Negotiating DGW25 and Blank GW26 Part 2

A big(ish) DGW? All aboard! Choo, choo, etc…

This one comes with a big caveat though; it is followed by BGW26. B being for Blank, not Bad, although either could be equally applied.

Either way, it makes both very difficult to negotiate:

• Do you go all in on 25 and maximise its potential points?
• Do you do so knowing that you will simply leave a mess to contend with in 26?
• Do you find a fine balance instead?

There is no right answer here (well, there will be, but we can’t reveal what that was until GW27!). All we can do is plan the best that we can, and of course then hope for the best. In the meantime we thought it may be helpful to ask a bunch of our team how exactly they are going to approach it all.

If you missed Part 1 then please click here to check that out too.

Here is what they said…

Rosco – 1 FT & £0.8m ITB

DGW25
Did you hear the one about the contributor who burnt his TC on a Haaland 1pt 45-minute appearance in GW11? Yup, that’ll be me then. The less said about that unfortunate event the better.

So, what do I expect from DGW25? A red arrow. Haaland will take my armband and I’ll be hoping and praying for a double blank with the masses chucking their Triple Captain chip on the robot. My hopes are not high.

Outside of that I currently have 5 DGW players. Selling Saka for Jota in GW24 has not yet gone to plan, nor did Solanke to Darwin for a -4. It is what it is. I’m happy enough with the team as is now (aside from not owning Saka) and it picks itself so this is more than likely what I’ll go with.

BGW26
I’ll have 4 players with a blank, call it 5 with the injured Konsa. So, as it stands, I can put out 9 players. Rolling my transfer in GW25 will give me 2 in 26 and it’s highly likely I’ll simply reverse my GW24 transfers and bring back Saka and Solanke for the Liverpool Duo. This will give me a full 11 without hits.

I’ll admit I’m not overly keen on Solanke v Man City (H), but with his double in 28 it’s a transfer I need to make anyway. One alternative would be Cunha vs Sheffield (H) but he’s currently flagged. Another option would be to let go of Richarlison or Palmer for a Wolves Mid (Hwang or Neto) but that ties up another transfer and likely blocks any move for Salah in GW27.

For what it’s worth my current chip strategy is to FH29, build for DGW34 with transfers, WC somewhere between 30 and 36 and BB in DGW37. I’ve seen a lot of people with differing strategies, I think there’s no one size fits all and very dependent on how your team is currently stocked.

Good luck whatever you do, apart from if you’re TC Haaland – I hope that fails miserably!

Swirly – 2FT & £1.2m ITB

I’ll start by saying that I have taken a more relaxed approach to FPL this season, mainly because I’ve reached the realisation that so much of this game is out of my control. More of the life lessons another day, however I’ll introduce myself as a dreaded FPL casual these days.

For DGW25, I have five doublers, as Man City and Liverpool take all the spoils. The triple captain chip on Haaland is tempting, but I need to see if there is another time it could be viable by the end of the season. Looking at my transfers, it’s planning ahead that I have in mind as I have the embarrassment of riches of being happy enough with most of my squad with two free transfers and £1.2m in the bank. I’m afraid I’m just not convinced by Luton assets, and their 3-1 loss at home to Sheffield United has vindicated that. As for Brentford assets, outside of Toney there doesn’t leave much in the way of inspiration – and, even then, I’m happy with my front three (famous last words). Currently, Palmer and Estupiñan look like the most likely candidates for selling and so I’m working out if I want to lose a player in form with Man City away and a blank, or another who isn’t getting the points but does actually have decent games ahead. If it is the defender who goes, Villa’s Moreno is a candidate for replacement.

For BGW26, I’ll, importantly, have a full starting 11, as Van Dijk and Jota will sit on my bench – along with Palmer, if he stays. My defenders have tougher fixtures this gameweek, with Gabriel and Trippier facing each other and Senesi at home to Man City. That means some rotation with either Estupiñan or Moreno, depending on whether I do make that defender move or not the previous gameweek. With two free transfers again, the jury is out on what my next move will be, however I’ll be planning more thoroughly by then. Probably.

IvanTheTerrible – 1 FT & £0.1m ITB

DGW 25:

With miserable 0.1 ITB it ain’t easy to navigate this DGW. Initially I was going to replace Watkins with Darwin and chill but he has quite nice upcoming fixtures. That leaves me with no other choice but to take a hit, have been quite disciplined for a long time so it won’t hurt much. Planning to move out Solanke and Palmer, the former has two difficult fixtures next and the latter will face City away followed by a blanc. Garnacho will be Palmer’s replacement. All that will give me five DGW players and I am happy with it.
At the time of writing I hear that Salah is back in training but I will ignore the excitement as to bring him in will take a total rearrangement of the team or a wildcard for which I am not ready yet.

BGW 26:

The two pool players will be benched, removing Palmer in GW 25 will be one less headache. The FT will be used to deal with injured Konsa providing that there are no other issues occurred until then. Another hit to strengthen the bench could be in the pipe.

Kop – 2 FT & £6.9m ITB

As you can see, I currently one have 3 plyers for who double in DGW25. Some might say that have I haven’t planned this very well and, in fairness, they’d be correct.

Looking forward to BGW26 and you’ll see that I currently have 4 players who are set to blank. However, the issue is further complicated by the injury picked up by Ezri Konsa who will also miss out.

