teams on the left in RED have at least one missing fixture in either GW28 or 29.
So let’s try and make this as simple as possible –
GW27
Every team plays.
GW28
These teams do not play –
Man City
Man Utd
Sunderland
West Brom
GW29
These teams do not play –
Arsenal
Aston Villa
Everton
Liverpool
Man City
Newcastle
Sunderland
Swansea
Combined GW28 and 29 blanks –
Man City
Sunderland
So GW28 looks like this-
Everton vs West Ham
Fulham vs Chelsea
Hull vs Newcastle
Stoke vs Arsenal
Southampton vs Liverpool
Aston Villa vs Norwich
Swansea vs Crystal Palace
Tottenham vs Cardiff
And GW29 looks like this –
West Brom vs Man Utd
Norwich vs Stoke
Cardiff vs Fulham
Crystal Palace vs Southampton
Chelsea vs Tottenham
West Ham vs Hull **Subject to Hull losing in the FA Cup**
We hope that makes it as simple as possible for you. Basically our recommendations would be –
Transfer out any Man City or Sunderland players ahead of GW28 as they have two blank weeks. Probably prioritising Sunderland this week as they are away at Arsenal whereas City are at home to Stoke so keep those City players for GW27 if possible and plan to abandon ship next week.
Do not transfer in anyone who has a missing week coming up. Sounds obvious but the fact of the matter is that over 50,000 managers have transfered in Sturridge already this week and over 5,000 have transfered in both Adam Johnson and Yaya Toure and neither will be playing for two consequetive weeks after this one. Do not fall into this trap. Looking at how few games there are left in GW29 already, every spot on your squad will be valuable towards being able to field anything like a full team.
If you are lucky enough to still have your wildcard we would advise you think long and hard before using it here. The fact is that you would obviously be able to field X1 with no hits and it seems like the easy way around this problem. What we would say though is that because all of these games will have to be rearranged as well as the Everton and Man City ones from last week there will be a good number of bumper double game-weeks on the horizon. Now would you rather be able to field an extra player or two this week or potentially be able to effectively field 18, 19 or even 22 in an upcoming week…. Thought so!
GAME-WEEK 27
Let’s not forget though that there is actually a full fixture list this week! GW27 presents us with the following stand out favourable fixtures –
Liverpool vs Swansea – expect Suarez and Sturridge to be the big point scorers in this one given Liverpool’s rampant nature at Anfield recently. Stevie G is bang in form as well despite the recent premature news of his supposed decline due to his deeper role.
Man City vs Stoke – if we knew which combination of Dzeko / Jovetic / Negredo that Pellegrini would go with then we would recommend one of them. We don’t though which is the problem here. Perhaps just stick with the tried and trusted in Yaya and Silva if you have them. As stated above though do not transfer any of them in as they will then miss two weeks.
Norwich vs Spurs – Adebayor. That’s probably all you need to know for this one. The Ivorian has been on form and big time recently. Sherwood has rejuvinated him and he is looking deadly. Spurs have a clean bill of health fixture wise as well so buy, buy, buy!
IN SUMMARY
A quick straw poll around the FF247 offices suggests that the average team currently has between 5 – 7 players on their squad at the moment who would be playing in GW29. If we take the best case situation of 7 then, three free transfers and the odd hit should be sufficient to field a full X1, so maybe it is not quite the doomsday scenario after all. Use the above tools and information, plan your transfers wisely, make yourself a strong pot of tea and cross your fingers and toes on the injury and suspension front and you should just about be able to see yourself through to GW30 in one piece.
FIXTURE FUN
Well there’s plenty of that already isn’t there but just to add to the confusion the Champions League and Europa League have resumed this week meaning that Man City, Arsenal, Swansea and Tottenham all play games this midweek ahead of GW27. So keep an eye out on those for any injuries or possible rotation.
DOUBLE GAME-WEEKS, DATES FOR YOUR DIARY!
There are obviously a lot of games that now need to be rearranged. As we speak there is only one confirmed DGW which involves Man Utd and Man City and is in GW31. There is the faint possibility that some of the GW29 ones could be played in mid-week that week and so still come under the umbrella of GW29. It is however already a designated Champions League week and so the Premier League would have to go cap in hand to UEFA on that one. The likes of Man City and Arsenal will not be able to do this as they are actually playing in it though!
The fixtures that currently need to be rearranged are –
Everton vs Crystal Palace
Man City vs Sunderland
Sunderland vs WBA
Man City vs Aston Villa
Liverpool vs Sunderland
Newcastle vs Everton
Arsenal vs Swansea
So without boring you to tears and going over the infinite possibilities we have simply put together a list of the other competitions outside of the Premier League and how their key dates interact with our game-weeks. You may be able to take an educated guess based on this information as to when the rescheduled games are likely to take place. Should Man City progress in the CL though quite where their games will end up is anybody’s guess.
