Taking advantage of the FPL Blank Double
Stay for the Man Utd baton finally being passed
***GAMEWEEK 25 DEADLINE: FRIDAY - 18:30 GMT***
So are Liverpool good again or still bad? I want to believe they’re good, because they have a Double Gameweek this week - but then they got hammered at home by Real Madrid last night. Salah’s going to be very popular this week and, amazingly, we have a decision to make about the Captain for the first time in a while - though anyone who backed Rashford over Haaland last week did brilliantly. The data was there, too, so kudos to those who braved it. But that was last week.
This week: the rare Blank Double, my Top 10 targets, a Free Hit (if you must), thinking carefully about Trippier, a decent FPL site update, a HUGE new Double Gameweek, understanding all those Doubles, Projected Points for defenders… and a top football dream dinner chat.
Stressed about Salah? Fretting about Firmino? Email me: fplislife@substack.com
This week is very rare - a Blank Double
This week is the FPL equivalent of a black rhino or a David Moyes smile - you don’t see them very often. It’s the fated “Blank Double” - four sides have no game (Man Utd, Newcastle, Brentford, Brighton) and four others (Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Wolves) have two games. So in my opinion, there’s scope to be quite aggressive. If you’re removing a player with no game for a player with two, you should get the -4 points hit back with appearance points alone. It could be a chance to sort your team out a bit. Keep Rashford though, obv.
My Top 10 picks for this week
It’s all about Arsenal and Liverpool, obviously. Your main decision is deciding whether Liver[pool are worth the gamble. The priorities are Saka and Salah, and you’ll probably be captaining one of them. There may be some who back Haaland against Bournemouth even though he just has the one game - let’s be honest, he could score five. De Bruyne to Salah is looking an easier move given KDB has been ill. Tarkowski is a decent shout. Given the way Dyche plays, he’s probably Everton’s best defender and attacking threat… If you’re going for Darwin, wait for any fitness update (though he played in the Champions League last night). My ranked Top 10 below:
I would NOT Free Hit this week, but…
There will be - in my opinion - much better times to Free Hit (Gameweek 29 (see below), or the Blank Gameweek 28), but if you really must, here’s a good template from a top manager @BigManBakar. Darwin is the obvious omission if he’s fit. Many are also going for Gakpo this week as a cheaper way into the Liverpool midfield.
Think carefully before selling Trippier
He’s been totally immense this season, but he Blanks this week and then has Man City. He’s being sold a lot, but remember the dangers in doing this. His value has gone up a lot, so if you bought him early on, you would have to buy him back at a higher price (£6.1m) than you bought him for. Also, Guimares is back for Newcastle, so the clean sheets could come rolling in again. If you think selling Trippier’s a big call, this FPL Tweeter makes a case for selling Haaland… not for me, Clive.
The official FPL site now has Expected Data
You lot get it anyway from reading this newsletter, but the FPL site has been updated to contain expected data - expected goals, expected assists and expected goals against. To be honest, using a site like FBREF is much better because players are ranked. Still, good to see FPL Towers updating the pretty hopeless site.
Gameweek 29 is now a HUGE Double
Fixtures below. My first thoughts are… it’s likely to be a good Free Hit week for many, given that Arsenal and Man City are two of the few teams without a Double and we’ll all have some of their players. Plenty of time to worry about that, though. Fixtures below, home games in CAPS.
The upcoming Doubles at a glance
All the Doubles and Blanks have made things complicated, but this Venn diagram is the best way to visualise what is coming up. It tells us very quickly that it’s messy, with no obvious route to navigating them. After this week, Brighton and Brentford players have two Doubles in three weeks - so the likes of Toney, Mitoma and Dunk will be popular. But for now, just concentrate on removing those players with no game this week.
The models like Liverpool defenders
I guess computers don’t watch the Champions League, but the top model built by FPL Review really likes Liverpool defenders this week. Projected Points below. Also note Tarkowski is quite low, but models obviously work off historic data, so it doesn’t factor in the Dyche Defensive drills.
That’s some decent football chat
Ferguson and Ten Hag apparently out for dinner in Manchester. It’s been a while, but United look terrific again, even before they get bought by a country.
Please get in touch with any FPL dilemmas or general football internet gold. Remember the DEADLINES and see you next week! I’m on Twitter here. Please help me grow FPL Is Life by sharing… thanks!