***DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 25 DEADLINE: SATURDAY - 11:00 GMT***
Just in case there was anyone still playing this game that still doesn’t own Haaland, he hammered home the fact he is now a very rare case of an essential player. not only will he be captained by pretty much every serious player this Gameweek, he’ll probably get the Triple Captain nod from most. He and City have a Double Gameweek, alongside Liverpool, Luton and Brentford - so it’s a simple job this week. Let’s get stuck into those Doubles…
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The Double Gameweek options
It’s a simple task this week - which Double Gameweek players are you bringing in? Here are the teams, fixtures and a shortlist of options. More detail in this good post on the Double options.
Manchester City: Chelsea (H) and Brentford (H) - Haaland, Foden, KDB, Ake
Liverpool: Brentford (a) and Luton (H) - Jota, Darwin, VVD, Salah
Luton: Manchester United (H) and Liverpool (a) - Doughty, Adebayo (£4.9m) if you need cash.
Brentford: Liverpool (H) and Manchester City (a) - very tough… Toney or Reguilon, if you must. They do at least play in the two Blank Gameweeks coming up, when some teams have no games (see below).
Salah is on the way back…
Because he’s been out, most people will have made the decision to go without Salah. The news now seems more positive - as a complete guess, I’d say he comes off the bench in one game and players in the other, but it’s a guess. I’d say it’s not one to rip your team up over, but if you’d saved money for KDB, I can see why Salah is tempting - what a differential to have. I rank KDB higher for this Double Gameweek though, as City have a game the following week, when Liverpool don’t play.
Defensive transfers - Ake could now be a good bet
Trent has a fitness issue again after coming off in the last game. He was the overwhelmingly obvious Double Gameweek defender pick, but now it’s not so clear. Owners, wait for more news. I’d say Van Djik is now the top Double Gameweek pick - as the below predicted points table suggests. Robertson is more fun, but could he get rested for a game ahead of the Carabao Cup final? City is still hard - even Walker has been dropped recently. But Gvardiol’s knock last night (out for 2-3 weeks) means Ake (£5m) is now very interesting. Dias seems most nailed. Remember, teams like Arsenal (Gabriel, Saliba) and Brighton (Estupiñan) having such good fixtures, so you don’t need a backline of Doublers.
Outside this lot, Doughty is a great cheap defender and very creative - a good buy most weeks. Reguilon is the Brentford guy to go for, but their fixtures are bad.
Don’t go Double Gameweek Blind
As a person who writes a weekly newsletter about FPL, I’m not really the right person to lecture anyone on not getting too focussed on a single Gameweek - but there is a danger this week that good players are taken out for an average Double Gameweek player, especially if it’s for a -4 points hit (Is Barkley really worth sacrificing Saka for?). This is especially true because Liverpool DO NOT PLAY NEXT GAMEWEEK, so remember to factor that in. Liverpool also have a cup final to consider.
Use the below site to see what your team looks like in future. It’ll help you navigate the Blank Gameweeks in Gameweek 26 and Gameweek 29.
Who to sell?
There have been loads of bench points this week and in the last few - players like Palmer, Saka, Foden, Gross and even Saliba have scored heavily from the sidelines. That means a lot of players are firing at the mo. So who do we dare sell to bring in the Double Gameweek lads? Very few players are worth keeping over someone like Jota for a Double Gameweek. Arsenal have a good game, so prob not their players. Palmer is the easiest sell - he has City this week, then Blanks next week (and probably in Gameweek 29). Remember, Liverpool have no game next Gameweek, so you can always ditch one or two straight away after this week.
Triple Captain Haaland will be insanely popular
He did nothing for a long time, then hit the ball very hard into the net against Everton. Haaland’s first goal seemed to fill him with confidence and soon after he had his second, after delivering the highly coveted defender Branthwaite to the grass. There aren’t really many chances to use the Triple Captain on Haaland, so now seems a decent time. Remember, you can only use one chip per Gameweek, and the other big Double Gameweeks are usually better attacked with other chips.
Remember we spoke about “effective ownership” last week? Well Haaland’s is likely to be well above 200% this week. I’m not sure what the record is, but it’s up there.
A Free Hit this week
Should you use the Free Hit this week (you can pick any team for one week, then you revert to your “real” team)? Well, to even be considering it, you really need to have not brought in any/enough Liverpool or Man City players over the last two or three weeks. If you’re reading this, that’s unlikely - and taking a hit this week is fine given you’re getting extra games with the players you bring in. There will be better times to play the Free Hit chip for most people. Having said that, here’s Let’s Talk FPL with a Free Hit draft. Note, he’s gone for VVD in place of Trent, because of the fitness doubts. I might go Gabriel over Tripps. Burnley are bad at defending set pieces. I’d probably find a place for Ake.
Peak A League
We’ve had some absolutely belting misses over the weeks, but this one I think beats the lot - and some top commentary, too. Peak A League.
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