FPL Fixtures Gameweek 24 (and 25 and beyond…)
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… I used to write the Fixtures articles on both here and FFC* before us (*’Fantasy Football Cheat’ for those of a younger era). Week in and week out, for years on end, and whilst it was always a pleasure it could sometimes become monotonous. But then once in a while a Double Game-Week (DGW) would pop up and that would really (finally) pique the interest. Kid in a candy shop and all that. Or more like a weather reporter in Florida who suddenly has a hurricane to deal with. We both know they are coming eventually but for 98% of the rest of the year it’s samey-samey.
I have long since given up the monotony, prefering to introduce some younger blood and new voices to the scene. But in true Ron Burgundy fashion I saw a story developing and kicked them all aside, to unashamedly front the first major DGW article of the season.
How Many DGW’s?
Two of them in a row, for sure, with a third to follow as an almost certainty – and perhaps more immediately after that! The GW26 one is expected to to be the biggest. In an attempt to simplify both what we know and what we can possibly expect, I have adapted our trusty Fixture Tracker.
This should be fairly easy to follow: DGW’s 24 & 25 are confirmed, GW’s 26 to 28 are all just possibilities. It is designed to give you an idea of who potentially has what ahead and should aid you when planning your transfers or chip playing, but do heed the *Important note below:
So what are the take-aways from this?
- Burnley, Everton, Fulham and Manchester City have a DGW24, obviously.
- Leeds and Southampton have a DGW25 too.
- Out of those; Everton and and Southampton potentially have 3 DGW’s in 5 weeks, Fulham may have 2.
- Manchester City potentially have 2, Burnley 2 and Leeds United just the 1.
But more on those later.
Teams who potentially have 3 DGW’s upcoming
Everton
Southampton
Spurs
And 2
Aston Villa
Burnley
Fulham
Manchester City
And just the 1…
Arsenal
Brighton & Hove Albion
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Leeds United
Leicester City
Liverpool
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Sheffield United
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
*An important note: The numbers above don’t necessarily match the green on the chart, that is because the greens on there are only potential GW’s where they could play a game. If we take Everton as an example they have to fit in games vs Villa and West Brom and they could potentially play either anywhere from GW25-28, but obviously they will only play in two of those as a maximum, ergo 3 potential DGW’s in total.
As for those we actually know about…
DGW24 TEAMS
Burnley – Palace (A), Fulham (H)
We begin with (possibly) the strongest rated team here, based upon their fixtures. Their defence is the main reason, obviously, because who ever buys a Burnley attacker?!
But ‘is their defence all that?’, as Adrian Durham (legend) would say. Since they kept Liverpool at bay they have conceded 7 goals in 4 (in the league) – without a clean sheet. Prior to that it was 5 goals in 8 but it is probably clean sheets we are looking for here so how many have they actually got? 7 in 22 games is the answer or >32%. Ederson has 13 in 20 for context, or 65%, albeit for a much better team.
Take a Burnley defender or two in by all means but don’t go looking for miracles.
DGW RATING 6/10
Man City – Spurs (H), Everton (A)
Any DGW for City is usually a trap. But you can’t blame Pep. He has a squad so big and so talented that he could feasibly field two PL teams and both would probably finish in the top 4. Add to that that City’s February schedule currently entails 6 games in 17 days, with 3 or 4 days between most of them.
The DGW games themselves will be challenging but you could easily envisage them winning both. Which personnel they use to that is the main issue. And good luck predicting that…! Apart from Gundogan, obviously. Just don’t expect any of them to be able to convert from 12 yards.
DGW RATING 8/10
Everton – Fulham (H), Man City (H)
(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
I’m really not sure what to make of this DGW for Everton. Fulham have seemingly improved somewhat, but to what extent? Well, they aren’t getting hammered all over the shop anymore but they still only have two clean sheets (that’s 2 in 8) in all competitions since the turn of the year. They even managed to concede two to West Brom and three to Burnley, in recent memory.
Everton were due to play City in this fixture back in December, and it felt just about the ripe time to do so, with City having Covid issues galore. Right now feels like just about the wrong time for anybody to face them. City won last season’s duels by an aggregate of 5-2, which at least suggests Everton can score against them. And that was pre Calvert-Lewin being a thing, and pre-James (Ham-ez).
All in all they should have enough to deal with Fulham at home. City will be a different matter but don’t be surprised if Carlo sets up for a point. And gets one.
