Fixtures – Planning ahead, GW’s 28 & 29 and beyond – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League
The silly season is upon us then as the dreaded GW’s 28 & 29 are finally looming large on the horizon and with them some major headaches as regards to squad selection. Well, we say squad selection but come GW29 most of us will be lucky to field a team never mind a squad! Last week we gave you a heads up as to what lay ahead and a bit of advice as to how to approach it all. We made some very obvious pointers like not transferring in any more Man City or Sunderland players and being careful to ensure you would be able to field as many players as possible over the next few weeks. This week we make no apologies for going over some of that ground again as it is all still extremely relevant but we will also expand on how life looks beyond GW’s 28 & 29 with a view to planning ahead accordingly. We have tried to make it as simple as possible and will present to you various lists and tables that hopefully will be of some use in enabling you to navigate through this mess successfully and get a jump on your mini-league rivals who may not be so informed.
Lets start with an overview then of how the next four game-weeks look on the fixture tracker.
The fixtures in RED highlight those that are blank in that game-week.
The fixtures in GREEN go ahead, obviously.
The BLUE ones are the exciting bits, double game-weeks!
The teams on the left in RED have at least one missing fixture in either GW28 or 29.
Teams that play every week with no blanks –
Cardiff
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Fulham
Norwich
Southampton
Stoke
Tottenham
The obvious thing here is that if you own a player from this list – keep them! At least until GW30….
These teams do not play in GW28
Man City
Man Utd
Sunderland
West Brom
These teams do not play GW29
Arsenal
Aston Villa
Everton
Hull
Liverpool
Man City
Newcastle
Sunderland
Swansea
West Ham
Combined GW28 and 29 blanks –
Man City
Sunderland
GW31 Double game-week for these teams –
Hull
Liverpool
Man City
Man Utd
Sunderland
West Ham
So GW28 looks like this….
And GW29 looks like this….
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Game-week 28 in isolation
Despite all of the planning ahead that is required let’s not forget the actual game-week that is immediately in front of us – GW28. We feel that the following teams should do well this week.
Everton v West Ham
Everton have a fantastic home record and despite West Ham winning their last four league games we feel that the Toffee men will show up well here. Romelu Lukaku should be back to bolster the recent non-existent attack force and we think this and home advantage should be just enough to see Everton take the spoils in this one. Don’t discount West Ham entirely though as they are having a mini renaissance as of late and Kevin Nolan has become a pivotal figure within this with five goals in his last four games.
Fulham v Chelsea
It’s full steam ahead for Chelsea now as they push on with their title bid. You know the one, the one that Jose keeps telling us is a pipe dream. Don’t believe him. He senses blood and Fulham may well spill it this week as Chelsea rock up at the Cottage with a slender lead of just one point to protect. We expect they will do just that and dispose of a poor Fulham side. Eden Hazard has had a quiet couple of weeks since that hat-trick but this will be as good an opportunity as any for him to explode back to life.
Southampton v LiverpoolÂ
Are they still in the title race? An enthralling 4-3 victory over Swansea this week means that they are, just about. Southampton away will be no pushover, but if this title dream is a reality then three points here are a must. We wouldn’t recommend rushing to put any Liverpool defenders in your team as it does seem to be very much a case of simply outscoring the opposition at the moment. As such expect Suarez and Sturridge to be in amongst the points as ever.
Tottenham v Cardiff
Almost certainly the home banker of the week this one. Spurs have improved massively under Tim Sherwood and in particular the enigmatic Emmanuel Adebayor has found a new lease of life. Last weeks slip up at Carrow Road was probably inevitable and almost certainly an example of why the Europa League is best avoided at all costs. Cardiff on the other hand are fast becoming the whipping boys of the league. Expect a comfortable home win for Spurs.
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Life after GW29…..
Any fantasy manger worth his or her salt is planning ahead of course and let’s not forget that there is indeed life after the dreaded GW29. What you do before GW29 will impact on how you are set for GW’s 30, 31 and beyond. The trouble with the beyond bit is that there will be lots and lots of double game-weeks but we just do not know when yet. So let’s deal with what we do know.
We know that both Man City and Man Utd have a double in GW31. City have Fulham (h) and Man Utd (a) whilst Man Utd have West Ham (a) and City (h). Â Whatever you think of those fixtures the fact is that both place twice in GW31 and so you would be advised to have as many players from each that you can stretch to given the time scale and of course the rules! (3 from each).
BREAKING – Hull vs West Ham has now been added to GW31 also. So a DGW for both of these teams sees Hull play WBA (h), West Ham (a) and West Ham play Man Utd (h) and Hull (h).
BREAKING – Liverpool vs Sunderland has now been added to GW31 also. Liverpool will play Cardiff (a), Sunderland (h) and Sunderland will play Norwich (a), Liverpool (a).
This should play a part in your planning for GW’s 28 and 29. It will be tempting to ditch all of those Man City assets given that they play in neither but a quick look ahead to GW31 suggests that you will soon be wanting them all back in. Perhaps the best bet will be to simply bench them if you can and save yourself having to transfer them out and then straight back in again, if you can. GW29 itself is not exactly left with a who’s who of the fantasy elite so you should be able to do this and get away with it.
