Fantasy Premier League: Double gameweek gives players much to ponder
In the previous round, most players focused on Manchester City, who were up against Brentford in a match that was expected to see Erling Haaland (14.2) return to the first team squad. Some set their sights on the Norwegian, some on Kevin De Bruyne (10.8) and all were tricked by Phil Foden (8.0), who scored a hat-trick and cranked out a cosmic 20 FPL points.
Who to captain?
This time around, no doubt a fair number of players will again choose one of Pep Guardiola's charges as captain, but it will not be an obligation. After all, the reigning champions will play against Everton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday in their opening Premier League match. Sean Dyche's defence is known for its solidity, but of course we will be expecting considerable points from the Citizens' offensive players.
The first option is, of course, Haaland, who is already back at full strength and, despite not being his team's most visible player in the encounter with Brentford and spoiling one great opportunity, still remains Manchester City's most dangerous weapon. De Bruyne is also an idea, but the Belgian is usually somewhat overshadowed by other players and rarely delivers double-digit results in FPL. Of course, Foden could also be given the captaincy, but if one has any of the above two in the squad in addition to the Englishman, the armband is a bit of a risk.
What else? Certainly Liverpool's players to consider, who play at home against Burnley and have a good chance of scoring well. Diogo Jota (8.1) and Darwin Nunez (7.4) are certainly options that more than a few FPL players will think about. If one is looking for alternative options then one can provide excitement and select Dominic Solanke (7.1) to play away against Fulham as captain.
When are the double gameweeks?
Before the week, not everything was confirmed yet, and now we can pretty much give ourselves a scenario for the coming weeks. After all, DGW (Double Gameweek) and BGW (Blank Gameweek) await us. What do these entail?
In the next round we will see the standard 10 games, with each team playing one game each, so no controversy here. The fun starts next week, as the next round of games will see as many as 12 games, with Manchester City, Brentford, Liverpool and Luton playing twice each. This obviously gives a much higher chance of points, so it's worth considering when making transfers, especially players from the English champions and current league leaders will be particularly valuable.
A week later, the 26th round, we will instead face a "blank gameweek" - a round during which not all teams will play their matches. All because of the League Cup final, in which Liverpool and Chelsea will play. These two teams will therefore not be competing on league pitches, with their matches against Luton and Tottenham, respectively, to be played at a different date. Care must therefore be taken not to have too many players from both of these teams in the team at those times, as we may end up not being able to field a whole eleven players.
That's not the end of the highlights, however. While the 27th round will be another 'normal' round, the 28th round sees us make up the Bournemouth - Luton game, making these two teams have two games on the schedule. Here it's particularly worth looking out for Solanke, who will then probably be owned by a very large number of players.
All sorted? Then we can now move on to the recommended players, subject of course to all the above information.
Who to buy?
Diogo Jota (8.1) - The Portuguese has been in very good form recently, but the main argument for buying him is his schedule. He will play against Burnley this weekend and in a double-header against Brentford and Luton next week. Expect a lot of people to buy him, and the sooner the transfer clicks, the better the chance of buying him at a lower price. In his last five league games he has scored four goals and had two assists. Admittedly, he won't play in the 26th round, but he will make up for it the week before. His scoring and playing minutes should not even be affected by the return of Mohamed Salah (13.0), which could happen soon.
Ivan Toney (8.1) - Brentford 's striker is a proposition especially for players who particularly value double queues. After all, Toney is not an ideal buy - he costs a staggering 8.1 million and on top of that, he will be playing against Liverpool and Manchester City in the double round. Despite this, however, the Englishman will not be paused in any of the upcoming friendlies, so he will have scored in more games than the vast majority of Premier League players, and on top of that Brentford are used to playing well against strong teams and the rivalries with The Reds and Citizens do not at all mean they will not score.
Matheus Cunha (5.8) - The Brazilian operates completely in the shadows, he is not the star of the entire league or even of his team, and he already has nine goals and six assists in FPL this season. This includes his hat-trick against Stamford Bridge, which he showed off last Sunday. His team are not involved in any double or 'empty' lines and he is their primary striker. Wolves face Brentford, Sheffield, Fulham and Bournemouth at home in their next six games and Cunha can still score consistently. Plus, he only costs 5.8 million.