DGW RATING 7/10
Fulham – Everton (A), Burnley (A)
(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
I’ve pretty much dealt with Fulham above, and in all honesty nobody will exactly be rushing to add any of their players to their ranks, no matter how many DGW’s they can rack up. I’d expect them to concede in both and not score many in either.
DGW RATING 5/10
DGW25 TEAMS
We are also going to cover GW25 here because, being frank, there will not be a GW25 Fixtures article, given the proximity of the end of 24 and the beginning of 25. Plus…. they just aren’t that exciting! As you will find….
Leeds – Wolves (A), Southampton (H)
Leeds are simply unpredictable. You would never know which end of the pitch to go with for the best: sometimes they score a lot, sometimes they don’t, sometimes they leak a lot, other times they look solid. The only real consistent is that Bielsa will be sat on his bucket.
So much so that I delayed writing this until just after their game vs Palace, as I literally did not know what to expect. Not that it matters much as one Leeds performance tends to have little bearing on the next anyway!
Their one consistent thread has been Bamford so perhaps just go there. And yes Bielsa was on his bucket.
DGW RATING 5 – 8/10!
Southampton – Chelsea (H), Leeds (A)
The Saints bounced back from their 9-0 drubbing by going to Newcastle and… conceding 3 (by half time as well *nervous laugh*).
Neither of these games will be easy, Chelsea are resurgent under Tuchel and Leeds are as unpredictable as ever under Bielsa, as we mentioned above.
I would forgive you for the odd punt on a Saints forward, maybe a JWP, but please, please just don’t buy Bednarek!
DGW RATING 5/10
An FA Cup word to the wise
It is worth noting that the following teams are all in FA Cup action this midweek, those in bold are our DGW teams from the above:
Brighton
Burnley
Chelsea
Everton
Leicester
Man City
Man United
Sheffield United
Southampton
Spurs
West Ham
Wolves
The Best Of The Rest
Don’t forget that other teams do still exist! It is not uncommon in a DGW to see a SGW player outscore some of our double hopers. Without waffling on the following look like they have the best of the SGW fixtures over GW’s 24 & 25;
Chelsea – Newcastle (H), Southampton (A)
Somewhat resurgent under the tutelage of Tuchal, I would expect that to continue here.
Crystal Palace – Burnley (H), Brighton (A)
If they can get Zaha back then these look winnable, or at least drawable.
Man United – West Brom (A), Newcastle (H)
West Brom have conceded the most goals by a fairly wide margin, Bruno could have a field day here. And then guess who has conceded the 2nd most (jointly)…
And the following are ones to perhaps avoid;
Arsenal – Leeds (H), Man City (H)
Newcastle – Chelsea (A), Man United (A)
Spurs – Man City (A), West Ham (A)
FPL FIXTURE TRACKER
And that all important Fixture Tracker itself…
FIXTURE TRACKER LINK
Thanks for reading FPL Fixtures Gameweek 24 (and 25 and beyond…). This article was written by Inittowinit.
VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL GW24
***NEW ARTICLE – FPL FIXTURES GW24 (25 AND BEYOND)***
Massive thank you to Inittowinit for taking us through the weeks ahead with a look at the Fixtures across the next few. Great piece of work.
Forget the last one and focus on the next – the relentless world of FPL these days … :declare:
Forget yes, definitely but well done on your forward line this week.
I wasn’t speaking specifically for moi but thanks Kralin.
In relative terms, I’ve had a blinder this week!
Bloody fantastic GP! I see you’re keeping young T Mitchell there – is he your good luck charm? Wellddone – it’s about time your luck turned around!
And by the way Innit, thanks v. m.! A really really good article mate. Clear, instructive and makes sense of the whole murky affair we have before us in the next few GWs. Good on you!
Yes – great work from Inittowinit for getting this article uploaded so soon after Leeds/Palace! Many thanks.
Had Gundogan on my bench and cheered my great managerial foresight when he missed his penalty. Felt a bit silly at the end of the game. *Heavy sigh*
Won’t be making any transfers until after the FA Cup games have sorted themselves out – at the risk of being caught out by price rises and falls. Tempted to just get DCL and let fate take its course, though.
Yes, definitely wait. But he’d be on my shopping list for sure, despite that City game.
Thanks GP, just read your last sentence there are realised that I hadn’t even yet looked at last weeks outcome, such is the pace of this these days. But at least we all have a small breather to assess our options properly now. And we will need to because the next couple do run into each other rather abruptly again.
Helpful information, thanks. Very helpful. I still haven’t decluttered by brain sufficiently to engage much with the looming DGWs so this really helps.