GW30 looks like this… with attractive fixtures we feel for the likes of  Man City, Everton, Southampton and Chelsea so just be aware of these before you get too trigger happy ahead of GW29….
GW31, to complete the set…
Just so you have all of the info in one place then here is what GW31 looks like with all of those double game-weeks added.
DOUBLE GAME-WEEKS, STILL TO BE ADDED….
There are obviously a lot of games that still need to be rearranged. As we speak there is only one confirmed DGW which involves Man Utd and Man City and is in GW31. A quick look at the list below suggests that there are a lot of big players that will be having a double very soon. Factor this into your planning as these dates will be announced shortly and you will need those players for those double weeks. So whilst we don’t yet know when they are, there are only 11 weeks left so it will be sooner than you think!
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
Newcastle vs Everton
Arsenal vs Swansea
Summary
Our advice then would be as follows –
City and Sunderland miss two weeks in a row. City have a double game-week to come in GW31 that includes Fulham at home. Bench your City players if you can rather than selling them. Sell any Sunderland boys if you have to.
Look ahead to the GW30 and GW31 fixtures. Figure these into your planning for 28 and 29. Plan accordingly. Do not sell players who you know you will be wanting back just because they miss a week or two, if you can help it.
Do not go mad on hits just to field 11 players for GW29. There are not that many attractive propositions in GW29 to justify it. Consider Man Utd away at West Brom and possibly Nolan at home to Hull for this one but do not mortgage to the hilt on it.
You may have to roll the dice on one or two players who you would not normally consider given the way the fixtures look for GW29. Ensure you have checked their stats and their fixtures before doing so but don’t be afraid to take the odd punt. Just make sure it’s only the odd one though! Don’t forget that a lot of the big teams will have double game-weeks added very shortly, as mentioned above, so do not sell too many of their players if you can help it. Roll those dice too far and it could be a long way back!
Fixture Fun
Ahead of GW28 there are Champions League fixtures for both Chelsea and Man Utd as well as that FA Cup replay for Hull on Monday night so as ever check closely for any injury or suspension news as a result.
Good luck for GW28 and we hope you are able to plan ahead a little bit better as a result of the above info…
Thanks for reading Fixtures – Planning Ahead, GW’s 28, 29 and beyond… this article was written by InittowinitÂ
Would there be any chance of adding another a rule to the FF 247 Manager of the Month league in which teams have to join up before a certain point in the month?
I was having a good look at this league last weekend as I thought I had a chance of winning it and the eventual winner only joined for the final GW of the month. It devalues the competition for me slightly seeing teams do this especially since I’ve read that you guys are now offering prize’s to MOM winners. Serendipity would have won (I told her I’d beat her last month and instead she kicked my ass which is another story.) without the extra teams being added and I see that as being slightly unfair, I also believe we may have more people post about the competition and likely winners with that sort of system in place (If I think I could win it I’m sure I would), I’m sure it’s possible so that we could Admin the league to only allow players to join at certain times in the month although I understand that I’m asking you guys to do more work and it’s not like you don’t do enough for us already
I did chuckle when RITZ posted that he’d just noticed that he’d won manager of the month though as the league’s hadn’t even been updated at that point.
Andy – I think that would just make it confusing mate. Also, what about managers who have just found the site? Or managers who have been here for a while but just didn’t reg for the league for whatever reason? In my opinion it’s fine the way it is, the manager who wins it has accumulated the most points obviously so should win it. Whether they’ve been here for ages or whether it just happens to be the first week they join, the monthly points are still totted up so a win is a win as far as i see it.
the FF 247 classic league would still be able to allow teams to join though NIN, you’ll see now that the team which won last month’s MOM was able to join that competition but still never bothered to join the main classic league. That kind of crack has always bothered me somewhat.
Sort of agree with you Andy. I can see both sides, but never a huge fan of people who enter leagues without contributing on here, whether its the classic or monthly league. Plus once one has joined the monthly league once, they automatically join the next month and so on….
Don’t get me wrong RITZ does post on this site and does contribute so this isn’t a personal attack on him at all, I don’t think this idea would hold water at all in the main FF 247 classic league but I think it could be justifiable for the MOM competition although extra work, maybe just maybe it may be a touch of sour grapes on my side as on Sunday morning I was cocksure I was going to win it until Sturridge turned up and spoiled it all.
I see where you’re coming from Andy/Cookie, but in order to cater for everyone and whatever situation they may have then i think it’s best to leave the league open, the community is growing and everyone should be allowed to enter whenever they like in my opinion.
I think I have to agree with NIN, although I understand where you are coming from Andy. One things I like about this site is the inclusiveness, it took me a while to post as I was a little concerned about cliques. I still read the posts a lot but don’t post all the time, I am sure there are others who do the same.