So, what do I do?

DGW25

In terms of DGW25, 3 doublers are certainly not enough. I’ve ruled out using my FH or WC to navigate 25&26 so it’s going to require a little more thought than I typically give. I’ve currently got 2 FT’s and these will both be used in GW25.

City & Liverpool are obviously the key teams in DGW25 and as you can see, I’ve currently got 2 City and 1 Liverpool. As I’m currently sat with 4 blanks and Konsa in BGW26, I’m reluctant to bring in anymore Liverpool players. To be honest, I’m not overly concerned by this. In terms of the 3rd City spot, the obvious player to turn to is KdB. With 6.9m sat in the bank, I’ll be bringing the Belgian in for Douglas Luiz. I appreciate Luiz plays in GW29, but I’ll worry about 29 once we got through 25&26.

Onto my 2nd FT. I’m pretty sure I’m going to bring in Ivan Toney in place of Dominic Solanke. My initial reaction was to ditch Watkins instead of Solanke as I’ll need Solanke in GW28. However, Villa’s fixtures 25, 26, &27 are too good to jettison Watkins.

***All of the above could go out the window with the news that a certain Mo Salah is back in training!

That will leave me with 5 doublers for DGW25. Is that enough? Probably not, but I’m not prepared to rip up my team or use my FH or WC, so 5 it is.

BGW26

That then brings me to BGW26. Porro, Palmer, Richarlison & Jota all blank, while Konsa is injured. I expect I’ll take a -4 here to get 11 players and then hope they all start! Of those 5, which 2 am I most likely to sell? I honestly haven’t a clue! I think I’m correct in saying that Spurs will feature in GW29 which means it may be daft to sell either of those. Villa will play in 29, so I may hold Konsa and hope he’s fit for 29 (this is unlikely if the rumours of an ACL injury are true). That will leave Jota & Palmer as the fall guys, but selling either isn’t exactly ideal.

Decisions, decisions, decisions….

Ellefcee – 1FT & £0.5m ITB

To be fair I haven’t really got into fantasy footy this season due to health issues. I’ve just been playing week to week and I’ve had no planning at all, certainly not like some who plan weeks ahead. I think I’m just lucky to have 3 Pool and 3 City although TAA may not be available due to a recurring knee problem. I will probably shift him to Virgil or Robbo with my FT. I may go -4 or -8 just for the fun of it. I have not even thought about GW26 although I know I’ve got 4 non-starters but I’ll take hits if I need to get a starting 11.

I’m not even thinking about any future dgws or bgws, I’ll worry about that when I get to it.

OddDane – 1FT & £1.3m ITB and all chips intact

The big chicken has kindly asked us to share our thoughts on our plans for DGW25/BGW26. Bold to assume I have any… Welcome to chapters 25-26 of my self-sabotage endeavor that is the FPL season of 2023/24!

Let’s see now, wow, haha, THAT team really doesn’t look ready for DGW25. Oh… That’s mine, is it?

Alright then, the plan is to replace Palmer for a city bloke. I can’t afford Foden and I don’t have a lot of funds tied in Palmer, so it’s time for some soDoku or Bilva*.

And then onto defenders; it’s either Gusto or Taylor out for >>scrambles notes<< let’s say Bradley if he plays or… Ma! Hey, Ma!! Send more money please… (Whomever comes in goes in for Solon(g)ka who makes his way on to the first man on bench duties)

Then there’s Darwin. Ok, can’t afford that either unless Watkins goes out and he doesn’t, not yet at least – more missed sitters might do the trick come BGW26…

There’s also Salah who has made his way back to full training and… Nope, I’m broke.
A new defender and/or a midfielder is the conclusion then. That should leave me with a full-team for the BGW26, where Haaland or Watkins takes the armband.

How about them chips then? Yeah, maybe. Okay definitely a wildcard or free hit could save me her of course! Alas, can’t do that whilst also TC’ing Haaland.

So that’s that then. Palmer out. Probably. And uhm… Haaland, my 3x Cap’n, scores 9 goals. Pretty please.

(*You can take Bilva out from mine if you like, some local blokes stepped on him last night I think…)

Jamie Mc – 1 Free Transfer & £1.3m ITB

Game Week 24 – I had two free transfers in Game Week 24 and brough in Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson – for the banker clean sheet against Burnley (!!!) and Diogo Jota.

Game Week 25 – You can see that I have gone all in in the Double Game Week 25 with three City players (Haaland, Alvarez & Foden) and three Liverpool players (Virgil, Robertson & Jota).

I am comfortable having no Brentford / Luton Town players and will be saving my free transfer this game week giving me two free transfers for the blank Game Week 26.

My main issue is whether to use the Triple Captain chip or not.

Game week 26 – As things stand, I will only have ten players for the blank game week 26. I have / will have too much transfer value built up with Virgil (£0.4m), Jota (£0.1m but should rise) & Palmer (£0.7m) so the fall guy will be Andrew Robertson giving me a maximum of eleven players.

This will give me two free transfers as we move towards the blank Game Week 29 (FA Cup Quarter Finals).

Good luck for the game week.

VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL GAMEWEEK 25

Thanks for reading Negotiating DGW25 and Blank GW26 Part 2.

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