Yes other than Lookman I can’t say Fulham are inspiring me much. And Lookman is not exactly getting me hot.
I take your points about Burnley’s defence and am suspending my disbelief a bit there and hoping they make one CS out of the two.
How many trades are you looking at Kralin? You have certainly played a very efficient game this season. My goal is to one day manage to be more like you! Oops, a hint of a Hitchcock style plot if you read my comments the wrong way! Anyway, cheerio.
I’ve 2FTs so I’ll play those and then see what wayward mood takes me. I’m likely to use the transfers in defence.
I may take a hit to get an Everton midfielder but that will depend on the turbulence of the mood.
You’ve done ok as well – I’m always grateful to get > 50 points. Bad luck about Gundogan but a lot of us have a sob story this GW.
I’m just aiming to do better than I did last season. That’ll do for me.
Seems like a very balanced way to proceed. I have been toying with various transfers – trying different formulae, but like the protagonist of 1970’s show, ‘Catweazle’ (a mediaevel druid who finds himself transported to the future), nothing I try seems to work. In any case, only have only 1 FT, but a hip-pocket full of change (5.3), so I must be (uncharacteristically) prudent and perhaps just get in Mee or Lowton and wait for GW 25 to bring in Raph + Steptoe (Kane). Thanks for your reply and hope the future remains bright!
AJW, I’d perhaps look at the WC option for 25 with a 26 BB in mind? Looks like you still have both options left there.
Okey doke, thanks Innit. I guess it depends on whether I have players I consider adequate for the 26 DGW or not. You’re right that it’s a good idea if I need to make 5 or more changes.
Any suggestions? I’m all at sea atm, after having successive greens up until around 2-3 GWs ago.
Hope everything’s gonna be alright at home mate. How are the family?
Anyway, speak to you soon!
We had a Catweazle book – possibly more. I don’t think I saw it on the box.
As Init sez, a wildcard may serve you well now. It’s the way I’m planning to go over the next few weeks of fun, target the DGW(s), grab a few points now hopefully and enter the home straight with some optimism.
Thanks Kralin – unleash the beasts (when seen from afar, Numbats are cute, inoffensive lil’ creatures, but when given a licence to ‘cut loose’, can be quite intrepid!)! Any specific moves? I may well just do Digne and Mee/Lowton, keeping my unleashed beasts within an ‘easy to survey’ perimeter!
Oh by the way, WC between 25-26 if I understand rightly?
Not too bad now thanks AJW, Mrs s ems to be over the worst of it. Although she does have to go back into school on Wednesday at which point she will then have a (now) mandatory test, and if positive she has to start her isolation all over again… go figure that one out!!!
And no – WC before 25 so you can then use BB in 26. You can’t WC for 26 and still use BB.
True true true! Thanks Innit – little details one overlooks!
Btw guys, here’s a clip from the Catweazle series with opening theme and then the protagonist acting very much like myself when faced with so many choices, and what to do next in FPL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js6hrCa_vJk
My specific moves are likely to be Robbo and Holding out for Digne and Mee; and I may take a hit to bring Rodríguez into the midfield.
Then the wildcard but will be keeping an eye on DGW25 (and of course beyond) – so looking at Bamford, Ings, Dallas and Raphinha.
Kralin, I already bought Pope in prep for it, so perhaps I’m not as ‘unoptimistic’ about them as I make out on the article.
Their recent fixtures haven’t been the easiest so hopefully a CS or two will happen now they’ve eased slightly.
Ended up on 89. Good. :drinks:
Hope this green arrow run continues.
And finally in top 1m.
Niiiiiiice!
That’s a very informative and very much needed article Initt. Much clearer now. Cheers mate
Thanks, will be much more so when they confirm GW26!
Very helpful article thanks Init! Now for making the right choices
Thanks for the article – very helpful.
Approximate OR = current (approximate) points:
1k = 1,550
10k = 1,500
100k = 1,430
200k = 1,409
500k = 1,364
1m = 1,318
1.5m = 1,284
In summary, it’s squeaky bum time. It’s a close packed field, all still to play for. Keep going!
Always interesting to s e these stats, you should put them up more often. Gives people Joe when they see that the next major milestone isn’t in fact ever that far off.
Cheers Init
Thanks GentleBen, staggering distance to the top 1k but the rest seem very close! Feeling even less confident about my ranking now :laugh2:
Thank you for sharing.
Currently on 1405 points only 95 away from 10k! 😉