Serendipity, the only clique you have to worry about on here is Milky and anyone he can find to blame for his awful decisions! :hippo:
Thanks both. I agree it is the balance between putting out a reasonable team in gw29& preparing for the doubles in gw31. Don’t think my gw29 team will be fantastic scoring though but hopefully I can keep up with the average score.
Grr that response was meant to be below.
Well I still think you won Seren but I’ll put this down to sour grapes on my part, thanks for the responses though guys.
Just for info…
The next review will be published early next week. It’ll cover the last two MOM winners as well as the regular league update.
…and serendipity, yeah, your becoming a consistent top ranked mgr in the MOM. Well done.
Thanks James – I will look forward to a mention
, could be the last time as March looks like a nightmare!
Andy, just to add to this point, i work out the monthly totals for jimbo, when you look at the table on the fpl site it differs to our final results, as fpl don’t deduct the1st weeks hits, but we do, eg if you look at wakenbob i think, he had a 44pt hit in the 1st week of feb, when you deduct this hes lucky to be in the top 100, i think there are 4 teams that show they are in the top 10, but when i take away their hits, they don’t appear on jimbos list. :dance:
WTF ? He took a 44 point hit ? haha that’s just crazy !
Demi, yip, wakenabeb X1, did 12 transfers in the 1st week of feb, gw24, so -44 pts, which doesn’t show on his total.
@ Ell and James, glad to hear a new article is coming and that the ppp are still involved remember I manage Moreinho’s mojo nod nod wink wink.
Andy, its not a new article, it started in december i think, but due to commitments, jimbo didn’t do januarys, so i presume hes writing articles for jan + feb. If you look its says you were 16th, but some of the teams above you dropped down due to hits, so i ‘d say you may well be about 13th, no mean feat by the way, i was down in the bowels of the earth in 74th place. :bouncy-balls:
How many players are you all planning on fielding in GW29? I think I will have 9, do I need to aim for more?
That will probably be about average serendipity from what I am seeing. The big issue with that week and trying to get more is that the teams involved just aren’t that great a source of viable fantasy players. With the odd exception.
serendipity – 9 is a lot better than what some will have haha, i’ve seen a couple who will have 3 or 4 players!! I should have 8 provided no injuries/suspensions are picked up, 8 will do me to be honest, need to keep FT that week anyway to prepare for the DGW in 31.
i currently have 7 in a 0-3-3-1 formation, 2 of which are palace defenders and the other def is injured, due back march 1st
1 mid is eriksen who hasn’t played in the last 2
i’m expecting a big score
11
Selection nightmare tbh…
I’ve currently got 6, and i’m tempted to get in one more for 29 to make 7..
I just don’t know what to do for the best any more.. whether to go for 29, or 31.. 31 is for the best, but 29 is sooner. hmmm..
Hello all, just a friendly reminder to all of you participating in Ultimate FPL. You will see team sheets for 4 games before the deadline for transfers. You will also see team sheets for all of Sunday’s games before the deadline for making subs.. You have 4 free transfers this week and they do not roll over so if you don’t use them, you lose them.
Mito.. I’ve managed to sign up for your UFPL classic league, but the head to head one it doesn’t like.. is there an updated code for that league ? or can I not join the head to head after the first week ?
Cheers
@Demsie I did not start the league, but I would think it’s safe to assume that a H2H would close after the first week is played. Probably for the same reason you can’t quit H2H leagues because it messes with the schedule that is formed.
Buggar. I do like a H2H
Anyone think it’s worth keeping Eriksen for the next 2? I’m thinking to take him out for a -4 hit.
atm i’ve got a 4-2-1 formation for gw28 with eriksen incl
I obviously need more players for the next 2 gws.
as for gw29 i have no goalie and a 3-3-1 formation with erkisen incl
Its not looking good for me.
photek – in the same boat but I can field 11 this week. Also considering a hit but I’m trying to see if tomorrow’s game will bring us something new.
i feel your pain Albertini.
Eriksen hasn’t played the last 2 but hopefully the lost to norwich will see him drafted back in.
I could really do with him playing both so i can concentrate my transfers elsewhere, like fielding a playing striker for both games and another midfielder
Hi guys.
Which of Suarez, Sturridge or Adabayor would you lose for Aguero.
Is Aguero a must have? I would think with the dgw’s he would be.
My plan is adebayor to aguero for GW 30 (if fit). My 2nd choice was Suarez to aguero but I keep thinking he will return to scoring form. I think Sturridge is a keeper on current form.
Thanks – any worries about game time of aguero?
I was going to pay attention to what happens in the non premier league games and make a judgement, it is a risk with any city player though. However Aguero can be on the pitch 1 minute & score. I do think pellegrini will be cautious this time though and not play full 90 mins too early. I am willing to take a risk but it is up to you.
Cheers. Nice run of green arrows u have there.
Thanks Dreamers, I have been lucky but not sure how I am going to get through the silly season
. You have had quite a few green arrows yourself.
The Dreamers……….ssssccchhhhhhhh!!;)
Try me again Peaky??
lol only joking mate its just u said u were worried about Agueros gametime and I was just saying scchhh cos its not something I want to think about!!!!
Ah. True true