FA Cup
6th Round (Q/Final) – (GW29)
Semi Final – (GW34)
Final – 17th May
Capital One Cup Final – Man City vs Sunderland (GW28)
International Friendlies – 4/5 March 2014 (between GW28/29)
Champions League:
Man City vs Barcelona Tues 18th Feb (between GW26/27)
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Wed 19th Feb (between GW26/27)
Olympiacos vs Man Utd Tues 25th Feb (between GW27/28)
Galatasaray vs Chelsea Wed 26th Feb (between GW27/28)
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Tues 11th March (between GW29/30)
Barcelona vs Man City Wed 12th March (between GW29/30)
Chelsea vs Galatasaray Tues 18th March (between GW30/31)
Man Utd vs Olympiacos Wed 19th March (between GW30/31)
Quarter Finals
1st leg Tues 1 Apr & Wed 2 Apr (between GW32/33)
2nd leg Tues 8 Apr & Wed 9 Apr (between GW33/34)
Semi Finals
1st leg Tues 22 Apr & Weds 23 Apr (between GW35/36)
2nd leg Tues 29 Apr & Weds 30 Apr (between GW36/37)
Final
Saturday 24th May
As ever, good luck to everyone for GW27. And oh yeah, don’t panic!
Thanks for reading Fixtures – The Panic Room Game-week’s 28 & 29 , this article was written by Inittowinit
Great Work Adam!! I will now throw away all the ridiculous little notes I have on the upcoming fixtures, since you neatly compiled it in one spot for me. But I am a bit disappointed that you are telling people not to panic, I love chaos!!
Bookmarking page and throwing away notes.
No worries Dave! 😉 You are free to still panic.
Quick Question??!
If I create a ultimate fantasy team, will that take over my original current one?
@Ant14, no you will run both teams from the same account. It will not mess with your original team, so form a team with no worries.
Afternoon all!
I’ve been doing a bit of planning as, let’s face it, these blank GWs are a real pain in the bum – even if we do get rewarded with DGWs later on!
Current team, with if they are (Y) or not (N) playing in GW28 & 29 after:
Szczesny Y N
Mannone N N
M. Olsson Y Y
Azpilicueta Y Y
Gabbidon Y Y
Bertrand Y N
Collins Y Y (provisional, I know)
Mata N Y
A. Johnson N N
Y. Toure N N
Lallana Y Y
Hazard Y Y
Sturridge Y N
Suarez Y N
Negredo N N
As a result, I’ll have available:
GW 28: 1 keeper, 5 defenders, 2 mids, 2 forwards
GW 29: 0 keepers, 4 defenders, 3 mids and 0 forwards
I’m thinking, as a result, I’m going to have to take 4-point hits both gameweeks. As things stand, in preparation for GW28, I’m going to take out Johnson and Negredo and for GW29 I’ll take out Mannone and Bertrand (not sure who any of these will be for at the mo, however Adebayor for Negredo is looking viable at the mo), meaning I’ll have available:
GW 28: 1 keeper, 5 defenders, 3 mids, 3 forwards
GW 29: 1 keeper, 5 defenders, 4 mids and 1 forward
Means I’ll have very defence-heavy teams, however I’m not keen on getting rid of the best players in my team just for this. Think it’s the best of a bad situation. Of course, if Collins ends up missing a GW by Hull beating Brighton, I’ll just have put up with a squad of 10 on GW29.
How does that all sound? Have I got my sums right?!
Very similar sitiuation to me swirly, I think you’ve got stuff under control there. I’ll be doing similar, shipping Silva then Sagna, but will avoid hits.
A quick one guys!
Ade away to norwich or Zaha home to hull ? who is a better bet for the upcoming gw ?
Adebayor is the better bet, if for no other reason that he plays 90 minutes. Zaha keeps getting pulled early. I own Zaha, but I would prefer Ade.
Thanks Mito !
only thing putting me off Ade is norwich are decentish at home .
So since this is the Panic Room… Here is my Squad:
Boruc Mannone
Ward Sagna Dawson Collins Azpil
Silva Mata Hazard Nolan Noone
Negredo Sturridge Suarez
1FT and 1.5m itb
GW 28 will be:
Boruc
Ward Sagna Dawson Azpil Collins
Hazard Nolan Noone
Sturridge Suarez
Subs: Mannone Silva Mata Nergredo (all not playing)
So thinking Adebayor in for Negredo then I can bench probably Collins since he will go to Everton
So GW 28 can be fine, GW 29 will be (praying Hull lose):
Boruc
Ward Collins Dawson Azpil
Nolan Mata Hazard Noone
No strikers…
Thinking of getting Adebayor for Negredo for GW 28, that way I can field 10 at least (9 if Hull win since Nolan will be out) in GW 29 without losing much or making radical changes
Seems ok? Any other ideas?
GW 27 will be:
Boruc
Sagna Collins Dawson
Nolan Silva Hazard Mata
Negredo VC, Sturridge, Suarez C
Subs: Mannone, Azpil Noone Ward
I have Jovetic and im thinking of shipping him out for Ade this week just to avoid the uncertainty of Citys rotation…..